Manually Creating Anaglyph Video from Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro offers Anaglyph previews of Spatial Video clips and projects but not the ability to export in anaglyph. (There isn't any plugin to do it that I'm aware of currently).

Final Cut can only export a Side by Side or a Spatial MV-HEVC Version. (As of June 2026)

The solution is to manually create an anaglyph version.  It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

Process:

Export the finished video project as a full side by side video such as 3840x1080 at 30fps in ProRes.

Import the exported file back into Final Cut Pro.

Manually change the properties of the full sbs clip from stereoscopic to monoscopic.

Create a new video project (example: 1080p at 30fps).

Place the clip on the timeline. (This will be the left eye)

Duplicate the clip and place it on top. (The top clip will be the right eye)

Spatial Conform should be "FIT" for both clips.

On the LEFT eye clip:

We want only the left side of the video clip, so adjust a transform position value of X axis  to -960px. 

(We are sliding the clip over to the right to only show the left side)

Adjust the color curves

Adjust the RED channel until it is 0%.  (Leave Green and Blue at 100%)

Make sure to uncheck Preserve Luma.

On the RIGHT Eye (The top clip)

We want only the right side of the sbs clip.  Adjust transform x value to 960px. (The clip slides to the left to only reveal the right side of the clip)

Adjust the color curves as below for the right eye.

Green and Blue channel is Zero. Red is 100%

Uncheck Preserve Luma.

Change blend mode of the top clip (the right clip) to "SCREEN"

If you have followed the steps correctly, you should see an anaglyph version of your 3D project in the viewer.

Share and export the project.

(This is a clip for a 1920x1440 per eye project. The same idea works for 1920x1080 clips)

Once you have mastered this set up, you can save each preset and name them like Left Eye HD, Right Eye HD etc to make the workflow easier.

Note: Depending on your project size how much you move the x-axis varies for the SBS clip.  For a 3840 wide original clip, just divide by 4 which is 960px for our 3840x1080.  Move either -960 or 960 on x axis positioning.