Shapes and color mattes

Shapes

Choose the Rectangle or Ellipse tool and drag in the Program monitor (hold Shift for a square or circle). A shape clip is added at the playhead. In Effect Controls ▸ Shape, set the width, height, corner radius, fill and stroke.

Color matte

A solid full-frame color. Use the color-square button in the Project panel or Sequence ▸ Add Color Matte, then pick the color in Effect Controls. Mattes are useful as backgrounds behind titles.

Shortcuts show the Mac keys: on Windows and Linux use Ctrl for ⌘ and Alt for ⌥.