Took the plunge

Well, I did it. I took the Weynand course this past weekend for FCP newbies. I've been working with Avid for nearly 12 years now, and when I've attempted FCP in the past it gave me a headache.

FCP is definitely impressive and I'm sure with some practice I'll be fine on it. But there's still some minor things that bug me. Final cut as Roll, Ripple, Slip, Slide to Avid's Trim. As I said, with practice I'm sure it won't be a big deal, and there is a Trim window in FCP. I also don't like I can't color my timeline tracks, or colorize my clips. Yeah, I can change the highlight color of clip text, but it's not the same as colorizing the clip. I usually colorize all my clips so when I'm looking at a timeline I can quickly see where all my interviews, broll, locations, etc are.

FCP is also sleeker looking, but most Apple products look much nicer than their counterparts. Avid still looks basically the same after all these years. Sure, you can make your buttons into ovals or squares with a little shadow on them, but it's still kinda flat.

Not sure there's a point to this topic, but I wrote on here several weeks ago when I was considering taking the plunge, and the folks on the site were very helpful. So when I finally get to monkeying around with FCP on my home system, I'm sure I'll drop by to look up or ask questions.

Thanks,
Erik

Welcome to the family Erik

Rui Barros
Editor Colorist Trainer
Lisbon, Portugal
RTP Post-Production
Apple Certified Trainer FCP 7
Apple Certified Pro FCP 7

Hey Erik,

I come from an Avid background as well so I understand. FCP has made huge strides in the last 2 versions and the future looks bright. Did you know about the Keyboard Layout (Option/H)? You can map your keyboard just like your Avid (mostly - some features don't exist). I found that comforting at the beginning...but moved away from old Avid ways after 5 years on FCP and just went with the flow. That made things easier and faster in the long run.

The "Text Tool" in FCP is the worst. It's the one major drag in the app (the other is the interface look itself). This needs a major revisit / redeaux. 'Nuff said there.

I believe there are exciting things coming for our beloved (not) interface. If you have been on Avid for 12 years, you know the name Steve Bayes. For 8 years he was the Principal Product Designer for Media Composer, Symphony and DS Nitris at Avid. He is now on the Apple FCP team so you KNOW a professional interface make-over is coming. I personally can't wait

Welcome aboard! More good stuff to come!

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

erik,

Welcome. My only advice for you is to allow yourself the time to feel comfortable on FCP before you really need to use it in a pressure cooker session.

It's kind of like learning a foreign language. They say you're not truly fluent until you start "thinking" in that new language. Once you start "dreaming" in it, you know you've got it.
Same is true with this "plunge". Some of the things that you're currently "bumping" on, will gradually fade away as you begin to "think different" about the process.

Right now, you're focused on the intricacies of the timeline interface. Just wait until you get into media/project management. That's a whole 'nother level of fun! How about a workgroup, networked workflow? Much, much different approach than Avid.

Good luck.

Mark

> My only advice for you is to allow yourself the time to feel comfortable on FCP before you really
> need to use it in a pressure cooker session.

I'd second that. The best way to learn, and learn well, is to tackle very small areas at a time. Only learn how to do cuts and move things around comfortably. Then get into sound and sync. Then get into media and file management. Each of these things takes days, even weeks, to really get into your subconscious. Encyclopedia knowledge of every single FCP feature is useless to you if all your brain power is preoccupied with trying to remember things as you edit. It needs to be instinctive and creative rather than laborious and overly complicated.

I gave myself about two new shortcuts per new project years ago. They really sank in and became part of my vocabulary that way.


www.derekmok.com

Welcome Erik. I think you'll find over time that one of the best things about FCP is the great community support.

Welcome. Work in small steps. You can label your individual clips, as well as clips in the browser. (right click, label or right click and select logging options) But clip colors in the timeline isn't that obvious. Labelling tracks is something Apple really needs to work on, also being able to save and export custom keyboard layouts, buttons and preferences.

All in all, Final Cut is probably the coolest around in terms of versatility.

What everyone said, plus the Weynand book from edition II forward is meaty. I know, I tech-edited it.

Since you're niddling with intricacies, check this out for a decent transition overview--

[www.avid2fcp.com]

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Instantly find Next/Previous timeline Gaps with Shift/Option -G !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com