Final Cut Pro X - still Pro

Joe - where did you see there no tape in or out in this new final cut - haven't seen that mentioned in a single blog, tweet or new article

I did...some Pro Editors were on a small stage and were talking about it during the Pre-NAB discussion. There was one editor there that was in on the initial preview of the app and he did not deny it.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

grafixjoe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet...but
> FCPX DOES NOT DIGITIZE / LAY OFF TO TAPE ANYMORE!!
> My studio peeps are freakin' because even though
> we are predominantly Digital Delivery, we still
> have clients like ESPN and BET demand tape.
>
> Something to think about.


Exactly what I came here to find out. A huge mistake if this is true. We're not all quite 100% tapeless yet, Apple.

I was just wondering if FCPX since it's rebuilt, will operate separately from those of us who have FCS? I'm assuming so, but don't know for sure.

We saw that speculation round table before the event

But not denying it doesn't mean it doesn't exist!

He was on an NDA and couldn't say anything specific - Denying it would have violated the contract he signed!

No mention of this one way or another in the official preview last night.

It's silly speculating on what isn't there until we get all the facts - it would seem counterproductive for APPLE to release a pro product with a million installed base and not make it usable to the vast majority of editors working now -- 1,000,000 x 300 a pop? 300 million dollars gross - delivered on line - no packaging or distribution costs -- that's a lot of dough to shrug your shoulders at for no tape i/o!

No tape in or out would make the product unusable to the majority of working editors and production companies with archival material -- even a third party app to accomplish this would seem likely if it's really not supported.

Overall - seems there's a good deal of good, productivity enhancing features -- some not so useful features (the imovie like film strips) that would make sense to be able to turn off - their demo showed a list mode so that seems likely) -- and the old fashioned 3 point editing and an option for a viewer to accomplish this -- we can already customize most of the look and feel of the current final cut with keyboard shortcuts and layouts - can't imagine you won't be able to do that with this as well.

Hoping it accepts older third party filters -- lots of us have a good deal invested in those.

Cheers - Andy

All App Store apps are self-contained so it won't overwrite Final Cut Studio.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

Having watched the presentation....

I like the magnetic timeline (FCP was always very timeline STRONG)

FCP X seesm to be basically turning weaknesses (inject/media management/tagging of material) into strengths (FCP figures out what is what)

BUT imagine trying to understand the different MAGNETIC timeliness from 50 different editors in a large production house!!!

For multiple users it could be tricky but maybe it become something for more and more smaller houses (one man shows) rather than larger production houses.

i.e. using innovation to drive the number of licenses?

In this sense it goes in the iMovie direction.

Moving problems further down the work flow timeline.

I would like to have the flexibility of Magnetic timeliness but still be able to lock down stuff like Voice overs on A1,A2, A3, A4, Music on A5, A6, A7 & A8, Efx on A9, A10, A11 and A12 etc

i.e. an And & And situation.....

Or I want my slice of cake and want o be able to eat the Cake

also posted here

[finalbug.net]

Phil Hawes made a very good observation at the Creative Cow that made a lot of sense to me...

"From what I read of the reports of the demo of the new Final Cut X, the new features demonstrated are targeted towards the amateur video maker with a camcorder or DSLR. Features like stabilization, rolling shutter correction, noise cancellation, and audio sync, all supposedly happening on import, are targeting users who have basic production equipment problems. These are all features to compensate for amateur errors. A lot of these tools are problematic and not what a professional is asking for.

Nor does the professional want a new "event list" , filmstrip viewers, a new iMovie like trim editor, or pop up color correction.

The only feature here that any professional would want is 64 bit and multi-threading and not so they could edit H.264 natively in an iMovie like environment or have a no transcoding workflow. A 64 bit multi-threaded Final Cut 7 would have satisfied most people and taken away a lot of headaches.

If the demo had been targeted towards professionals the following features may have been shown: better Media Management tools, improvement for filters (10 bit), a better Compressor interface, better integration with Color, and perhaps Motion working in 10 bit with more finesse.

It remains to be seen what the actual Final Cut X really is but as for now it is definitely not being marketed to the professional. Does Apple really have the audacity to believe that they can rewrite the history of video editing with a Final Cut GUI change? I think not. I just suspect that they are shifting their market."

Phil

Ronny Courtens posted some helpful info that I think professionals want to hear.

? Hi Steve,

I have been working on a major project during the past six months and I was not able to participate in any board anymore. From today you can count me in again.

As to your concern about FCP X:

You are correct that the new GUI may take some time to adapt to. But althhough It looks a bit like iMovie that?s where the comparison ends. While in iMovie you are stuck with the specific iMovie way of editing, in FCPX you can edit exactly the same way you as did in FCP7. You can just open clips in the viewer, place in and out points, use 3-point editing etc? And if you don?t wish to use the advaced timeline features your timeline will look much like any timeline in FCP, Avid or PPro.

But if you wish you can also use some handy extra features that were taken from iMovie (such as skimming in timeline and viewer) as well as lots of advanced features that are specific to this new app. These of course will take time to get used to, but many of them really seem worth while learning. The new application is still being beta tested and it remains to be seen what Apple will add or drop in the final version.

I don?t mind getting used to a new interface and new features IF this adds functionality and speed to my current workflow. When we switched from Avid to FCP it took some time to adapt to the different GUI, but editing was the same and the GUI was quickly forgotten. I still switch from FCP to Avid and PPro on rare occasions and frankly this does not bother me.

Best wishes

Ronny?

That sure alleviates some of my concerns.

I will admit that it seemed like Christmas came early for DSLR shooters while the rest of us were scratching our heads trying to work out if it was good or bad for us. However, there is a lot of stuff there that is truly time-saving such as the no-rendering workflow, the magnetic timeline, edit while ingesting, auditioning, etc. My deadlines are getting shorter, not longer, so I appreciate anything that can speed things up.

And rest assured that any holes in FCPX will be filled by myself and the other third-party developers within the Final Cut Pro community.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

As Final Cut Pro X can take advantage of the 64-bit architecture, does that rule out those of us whose MacBook Pros (March 2006) are only 32-bit?

I have to say, some of the timeline innovations seem like they should have been explored years ago. By Apple or other NLE companies. There's undeniably some really tempting features; for pros and "prosumers" alike.

Sadly, I can't see this being used in a collaborative editing environment until several versions down the road. It really is like FCP 1.0 all over again. But that's apparently what needed to happen. No mention of project sharing, export, AAF/OMF, EDL/XML, lists, media management, etc. Yes, these are dry topics for a demo. But they're exactly the kind of stuff that NAB attendees most need to know. Not even touching on them in that environment is an ominous omission.

- Justin Barham -

Do not over-analyze fellas. This is a "SNEAK PEAK"...not a finished product. Keep telling yourself that. It is NOT FINISHED. The price may be set and that's probably all that is. Just keep your eyes and your ears open...

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I heard that also... So what they are saying is I can not capture from a camera like the Canon G1 and A1 that records to mini DV tapes? I just want to make sure I got that right... tell me I'm wrong... please!

I can't believe that there will not be output to tape deck control - and digitizing from tape for that matter. I just hope that editors more important than me will make a point of beating up Apple about this.

Harry.

I know that I will be required to teach this thing as soon as it's released, because one of the places I teach has been waiting for the new release before they upgrade. What I'd like to see is a manual, so I can get started knowing what the hell I'm talking about, before I'm in front of classes of 15 expectant people waiting to receive the gospel.

That said, I am looking forward to pressing all the keys and clicking all the clickies to see what they do. Of course I will be running both X and 7 until I'm comfortable, since, like most of us, I can't afford to be stumbling about on client jobs.

Any chance of a manual link? Apple? Anyone? Help a gal not look like a complete loser.

Just saw the presentation and its very iMovie and Garageband like. I hope they will make some changes and make it a true pro app. Or its FCP7 or wait till MC 6 with 64 bit support.

Quote
lasvideo
"From what I read of the reports of the demo of the new Final Cut X, the new features demonstrated are targeted towards the amateur video maker with a camcorder or DSLR. Features like stabilization, rolling shutter correction, noise cancellation, and audio sync, all supposedly happening on import, are targeting users who have basic production equipment problems. These are all features to compensate for amateur errors. A lot of these tools are problematic and not what a professional is asking for."

Haters gonna hate. This quote is from someone who wasn't even at the event, and he focused on features that he saw were aimed at amateurs: rolling shutter correction, audio sync. In reality, rolling shutter is a problem professional editors have because of the professional cameras using CMOS chips that have issues with rolling shutters. Audio sync as demoed as a feature is also something that professionals will want to use because of the extensive use of double-system sound in video where the master audio is recorded on something like cantar, but the video cameras also record scratch tracks. Making audio syncing clips easier is something that this professional would be interested in using.

Strangely, that there was no mention of other, more obviously professional features, perhaps because it didn't support his point. Clip auditioning, magnetic timeline, background rendering.

Collaboration?

Oddly the changes to the timeline seem to support editor collaboration with people with differing job functions - primarily sound editors. They'll be able to do a great deal of work on audio sweetening (including fixing sync on clips) while the picture editors continue to work. For audio, this would work better if the position of one audio clip (a voiceover for example) could define where other clips dipped their levels. Conditional editing is the future!

I imagine collaboration between editors will be afforded by checking out clip groups on a master timeline. I'll be able to see a clip group is being worked on when I'm no temporarily unable to edit it. As well as being a repository of a signed off B-Roll sequence, they could also show the verse in a music video, a scene in a movie or an episode in a web series. While I work on a scene, another editor could be repositioning it in the movie or even splitting it into two. They might even be able to see multiple versions from different editors by using Auditions - as well as earlier versions.

___________________________________________________
Alexandre Gollner,
Editor, Zone 2-North West, London

alex4d on twitter, facebook, .wordpress.com + .com

<"Just saw the presentation and its very iMovie and Garageband like...">

Just watched the presentation and it might look like iMovie (if you squint your eyes a bit), but it ain't iMovie by a long shot. Watch the presentation again. I think you missed the best parts.

[www.macrumors.com]

I'm a believer now!