Final Cut Pro X - still Pro

Jude Cotter Wrote:
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> Any chance of a manual link? Apple? Anyone? Help a
> gal not look like a complete loser.

Sorry... we wish. No more details of any kind seem to be leaking out.


BTW, thanks for all the updates here. Much appreciated.

- Justin Barham -

[in FCPX you can edit exactly the same way you as did in FCP7. ]

Ah, if true, the voice of sanity.

Let the games begin, let the wallets open.

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Nudge a Canvas layer by SUBpixels
with Command-Option with Arrow keys !

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

>Ah, if true, the voice of sanity.

Amen indeed. For a while I thought we lost a perfectly good NLE.

To some degree I do have to agree with that poster on the cow. Pros really only care about what makes work easier in their environment. Do you know that you can open audio omfs in FCS to check the contents of the file, but you can't do the same in Avid? The ability to roundtrip is crucial to the post pipeline, because not many of us do everything in FCP. In fact, most of us work between multiple softwares and multiple desks.



www.strypesinpost.com

Maybe a typing mistake?
You can certainly bring OMF and AAF files into Avid.
That's how we work here. Because OMF's and AAF's from Pro Tools contain the timecode from the original sequence as it was exported
from Avid in the first place for mixing in Pro Tools. No need for lining up 2 pops on tracks to sync mixed tracks back into the master sequence.

Audio omfs? I gotta check that again. Last time I tried, I couldn't.



www.strypesinpost.com

Well said, Andy! I hear of other complaining that it's rolling Soundtrack Pro and Color into FCP and it doesn't address real problems that people have been asking for. As an editor on FCP since v2, people have been asking for better audio tools and better color correction. Well, now there will be a better audio tools and better color correction! And some people have said that they would've been happy with the same FCP7 with 64bit and background rendering - while I think most people would've been happy with that. It's a bit short sighted.
I have some of the same questions as others about trimming, tape ingest and layout, XML, OMF, and EDLs. But after watching the entire demo, I'm excited to give it a spin when it comes out. I personally don't care if trimming doesn't look or feel like the old Avid style window, if I feel that it works for me then it works for me! I feel the greatest achievement that Avid created was the mindset that the Avid way is the only true professional way of doing it. And now, most people think that if it's not the Avid style of editing, then it's a toy. Well, hell, if there is something useful that will benefit me from iMovie, iDVD or Garageband, why not roll it over in the pro apps? I for one, am excited to cut a show on it to put it through a real test.


Andy Neil Wrote:
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> > "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.

Chi-Ho Lee
Film & Television Editor
Apple Certified Final Cut Pro Instructor

>You can certainly bring OMF and AAF files into Avid.

Ah. Just tried it again. I realize you can't double click it in the finder. But "import" works. Cool.

> I hear of other complaining that it's rolling Soundtrack Pro and Color into FCP

Lol. I hope they kept the supporting apps, because I use them quite a lot. Color was a pretty cool environment for color grading- masks, trackers, keyers, nodes, etc.. Not sure if you can do it all on one interface properly and efficiently. But today you have a lot more processing power than you had 5-6 years ago, so I don't see why not. But I don't mind doing it 2 apps. I can't do an editor's cut and worry about color at the same time. So I don't mind going between 2 apps for that. But additions to the existing tools in FCP would simply be great.

That said, I do hope they port the eq over from soundtrack. The one in FCP was downright unusable. I don't even need a parametric eq. Just give me a 3 band eq interface and maybe a good notch filter GUI. I don't need fancy noise reduction tools during the offline session. And I prefer the DAW environment for audio mixing, just as I like being in the color correction environment for color correction. 2 apps or a button to launch between the different environments isn't an issue, as long as I have a good environment that I can do my offlines and another to do more sophisticated touch ups.

Basically, as long as I can tell a good story effectively, manage large amounts of media well, and work well with other finishing machines, ad well as work well in a shared collaborative environment, that would be great. I just hope we don't lose functionality, or have it dumbed down for the indie and semi pro market, or have it sell based on price point or marketing hype. So I'm waiting for the questions to be answered and I look forward to the release of FCP X.



www.strypesinpost.com

strypes Wrote:
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>
> Lol. I hope they kept the supporting apps, because
> I use them quite a lot.

Oh, I agree. I wholeheartedly believe in a dedicated app for audio mixing and color grading. But I see nothing wrong and look forward to being able to use the FCP new color correction filter harnessing the technology/power of Color or be able to use Soundtrack Pro's audio feature directly inside FCP, not to mix a show or not to grade an entire show but for quick fixes or simple mixes for screeners and screenings.

Chi-Ho Lee
Film & Television Editor
Apple Certified Final Cut Pro Instructor

Until I see an alternative this is what I hope for the most:
Reel and Timecode based media management.

Where Reel can stand for cards or disk images or drives of SS media.
Not filename or file path or checksum hash or anything else.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

One thing should be obvious. This is a marketing nightmare and the how and why of Apple introducing X this way was just plain stupid. I am, unfortunately, not at NAB this year, however that there was no Q & A after the presentation was obviously a mistake. People left and right seem to be panicking and I don't really blame them. Ignorance is difficult to deal with and editors have questions and concerns that, it seems, may not be answered until X's release and that is a couple of months away; a long time to have to sit in the dark. Very happy that X and FC7 will be able to co exist at least. According to Larry Jordan, he was one of the few people allowed to see the beta a month before NAB. Very surprised he didn't ask the same questions everyone seems to be coming up with at that time. Just read his blog and he is responding with an 'I don't know' to many of the questions being posed. I have never used iMovie myself but guess I will open it up and fool around in there just to get used to things.
Be calm all, no point in stressing now with over 2 months to go.
Steve

steve-sharksdelight

Sequences: Are we still going have the ability of having multiple sequences in a single project?

Andrew Kines Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Until I see an alternative this is what I hope for
> the most:
> Reel and Timecode based media management.
>
> Where Reel can stand for cards or disk images or
> drives of SS media.
> Not filename or file path or checksum hash or
> anything else.

Hear hear. All this talk of FCPX being, or not being professional -- well this is where the rubber meets the road. The way FCP currently handles asset tracking is, frankly, clumsy and amateurish. Unless they've addressed that in a big way, I expect they might even lose a few of their high-end, "prestige" customers.

- Justin Barham -

Russ Blaise Wrote:
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> Sequences: Are we still going have the ability of
> having multiple sequences in a single project?

You mean open at the same time? I'm sure. From the screenshots released, there are arrows at the upper left of the sequence suggesting you could switch between them. No tabs though.

If anything, being super-duper 64-bit, OpenCL and all that; I'd imagine they wouldn't have to be managed as much. More resources available and all that.

- Justin Barham -

>Reel and Timecode based media management.

Doesn't FCP already do this? Timecode is embedded as a timecode track and reel name is stored in the QT file. Before FCP X, I was hoping for finder level access to this data, but with FCP going 64 bit, it seems like this isn't necessary, as FCP should be a lot more efficient with large projects.


>I wholeheartedly believe in a dedicated app for audio mixing and color grading.

Having more tools at your disposal is usually a good thing, so I won't complain. I really want a point tracker and a decent masking tool in FCP. The worst that could happen is the software engineers push too hard to cram online features into an offline editing machine, or make the interface too cluttered (this would be quite un-Apple like). But yea, aside from the questions, we're all waiting for more.

I also hope they do user based tests and see how fast someone can piece together a really rough simple cut, and how many operations require the mouse, how much on the keyboard, etc... And they need to keep that Cmd Option drag shortcut to reposition the FCP windows. They seem to have forgotten about that function in the newer FCP additions such as in the L&T window and the HDV capture window.



www.strypesinpost.com

I would say that FCP media management is based on file name and/or path name. You reconnect to files by name and it recognizes the name. There is TC in files and FCP reads that but it's basis of media management is file name.
The strength of the AVID model is that no matter the clip name or duration of the file, if you connect a sequence to it and it has sufficient length it can connect to it based on the reel name and TC in the sequence. It's why AVIDs subclips are less buggy than FCP and why you can do more in the offline/online workflow with AVID than you can with FCP.
That being said, the model of offline/online is slowly being made obsolete but I find it hard to believe that it will totally go away what with Graeme creating recording codecs at Bajjilion-K on a daily basis.

I am not a total fanboy for the AVID database model either but it has some serious strengths.

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!

I get you. I'm a little curious as to how FCP connects to files- by frame number or timecode. I've encountered clips shifting after rendering when the timecode track is flakey. On reconnection of clips, FCP does do a check to see if reel numbers match. But yea, the basis of FCP reconnection lies primarily in file names.

Incidentally, I have run into problems trying to reconnect Canon clips based on this principle. Because the transcoding time is so awfully long, I sometimes get the AEs to sync the H.264 footage, then we reconnect the next day before the edit. For some reason during the reconnection, it only reconnects 1 clip out of all the clips. So I can't do a batch reconnection. Not sure if it's caused by duplicate file names (Canon file naming is horrendous), or if it's a known bug or if it is fixed in FCP 7.



www.strypesinpost.com

No reason you shouldn't be able to switch sequence even better than in FCP7. Have a look at how the current version of iMovie lets you radially switch between projects no reason why sequences should behave differently. Don't try to use iMovie as an editing software however, it will assume that it knows better than you do what you want to do. But for $15 you can get a preview of how some of functionality in FCPX may work.

There are many things I like about the interface in the latest version of iMovie. While I like being able to use the iMovie interface spread over 2 monitors, this only makes provision for putting the Canvas on the 2nd monitor. I'm hoping with the FCPX version there will be the possibility to set up more custom layouts as in FCP. One thing I like about the full screen view in iMovie, which I assume will be the same in FCPX is that there is a KB Shortcut to rapidly switch the full screen from canvas to viewer.

Each of these full screen views give you a filmstrip of your timeline at the bottom of the screen which you can use to skim through the timeline to the point you want to inspect. This works somewhat like the navigation tool in Soundtrack Pro or the mini timeline in Motion.

When you are in the Canvas window (i.e. Project Library) you can choose to show coverflow view. This give you additional icons with a poster frame for the other projects you have in your library. This allows you to rapidly switch from project to project.
much much faster than has ever been possible in FCP.

Dave

Steve Cohen on FCPX "2nd Day". I think it's the most astute observation about the new FCP so far.

Quote

What?s striking to me on second viewing is how much of the demo focused on editing. There were none of the de rigueur things we?ve gotten so used to ? no mention of the number of realtime layers, for example, and little discussion of which media formats can be used. Instead, they talked about how editors work.

Editing. Remember that? Like most people, I had a very mixed reaction to a lot of what was shown (and not shown). But I remain highly impressed by just how much of the demo was dedicated to making the actual process of editing more straightforward. Less about mechanics, more about story.

It's exciting, and I just hope that some of the innovations Apple are exploring "trickle down" to environments that require more complex workflows.

- Justin Barham -

Yes. Randy switched between sequences a couple of times during the demo.

All the best,

Tom

I just think the demo- what I saw and heard of it- was ham-handed-- it slapped us in the face with sparkling new iMovie Pro 12, with its beguiling mix of new, unexpected and requested features. It causes anxiety, makes me extremely grumpy.

The way Steve would do it would be to start with the known and familiar, and gradually peel that away to reveal alternative layouts and attendant features; better workflow, more powerful capabilities. That would be most persuasive to veteran FCP editors. And then he'd go "Oh, and one more thing--" and reveal the big jaw dropper, like magnetic rendering, or exploding clips, you know.

Now, because of the off-putting cool eye candy and foreign screen geography-- God, Randy U. must LOVE those big frame thumbnails, I want to give that chief architect a big wet thumbnail award-- we have to sort of construct that progression from the familiar to the bizarre in our heads and determine its utility for mission critical.

Because there's always Avid, isn't there?

- Loren

Today's FCP X keytip:
Who the bejabbers knows?

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