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| Review:
-Final Cut Studio Total Training |
September, 2006
Total
Training for Final Cut Studio
A Post-Production Workflow
$149.99 - Total
Training
Review by Steve
Douglas
So,
its comprehensive you want? Total Training for Final Cut Studio:
A Post-Production Workflow just about does it all for the new
or experienced user of Final Cut Studio. Be prepared, however,
to spend lots of time with this 2-disc set as it comes with 7
hours of tutorial instruction. All project files are on one disc,
and the tutorial lessons are on the other. Once you've copied
over the project files to your hard drive you should be ready
to go. Don't be in a rush as there is so much here you will not
want to miss anything that might have been the key to creating
an easier and more effective workflow.
Presented by Yan Shvalb, an editor
who clearly knows his subject, narration is full of information,
tips and tricks to keeping your entire project on pace. While
sometimes I thought Mr. Shvalb spoke a bit too briskly, he creates
an amiable atmosphere within the workflow and enunciates clearly
so that everything presented is easily heard and understood.
There's not much that isn't covered
in Total Training's Final Cut Studio. The syllabus is one of
the most comprehensive that I have seen with an excellent introduction
that leads you to creating an organized round tripping between
Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, DVD Studio Pro and Soundtrack.
The only Apple application left off the menu here is Live Type,
primarily done so because much of what you may want to do in
Live Type can just as easily be done in Motion.
With such an extensive
itinerary, plan to spend several sessions with Final Cut Studio:
A Post Production Workflow
I should point out that this is not a
tutorial set for those who want learn how to use each application
from start to finish. It is not a 'How do I achieve this effect?'
type of disc. Rather, it is a very substantial tutorial of how
to integrate and utilize these applications parallel to each
other in order to develop a more efficacious workflow for your
various projects, round tripping between them and how much easier
your workflow can be when you utilize the tools you have before
you. Never the less, in the initial section on Final Cut Pro,
Yan Shvalb does present one of the very best lessons on the various
tools in Final Cut Pro that I have ever seen. Once again, he
does talk a bit too fast for my tastes and I did find myself
going back to catch all that he said on occasion. My only other
whine is that while the lesson progress indicator can be grabbed
and dragged to different parts of the lesson, you really can't
tell and must make a guess as to where in the lesson you are
dragging it to. This might only be an issue for the first play
through because Total Training has incorporated a great feature,
which allows you to bookmark individual sections for reviewing
later on. You just need to click to the right of the titles on
the top and a dropdown menu of sub lessons appears. Click on
any of these and a permanent bookmark is created. Thus, even
after ejecting the disc, once you put it back in the computer,
the bookmarks are retained for you to get to instantly. Should
you want to delete one of your bookmarks, that may be accomplished
just as easily.
It all starts with
Final Cut, its many tools, filters and generators. Notice the
contents label at the bottom right;
you can click on this and the entire syllabus will come back
up for you.
You'll be happy to see that Mr. Shvalb
spends a great deal of time demonstrating the use of Motion.
He displays a real enthusiasm for Motion so it is clear that
he is not just going through the motions (pun intended) when
he displays so much that can be done here.
A clear and precise
explanation of keyframing in Motion here, but this disc goes
much deeper than that.
This review really would turn into an
extremely long dialogue if I went into each of the many excellent
lessons on how to develop a more beneficial workflow for you
while editing. Just let it be said that you will not be shortchanged
on the coverage of any of the standard Apple applications that
will fit your general workflow.
I found the section
focusing on the use of Compressor and Qmaster to be quite informative.
DVD Studio Pro is not left untouched and there is even a brief
coverage of round tripping with Soundrack.
Bottom line time; despite the sometimes
too fast delivery, I found that Total Training's Final Cut Studio,
A Post Production Workflow to be of the highest quality. The
ability to set the screen size, bookmark sections that you think
you might want to go back to and the depth of the instruction
really does set an incredible standard making this a tutorial
of real value. Keep in mind that this set is not for the absolute
beginner, but if you have a good general understanding of any
of these applications than this is the tutorial set that really
can put all the pieces of the puzzle into proper perspective
for you. For more information, go to Total
Training.
 Steve Douglas is an underwater videographer
and contributor to numerous film festivals around the world.
A winner of the 1999 Pacific Coast Underwater Film Competition,
2003 IVIE competition, 2004 Los Angeles Underwater Photographic
competition, and the prestigious 2005 International Beneath the
Sea Film Competition, Steve has also worked on the feature film
"The Deep Blue Sea", contributed footage to the Seaworld
Park's Atlantis production, as well as for recent History channel
shows and is one of the principal organizers of the San Diego
UnderSea Film Exhibition. Steve leads both underwater filming
expeditions and African safaris with upcoming filming excursions
to Kenya, Bali & Komodo, the Philippines, and Palau. Feel
free to contact him if you are interested in joining Steve on
any of these trips. www.worldfilmsandtravel.com
copyright © Steve
Douglas 2006
This article first appeared on www.kenstone.net and is reprinted
here with permission.
All screen captures and textual references are the property and
trademark of their creators/owners/publishers.
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