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FCPX may work, for some projects
When FCPX first was released I did not buy it for a couple reasons. I do my sound engineering in Pro Tools (because that’s what I was trained on in school) and I do my color grading in Apple’s “Color” (because that’s what the first production company I worked for used). I felt that to not have these capabilities would have been a big step backward in quality. Another reason was that I refuse to finish paid projects without having viewed them on my broadcast monitor.
Now that they have a free trial, I was willing to download it to get a (free) first hand impression. It’s really fast. I’m just getting used to it but a lot of it makes sense and it seems to be a powerful editor if I can become fluent in how it thinks (just like you have to do with any software).
If Davinci Resolve gets import/export of the XML nailed down and Pro Tools does the same I think FCPX could work for me on a lot of my projects. Some of my regular work requires multicam, so for that I’ll still be using FCP6. One of my company computers has the CS5 production suite and I’ve played around with Adobe Premiere. It works, but my first impression of FCPX in use has been more pleasing. This may have to do with it being slightly “dumbed down” which it is. Premiere definitely gives the user more control over settings and me being relatively unfamiliar with both might make me feel more comfortable on the more “dumbed down” one of the two. That being said, I wouldn’t feel so comfortable with it if it didn’t let me do what I wanted. I have done one basic preliminary project and liked it, and the client liked it. I know the person well and I “owed him one” so I figured I’d use his project as a guinea pig. If this had been for pay, FCPX would have payed for itself with the trial version on the first project.
If Davinci and ProTools can make good use of the XML format I may start using FCPX on certain projects that don’t require multicam. It’s nice to have the broadcast monitor hooked up but Resolve supports it so I’m kinda covered there.
Overall, I had a nice first experience with the software. It was a super basic 4 minute promo but… the client was stoked and FCPX worked pretty quickly on all fronts. What are the chances ProTools will jump on the FCPXML bandwagon or will there be a conflict of interest with Media Composer? I’ll ask the client if I can post the video on Vimeo to show it off. Cheers. -Richard
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28 Replies
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I think things have calmed down enough and you’re allowed to say nice things about FCP X now.
A month ago you would have been called every name in the book for saying what you just said.
You know – X is over, a joke, a toy, we must all run to Premier.
Funny – just read an article about how Sony’s new $100,000 SRMaster rig integrates with iMovie Pro…….
FCP X: Type A
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[Sean Thomas] “I think things have calmed down enough and you’re allowed to say nice things about FCP X now.
A month ago you would have been called every name in the book for saying what you just said.”
There has been an update and now there is a greater level of surety that an import and export XML path is possible, so yes compared to a month ago things have changed. Also Richard is musing that IF the new FCP X XML is adopted by third parties like da Vinci and ProTools, then he has a path out of the edit software to proper post production, so there is good reason why his comments now or a month ago shouldn’t have raised howls of derision.
As a post facility I still can’t advise editors to use FCP X however as there isn’t a solid reliable workflow from FCP X to proper post grading and sound post tools. That may change when it actually happens.
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[Sean Thomas]A month ago you would have been called every name in the book for saying what you just said.
I think it was far worse to say that you were going to switch to AVID/Premiere than to say you were going to try to make FCPX work with your current workflow.
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Have you had a chance to read this?
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/16212
Brings up some valid points regarding your concerns.
Marvin Holdman
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skype username – vidmarv -
“Did everything change in post?”
No absolutely nothing changed in post. The only thing that happened was that Apple put out a new app and everyone freaked out.
You would think that all installations of FCP7 were “raptured” from Macs all over the world.
I like the comment that I read elsewhere: FCP7, Avid, Premier are examples of what editing has been like for the past 10 years. FCP X is what editing is going to be like for the next 10 years.
Most people who complain about FCP X have NEVER touched it. I know at leat 5 editors who just spew bad info from the web as their opinion about FCP X and they’ve never used it.
I also know that most of the first wave of complaints were by people who didn’t know how to do a certain funcion in X so they assumed it did not do it. Several post on here about “try to move your media”, “try to make a duplicate time line”, etc. All right in front of their face, yet still complaining X won’t do it.
And really, did anyone buy X and never use 7 again. Tell their clients they can’t go back and re-edit anything. That is a ridiculous statement.
It will get better with each update and we’ll all laugh at some of these post.
FCP X: Type A
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[Sean Thomas] “I like the comment that I read elsewhere: FCP7, Avid, Premier are examples of what editing has been like for the past 10 years. FCP X is what editing is going to be like for the next 10 years.”
Maybe you can explain what this means then since there hasn’t been an answer in the other thread – what is going to be the future? Metadata or the magnetic timeline?
Metadata, I say yes. That’s a given and many of the NLEs have rich metadata capabilities. That’s a no brainer.
The magnetic timeline? I say no. If you disagree, please explain why, specifically, the magnetic timeline is better than what’s been used until now. And sync lock isn’t a viable answer.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
Not sure where I read that, probably Cow or FCP.co
But the first part is obvious – these are all 10 year old apps. Not much change.
Who has the balls to do something different – think differnt…..
Editing in X is like getting out of a 10 year old junker car with 200,000 miles and then sitting in a new Ferarri. Sleek, refined and FAST. Can’t get the whole family in there but it still works for some situations.
FCP X: Type A
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[Sean Thomas] “But the first part is obvious – these are all 10 year old apps. Not much change.
“There have been tremendous strides in the last 10 years, but the core function of editing has remained relatively unchanged. There may be a reason for that – wheels have been round since their inception and remained that way because they work.
[Sean Thomas] “Who has the balls to do something different – think differnt…..”
Different ≠ Better. For different to be better there must be a demonstrable improvement. The onus is on Apple to prove that their UI (and change in terminology) is step forward in editing. All I’ve seen from them promoting it are a couple of videos on their website that show me they don’t know how to use the other software efficiently and seem to have solved problems with them that don’t actually exist. So I’m not convinced their vision of how to construct an edit and how a timeline should operate is in fact better. It’s certainly different, but I’m not seeing the improvement over what everyone else is doing. That’s what I’m hoping someone will show me.
[Sean Thomas] “Editing in X is like getting out of a 10 year old junker car with 200,000 miles and then sitting in a new Ferarri. Sleek, refined and FAST. Can’t get the whole family in there but it still works for some situations.”
How familiar are you with Media Composer 5.5 and CS5.5? If it’s been a while since you’re tried other, you should download the trials. They’re both incredibly fast (especially when you consider that Media Composer is still a 32-bit app). The interfaces haven’t changed too much, but under the hood the engines are getting faster and faster and faster.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Sean Thomas] “No absolutely nothing changed in post. The only thing that happened was that Apple put out a new app and everyone freaked out. You would think that all installations of FCP7 were “raptured” from Macs all over the world.”
It sounds like FCPX is a good fit for your workflows, so I’m really happy that you’ve found a tool that works well for you.
Not everyone is so lucky. With FCPX, Apple kind of fired some of their most vocal customers by ignoring their workflow requirements.
Off the forums, a lot of these same people have been very calmly doing their work now with FCP7, but the software is EOL and there is no future in that, so everyone is also considering their options to move forward. A lot of people are just upset that they can’t currently continue with Apple after relying on them for a decade.
[Sean Thomas] “I like the comment that I read elsewhere: FCP7, Avid, Premier are examples of what editing has been like for the past 10 years. FCP X is what editing is going to be like for the next 10 years. Most people who complain about FCP X have NEVER touched it. I know at leat 5 editors who just spew bad info from the web as their opinion about FCP X and they’ve never used it.”
Likewise, it seems a lot of pro-FCPX arguments are made by editors coming from FCP7, without trying Premiere Pro and Media Composer.
Like Michael, I am sincerely curious. You’ve said that FCPX is faster — but faster than what, and faster how? What specific features or design changes are speeding up your workflow?
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[Walter Soyka] “Like Michael, I am sincerely curious. You’ve said that FCPX is faster — but faster than what, and faster how? What specific features or design changes are speeding up your workflow?
“I’d like these questions answered too. I keep hearing broad statements about “old code” a “the future” and “old clunkers v. Ferraris” but few people seem to get past that to explain what they mean. I do really want to know. Please, tell.
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