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I can’t believe how fast can work in FCP X already.
I just finished my first small job with X. It was a small agency piece incorporating some existing assets into a new promo. I have done some tutorials, so I was familiar with the work flow (theoretically) already. I remember the first time I opened X in June of 2011, I felt just like everyone else. But I have been slowly training and awaiting updates, and this version is ready for pro use. I jumped right into the project, incorporating mixed assets with no transcoding and little need to wait for renders as I worked. The magnetic timeline (something I was still pretty sceptical about until this first real world project proved its worth) made it possible to re-order and experiment much more quickly than in legacy. I never felt my hands were tied; quite the contrary, I felt a lot more freed up by the metadata organizing system and the trackless workflow. The only time I found myself missing a feature from legacy was when I wanted to paste attributes. You can paste effects, but then it over writes existing grades and effects on the target clip. One thing I discovered was that when I opened a compound clip and erased one of the clips inside and replaced it with a new clip, the basic motion that I had applied to the original clip was transferred to the new one. I’m not entirely sure how that happened but I was glad it did.
There definitely some issues that will come up as we begin implementing this new tool, but I am fully sold on its standing as a serious piece of software for professionals, it’s ability to change the way we work for the better, and it’s long-term success as a new platform for creativity. That last one is why I like it so much. The time I normally spend transcoding and rendering went towards creativity instead. We will be switching over our entire editing suite as soon as we can afford to replace one of our older machines.
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28 Replies
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Daniel,
Welcome to the hall of heretics.
I’m sure the torch bearers will show up soon to set fire to your roof, so in the quiet spell in between let me say a quiet hello.
Hang around some and “we who see the value” will eventually get around to showing you the secret handshakes.
We’re a small, but hearty folk. (And we’re getting richer and more productive all the time!)
Welcome.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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Oh dear, Bill.
This nice fellow’s post has been sitting here for a day without a single negative boo, and here you are promising that torch bearers will soon be upon him to se fire to his roof. What’s that say?
Anyway, Daniel, I’m glad it is working out for you. I, and I’m sure others, would be happy to hear of your further experiences with X. Please post ’em when you’ve got ’em.
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I too am finally starting to get a positive aquaintance with X – (after forcing myself to solely use this editor on my new MacBookPro) – but I cannot see it implemented at our facility, where we have 2 editing suites with shared storage.
– No Parking Production –
2 x Finalcut Studio3, 2 x Prod. bundle CS5.5, 2 x MacPro, 2 x ioHD, Ethernet File Server w. X-Raid…. and FCPX on trial
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@ Chris and Dave. Hello. I have actually been stalking these forums for a while now, but I never had anything to add because I hadn’t actually taken the risk of using this with clients. Now that I have one foot in, I will contribute my two cents.
Most of the criticisms I see of FCP X on these forums seems to be based on half truths and entirely false rumors. Most of the rest seem to come from people who think that things will never change. They are the brothers of the people who said that digital cameras would never be as good as film, that NLEs were okay for TV work, but not features, that sound was just a fad. And all those opinions I just listed were all supported by legitimate concerns at the time they were made. The point is, that nobody is doing R & D work on those old systems, and I suspect that neither are Adobe and Digidesign. Some jokers on a forum may not have the foresight to realize that the technology that they have grown comfortable with is changing doesnt mean that the designers of Premier and Avid werent staring at the new FCP X with a sense of admiration. I’d be willing to bet that they could see its value. Just because we’ve all been trapped in the unchanging box of our NLEs for the last 15 years, it doesn’t mean that the much larger foundation beneath us hasn’t been evolving into a completely unrecognizable new thing. As I look down at the smartphone into which I am typing this post, I am reminded that I don’t need to use my imagination to envision what the future holds. Something that struck me as funny was that Avid released their iPad app at about the same time as the last major FCP X upgrade. Maybe the timing was a coincidence, but the meaning was clear. Just as the FCP X UI is designed for a touch interface, so will be all future NLEs. Avid didn’t sink money into developing that up just so they could compete with iMovie on iMovie’s home field (or vimeo’s free app). It’s a preview, a warning to the Avid faithful, and an attempt to cash in early on the research that has been going into Avid X or whatever they are going to call it. Maybe they’ll implement more slowly or differently than apple did, but the outcome will be the same.
My stops coming up, so that’s my opinion anyway.
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[Craig Rutledge] “Most of the criticisms I see of FCP X on these forums seems to be based on half truths and entirely false rumors. Most of the rest seem to come from people who think that things will never change.”
Trouble with such generalisations is that you ignored a large number of people who posted negative comments about FCPX based on real world experience. If you think that basic functionality wasn’t missing for a large sector of the industry and that some but not all of those basic functions have been included in updates, (mostly welcomed by those same critics), then you have not read some of the constructive criticism that will hopefully guide others and Apple to improving their product.
Like many I have been at the bleeding edge for most of my career so I expect and welcome change. Half truths and false rumours are inevitable and partly caused by Apple’s secrecy. But there are many here who try to be objective and rational as we base our entire business strategy on trying to glean accurate information. Feedback like your is entirely welcome as we need real world experiences. At the same time we hear from other posters that this latest update is bloating and running slower. So keep the positive and negative feedback coming please.
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[Daniel Rutledge] “Avid didn’t sink money into developing that up just so they could compete with iMovie on iMovie’s home field (or vimeo’s free app). It’s a preview, a warning to the Avid faithful, and an attempt to cash in early on the research that has been going into Avid X or whatever they are going to call it. “
Nope. The Avid iPad app is in no way related to Media Composer, Symphony, or DS. It’s a consumer app from the consumer division, and a lot of the reviews I read rate it higher than iMovie in function and power.
Avid isn’t going to port Media Composer or their other professional grade NLEs to an all touch interface anytime soon (I wager – never). Touch interfaces could be useful for very specific tasks, but I’d wager again that they will never replace a keyboard/mouse/wacom combination.
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Michael Hancock
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Of course there are things missing. There are things that need to be added. There are bugs and glitches. I have had to send crash reports to Apple in the past and I sent one today. I am sure that some attention is being paid to the desires of the professional community. But ultimately the pro community just asks for more of the same, but faster and higher quality. There are smart people who’s job it is to develop UIs, hardware, and methods of working with technology. Saying that these companies should just give us what we ask for is like saying filmmakers should just make movies that the mass audience asks for.
I also don’t think that Avid will be unveiling a new touch screen application next year. But I think it is even less likely that in ten or fifteen years, people will be sitting in front of computers that look like the one you’re staring at right now and pushing a mouse around. That is what FCP X is about and I may not know what those future interfaces will be like, but I am positive that they will be different. If you think about it, a mouse is not the most natural tool to work with. Neither is a Wacom tablet. There are other ways of doing things. I’m not saying that we’ll all be editing on iPads in 2013, I am simply saying that those devices and the way consumers interact with them is an indicator of a possible direction. And honestly, I have always felt that Avid is way too tied to working on the principle of the UI being a graphical representation of working with film. I understand how that became the original analogy that the interface represented, but I started out working with Data (that’s a lie, started on Tape to Tape but not for very long) and I prefer to have data represented in a way that takes advantage of the environments flexibility. I’m not bashing Avid. I think it is great in a lot of ways. I started in FCP learned Avid after, and consequently customized my FCP keyboard shortcuts to resemble Avid more. I actually think that it some ways FCP X has a lot in common with Avid.
I can’t believe that avid is going to make that much money off of their consumer product, regardless of how good it is. It just seems likely that the consumer software is like a farm team for the main applications. It seems like that is what happened with iMovie and FCP X. Everyone kept calling it iMovie Pro so I decided to open iMovie for the first time in ten years. I laughed because I couldn’t believe how familiar it looked. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I personally am happy to find an easier way to work. If they can use a consumer app to find ways to perform complicated functions in a way that even a regular consumer can’t screw up, I’m all for that. A lot of what apple has done in FCP X (and more in Motion) is take complicated tasks, add an auto feature, but then provide a next level where you go in and tweak keyframes and parameters just as accurately as ever.
I don’t think I was generalizing in my dismissal of “most” critics. There are genuine hurdles to overcome. Despite their secretive nature, Apple has actually made promises for once (which they have kept), and through their actions, they have laid out a pattern of what to expect in the future; frequent updates. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple has abandoned the higher end broadcast market for the time being. I still hold that “most” critics are either cranks or curmudgeons. I have legitimate criticism and desires for X as do many others. I’m just dismissing people who had their feelings hurt by Apple and now are exercising this weird vendetta on FCP X forums. If people are switching to Avid then they should head over to the Avid forums. A couple of years ago I was talking to the Post Supervisor at HBO in NY and he was telling me that they were phasing out all their FCP work stations. Then, just after this release Bunim/Murray jumped ship. The market has increased in size, so different companies are pursuing different corners. A good friend of mine is switching to Premier. We used to work at a production company together and we were both total FCP nerds, but he has a real After Effect centric workflow now, so it makes sense for him.
“they will never replace a keyboard/mouse/wacom combination.”
That sounds a lot like they will never replace the Moviola. Seriously, forget the next ten years; assuming that we haven’t blown up the earth by then, what about 100 years. That’s all your imagination will allow? 100 years from now there will be some guy sitting in front of an LCD screen clicking a mouse and arguing on Creative Cow that there will be an eternity of mouse clicking awaiting editors add infinitum. That is a scene straight out of Foucault.
I decided to make up my own mind. I’m not a fan boy. I was ready to jump ship if things turned out as badly as the picture being painted early on. I have used the program. It worked perfectly for what I needed. That’s good enough for me. I still have FCP 7, Premiere, and Avid MC on my computer just incase a freelance job comes along that calls for one of them, but my personal choice in the future is FCP X.
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[Michael Hancock] “Avid isn’t going to port Media Composer or their other professional grade NLEs to an all touch interface anytime soon (I wager – never). Touch interfaces could be useful for very specific tasks, but I’d wager again that they will never replace a keyboard/mouse/wacom combination.
“Yeah, I find that a no go, myself. I Do like rotating between mouse, track pad, and tablet to keep my fingers fresh, and just because my mood changes from day to day, but, after spending a couple of years with a tablet, I find it far more more constraining than I had initially imagined. My iPad is a great media device, and occasionally doubles as an interesting controller, but I have no real desire to edit with it. That my fingers get in the way is part of it, but precision is the big thing. Using an external device that acts as an analog to the mouse cursor on the screen allows me to get into much smaller areas then when I’m actually touching the glass with my fingers.
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Well, Daniel those are certainly some well-defined beliefs. I don’t share many of them, but I do agree that there’s a strong possibility that FCP X might have been designed with a touchscreen in mind. And, once upon a time, I probably believed that a touchscreen was an inevitable evolutionary development for NLEs. Spending a few years with one has convinced me that it isn’t–at least not for me.
As to the Avid App, I don’t think that’s meant to be anything more than a consumer plaything. I’ve enjoyed messing around with it a bit, but I sincerely doubt it will ever be anything more than a fun little App.
As to being trapped in my box–I don’t feel it. Good for you that you like X so much; do me a favor, though, and try not to judge those of us who have our qualms about it quite so harshly. We may be jokers without much foresight, but its not for lack of trying. Right now X just doesn’t work for some of us.
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I feel like on these forums people often just see parts of a post and zero in on statements in isolation, ignoring context. I never said that anyone was ready to switch over to an all touch workspace. Can you imagine how your back would feel after a ten hour editing session in which you had both arms out in front of you at a 90º angle manipulating icons. It just wouldn’t be practical. I personally only like using Wacom in PS and for certain things in AE. My tablet also works as a touch track pad. I never liked navigating menus with the pen, I pretty much use it exclusively for drawing. But I see that as a short coming on my part. Anyway, imagine if your Wacom tablet was like an iPad. You could use it like you use your current Wacom, you could use it to draw directly on compositions, you could take it to other rooms and still work on certain aspects of your project, you can use it as a control surface (something that iPads can already do), etc. The Wacom Cintiq already does a lot of these things. If I could afford to buy one just to see if I like it, I would. A motion graphics artist/animator that I know uses one exclusively. It seems like a lot of fun and also like an efficient way to work. I personally can’t imagine giving up the keyboard completely. One of the things I like about the new Final Cut is that the keyboard shortcuts are so much more powerful and streamlined. I think that is an area where Avid has always had FCP beat (until now). As a professional you need to be able enter precise time code and enter other information accurately in ways that I think would be cumbersome in even the most advanced touch system. Some day there will probably be a world without dedicated keyboards I am sure, just because I can’t imagine it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Watch these videos (which you have probably seen before) but don’t imagine using the devices just as they are represented, try to picture incorporating them into your workflow as pieces of a bigger puzzle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceUiKNF7rNk
There are legions of kids heading off to film school next Fall. Many of them have only ever used iMovie, or at least started with it before using FCP in high school. They are going to open FCP X and think 1. This looks familiar 2. It can accomplish everything that the other programs can 3. it costs less and 4. I pretty much already know how to use it.
FCP X isn’t just looking at next year. It is designed as a foundation for the next ten years, just like FCP 1 was.
Also you say that Avid won’t do this or that to MC. Avid learned their lesson the first time around with FCP. Do you think that twelve years ago the people at Avid were sitting around talking about ways to make their product a piece of standalone software that cost 1/20 of what their least expensive integrated hardware and software system did at the time? No, that happened because they saw Apple first create a whole new market and then start encroaching on the higher end film and television market that once seemed like it was the personal property of Avid. Some of the older guys I have met have told me horror stories about dealing Avid when there was no competition. This one guy told me that the facilities manager at a place where he worked came back from a meeting with Avid reps crying, haha. They threatened to revoke the company’s Avid license because they had bought some piece of unapproved third-party software.
My point is, things used to be one way and they changed, then they changed again and again.
I’m not trying to talk anyone into liking FCP X, I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be close minded about it and try to talk other people into not liking it. I for one think it is a great improvement on workflow and I would love to see it succeed. I don’t believe that anyone who tries it in earnest, will say that it’s not professional, or that it is badly designed. I understand that at the moment it isn’t suited for a networked environment where media and projects are shared, but I am sure that will change (and quickly judging from the rate at which updates are released). Really, I don’t see any other workflow for which it is not suited.
I have to admit that I don’t understand Avid’s strategy with their entrance into the consumer software market. I was surprised when they bought Pinnacle back in 2005. I was even more surprised that they didn’t kill it. Maybe your right about the iPad app and Avid Studio (which looks like a cross between iMovie, Avid MC, and Final Cut Express). Maybe they have found a way to make money in the consumer market and that’s all there is to it. I still think that I’m right on this, but there’s no way of knowing. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised to find out I’m wrong
I wasn’t being facetious when I asked if you thought that editors would be working just as we have been for the last 20 years, 100 years from now. I really want to know what you think. You said “never” in reference to changing interface design. I was assuming that your “never” was figurative, and I was asking what you really thought.
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