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moving to FCPX
Hi all,
I am currently editing on FCP6 (yes, old I know) and Im about to make the move to FCPX, I just wondered how straight forward this was? and what I need to do to safeguard my projects in FCP? is footage I have imported to FCP6 transferable to FCPX?
I live on this forum, I’ve learnt so much from you all!
Thanks in advance
K -
4 Replies
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[Kirsty Perkins] “how straight forward this was? “
Not straight forward at all. It’s an entirely new application. The entire workflow is different…the interface, everything. You’ll be learning from scratch. And I hear that it’s best to get training…lots of videos out there for this. But people swear by it…love it. Personally, I don’t use it.
[Kirsty Perkins] “and what I need to do to safeguard my projects in FCP? “
Keep your old computer and a copy of FCP 6. This is the only way you will be able to revisit them. Because there is no way to convert FCP 6 projects to FCX. You can go from FCP 7 to X…with a separate app called 7toX. This app only works with FCP 7….not 6. And FCP 7 was discontinued 3 years ago…
[Kirsty Perkins] “is footage I have imported to FCP6 transferable to FCPX? “
Footage…yes. sequences, projects, bin organization…no.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thats a great help thanks Shane. I am very comfortable in my old FCP mode, but comfort isnt always good is it?
I have a few months between projects so will start watching some tutorials and see how I feel about it. Thanks for the response
K -
Personally, I got a lot out of the Larry Jordan seminar on creative live, plus his own, downloadable tutorial package. Not to be too much a shill for larry, but he’s got a real cheap download deal on the basics of FCPX going right now; I highly recommend taking advantage of that deal while it lasts. Hard to go wrong for ten bucks
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I switched to Premiere instead of FCPX because I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of editing without tracks.
Here’s the first clear explanation of the difference between track-based NLEs and FCPX that I’ve ever seen, from a linkedin group:Bill Davis
Video Producer, FCP-X Expert Trainer and Consultant, Voice Talent
As to tracks, after a while an X editor simply starts to think not in “lanes” but instead in the “connectedness” of their asset groupings. Once you group things, video, audio, titles or graphics, the grouping stays together magnetically and can be moved as a unit. It’s similar to how we build everything else these days. Homes to cars to computers aren’t built piece by piece, but rather assembled out of modules. It’s more efficient. Particularly if, say, your title sequence has a similar shape from project to project. You can build it once – make it into a compound clip in X – then drop and customize the same module into a dozen or a hundred subsequent shows.
X is a two part construction – a keyword driven range-based digital asset manager – bolted onto a magnetic storyline editor. The issue for outsiders coming at it is that they likely only have experience with traditional non magnetic timelines so they try to understand it in the context of their prior experience – and it just seems foreign. Editors who pick it up fastest are almost always those who can release their prior conditioning. An editor who can’t will do better with the comfort of a Premier. If you can, and learn X thoroughly, well, I’ll just say I’m honestly about 30 to 50% more productive editing in X then I was after 10 plus years cutting in FCP Legacy. And it’s a whole lot more fun. YMMV.
Robert Withers
Pharma-Medical Copywriting and Media
Thanks, Bill. That’s the first conceptual explanation of FCP X I’ve ever seen. Very interesting, the idea of construction of groupings “in space” vs construction in linear time. This is reflected in some kinds of late 20th visual music scores as selectable cluster arrangements on the 2D page vs cluster arrangements in a linear timeline, like traditional scores. .
Bill Davis
Video Producer, FCP-X Expert Trainer and Consultant, Voice Talent
I know. The magnetic timeline threw a lot of editors off balance. They approached it like magnetism applied to traditional timeline and fought it tooth and nail. They never understood that it works as part of an entire system. Alone, it’s just interesting. But combined with range based key wording, pre editing in the event browser, and magnetic vertical clip connections for grouping, it honestly can supercharge editing construction if used properly.
Robert Withers
Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City
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