Best online Final Cut Pro tutorial/school or Do it on my own?

[Petter Brox]

I recommend you to have a look at Lynda.com.

Regards,
Petter Brox (Spain)

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Joe,
If you have experience with other NLE, then you just need to learn the tricks of a new tool.
Don’t need to spend much money.
As Joe points, Linda.com are very well know and the little I saw, very well designed.
There are tons of tutorials in web sites like “Ken Stone”, LAFCUG and of course here in the COW.
Start by learning how to use the “FC Help”.
The FC’s Help has became a very good corpus of knowledge on Digital Video.
Cheers,
Rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Bj Ahlen]

Get the Apple Pro Training Series books, starting with Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 7.

Best $30 you’ll ever spend, as you will learn how to do things the best way, as opposed to “I got it to work this way.” It comes with tutorial footage from major TV-series and more, and everything is just well thought out.

A lot of self-taught editors don’t even know that they could work twice as fast if they knew the best ways.

For a Sony Vegas editor, it is particularly important to learn FCP from scratch, because it is so different.

Vegas is a DAW that added video a long time ago. It still uses a DAW paradigm, which is wonderfully efficient in many cases (it may end up being used for FCP8, we’ll see).

Editing using a DAW is very different from editing on a classical NLE like FCP/Avid/…., so it is important you develop habits that work for this paradigm.

The other resource I recommend you get early is “Final Cut Pro Killer Secrets” by Martin Baker.

I challenge anyone no matter how experienced with FCP not to learn something incredibly useful from this. It isn’t a tutorial type book, just incredibly valuable tips that can save you a lot of time and aggravation.

[Francis Hughes]

I too would highly recommend lynda.com a friend showed me some of their tutorials and they are really excellent. Also if you prefer video tutorials (which I do) you will love these.

P.S I swear I don’t work for them haha!

[Rob Tinworth]

I would highly recommend opening the manual at page 1 and reading it through to the last page with FCP open in front of you.

There are some workarounds and workflows that tutorials/forums can teach you, but basically everything you need to know about FCP is in the manual. And it’s free.

Rob Tinworth
http://www.1021.tv

[Bj Ahlen]

The manual is very good, as is Apple’s FCP workflow description (also free).

Lynda is a very good training company, but if you want tutorial media I think you have to pay $375 for a premium subscription.

Videos have pros and cons compared to the best books. I desperately wanted to love the videos, but found the back-and-forth to be more painful than with a book at your side and working on real editing of a TV show say, where you are actually doing it (vs. watching someone else do it and seeing a low res image of a very high resolution interface).

[Kevin Monahan]

Joe,
I recommend the Pro Training Book too, I’ve taught FCP professionally and that is the book that I teach from.

That being said, nothing beats a live Apple Certified Instructor dealing it out to you, providing tricks and insight along the way. The book is only the nuts and bolts, but if you wanna know how to drive FCP the way it should be, seek out a mentor or FCP guru and take one advanced class. Advanced Editing class would be the one to take after you feel comfortable with the FCP interface and a hand full of shortcuts.

Kevin Monahan
60 Blu-ray Templates for Final Cut Studio 2009
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro