Hi Chloe,
Sorry you’re having issues.
FIrst off, one of the processes that takes place as software is revised is that bugs that have been revealed get addressed. This might not be a part of your problem, but generally speaking, running old code (old versions of any program) brings more issues than running the latest code.
As to your specific issues, it’s hard to diagnose things like this without the ability to closely examine a particular storyline. But the magnetic timeline and clip collision avoidance (which appears to be what you’re having problems with) follows a very rigid internal logic. Things do not just randomly shift on their own (unless something is actually wrong with your individual software program) but shift in reaction to what’s on the timeline and how you’re moving assets.
As a small example, I’ve seen circumstances where clips don’t appear to work correctly, only to discover a 1 frame nearly invisible piece of video hidden on a track that’s causing the other clip to jump up or down. This isn’t a diagnosis of YOUR specific problem. Just an example of the fact that with so many people using FCP-X successfully, it’s just common sense to start from a place where the program CAN do what you want – because that’s the daily experience for many of us.
You might not fully understand the logic behind how X’s operates quite yet, but there IS logic there. And I’m confident that if you give yourself time and keep and open mind, you’ll have no problem learning it’s ways.
Hope this helps.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.