Cutting a major Hollywood Feature on FCPX

[Bill Davis]

It’s been all over the major FCP X sites for the past week.

As much as I love the debate here,, this forum has a bit of a reputation for trashing X, so the eyeballs of the active FCP X user community have largely moved elsewhere.

Multiple front page stories on FCP.co and most of the major Facebook pages related to FCP X.

Again, as I’ve pointed out here over and over – X is gaining a sterling reputation in Europe and the wider world outside the US. It’s just here in the US that the industry can’t seem to let go of the anti-X attitude.

When THE BIG MOVIE comes out, and the team responsible are no longer under those iron clad Hollywood NDAs – I suspect the story you’ll likely be hearing from Mike and others is that X truly is faster and more efficient when cutting a big feature than the other alternatives. He’s said as much publicly, particularly on the FCP Virtual Users Group he and I appeared on together for PixelCorps. It’s no surprise that Alex Lindsey moved the time up to accommodate the European audience. It’s kinda where all the action is right now.

FWIW.

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.

[Neil Goodman]

Its been said here a bunch of times that FCPX is great for front end – AE type of work. Dailies, organizing, conforming, etc. No ones argues that and this video solidifies it in the motion picture world. Thats great

I want to know how the timeline helped make the film, and if it was indeed faster in the creative part of the process. How did they share the media and sequences between different editors, how did FCPX boost the collaborative effort that film editorial is?

Again, all the organizational tools in X are great but motion picture editors generally don’t touch that part of the process at least on the studio level.

BTW – homeboy kinda said he’d like some sort of tracks in there or a better way to manage everything on the timeline other than roles. 😉

[David Mathis]

[Bill Davis] “As much as I love the debate here,, this forum has a bit of a reputation for trashing X, so the eyeballs of the active FCP X user community have largely moved elsewhere.”

I agree and disagree at the same time. I do feel that FCP X needs some improvement, it is not perfect, then again no NLE is. I nearly threw up when it first came on the scene but decided to give it a try. Started in around version 10.0.6, since then it has become a very good competitor.

A few basic features in FCP 7 and versions prior are still missing but I have found a few workarounds. I also don’t mind adding some other applications to the mix. I have 7 to X, Media Info and a few other tools in the box.

I use Motion to create custom built effects, generators and so on. One example was making a fade in / out effect. This way I can have a clip fade in, fade out or both by applying the effect built in Motion. Saves time and key frames. Just a couple of adjustments and presto!

I find that being able to create custom built stuff from scratch can save time and money. Besides it is fun, the most important aspect. The money saved can be used for a new set of lens, a lighting kit or more storage. That is my take on it.

[Chris Harlan]

Yeah. I agree with his assessment. If I could have a more mappable version of roles and a slightly more user definable UI, I’d start playing with it again.

[Timothy Auld]

You can cut a feature on an RM-440. But, like you, I cannot wait until all the NDA’s are over (which they almost never are, by the way – if you sign an NDA they usually have your balls for life) and the curtain is rolled back to reveal FCPX as the new feature editor of choice. Unlike Premiere and the many, many features currently being cut on it, and the many, many other features (still) being cut on FCP 7, and the (vast majority) of features being cut on Avid.

Tim

[Oliver Peters]

There are a zillion different ways that editors and directors approach the workflow of cutting a feature film. Some editors do extensive temp mixes, while others keep the timeline very sparse. Some rely on tools like ScriptSync and others never touch them. Some feature films could and are cut on simple systems like laptops. Others require a whole arsenal of workstations.

FCP X has been used on several features worldwide, but there’s no given that it would work for all. It really comes down to the working style of the director and editor. Read through the film stories on my blog and you’ll get a sense of that.

If you look at all the press about “Gone Girl” a key reason they picked Premiere Pro was due to the tight integration with After Effects for in-house VFX and finishing. On the flip side, if you listen to Mike’s presentation, he mentioned their in-house temp VFX were done on Nuke. This means less dependence of which NLE is used. In fact, ClipExporter gets you from FCPXML to Nuke.

So, just like “Cold Mountain” didn’t flip the whole film world to FCP “legacy”, I doubt “Movie X” or “Gone Girl” will shift film editors to FCP X or Premiere Pro. However, in both cases, it does the crack the door a bit wider and show the industry that these can be industrial-strength tools.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Gary Huff]

[Bill Davis] “As much as I love the debate here,, this forum has a bit of a reputation for trashing X, so the eyeballs of the active FCP X user community have largely moved elsewhere.”

Hey Bill, 2011 called, it wants its putdowns back.

[Gary Huff]

[Oliver Peters] “So, just like “Cold Mountain” didn’t flip the whole film world to FCP “legacy”, I doubt “Movie X” or “Gone Girl” will shift film editors to FCP X or Premiere Pro. However, in both cases, it does the crack the door a bit wider and show the industry that these can be industrial-strength tools.
“

At least we know Gone Girl is Premiere. The film in question is apparently Focus, which is an R-rated Romantic Comedy being dumped out to theaters in February.

[Misha Aranyshev]

I was at LAFCPUG presentation. Having seen that I wouldn’t even think about starting a feature film in FCPX without Sync-n-Link and a bunch of other apps.

[Ronny Courtens]

I you have ever cut a feature film you know you need a bunch of apps and utilities, no matter what NLE you use. Sync-N-Link X is a very robust and fast tool for synching up TC-jammed video with external audio, and it integrates perfectly with the FCP X metadata workflow. Saves you tons of time and money.

– Ronny