FCP-X: Thinking Differently?

[Andrew Richards]

[Walter Soyka] “I don’t think that compound clips/explicit relationships/metadata and spatial arrangement are mutually exclusive, though, and I’d certainly prefer a system that offered both.”

I yield and agree that there is no mutual exclusivity, and that spatial organization is valuable to users.

Best,
Andy

[David Roth weiss]

[Andrew Richards] “Why copy digital data when you can just reference it?”

You are only referencing it. You’re copying an alias, not the media itself.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

Don’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.

[Andrew Richards]

[Chris Harlan] “These aren’t opinions. These are facts.”

Facts I do not dispute and facts that are off topic. Here I’m exploring whether or not the magnetic timeline can be used effectively for complex edits. I’m well aware of FCPX’s other documented shortcomings.

Best,
Andy

[Walter Soyka]

[Andrew Richards] “Why is this a good thing though? Why copy digital data when you can just reference it?”

[Andrew Richards] “Yes, and that metadata makes it searchable. Spatial is quicker to locate only as long as the data set can fit in your field of view. Truly a fundamental difference, and a debate that is not at all limited to NLEs.”

I’m not saying these are good things, just explaining why I think film editorial is closer to FCP than FCPX. I’m largely in agreement with you on metadata. I was arguing for the Be file system here a few days ago.

[Andrew Richards] “True. And I think that’s why I like the abstractions. Forcing a meatspace analog onto fully digital workflow seems incongruent to me. I can understand why others hate it though.”

This is where the debate splits over organization and timeline. FCP’s organization is very physical, but its open timeline is an abstraction. FCPX’s organization is entirely metadata-driven with no physicality, but its magnetic timeline is an abstraction with the feel of physicality.

Both timelines are abstractions, but with clearly different models and assumptions.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Andrew Richards]

[David Roth Weiss] “You are only referencing it. You’re copying an alias, not the media itself.”

So aside from not using traditional jargon, what is the problem with Keyword Collections?

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

To wit:

[Steve Jobs] “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

Best,
Andy

[David Roth weiss]

[Andrew Richards] “So aside from not using traditional jargon, what is the problem with Keyword Collections?
“

If that was “added to” FCP rather than substituted in place of what came before I’d be more inclined to admire it.

I’m really beginning to see this entire debate in terms of the cost-benefit analysis I wrote about elsewhere in this thread. By forcing every single one its 2-million current (okay former) FCS 3 users to retrain, Apple has seriously disadvantaged its existing customers and raised some very serious questions about its definition of efficiency.

You may recall, several weeks ago I brought up this point, using the analogy of the Dvorak keyboard. We know the Dvorak keyboard is more efficient and more ergonomic, that’s been proven scientifically, but how many people who get along just fine with their Qwerty keyboards actually actually appreciated the benefits when they considered the time and the trouble it would take to learn the Dvorak keyboard?

Can we accurately characterize something as being “more efficient” if it requires complete retraining and learning of a completely different vernacular? The two things are not independent of one another.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

Don’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.

[Andrew Richards]

[Geoff Dills] “A huge problem with X is it’s NOT intuitive to anyone who has ever edited on any other piece of editing software. “

Except one. It ships on every Mac and now if the user wants something better, they aren’t faced with having to learn something completely different.

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

The Dvorak analogy is perfectly apt, and I missed that prior post. I think your distillation to cost/benefit is exactly right as well. I see FCPX as a step forward from my habits using FCP. Many others see it as too different to be worth it, regardless of its other capabilities or features (missing or otherwise). Where I see potential, others will see liability.

However, in the case of Keyword Collections in particular, I still don’t see how they are exclusive of any of the good ol’ fashioned bin behavior. You can still create one with a keystroke like you could with a bin, still drag clips into it like a bin, still look at the contents in a list like the bins in legacy FCP. If Keyword Collections and Smart Collections were called Bins and Smart Bins, would that make it easier to swallow? A rose by any other name?

Best,
Andy

[Steve Connor]

Or perhaps they are waiting for a feature release as well as a maintenance release?

Steve Connor
Adrenalin Television

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