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FCPX Speed and workflow increases ? Real World examples?
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[Neil Goodman] ” except i turn it off in the timeline and only use it in the event. “
I generally keep it off in the timeline as well… unless I need to quickly whip around. And it a pretty great way to get around the timeline when you get used to it. Though it can get a little squirrely. 🙂 Anyway, if you think skimming is cool… you should turn Clip Skimming on and try that in the timeline. OPT-CMD-S 🙂
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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
So far on the film that I’m cutting, the assistant and I are using simple sharing. I have the media locally connected on a MAXX Digital RAID and he accesses it via AFP. He organizes and syncs in his “dailies” Event and then I copy that to my machine. Open X, copy the “dailies” Event clips to my “master” Event. Exit X, hide the “dailies” Event, relaunch X. The workflow with FCP7, PProCC or MC7 would be similar in this environment.
Regarding overall speed… Some things are faster, some slower. My net results are about the same as compared with cutting on FCP7 or Media Composer. I organize a keyword collection for each scene. That works well, but I prefer actual bins.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Mark Raudonis] “So far, NOBODY here to speak to collaborative, shared storage , work group editing.”
While we’re asking, what about sharing with a remote editor. When cutting my 26 show series I take all the media from one episode, transfer it to a portable hard drive and then send it off to one of my collaborating editors. They send me back project files, or XMLs of timelines, which I relink to my media. Each episode has it’s own project file. Is this possible with X and what would be the workflow?
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
Well, I think it depends of the kind of work you are doing.
For instance, for my last work I had 16 hours of media from Alexa + Canon + Blackmagic media and I had to use FCP7. (I have worked with FCPX in other projects too)
As usual, the timing was so tight that I had to have my first cut on the second day, so I spent the first one making a sort of quick selections. This project was special because there was lots of shots using amateur sport teams, so I had to search all the footage looking for that small parts that may work from long almost useless clips, as opposed to multiple shots of the same action.
One of the most important thing in Advertising is organization. You have to edit with the director and some agency creatives asking for different things, mostly at the same time, and everyone asking for his own favorite portions of the media. And there is when you miss FPCX when working with another NLE.
In the same clip, I can add keywords marking the parts every single member of the team asks for, even with overlapping parts of the shots. Then, you can recall that selection immediately if you have a Smart Collection for each one, or just using the search box. That would not work the same using bins and subclips.
Even more. I had commercials planned for several countries, so different language was involved for every scene with dialogue. Then, you need to have selections with a particular language, but the reactions can be the same, so if you have a timeline or a bin with “french” dialogue, you are not accessing to those reactions but when shooting french, so if the best reaction is in another group of shots you have to look at several selections. And what if you need to look just at good reactions and forget about the dialog parts? Then key wording and skimming are magical.
In the timeline the speed depends of what you are doing. Primary storyline is faster than any NLE, but sometimes you have to edit stacked clips and you can’t do it at once but trimming one clip at a time. I am not too fan of compounds since you have to be careful of modifying one that is used in a previous version of the edit. Since you never know when someone is going to recall a previous cut, I duplicate the sequence (Project) before every mayor change.
About trackless and timeline organization, I hope Apple soon adds the option to “magnetic-sort” clips based on role+source clip name. That way, all the clips that are the same role are kept together like using separators with that disabled clips workaround. Hopefully, they event allow colorizing clips based on that.
The ability to work with original media or proxies at the same time makes really easy to have the project in my notebook with proxies and to use original media when connected to a big display. That is invaluable.
Color correction and filters in realtime is really helpful too.
When it come the time for export the edit for everyone involved, I is fast and combined with motion is really customizable.
Leo Hans
Editor AVID – Final Cut Pro (7+X)
https://www.leohans.com -
[Herb Sevush] “While we’re asking, what about sharing with a remote editor. When cutting my 26 show series I take all the media from one episode, transfer it to a portable hard drive and then send it off to one of my collaborating editors. They send me back project files, or XMLs of timelines, which I relink to my media. Each episode has it’s own project file. Is this possible with X and what would be the workflow?”
Hi Herb,
That’s they way that we work on processing interview material after a shoot although not on the same scale as your 26 show series.
Once all the files have been imported and I’ve identified which ones contain interviews I copy those files onto a portable hard drive which our producer then references from an event she has created.
Once the analysis, favouriting and partial transcription has been completed I either manually copy her event into my events folder or re connect the portable drive and the event shows up in the event viewer. I then merge that event into my existing production event and reconnect media if required.
This would presumably also work for projects although they are considerably larger items.
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[Herb Sevush] “They send me back project files, or XMLs of timelines, which I relink to my media. Each episode has it’s own project file. Is this possible with X and what would be the workflow?”
Yes – and the workflow would be the same. Both editors have mirrored media and Event. The Project file (edited sequence) can be e-mailed back-and-forth. Then relink. Works the same across the country as across a facility. DropBox is good for this.
However, more to Mark’s question… The kind of complex collaboration of multiple editors working multiple edit projects that is common in FCP7/Xsan or MC/ISIS facilities is not a strong point for X. When everyone understands the rules, then collaboration with X works – within a small group of editors.
If you want the more freeform functionality of “legacy” or MC, then X can cause a complete train wreck and is probably the last NLE I would recommend. Premiere Pro CC is far more suited and that’s without touching Anywhere.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Yesterday/today I cut a five min talking head corporate complete with complex chromakey, motion graphics, b-roll drop in’s etc.
It’s the same piece I’ve done for about four years three times a year. As of last Jan I’ve done it solely in X and we are doing it quicker and quicker every time because of the way X works. Having the power of a new MBP tuned to X also helps.
We used to start four days before delivery, shooting in the AM. I would then go home and do a story edit with just the presenter without backgrounds, keys, graphics etc. Then spend the next few days keying etc – usually right up to the wire.
We are shooting two days before the deadline, editing on site. Yesterday we finished shooting at 12pm and by 5pm we showed the client pretty much the final piece with background keys, all the graphics and music.
Because of the wonderful way compound clips work as well I’m able to make two versions, one for internal and another for external. This time they just differ in the ending. I cut the bulk of it and then made that into a compound clip. I then cut the two endings in the event, created two projects, dropped on the main bit to each and then tagged on the appropriate endings. Then if there are any changes to the main bit I can edit them in the compound clip knowing the changes will appear in both projects.
This morning instead of tweaking key’s etc I’m twiddling my thumbs waiting for the all clear to take the kids swimming.
I don’t know if I could do this in Avid but I know I couldn’t do this, at this speed, in 7.
Michael Sanders
London Based DP/Editor -
[Leo Hans] “This project was special because there was lots of shots using amateur sport teams, so I had to search all the footage looking for that small parts that may work from long almost useless clips, as opposed to multiple shots of the same action.”
Let me build upon this and give you my dream workflow.
I do lot of work for FOX, ESPN and the rest and this is my opinion of how the workflow could go.
I say “could” because they have invested in AVID and it’s not going to happen anytime soon.
They are missing the X boat IMHOIf you are shooting say, a Football game, nobody knows more about the footage at that point than the shooter. They shot it.
The producer is sitting up in the press box while you are running around on the field.
At the end, the shooter creates their own Event with favorites with their footage.
Then the shooter hands that event to the producer who farther refines the event with their favorites.
Finally the producer gives that Event to the editor. All tagged and ready to go.
A great deal of the work has been done before it reaches the edit bay, making the edit faster because there is less to do.
You would have to pay shooters for that extra work but they hope that shooters delete shots in-camera before they hand off the raw anyway and when they stay to do that they charge.
Less work for the editor.
Less work for the producer. (they don’t want to search through all that raw footage)
More work for the shooter but they would get paid extra to do it. Heck I’d take that extra money for sitting there and tagging : )
Here is why it would work in a practical since.
X is affordable and many shooters already have it on their computers.
It’s also user friendly for shooters that have not done much editing in the past.It’s fast and simple and I don’t think shooters would mind doing it if the price was right.
This post may not sway many because it is theory. We don’t actually do this. We use AVID and producers log through miles of P2 footage with a million incomplete passes.
All the same, I’d be happy to hear why this wouldn’t work or not be a better use of our time.
PS
This could also work outside of sports : )
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Tony,
Your solution could work brilliantly – but it’s going to be hard to get anyone upstream to buy into it until they understand X.
Here’s why. Very few people outside those of us who use it understand the metadata handling in X.
They won’t naturally “get” that in your scenario, ALL the original footage remains available at all the stages of the edit. And that using keyword tags (or simply Reject/Favorite) it’s possible for the initial editor/screener to bucket what he or she thinks is the “best” stuff – while STILL allowing subsequent footage reviewers including the final editor to easily skim through not just the “selects” done by everyone from the original shooter to the producer – but groups of selects from other stakeholders – so damn easily.
They’ll likely take the positon that “Hey, *I* need to be able to “see” everything – cuz I’m the only person who can know what should be in the final selects bucket.
They simply won’t get that things have changed. And that there doesn’t have to be ONE selects bucket anymore. And more critically – that ALL the raw footage can always be just a nearly instant Crontrol-C away.
Remember people who don’t use it – just dont’ understand it at this point. So they often just don’t realize just how easy it is to do what you’re suggesting. Particularly that granting “review” rights to one person at one point in the process – does NOTHING to preclude others from attacking an issue like “what’s are the best shots” in a different context or fashion.
In time, with the tool out there and trust relationships being built between the shooter/X editor and the team back in edit, efficiency will likely skyrocket.
But not at first. Because people will think they’re giving up control.
And we all know how easy it is to get people to do that!Really, if the back end folks ever started to see that pre-keywording in X in the field as what it is – hyper-efficient, hyper powerful form of field shooting notes – they’d BEG shooters to do this. On EVERY shoot. And probably include a field camera op kit with a fully charged 13″ MBP running X!
Just my 2 cents.
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.
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[Mark Raudonis] “Let’s address that, shall we? Faster? Better organized? I’m all ears. Let’s hear some stories.”
People call our sparse disk image setup a hack but it’s a hack that’s been pretty solid since we started working between multiple systems in August of last year. Now that we’re 10Gbe it’s even better.
John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.
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