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Final Cut in the Newsroom…
Hello:
Our station here in Kamloops, BC is thinking of adding a couple of Final Cut suites into the newsroom. But, I’m afraid they’re going to go “on the cheap” and buy FCP Express. I’m in the commercial production end of things and I see the total benefits of FCS 2, but, would FCP Express be good enough in the hack and slash environment of a newsroom, or is it just a little too “consumer” for an operation like that. I know very little about FCP Express except that it doesn’t cost a whole lot. And that’s what the bean counters are seeing. Any thoughts that I could pass along would be appreciated.
Thanx
Evan Fitzer
CFJC-TV, Kamloops, BC -
7 Replies
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Are you going to be using capture cards? FCExpress won’t accept them.
Jeremy
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Hi Evan
Probably the biggest drawback to using FCEexpress is that it doesn’t let you see source time code. That would be a drag in news editing. I believe it only has print-to-video rather than print-to-video and edit-to-tape that FCPro has.
There’s a lot in Final Cut Studio that you don’t need for editing news, but Express might be a little too limiting.
Cheers
John Christie
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Jeremy, I believe that has yet to be determined, so, that’s a very good point. I’m guessing that capture cards will be in the picture because of the vast array of formats we still have kicking around here.
EvanEvan Fitzer
Kamloops, BC -
[Evan Fitzer] “I’m guessing that capture cards will be in the picture because of the vast array of formats we still have kicking around here. “
No brainer. Get FCS.
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Plus I don’t think that Express supports the “professional” broadcast formats, but only works with DV, HDV or AVCHD. As I read the specs, it looks like you would be limited to Firewire I/O for the system.
One of the local stations in my market here installed a couple of Final Cut systems in their newsrooms and it was disastrous. The news folk never did figure out how to run the system and in the end, they wouldn’t touch it. Of course, there was NO formal training on the systems. Instead it was “Here you go. Make news now…” They begged for the ancient Postbox to be returned instead of the Final Cut system. Both were eventually replaced with NewsCutters. Those gave the staff fits as well, but, with some training they eventually found a way to make them work.
If they install FCE systems MAKE SURE that there is someone with the patience of Job (not Jobs) to train them.
My 2¢ worth.
Tom -
That would be my concern too, having used Avid Newscutter in a server-based environment a few times it really did have rock-solid workflow and integration.
Of course if you’re all tape-based, it might not be such an issue, although I’d still wonder if the fast-turnaround style of spot-news is entirely suited to FCP.
That said, from what I know of FC Express, that would definitely seem to be a poor decision.
There’s not a lot of news operations in my part of the world, but I know none of them are using FCP. Some use Avid (Newscutter and Media Composer) and the rest use one of a handful of niche News NLEs. But I’ve certainly heard of US news operations using FCP for spot news editing. Check out the Forum on B-Roll.net – it’s a news shooters’ board, and they’ll have a better idea of what people are doing.
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My thanx to all who chimed in. Goood information. Much appreciated.
EvanEvan Fitzer
Kamloops, BC
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