Flattening multicam

[Bret Williams]

I’m going to say no and hope someone proves me wrong. This would be monumental news.

[Oliver Peters]

The only thing I’ve seen is to wash it through Resolve via an XML roundtrip. That’s hardly a solution, of course. However, in the past, there were also issues with multi-cam and FCP 7. That required a match-frame and to edit over the old clip.

– Oliver

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

[Keith Koby]

Just ran into this issue myself within the last week. Resolve might be your best bet.

I attempted exporting an xml then converting it to 7 with xto7 and then back to x with 7toX. It imported and was without the multi cam, however the 7toX conversion makes unstable timelines for me that cause X to crash. It’s always been my experience with 7toX. Maybe I’m doing something wrong with it.

I wish they would change this so that you could better color correct individual shots without leaving fcpx and/or also apply image stabilization to an individual clip.

Keith

[Bill Davis]

I’m confused.

Isn’t the Project that the multi clip creates exactly that?

It’s a flattened version of the choices you’ve made in the angle editor.

If you want to make a copy of that, just select your primary storyline, copy the contents, and past it into a new Project. That should BE a flattened copy of your multicam switch.

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.

[Keith Koby]

By flattening, what is meant is that your cuts in the project link back to the original media, not back to the multicam synchronized clip.

[Oliver Peters]

The odd part is that the function exists for audition clips, but not multi-cam clips.

– Oliver

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

[Bill Davis]

Ah, so a collaborative video workflow definition of “flattening” rather than the “flattening” in the graphics sense – which most of us work with as well.

Time for some new words?

This use sounds more like workflow “streamlining” or perhaps “link compressing” than “flattening” – particularly in a program that doesn’t speak verticality ala “tracks.”

On a more practical tack, does said “flattening” SWITCH all the pointers from the AngleEditor metadata pool to the Event Browser metadata pool, no going back ala flattening a Photoshop composite or do you want to maintain both the pre-flattened and post flattened states?

Is it adding data, or just changing pointers. And if the latter, are we looking to change links from a rendered media pool to a fixed one that lives in the Library?

Just interested in how you see it implemented.

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.

[Oliver Peters]

To be more precise, the desired function is what FCP 7 does and it’s called “collapse multi-clip” in FCP 7. In a sense, that’s the same as flattening, since you are eliminating the extraneous angles from the edited timeline.

– Oliver

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

[Bill Davis]

[Oliver Peters] “In a sense, that’s the same as flattening, since you are eliminating the extraneous angles from the edited timeline.
“

Then I’m even more confused.

Isn’t that precisely what X does in the relationship between the Angle Editor and the Multiclip as it resides in a Primary Storyline?

The Angle Editor preserves all the multicam data, while it reflects in a “collapsed” form into the Primary.

I kinda took Keith’s point to be about about wanting the “flattening” somehow reflected back upstream to the Multiclip in the Event Browser (IF that was what he was saying and I wan’t interpreting everything incorrectly)

What’s missing?

And sorry I’m so slow with this. I’m honestly confused about what X is not doing that you want it to do Oliver.

I’m sure its just me not “getting” it.

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.

[Oliver Peters]

[Bill Davis] “Isn’t that precisely what X does in the relationship between the Angle Editor and the Multiclip as it resides in a Primary Storyline?”

I think there are arguments in favor of each approach, but if the angles are always preserved, you run the risk of inadvertently changing an angle in the timeline due to an errant keystroke. In addition, when you match frame, it goes back to the multi-clip and not the original source.

I’m also not sure how performance is affected by multi-cam. I haven’t done anything with a lot of taxing media, so I’m not sure if having the other angles there slows the machine in the same way as a multi-layered compound would.

Part of it is just my desire to end up with a clean, finalized sequence, without any loose ends. I also overwrite to the storyline and delete disabled clips, whenever possible. 😉

– Oliver

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