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How exactly has FCX improved or expedited your workflow?
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Seen FCPX on a mac pro and definitely way slower and more stuttery than on my quite basic iMac.
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My experience having been somebody who was not keen on keyboard shortcuts is that I am using them more and more in FCPX. Keywords and stuff almost best to het the Ripple tutorial and see for yourself. You need to use it in ager to understand it though…having it explained to you will not help I don’t think.
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[Jeff Kay] “We aren’t in physical proximity to have any type of network”
Assuming everyone is working off of mirrored media, you could interchange files by simply transferring project FCPXMLs. That’s assuming only stock effects and nothing third-party. Then relink to the media when you import the list file. You can also place event or project files (when media is linked and not embedded) onto an FTP site or DropBox.
[Jeff Kay] “From what you said, I am gathering that events work in a similar manner to Avid’s .avb bins.”
Yes, in concept. Basically you have two types of data files – projects (edited sequences) and events (source media metadata). Edits can also be stored in events if you use compound clips. The folder structure is a bit more visible than in Avid, but the design concept is similar.
[Jeff Kay] “I use a very similar set of customizations for every NLE.”
This will work just fine in X. It’s just that some functions don’t have direct equivalents, so you might have to make some adjustments.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
So strange. Is this a Sandy Bridge issue? Because it’s obviously not a RAM or GPU thing. In general, I find the UI sluggish and annoying to work with.
Editor, Producer, DP
JustinCrowell.com -
[Oliver Peters] “Yes, in concept. Basically you have two types of data files – projects (edited sequences) and events (source media metadata). Edits can also be stored in events if you use compound clips. The folder structure is a bit more visible than in Avid, but the design concept is similar.”
I really need it to hold more than just edits. It also needs to hold effects (basically anything that would end up in an Avid bin, such as a title template, CC effect, etc), or is all of that included when you say edit?
My fear is that the FCX “project” is one file. Each show I do is one Avid project that can span multiple seasons and transferring an entire project of that size becomes cumbersome to say the least. What I need is the ability to send piecemeal individual elements (sequences, clips with metadata, effects, CC, titles, transistions, audio effects) which is easily done with Avid bins.
Saying the folder structure is more visible than in Avid is a bit confusing to me. The Avid projects folder has a folder for each of my projects and inside is the same exact folder/bin structure that exists inside of Avid. I can make changes to this structure inside of Avid or even just in the base OS. I’m not really sure how it could be ‘more’ visible.
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This has been a constant since X was released. The new code LOVES modern hardware and has trouble on anything more than a few years old. (it may run on an older MacPro – but will almost surely run a LOT better either on an iMac *or* a newer MacBook Pro.
My once mighty well-configured MacPro is a dog compared to how X runs on my laptop – which is 3-4 years newer architecture.
With FCP-X is’t not the machine specs per se, as much as the machine’s internal architecture.That includes not just OS version, but also graphics card, GPU and probably a lot of other stuff I’m ignorant about.
I think it’s safe w say that one important aspect of X is that they’ve been designing it from day one for where Apple hardware is going – much, much more than for where Apple hardware has been.
So unless you’re run it on a modern machine, you’ve never actually seen it work the way it’s intended to work.
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.
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[Jeff Kay] “I really need it to hold more than just edits. It also needs to hold effects (basically anything that would end up in an Avid bin, such as a title template, CC effect, etc), or is all of that included when you say edit?”
Event and Project files definitely hold everything. I only meant that if you simply sent an XML instead, it would not hold effects parameters for third-party effects. What you mention above is definitely part of the data in the Event/Project files.
[Jeff Kay] “My fear is that the FCX “project” is one file.”
Each event is one data file. Each project (a single edited timeline) is also a separate data file. How you organize events across a whole season is a matter of strategy. It could be one event per show if you can organize it that way. Using Event Manager X (a $5 third-party application), you can choose to load any Event or any Project, just like from the Avid projects/users window.
[Jeff Kay] “Saying the folder structure is more visible than in Avid is a bit confusing to me. “
By this I mean that at the Finder level, there is a database file for the event that lives inside a folder for the event. Within that same folder are other subfolders that include links (aliases) to externally-located media, render files, proxies, etc. In the Avid world, this info is largely hidden or exists within the MXF folders.
[Jeff Kay] “I can make changes to this structure inside of Avid or even just in the base OS.”
Same in X.
If you haven’t bought it yet, the best way is to download the trial, go through some of the Ripple tutorials and see for yourself. Test it with a “real”, smaller project (not just junk media) and see for yourself how it works. I think it becomes clearer that way. It’s enough different to be very confusing when dealing in the abstract.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Oliver Peters] “If you haven’t bought it yet, the best way is to download the trial, go through some of the Ripple tutorials and see for yourself. Test it with a “real”, smaller project (not just junk media) and see for yourself how it works. I think it becomes clearer that way. It’s enough different to be very confusing when dealing in the abstract.”
This is very true. I haven’t specifically stated it, but I currently only have a PC infrastructure, so a simple trial isn’t nearly as simple in my instance. This is reason behind the thread as I even if I do not personally have access to it, I would like to be more familiar with how FCX works and what it can offer.
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It’s been said, but FCPX does require hands on time. I hear you that people always gloss over how good the organization features are in FCPX. It’s a huge part of FCPX, and helps you to review, change, select, organize, and group. What works for one, might not work for you, so using it is really the only way to determine if it would be beneficial to your system of media organization.
I don’t like FCP7 bins, and never really have, as I find them somewhat restrictive. I use them for big repositories and then do most of selections from timelines, and I also use markers for more precise descriptions. FCPX allows me to use bin like organization, but also have skimmable timelines (or I can skim all the clips in a keyword collection, which is essentially like having all the clips in the timeline and scrubbing, but they are located in the Browser which makes editing to a timeline easier) as well as adding marker text for searchable descriptions, using favorites to mark specific ranges, and then being able to sort the collection by those favorites to give me an even more concise list of selectors.
It is much more fluid for me.
If you are in to metadata, Smart Collections will help you as they can be used to constantly parse/collect footage. I am going to over simply, but for your show, let’s say you put all “Pheasant” clips in a bin. With FCPX, you can have a Pheasant keyword collection (that are range based if you’d like) or if you have a system of naming you can choose all clip names with Pheasant in them, and create a Smart Collection. That way any clip that comes in named Pheasant will be automatically added to the Smart Collection. There are a number of metadata categories that can be used for Smart Collections, not just clip name. Specifically, any Text, Rating, Media, Clip Type, Stabilization, Keywords, People, Format (reel, scene, take, frame rate, and a big long list of parameters are part of format), Date, Roles.
You can use any and all of those parameters to create a Smart Collection.
Perhaps, if you need to keep track of certain elements across an entire season(s), Smart Collection can help you to aggregate certain aspects of your media automatically.
Also, a clip, and range on a clip, does not have to live in one single solitary bin. Footage can live in multiple keywords and collections. It is very handy sometimes as one bin might not define everything about that particular piece of footage.
Keyboard editing in FCPX is pretty good. It still needs some more functionality (like being able to move between layers of video without using the mouse and all of what that would bring), but there’s a lot to do on the keyboard. I am also a keyboard editor, but you do still, need the mouse for certain aspects of FCPX.
The keyboard mapper system is best of breed. It doesn’t get much easier or more useful.
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Right, I understand that…but I’m really curious as to what that “internal architecture” may be. Presumably it has to do with OpenCL, which I believe is what powers those animations. Also, if we rule out CPU and RAM (which we must), there just ain’t much left.
That also explains the awful performance on even crazy powerful computers of the video (QT, Vimeo, etc) full-screen thing in Mountain Lion. What DOESN’T make sense to me, however, is that most people running Mac Pros have GPUs completely capable of speedy OpenCL. Perhaps apple is only writing good OpenCL drivers for the GPUs that ship with the iMacs? If so….that sort of sucks…
Editor, Producer, DP
JustinCrowell.com
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