Interesting look at where FCP X fits in the editing world

[Oliver Peters]

Thanks Gerry. I appreciate the shout-out.

– Oliver

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

[Bill Davis]

Reasonable and balanced.

Nice job, Oliver.

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.

[Chris Harlan]

Good read! Right on.

[Andy Field]

Spot on article, Oliver…..I’m in the group that uses all three “A’s” and agree that FCP 7 is getting more difficult to put up with with the out of memory, trans-coding etc….although I miss it’s familiarity and easy of doing pretty much anything with composting, etc.

Not a huge AVID fan – feels clunky and modular to accomplish some of the simplest things but it is indeed powerful under the hood. AMA is nice in theory, but you still must trans-code to get a finished product out of the editor.

Adobe Premiere CS6 feels the most like the FCP7 replacement. If you’ve been a legacy user, you can load those keyboard shortcuts and feel like you are in the same (but much more responsive) program. Premiere lets you throw every format and the kitchen sink in the timeline without trans-coding – and that is an enormous time saver – even quirky .mts files and flv files will play and edit.

Some things in premiere at first look like they aren’t there (transfer modes are actually a key filter…if you want to manipulate the “Canvas” window you must first double click to activate it)

and some need improvement – media management, (audio automation works only at the timeline track, not clip level) which is pretty useless unless you have the edit locked because cutting something out of the timeline after you’ve mixed screws up the mix….the keyframes stay in the same place in the timeline even if you’ve cut a clip)

As for FCP X – it’s a program i want to love but can only have a platonic relationship with – audio makes me want to scream….roles and stems and breaking and closing “tracks” seems needlessly fussy and complex — and rubber banding audio seems like a decade leap backwards when every other program allows you to mix in realtime and record key-frames.

And Apple’s “we know what’s good for you” approach to track collisions seems silly – not once in 20 years of editing has this ever been a problem — select a section – move it forward – make your edit….no collision.

If Apple put in a “classic” option for real audio tracks and removed the fussy secondary story lines and connected clip nonsense…there’s a chance for a great editor love story with the program – lots of great easy to execute effects (although it needs a dedicated titling tool)

In the meantime, Premiere Pro, as Oliver mentioned, seems like the natural FCP7 replacement (and it works flawlessly with audition and After effects for more complex finishing work)

No matter what you use, this forum is endlessly entertaining….

Best – Andy

Andy Field
Fieldvision Productions/ABC News

Andy Field
FieldVision Productions
N. Bethesda, Maryland 20852

[Oliver Peters]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

[Andy Field] “Not a huge AVID fan – feels clunky and modular to accomplish some of the simplest things but it is indeed powerful under the hood. AMA is nice in theory, but you still must trans-code to get a finished product out of the editor.”

Modes are fine by me. Most NLEs that claims to be modeless really do have modes. They simply hide them. In any case, modes focus your attention onto a single task. I map the MC workspaces to keys, so changing between editing and color correction, for example, takes the same amount of time as changing window layouts in FCP 7 or opening the effects browser or inspector in FCP X. But I agree, it’s not to everyone’s taste and doing effects in MC is very long-in-the-tooth.

I’ve had my own issues with AMA, but you have to view it as intended. That is, it is Avid’s answer to log & transfer. You can directly edit from it, but the intention was that you use it to cull down selects and then transcode those. Philosophically, that’s the same as working with native and then optimized media in X. However, if you finish in another tool like Resolve, you can send a linked AAF from an AMA-only timeline and Resolve will link to the original files. I haven’t tested this in Smoke, but I presume the same case there.

[Andy Field] “Adobe Premiere CS6 feels the most like the FCP7 replacement.”

Yes, and that’s why people, who are reluctant to leave FCP 7’s operational style – but want a newer program – are gravitating to Premiere Pro.

[Andy Field] “If Apple put in a “classic” option for real audio tracks and removed the fussy secondary story lines and connected clip nonsense…”

My guess would be that falls into the “when hell freezes over” category. I don’t want to debate the pros and cons of X. It will evolve and for many become a credible alternative. For many, it already is. I just think that the days of “one NLE to rule them all” are gone.

Oliver

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