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Jony Ives and the next FCPX GUI
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[Herb Sevush] “I see, now we’re moving from “normal” to “natural.” Hey they both start with the letter N so I guess it works.”
It was normal for the first 10 years or so I edited including the first generation (first versions) of NLEs as well. The the “new normal” was created. 😉 That felt unnatural to me.
[Herb Sevush] “Craig, I’m glad I’ve never had to negotiate a contract with you.”
I resserve that for clients mostly.
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[Herb Sevush] “At this moment there is no way for FCPX to be as visually coherent as a normal timeline.”
I have to push back on this.
As soon as you start to understand the vertical stack linkage in X, you start to see the arrangements of the MODULES that make up chunks of the magnetic timeline.
You stop thinking about what the ENTIRE track has to do for it’s entire length – and you start to see the structure of the module as an entity. If this module has the SFX on layer 5 – and the next one has the SFX on layer 3 – you can SEE it’s because the first mod has extra elements that make layer 5 the best place to put the SFX for that arrangement.
You keep imagining that the ONLY way to know where the SFX is is to have ONE track for it.
That’s just not true. I can hear it. I can see it by looking at the stack arrangement. And if for some reason things are too complex for me to “read” the arrangement – I can highlight the Role and the software will LIGHT UP the SFX in the stack arrangement I’m working with wherever it is.
Holding on to the idea that you NEED a discrete track to organize your thinking in X – well that IS “you’re holding it wrong.” And for many things (the sport of fencing comes to mind) you will never get the best results until you learn to properly grip the weapon – and, perhaps even more important – why that’s the proper way to hold 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.
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And the speed and convenience doesn’t all live in the timeline any more.
I had a client call today needing me to send their artist a quick snapshot of a graphic element from a X project I did more than a year ago – so a new artist could match the style of the old piece.
ALL the clips from that timeline were long ago archived – but I kept it in my project library for reference – linked to nothing but a small iPhone version export to drive the Project Library view.
Found that in my Shared Assets folder – (still there even tho ALL the project assets were long archived and offline) – and was able to scan right to the frame in my project library. Launch and do a screen cap – and sent it to the client all inside 30 seconds.
A gentle reminder that with X I’m working in an editing system – not just an isolated editing program any more.
As you grow to know more about how it operates, you find these little possibilities that make things easier on a day to day basis.
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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“Found that in my Shared Assets folder – (still there even tho ALL the project assets were long archived and offline) – and was able to scan right to the frame in my project library. Launch and do a screen cap – and sent it to the client all inside 30 seconds.”
But all you are describing is a self contained file that lives with the edited project. This function has been available with just about every NLE for over a decade.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
The distinction, Oliver, is that because X is referential and almost entirely metadata based, it’s constantly creating useful elements automatically that the user is not necessarily aware of, but that become valuable as you better come to understand the structure of the program. Legacy never had anything close to X’s “one click Share” at the app level and then to be able to use those reference files to populate a persistent and “live” library of the users work. This is new. And it’s useful because the structure is solving common problems like needing to access and export historical versions that you didn’t anticipate. It’s a small but real convenience, IMO, stemming from the way X was re-imagined.
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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[Bill Davis] “The distinction, Oliver, is that because X is referential and almost entirely metadata based, it’s constantly creating useful elements automatically that the user is not necessarily aware of, but that become valuable as you better come to understand the structure of the program”
I guess the part I’m having confusion with is this. You are referring to the fact that a media file is being stored in the Shared Items folder – if and only if – you select one of the presets, like a DVD or a Vimeo upload, where that’s part of the macro. It doesn’t happen at all if you choose to export a Master File from the Share menu. So yes, X has a cleaner workflow with some built-in functions, but I fail to see how that is inherently different than what went before it.
For example, if you export a Master File to an external drive and then archive your Events and Projects. Then there is no direct link from that Master File back to the Project, unless the operator manually loads it back up. What am I missing here?
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Bill Davis] “hat’s just not true. I can hear it. I can see it by looking at the stack arrangement. And if for some reason things are too complex for me to “read” the arrangement – I can highlight the Role and the software will LIGHT UP the SFX in the stack arrangement I’m working with wherever it is.”
Bill, no one is saying you can’t find a piece of audio on the timeline. What you can’t do easily is navigate by it. A timeline is simply a visual representation of the order of events. It’s essentially a graphical edl.
When I’m editing it is a strong advantage for me to see, at a glance, the location of my material and its spatial relation to other material, and to see it quickly. Being able to highlight roles is a step in the right direction, though not complete, since it only highlights one set of things at a time, and must be selected/deselected. Color-coding is probably the answer, though its probably difficult to implement, as Charlie points out, because of channel conflicts.
I think that’s a fair question to ask when deciding about the current version of FCP X: What’s more important to you–a more accurate map of events, or a timeline that is easier to re-arrange? A lot of people don’t need the extra detail. I do.
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[Oliver Peters] ” guess the part I’m having confusion with is this. You are referring to the fact that a media file is being stored in the Shared Items folder – if and only if – you select one of the presets, like a DVD or a Vimeo upload, where that’s part of the macro. It doesn’t happen at all if you choose to export a Master File from the Share menu. So yes, X has a cleaner workflow with some built-in functions, but I fail to see how that is inherently different than what went before it.
For example, if you export a Master File to an external drive and then archive your Events and Projects. Then there is no direct link from that Master File back to the Project, unless the operator manually loads it back up. What am I missing here?
“Yes. I don’t understand either.
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[Chris Harlan] “I think that’s a fair question to ask when deciding about the current version of FCP X: What’s more important to you–a more accurate map of events, or a timeline that is easier to re-arrange? A lot of people don’t need the extra detail. I do.”
What he said.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf
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