Jony Ives and the next FCPX GUI

[Jeremy Garchow]

[James Sullivan] ” used to be able to look at a timeline and know what my dad was going to be like. “

Wow. Those must be some pretty profound timelines! 😉

Yes, FCPX takes some rethinking, and it takes some actual real world use to get up to speed.

Once it’s there, though, it all makes sense.

There is also some responsibility fro Apple to add more feature capability. These are still fairly early days, even two years later.

[John Davidson]

I always found that no matter where I looked or what software I used, my Dad was always unpredictable.

Even after I’ve used FCPX for a year solid, I’ll have to make revisions and have a momentary ‘oh crap’. Then I just get into it and start plugging away it all works out.

John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.

[Craig Seeman]

[James Sullivan] “What is the most important thing you have learned from adapting to so many new NLEs?”

Get as much “play time” as possible before working with a client. Ideally, if one has control, it’s best if the first few jobs are unsupervised.

[James Sullivan]

Amen brother.

James

[Craig Seeman]

And the worst possible situation is being asked to pick up someone else’s edit before one gets a handle on the given NLE. Even when NLEs seem similar the subtle differences, especially when the impact how another editor organizes things, can tie you knots.

[Bill Davis]

[Jeremy Garchow] “[Charlie Austin] “Gotcha. You sent feedback right? ;-)”

But of course.
“

My concern… not really “concern” so much as philosophical quandary, actually is where you leave the concept of a UI as a thing that the USER configures – and when it makes more sense to provide consistency by allowing the interface designer to determine how things need to work.

I think that’s part of what makes X both exciting and frustrating.

If 10 of us want to use Roles – but there are only a limited number of ways that ALL 10 of us need them to work – and if smaller and smaller groups then want features that might address THEIR needs, but don’t really address the needs of the others in different niches – how do you prioritize the list of planned features?

Interesting stuff.

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.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Bill Davis] “how do you prioritize the list of planned features?”

Probably with a list?

[Chris Harlan]

[Bret Williams] “This. (don’t you hate it when people say that?)

But this is a good point. Tracks can definitely act as an organizational tool.

“

Can? That’s what they’re there for. Or, at least, that’s what they are there for for me. Organization and navigation. I want to–no, I’m going to say I need to–be able to see at a glance where my VO is, where my SFX are, where dialog is. The speed with which I can navigate around a timeline is directly tied into that. Tracks don’t have to be the answer–colored roles, for instance, might work–but until this specific item is dealt with in some meaningful way, I will not be interested in using FCP X. This is principally what I don’t like about the magnetic timeline; its not that its magnetic, its that its taken these other, more important to me, tools away.

[Charlie Austin]

[Chris Harlan] “but until this specific item is dealt with in some meaningful way, I will not be interested in using FCP X. This is principally what I don’t like about the magnetic timeline; its not that its magnetic, its that its taken these other, more important to me, tools away.”

Well, with the caveat that I honestly don’t know what Apple is doing, I’m convinced they understand our concerns and are doing something about this. I don’t imagine it’s trivial, due to the fact that a single multichannel clip can have multiple Roles… But I’ve had a very good, detailed back and forth with some folks there on this issue. And getting responses like this:

Thanks for the suggestion, Charlie. I have forwarded it to the product designers and audio engineers.
Keep sending the thoughts in – the more detailed the better.

Gives me hope… Particularly the “audio engineers” part. 🙂

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Bill Davis]

[Jeremy Garchow] “Probably with a list?”

Dammit, now I have to go find a paper towel.

; )

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.