-
Metaphors and terminology
-
[Don Walker] ” the Match Frame function as I remember from my linear/AVID/FCP7 days doesn’t really exist in FCPX.
“It’s Reveal in Browser. Shift-F
Perhaps your comment makes my point.
Granted it’s not quite the same thing but there’s no easy way for someone to find near equivalent functions for many functions in FCPX. -
[Herb Sevush] “a 3 year old is a handful. Delightful, magical, full of wonder – but definitely a handful.”
I am going to turn this in to a poster and hang it on the wall in his room.
-
[Craig Seeman] “Granted it’s not quite the same thing but there’s no easy way for someone to find near equivalent functions for many functions in FCPX.
“
I knew that the function was there, it’s just I don’t find the function nearly as useful as in other applications.don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
-
[Oliver Peters] “I just wonder what others think about this and FCPX’s positioning versus “establish” concepts, terms, analogies, and metaphors.”
I wrote a long winded opinion post about this here if you’re bored. I do think it makes sense FWIW. 🙂
————————————————————-
~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
[Craig Seeman] “[Oliver Peters] “I just wonder what others think about this and FCPX’s positioning versus “establish” concepts, terms, analogies, and metaphors.”
The biggest challenge is the lack of translation in the User Guide. Imagine an editor coming from any other NLE trying to search for “Match Frame.” It just isn’t there and they have absolutely no easy way to know what the equivalent feature is in FCPX. Such editor might leave in frustration with the mistaken believe that such function doesn’t exist.”
I remember trying to find Match Frame in FCPX. I was lucky in that I used Google instead of the User Guide. Took about 10 seconds. I can see how FCPX would be annoying to some who are attached to the older terminology. But in practice, the naming is secondary to the functionality (particularly when collaborating). If you don’t let the language get in your way the adaptation process is very fast and smooth. In my case it probably helped that I had always jumped back and forth between programs like FCP Legacy and After Effects which had different terminology, so dealing with FCPX wasn’t all that big a deal.
-
[Herb Sevush] “[Scott Witthaus] “Does the “I would have built a faster horse” analogy work here? ;-)”
Yes, but then you have to establish that you are clearly much faster.”
At least we have a way to assess the speed of horses for the tasks that mean the most when one is talking about “speed” and “horses.”
“Well, he runs about the same speed as any other horse, but you should see how fast he eats.”
-
[Charlie Austin] “I wrote a long winded opinion post about this here if you’re bored. I do think it makes sense FWIW. :-)”
Hope you don’t mind me quoting from your post.
[Charlie Austin] “Library” is defined as “a collection of films, recorded music, genetic material, etc., organized systematically…”. And “Project” is defined as “an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned and designed to achieve a particular aim”. In X, I use the contents of Libraries to create my Project. Sounds right to me. Moving on…
I have one library in my house. The Library of Congress is one library. Library implies a singular all-encompassing collection. I have a video library on my computer, it contains everything in my permanent archive. I do not have many separate libraries for each didly thing I do. If I have a collection of things that I’m using to construct a singular other thing, I call that work a project – whether I have a bunch of lumber and tools to work on fixing my garage door, or whether I’m rearranging my DVD library (that’s one singular library.) All of these organized efforts are projects. So yes, let’s move on.
[Charlie Austin]First of all, “Bin” is a stupid name for what is just a folder in NLE’s like FCP 7 and Premiere. A bin is a different beast in Media Composer, but it’s still a silly name in the digital age. Without a history lesson, it’s unlikely anyone under the age of 40 knows why they’re called bins. And people in the UK probably wonder why you’d want to put all your media and cuts into something with the same name as the garbage can. Good for Apple for changing it.
So now, somehow, a sense of history is a bad thing. I suppose you type on a DVORAK keyboard. I’m fine with calling a bin a folder, either one makes sense to me. What doesn’t make sense is calling it an ”event” unless you’re a wedding videographer. As to the garbage can thing, well you lost the war, so get over it.
[Charlie Austin]In any case, “Event” is defined as “something that happens or is regarded as happening;
an occurrence,” so I think it’s a good name. If you’re cutting a feature, each event might contain a scene. But going further, an FCP X Event is much more powerful than a flat MC Bin or a folder of folders as in 7 or Premiere. Using Keyword Collections, Smart Collections, Favorites/Rejects and Folders, what can quickly become an unmanageable mess of tabs and open “bins’ and stacked windows in other NLE’s, can be very nicely contained in a single occurrence in X. An Event. 🙂It’s not a single “occurrence” because it doesn’t occur just once. Your collection of data is not something that is happening, they are objects to be acted upon. As for how unmanageable your work-space is, well maybe you should review your work habits.
[Charlie Austin]In most NLE’s you can open NLE created objects (“Sequences”, Nested Clips, and Multicam Clips) in the Timeline. That’s it. In FCP X there are multiple types of timelines.
Which some, well at least I, see as a weakness. In order to have the simplicity of a magnetic timeline to avoid clip collisions Apple created a multiplicity of everything – storylines, playheads, timelines – that introduces a whole level of complications no tracked NLE has.
Legacy had the greatest simplicity of elements of any NLE I have seen. One type of video track, one type of Audio track, one playhead, one set of tools to work with no matter if it’s audio or video. A simplified toolset that could create anything, but it required using them in complex ways.
FCPX has the most complicated toolset ever made for an NLE, but it allows you to use them in the most simple, constrained, way to accomplish your complex goals.
I find the Legacy methodology much more elegant, but that is merely personal inclination, others will disagree.
[Charlie Austin]So, when I work in FCP X, I am creating a “Project” in a timeline using “Collections” of media organized in “Events” contained within a “Library“. Seems pretty logical to me.
In a vacuum it would be. In the highly evolved world of media editing, it’s a baffling PITA.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
[Noah Kadner] “That versus capturing media from an event of some sort: commercial, concept, feature film, etc with a camera. “
This is why I disagree that Event is a good naming convention. It implies an actual event, captured with a camera or other recording device. I find that overly restrictive. What about everything else that goes into an edit? Music selects, SFX, graphic renders, VFX shots, your sequences and versioning. Are those all events, as the name implies?
You could argue that graphic renders are an Event that happened, but it’s awkward and isn’t really accurate. The graphic is just an asset that needs to be stored somewhere in the NLE. Like a folder. Or a bin, which you can think of as a large container that stores your assets. Although folder would probably make more sense if we’re changing the nomenclature to reflect the new digital, computer age and not something that heralds back to the film days.
—————-
Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Herb Sevush] “I have one library in my house. The Library of Congress is one library. Library implies a singular all-encompassing collection.”
But I think you just made my point… You may not have a lot of libraries in your house, but that’s stretching it. the Library of congress would be a feature, the library in your house would be a cat video in comparison. 🙂 And you use the contents of these Libraries to create projects right? Strictly using the actual definitions of the words, the terms are correct.
[Herb Sevush] “So now, somehow, a sense of history is a bad thing.”
Of course not, but things change. Do you call your automobile a horseless carriage? 😉
[Herb Sevush] “What doesn’t make sense is calling it an ”event” unless you’re a wedding videographer.”
Why not? if you’re shooting a feature, each day on set is an “Event” which generates dailies that are associated with it. I agree it is all semantics, but event, as it’s defined, is a correct term. In fairness, if you’re not actually shooting and dealing with dailies then event is as accurate as bin, meaning not accurate, but it’s probably more accurate than bin these days.
[Herb Sevush] “It’s not a single “occurrence” because it doesn’t occur just once. Your collection of data is not something that is happening, they are objects to be acted upon.”
That’s why you can have multiple Events in your Library. And Event isn’t always in the present tense. I went to an event last night, it’s in the past, but it was an event.
[Herb Sevush] ” As for how unmanageable your work-space is, well maybe you should review your work habits.”
Nothing to do with work habits, it has to do with the amount of different sources I have and how easy it is to get to them. The browser in X is exponentially more efficient than dozens of hierarchical nested folders. As I’ve said before, I keep X open with a mirror project when I’m in Pr because it’s much quicker to find/audition stuff in X and then just go right to it in Pr. If you don’t have a lot of mixed media maybe it’s moot, but I have a lot of different media. Music, SFX, GFX, multiple features, dailies, VFX, reference material etc etc. X is much better for this.
[Herb Sevush] “In order to have the simplicity of a magnetic timeline to avoid clip collisions Apple created a multiplicity of everything – storylines, playheads, timelines – that introduces a whole level of complications no tracked NLE has. “
We’re just gonna have to disagree on this. It’s not really complicated at all once you get it, and gives you way more flexibility than any track based NLE in this regard. And in any case, Every “pro” NLE is complicated at first glance. I started cutting on MC, and used it for years, I never thought it was complicated. Now, since I don’t use it regularly, when I open it it up it just baffles me. If I needed to though, It’d take a week of messing with it to become less complicated again. Like riding a bike. 🙂
[Herb Sevush] “FCPX has the most complicated toolset ever made for an NLE, but it allows you to use them in the most simple, constrained, way to accomplish your complex goals.
“And this is a bad thing? You’re only constrained if you A-want to be or B-need a feature that isn’t there. Which I sometimes do FWIW. X is not all rainbows and unicorns (at all), but for me there are more of these in X than other NLE’s.
[Herb Sevush] “In a vacuum it would be. In the highly evolved world of media editing, it’s a baffling PITA”
No, it isn’t. To me anyway. 🙂 EDIT: On further reflection… can we maybe just agree that all NLE’s are a baffling PITA to a greater or lesser extent. 😉
————————————————————-
~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
[Michael Hancock] “Although folder would probably make more sense if we’re changing the nomenclature to reflect the new digital, computer age and not something that heralds back to the film days.”
Or, if we’re really being all modern and digital, we could maybe use something like keyword collection or tag. 🙂
————————————————————-
~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up