PP CS6 Supported Features?

[Chris Borjis]

[Shawn Larkin] ” learning AE is not an option for our shop.”

If thats the case you’re probably best to just stick with whats working for you now.

[Shawn Larkin]

Nothing is working “perfectly” for us right now:

-FCPX is not developed enough to use for all our needs or to use our shared storage, but it can edit H.264, AAC and do Motion Titles / GFX very easy.

-PP CS6 looks great, but I need to know if it can cut AAC Audio +H.264 on an Open CL supported Mac

-There should be an easy way to do Motion Titles in PP CS6 by now, no?

[Alex Udell]

Hey Shawn,

when you say that you want to jump to cs6, is it that YOU want to or you company wants to?

Alex

[Kris Merkel]

You can create motion titles in the current version on PPro via keyframing parameters in the title tool and effects tab. Besides they are many great AE tuts available that would get your editors up and running with creating titles in minutes.

“Think of everything in terms of building capacity.”

Kris Merkel
twitter @kris_merkel
Product Specialist, Flanders Scientific Inc.
http://www.shopfsi.com
Co-Founder, Atlanta Cutters Post Production User Group
http://www.atlantacutters.com

2.2Ghz MBP core i7
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[Alex Udell]

There is no template workflow with exposed fields and parameters in PPro/AE like FCP/Motion.

Modifications of AE source material needs to happen in AE.

Things can be designed via nesting so that that the motion elements of an overall title design can be from ae and dynamic text elements could be set up in PPro.

for example

Ppor seq of AE motion back + PPro title (using things like scale, motion, wipes ands transparecny)

now duplicate that sequence and Option drag replace PPro title with other PPro title

you can use those two sequences as nested clips on your main sequence as motion titles…

not quite the same….but things can be done…

Alex

[Shawn Larkin]

Hi Alex,

A couple things:

1) We are still working on FCP7. As our Macs die off — one just bit the dust — we’ll need to find a replacement NLE. We are unique in that a lot of what we get is H.264 / AAC MP4 files to work with. FCPX can handle this well without CUDA. It’s really fast to edit and export. But it is not so fast for “how” we edit since it is a total paradigm shift and is not completely developed yet.

2) I have only just started to test PP. I rarely use AE since we only need simple Motion GFX / Titles, but I can get around in it if I need to. To clarify:

You can create pieces of the Lower Thirds and save the text parts for the title creator in PP and just add it as a layer over a dynamic link AE file?

Why don’t they just make it easier? What should an editor have to dance around to do something like this?

All those other CS6 tools seem so practical, but (aside from little Open CL support) I don’t get why editing a simple text string of flashy titles = having to open AE.

[Tom Daigon]

I don’t get why editing a simple text string of flashy titles = having to open AE.

Because that is what AE does best, motion graphics. But granted there is a learning curve, as with any powerful software.

Maybe you should reconsider FCP X, it sounds like it does the kind of things you want to do.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
Mac Pro 3,1
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Nvidia Quadro 4000
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Maxx Digital / Areca 8tb. raid
Kona 3

[Shawn Larkin]

Firstly, I have used AE to do complex stuff. From version 7 onwards. Yes, there was a learning curve and yes it is powerful.

But it doesn’t have to be for doing slick lower thirds and transitions. The “because it’s not hard to use, it isn’t powerful” philosophy is a waste of time.

What Adobe did with the UI in PP CS6, is right on the mark. Show / Hide features as needed.

Same goes for Titles and basic Motion GFX. This should be easier. Why make anyone crack open and learn AE to do a simple lower thirds animation? And why make them have to manage AE projects if they just want that lower thirds to be there for them every time they open PP?

Otherwise, I completely agree with the direction that PP CS6 has gone. It is the FCP8 I never got.

[Alex Udell]

Hi Shawn…

I myself use motion on almost a daily basis. The text publishing and parameter exposure features that Apple implemented in the Motion/FCP is one of those bits of genius that really makes that solution stand out. I agree, wish and hope that those specific features work their way over the fence into Adobe land.

However, in the history of NLE, that type of capability is a pretty recent phenomenon. Historically, there’s been a pretty stark dividing line between the realms of mograh and the realm of editorial.

[Shawn Larkin] “You can create pieces of the Lower Thirds and save the text parts for the title creator in PP and just add it as a layer over a dynamic link AE file?”

Yes. Essentially that’s it. I was thinking about doing a “Cowtorial” on this topic as it comes up frequently when I train ppl. Perhaps I should move fwd with that one.

Another thing you might want to take a look at is:

https://aescripts.com/compsfromspreadsheet/

If you were to do a AE dependent design…

this handy little script let’s you generate versions very quickly…without necessarily forcing the artists to enter AE.

then you could bring them all into PPro as dynamic link comps too.

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX

[Shawn Larkin]

Thanks for the reply Alex.

I looked at the script. It’s an ok solution.

If there is anything I can do to convince you to make that Cowtorial, please let me know.

As of now, this is probably the only deal breaker for us jumping on CS6.

I have a feeling that anyone that actually uses this feature in FCP (7 or X) will know how important and powerful it is.