Question for Cathy G’nator

[Cathy G’nator]

Happy to help, Ted, and I don’t mind it being public–if this can help other editors like us, all the better!

The biggest issue for me with FCP is that you can’t put a sequence in your source monitor and edit parts into the sequence in the record monitor. Instead, you must have all the sequences you are using open in stacked time-lines and then you copy and paste the bits back and forth. It really takes some getting used to. And you have to stay really focussed or else you end up working on the wrong sequence.

Also, you can’t have a nice big viewing monitor and a viewer/record set-up going at the same time. It’s kind of like working with that old AVID MC Xpress, which we used to refer to as “an AVID with handcuffs”.

FCP has a hard time with long form projects. Digitize all your material into one project. Make all your pulls in another. Make your scene sequences in a third and make a new project for each cut of your entire show. You can have as many projects open at the same time as you like–I used the projects the way I use AVID folders. And you can edit between projects and sequences. It’s just not as clear a work flow as AVID and takes a lot more thinking about.

Then, when you get to autosave, be prepared to WAIT. It takes minutes for all the saving of all the projects you’ll have open in a typical long form program.

Buy the book Final Cut Pro for AVID editors by Diana Weynand. She talks our language and shows clearly how to make FCP work as much like an AVID as possible. You can even set up your keyboard to be similar to the AVID. Although another problem I found is that there are far more keyboard shortcuts that require two keystrokes instead of just one. In some ways there are too many features in the FCP for creative long form editors.

If I think of more stuff I’ll post again. And feel free to keep asking, especially when you get into the training and have specific questions. I was lucky to have an extremely FCP savvy co-editor on the series when learning. He helped a lot!

[Ted Levy]

Thanks a lot, Cathy! That was extremely helpful. I’ll check out the book, as well.

Ted

[Kevin Downer]

Not trying to butt in but just to help and clarify a couple things mentioned:

Cathy, sequences can be dragged into the source monitor from the bins and edited as normal clips. Normally, they would be by default nested if Insert or Overwrite are used to put them into another sequence. If you hold down the Command key while using the Insert or Overwrite functions, it will edit the content. So it can be done. Not having a source/record timeline switch function in FCP like AVID is a bummer and should be fixed though. For now, you could open the sequence, make your marks and drag it to the source window for precise edits.

You can have a viewing client monitor output run at the same time with your FCP source/record window playback. Use either the old AVID “McFly” method for dual monitor/dual vid card setups, have one monitor act as the client monitor in FCP settings or by using a Blackmagic or AJA hardware device similar to the AVID Mojo or other AVID hardware which acts as a second or third monitor output (best solution by far). Not sure why your setup does not allow it. Talk to your tech support or savvy friends to help you set it up properly. It sounds like a FCP settings issue or a need for 3rd party hardware to get what you want.

For long form projects make sure you are running enough RAM. 2 Gigs is a good amount at minimum. There should not be major slowdowns unless you have many, many sequence timelines and projects open at the same time in FCP. Thumbnails in bins layouts and visual waveforms in open sequences can slow things down too as they have to cache the redraw. Turn them off if possible or option click the bins to keep then open in the FCP project window for thumbnail issues so they don’t have to redraw all the time. Running decent sized dual monitors can help keep most of your bin material on the screen.

I do hope Apple does consider the AVID Project folder with Bin sub-folder data layout on the OS desktop level in future updates. It would help speed things up for transferring project material etc. changed data, etc. as they can get quite big and unwieldy at times.

As for FCP being too key-centric with double or triple function key commands. You can change this. Just customize your keyboard to include the functions you need in one button push like you would with an AVID. If you have a numeric keypad, you can use the whole row of top number keys as customs, or add the functions to your FCP windows like AVID and color code them for category.

Make the layout as basic or as complicated as you need it to be to suit your needs. It just seems overwhelming now with too many options because FCP is different with a wide array of keyboard functions in different places from what you are used to in AVID. The frustration will pass as you get more familiar with FCP and cater it to your needs.

Hopefully this helps and clears up some misunderstandings stated and assists in setting up your future FCP project workflow.

Best thing to do as you get more experience on the FCP platform is to learn the ways to use FCP most efficiently and try not to make it do things the AVID way all the time. You will discover things you wished you had in AVID. 🙂

[Cathy G’nator]

Thanks for all these tips, Kevin. I will be sure to save your post and refer to it the next time I’m on an FCP. I think that some of the problems I had were also due to a “lemon” of a machine. I was working with one of those very cheap clients who thinks one saves money by using a stripped down system that means the editor spends way more time doing her/his job.

I had three separate assistants try to set up a viewing monitor for me with no success. We did have a hardware device of some kind set up for a while, but it caused the FCP to crash constantly, so I gave up and just worked from the tiny screens, except when screening for the producer.

I did eliminate the waveforms and thumbnails early on and it helped a bit. And it is true that after a few months, I felt more comfortable with FCP and stopped trying to make it do AVID things. It’s just that even with all of this, I can still edit WAY faster on the AVID.

[Ted Levy]

Thanks, Kevin, I’ll print out both yours and Cathy’s responses for future reference.

Ted

[Andrew Kimery]

Just to throw in my 2 cents…

Avid was the first NLE I learned (my first experience w/it was back in 1998 on an MC Express) and until 8 months ago it was the only NLE I used in my day jobs (although I purchased FCP back in ’02 and have been using that are small side projects). What’s worked best for me is to have an “Avid” side of my brain and an “FCP” side of my brain and I never try to mix the two. I don’t try and force Avid to behave like FCP and I don’t try and force FCP to try and behave like Avid.

Even though FCP’s interface is easier to grasp than Avid’s I’d recommend taking a class to learn how to best leverage FCP’s strengths. Where as Avid’s “my way or the highway” approach makes the learning curve more steep, it does force you into a pretty tried and true workflow. On the flip side, FCP’s flexibility lets you better tailor the workflow to your needs, but if you aren’t careful it will give you enough rope to hang yourself with. 😉

There is a new website called Avid2FCP that is specifically designed to help out Avid editors who are using FCP so you can check out that as a resource as well. https://www.avid2fcp.com/?p=35

-A

[Ted Levy]

Glad I started this thread. Three extremely helpful people replying…..thank you all!

Ted