To Editors thinking of switching to FCPX 10.1

[Charlie Austin]

[james Lackleter] “It works perfectly for stereo projects with limited clips.”

Not trying to be confrontational, but define “limited”. The reason I ask is that I regularly cut sequences in X with at least 24 “tracks” (12 or more stereo pairs) with no issues at all. The thing I was cutting yesterday had upwards of 48 “tracks”, including compounded sub mixes piled atop one another. No problem.

What is it you’re seeing?

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

[James Lackleter]

Channel operations will change at random, the limiter filter registers over 0 decibels though it’s actually working, and occasionally random pops on clips with faders. These are the key issues I’ve found which worsen with the addition of tracks. They however can be avoided by breaking down the project scene by scene into separate projects.

Also channel operations and effects not transferring into logic. Let me test an XML into logic with new version, one sec.

[Oliver Peters]

[james Lackleter] “Oliver some very valid points. I watched some of your work and it looked like most of the projects you used FCPX for were stereo with limited tracks. It works perfectly for stereo projects with limited clips.”

I’m not sure what limited means, but yes, my projects are all stereo (within X or any other NLE). I have used (externally mixed) surround stems in X simply to generate Blu-rays with 5.1 for a client. Honestly, I usually do not mix in X, except temp mixes for client presentation or simple VO w/music spot mixes. In the latter case, I bounce the mix out to Soundtrack Pro or SoundForge for “mastering”. That would also be the case with other NLEs, too.

On more complex mixes, I usually hand off files to a Pro Tools editor/mixer (AAF, OMF, roles, other). When I do mix these myself – I jump over to Soundtrack Pro or Audition for more audio control. I am not a fan of mixing in X, because I like mixer panels and usually write automation passes when I mix. All things being equal, if I want to mix in an NLE, then I would prefer Premiere or Media Composer.

If someone were trying to do a LCR temp mix, like a lot of feature editors do in Avid, that would be problematic in X. Mainly because the monitoring from the software doesn’t really give you a lot of control that way. But, now we are really getting into a niche and that has nothing to do with items that aren’t working in the software.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Charlie Austin]

[james Lackleter] “Channel operations will change at random,”

Not seen this, but I do mostly work in stereo. Like Oliver, the majority of my mixes are done in a dedicated NLE.

[james Lackleter] “the limiter filter registers over 0 decibels though it’s actually working”

I’ll check this out. The Logic limiter, or the OS X au limiter?

[james Lackleter] “and occasionally random pops on clips with faders”

I did have this pop up recently (pun intended) Couldn’t isolate why, and then it went away. This used to happen randomly for me in FCP 7 too fwiw

[james Lackleter] “Also channel operations and effects not transferring into logic. Let me test an XML into logic with new version, one sec.”

XML into Logic is still a mess. I don’t think it’s an FCP problem though, Logic just doesn’t interpret it correctly. fcpxml converted to an AAF with X2Pro imports perfectly into Logic so clearly the XML has the proper info. Yes, it’s an added cost, but it’ll pay for itself after one use so…

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

[Nikolas Bäurle]

[james Lackleter] “You nailed it, I work for Adobe, Autodesk, and Avid… They pay me to mar Apple brands.”

I apologise if you thought I was accusing you of propaganda. I should have been clearer, even though I didn’t mention you…I was speaking in general terms. This isn’t the first time someone has been warning people about X. I was just throwing around ideas, and its very possible that something like that could be going on in any forum. That comment was not directed at you, I should have made that clear, sorry about that.

But still, it would be interesting to know why you think its necessary to spend time warning young editors about X? Especially when most of your facts don’t seem to be a problem for anyone else in this debate?

[Darren Roark]

Hi Lance,

What GPU do you have in your Mac Pro?

[Andrew Kimery]

[Steve Connor] “I heard a sunflower saying that Adobe are great!
“

You should hear what Granny Smiths have to say about Autodesk. Absolutely scandalous!

[Scott Thomas]

Hi!

I remember back years ago in the Avid-L forums; guys would come in and tell us that Avids were crap and we all should buy Media 100 systems, because Avids were only used for ‘editing film’ and not made for broadcast. Strange huh?

I remember a conversation I once had with a guy. He asked me what I did my design work in. I told him Photoshop. He proceeded to explain to me that Photoshop was only for ‘editing photos’ and I couldn’t possibly use it for design. I thought I was designing, perhaps I should have listened to him.

Way back in my Amiga days, I’d go into online forums where we would be schooled by Mac and PC users as to how we were just using toys. Strange, a lot of great 3D software we still use today was first developed on the Amiga. (Lightwave, Cinema 4D, Blender?) Even 3D Studio MAX can trace its roots back to the Atari systems back in the 80’s. But all those machines were just playthings, perhaps we shouldn’t have been using them.

So thank you for enlightening us and saving us from what could have been imminent doom.

[Oliver Peters]

[Charlie Austin] “I did have this pop up recently (pun intended) Couldn’t isolate why, and then it went away. This used to happen randomly for me in FCP 7 too fwiw”

Only pop issue (actually random digital crackling) came from a set of C300 files recorded to a Sound Devices PIX 240. FCP X crackled. FCP 7 and Pro Tools (same files) didn’t. Couldn’t reproduce it later and haven’t run into it since, but the source was most likely a sample rate issue on the SDI stream of the camera.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Jack Zahran]

Thanks for that AMA example, it’s definitely affected some of my post clients and Avid hasn’t fixed it since 5.5.3.

What’s interesting to me is that Apple has been moving FCPX forward relatively rapidly. Also, the number of third party software and hardware vendors that are flourishing around FCPX. If it was not being used by people willing to vote with their purse, I don’t see how or why so many third parties are benefitting from its active community?

There also appears to be a larger community online supporting FCPX than Avid and Premiere. Another puzzle to me on why so many think FCPX is not having a good uptake, besides the fact that it continues to be the top grossing App on the Mac App Store amongst all Apps sold there.

Not saying that FCPX replaces MC7 in the Movie industry, but I suspect that more and more indie films will be cut with FCPX, followed by big budget movies. The transition should reflect Apple’s own upgrade schedule. Premiere has the issue of being part of a subscription model and Avid is going through a bit of uncertainty as far as its long term viability. So, I think the future of which NLE becomes dominant is still uncertain. However, Apple has gone in a fresher direction and they have committed to keep progressing and addressing user concerns.