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Tracks and Primaries: Question for FCPX Users
I’ll approach this mortally-wounded horse rather carefully, but as the Primary Storyline seems to be central to the FCPX paradigm, and as this strikes me as antithetical to the way I work, I realized I don’t really understand how other people approach it.
So here’s the question (for all the FCPX users):
How do you decide what your Primary Storyline is? Does it change through your process?
I’m hoping to get a large number of responses as that would offer the best overview.
Franz.
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52 Replies
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[Franz Bieberkopf] “as this strikes me as antithetical to the way I work,”
Best way to illustrate might be for you to state a brief example of how you put an edit together in the timeline.
Steve Connor
“FCPX Agitator”
Adrenalin Television -
Steve,
I’ve discussed my process previously as well as the model for editing in FCPX, but I’m not looking for responses to that here – I’m genuinely curious about how people approach the Primary Storyline question.
Franz.
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I use the primary storyline as the bed, very similarly to the way I did in earlier versions. Build the primary narrative, interviews, soundbites on the primary storyline with B-roll connected to it. For music videos, many people use the music itself as the primary storyline. For narrative fiction, it’s mostly cut on the primary storyline, just as V1 was used in earlier versions. Cutaways and reactions can be connected as use like V2 in earlier versions. These were the techniques taught in Apple training programs, and they adapt quite well to the current version.
All the best,
Tom
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Coming in 2012 “Complete Training for FCPX” from Class on Demand
“Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users” from Focal Press -
[Franz Bieberkopf] “I’ve discussed my process previously as well as the model for editing in FCPX, but I’m not looking for responses to that here – I’m genuinely curious about how people approach the Primary Storyline question.
“Wow, I forgot about that thread, after re-reading your workflow I have to say again FCPX is NOT for you, it’s not designed for your sort of workflow at all.
Steve Connor
“FCPX Agitator”
Adrenalin Television -
Tom,
Thanks, but I think your post sort of begs the question.
Part of it seems clear enough – you primarily structure work based on audio, if I understand correctly, so the audio (and accompanying video, if any) are your primary story line.
But when you talk of building your primary narrative, I want to know what you mean. Master shots? with rough edits. Are you following a script? Are you doing a paper edit and then rough execution? When you start a project, or a scene, what do you identify as your primary or how do you arrive at that decision?
Franz.
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Sometimes there’s a script or rough outline, sometimes there’s not. Often it’s simply making selects in the browser and then putting them in the timeline and then rearranging them in the timeline till the narrative makes sense and has the development and progression you want to tell your story. The primary is almost always audio driven, dialog, sound bites, narration, though by habit I don’t put narration on the primary, though there is no reason you can’t, and it probably would make more sense in some circumstances to do that. I’ve certainly never worked the way you do with hundreds of sequences. I only used sequences for two purposes in legacy FCP, to keep versions, and as containers for media for viewing and making selects. In FCP now I use projects for versions, and I’ve never made that many versions, 20 would be a lot for me. In an hour long program I usually have five to eight versions. As for containers to view and shift material, I use compound clips in the browser for that. I only tend to use them during the early stages and simply as a way to make selects, which get copied into a project. I don’t often copy whole clips unless they’re short. I really do not work the way you do, which seems to be putting masses of material in the sequence and cutting them there. My background is in film and tape editing and that was never an option. You edited in what you needed and then trimmed. With tape you had to edit the beginning tight and left the tail long to be cut by the next shot. I probably tend to still do that when making selects, though of course trimming is now much more flexible.
All the best,
Tom
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Coming in 2012 “Complete Training for FCPX” from Class on Demand
“Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users” from Focal Press -
Franz, Good question.
For me, I find that my fastest work can happen in the primary timeline. For example, you cannot use the I and O keys to set edit points on anything except the primary storyline. Likewise, the blade tool defaults to the primary storyline.
My edits are generally driven by audio: narration, interviews and natural sound. I put all of these into the primary storyline for my first assembly.
However, I don’t like to keep the narration in the primary storyline, because I would rather put my b-roll there so I can edit more quickly using all the tools, including the keys to select my points.
My workflow includes lifting and dropping clips from and to the primary storyline as I need to. So after my sound is all laid out, I can select all of the narration clips and lift them from the storyline. This puts the audio clips below the primary storyline, and leaves a gap clip in its place in the timeline that I can fill with b-roll.
Considering how easy it is supposed to be with the magnetic timeline, I frequently find myself pulling clips out of the primary and sticking them back in.
The tools in FCX gives us many different ways to work, and it’s a little challenging to find the best workflow for you, but it’s happening more intuitively now that I’ve been working with it for awhile.
Is it faster than the legacy track-based timeline. Is some ways yes, in other ways no, but I believe it will get better.
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FCX. She tempts me, abuses me, beats me up, makes me feel worthless, then in the end she comes around, helps me get my work done, gives me hope and I can’t stop thinking about her.Mark Morache
Avid/Xpri/FCP7/FCX
Evening Magazine,Seattle, WA
https://fcpx.wordpress.com -
[Franz Bieberkopf] “How do you decide what your Primary Storyline is?”
As you said, it’s the process of editing.
[Franz Bieberkopf] “Does it change through your process?”
If you want it to, and most likely yes. You still have to edit in fcpx, it seems that people think that X makes editorial decisions for you. It doesn’t.
Yesterday in fcp7, I was organizing a 2 person dialogue scene. A simple, 2 camera, relatively scripted back and forth.
There were many takes and pickups. I started to break all of the takes apart by line/groups of lines so I can watch all the takes from one particular angle/groupings at once. Both angles were stacked on the timeline, and I’d disable what I didn’t want to see depending on which character was saying it.
I had to do this in a timeline in fcp7 to make any sense of it and get all the takes together. Its simply the best way to get this to work in fcp7 in a way that’s easily viewable from a bird’s eye view
It took the better part of 7 hours to get this all done, a lot of copying/pasting making markers/rearranging on the timeline.
That whole time I realized that I wouldn’t need Projects in fcpx to do this, I would simply use the Event (which can include timeline like functions if you want, in compound clips). I could range select and keyword the lines and they would all fall in to place in the browser. I would have a group of all the necessary lines trimmed and ready, and could add all the necessary/best clips to an audition clip, each line being its own audition, then bring those auditions into a Project. After I make my first pass with the “best” takes and seek approval, all the additional takes will travel with the audition clips. If a client wants another take/variation, it’s literally a couple of clicks to find the appropriate take in the audition and choose it. The rest of the timeline adjusts to the new length of the new take. This part would have all been done in the primary to get the most out of the audition clip functionality.
In the browser I have easily browsable copies of each individual clip as well that would be easy to find by the script numbering system I applied before.
Alas, I still dont use fcpx for paying gigs, yet.
The primary is whatever you want it to be. For me, it’s usually what is driving the length (but not necessarily the pace) of the edit. It’s not always video.
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[Mark Morache] “For example, you cannot use the I and O keys to set edit points on anything except the primary storyline.”
I’m worried this statement may lead to some confusion, Just to be clear you CAN use the i and o keys to place clips above or below the primary storyline. You are NOT restricted to editing directly INTO the primary storyline with the shortcut keys.
However you CANNOT mark an in and out in a secondary storyline!
Steve Connor
“FCPX Agitator”
Adrenalin Television -
[Jeremy Garchow] “Alas, I still dont use fcpx for paying gigs, yet.”
As a quick aside, why don’t you? Is it the lack of broadcast monitor output
Steve Connor
“FCPX Agitator”
Adrenalin Television
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