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Using Empty Compound Clips as a FCP 7 Sequence – No Need For Projects
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So I played around with a couple of old larger FCP 7 projects in FCP X today (just the assets of course). They were both from the same client so instead of making two different Events, I just made one, named it after the Client, and then started splitting things up into the two separate projects from inside the Event. I know some have said that we should treat an Event like a Master Client folder, which houses every project’s assets from every project from that client (though not sequences =) in one giant folder, so I’m giving it a shot. I’m also seeing that “One Client per Drive” might become a necessity and not just a preference to keep some sort of sanity until manual location of Event folders is a reality.
As I was organizing some weekend photos in Abode Lightroom, I just keep thinking some sort of “catalog” system in FCP X would go a long way to help with larger projects. Or in the mean time have a way to hide all the other Events and Projects that don’t pertain to the job you’re on.
tony
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Hi Tony, I wanted to ask you how you were dealing with making duplicates of your Compound Clips and how you were then organizing them.
The only way I can see of doing it is to select the Compound Clip in the Browser and make a New Compound Clip from it (Opt/G), open that up in the timeline (I’ve mapped this to Cmd/O) and then break it apart (Shift/CmdG). It would be nice if there was an easier way to do it.
I am then using keywords to segregate the different versions as appropriate, but moving edited spots between my work-in-progress area and my finised edits area involves editing the keywords which feels like a more laborious process than simply dragging it from one bin to another used to be. (In a sense, “copying” something from one place to another seems to be very easy but “moving” is much less so.) I’m sure there’s a better way that I’m not seeing.
I can’t help thinking (or maybe that’s just wishful thinking!) that we will soon see Projects disappear and some more advanced way of handling sequence organization implemented. As you have pointed out, the inability to organize Projects is a real issue unless you’ve only got a couple of edits in your chosen Event.
I’m currently working on a typical FCP7 project where I already have 15 different versions of the same 30 second TV spot, with about another 30 versions of other spots in the same project that I need to access, along with their work-in-progress versions (which I like to keep separate from finished versions that go to the client). FCPX doesn’t seem to have a way of addressing that need adequately at present but it could be just another thing I’m not understanding right.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Simon Ubsdell] “the inability to organize Projects is a real issue unless you’ve only got a couple of edits in your chosen Event.”
I realize of course that it’s perfectly possible to organize your Projects with folders which is fine. But what would be preferable is for the Projects to sit in the Browser (as per your Compound Clips idea) where the power of keywords could get them properly organized – it’s almost as if, with Projects, FCPX is stuck in a different, more traditional mindset when the rest of the app has moved on with the whole metadata thing. Whichever way, there feels like an undesirable disconnect here.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Simon Ubsdell] “I wanted to ask you how you were dealing with making duplicates of your Compound Clips and how you were then organizing them.”
First off, thanks Simon for continuing the discussion with me and glad I’m not the only one a little confused with the Events and Projects in a pro setting.
As for the duplicate Compound Clips, I actually just do the same thing I always did with FCP 7 sequences: just highlight the Compound Clip in the Event and press Command + D to duplicate it. Then I rename it something like “Commercial edit 02”. Plus, it copies all the keywords from the original clip so you don’t have to re-keyword anything.
And the more and more I try and work with Projects and Events the more I am with you in saying the FCP X team still does not know what the best workflow is for professionals in FCP X so they left all the iMovie stuff in there AND starting adding things like Compound Clips and storylines even though they are redundant in most areas.
I’m also thinking this may be why there is no XML/EDL support yet because they haven’t decided on a final way to create sequences and organize everything.
tony
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[Tony Silanskas] “press Command + D to duplicate it”
Ach, of course, I was being an idiot, thanks for putting me right.
[Tony Silanskas] “they left all the iMovie stuff in there”
I can’t help agreeing with you but there is a reasonably well-substantiated claim going around that FCPX shares none of the original code of iMovie. See for example this excellent article:
https://www.dvcreators.net/what-does-the-guy-who-led-the-original-final-cut-pro-revolution-think-of-the-final-cut-pro-x-release/You have to wonder why so many of the fine details seem to “betray their iMovie origins” (the Project pane most of all, but also less important but no less significant pretty much all the icons used throughout the application), and why you would write completely new code to reduplicate something in a supposedly completely different application designed for a completely different user group, but hey whay do we know?!
[Tony Silanskas] “continuing the discussion”
Hey, thanks for starting it – please keep the ideas coming, they’re very helpful.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Simon Ubsdell] “I can’t help agreeing with you but there is a reasonably well-substantiated claim going around that FCPX shares none of the original code of iMovie. See for example this excellent article:”
Thanks for the link. Good read. Maybe the code for iMovie needed to be written for the new Lion OS so they started with FCP X. =)
tony
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My wokflow is like yours, i have compount clips inside a project , call them sequenses, but i dont care about music, graphics, photos …. O organize them in itunes, iphoto or aperture.
They are all available right away in the lower left browser …
No need to take space in events library.This is way simpler, quicker and i make this for several years now.
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What’s the consensus on these techniques, after more usage? Is it still authoritative? No new gotchas or alternatives?
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I am just diving into FCPX and this is a great approach to a more traditional avid/fcp7-friendly logging/selects workflow. Great!
Keyword-organizing the compound clips so that they’ll show up in their predefined folders is a bit laborious but I don’t mind it…the extra care up front pays off.
Coming from Avid, I always started by creating selects in sequences which I could load in my source monitor and cut into my main show, hopping back into the selects to review footage with client as needed. In FCP7, I missed this dearly since sequences cannot be loaded into the source viewer.
Using compound clips as my select compilations works great – Loading the compound clips into my clip viewer effectively operates like a source monitor – I can scrub thru my select comp and cut into my project from there. I also love the timeline index as I can quickly see associated clips/markers/favorites and match into them as needed.
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