[Al Bergstein]

I’d really like to see some modern lower thirds. Clean, more an indie look than broadcast sports, which is what most of Vegas’ quite data ones seem to me. I guess i just got to do my own, or buy them elswehere?

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Why?

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Not to beat a dead horse, but the only reason I find to use FCP is that there are so many other FCP users out there, that when I need to work with one, it is vastly easier to just say, yes, I have FCP, send me the files (=work). I consider it just another tool in my toolbox, no different than a saw or a hammer in the carpenter world. But a very complex saw that is not normally needed in my day to day work. But when I’m hired on a crew, then the saw is needed, and I say, sure I’ll bring the specialty saw you all use. Heck I’m just one of the guys.

Adobe is *starting* to get to that point. Vegas, like I say, doesn’t have a lot of champions in my neck of the woods, just me, and one or two others. But I champion it whereever I go. Except cocktail parties. Then when the *oh so smart* bring up the inevitable question, “You use FCP don’t you?” I just shrug and say, “sure”. They never need to know…because they really don’t want to. (G)

By the way, as to add on’s. I continue to find that VASST’s suite that I recently bought is really a great add on tool. I use it every day I edit. Nice work John.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

I am a small independent video producer who has used FCP and Vegas extensively in the last two years. The issue of going to FCPX is highly controversial in the FCP camp, because it is not a professional tool at this point in time. It is really an upgrade to Apple’s consumer product. Why Apple did this, is the subject to a lot of debate. But the professionals out there currently are primarily using FCP 7 (otherwise known as FCP Studio, which includes a very high end color grading tool, and other relatively decent tools). FCP also has a huge world of add ons, more than Vegas, or Adobe, for that matter, though Adobe is catching up quickly. Apple has cultivated those companies, up to now. The niche companies that Hollywood high end production companies need to really round out the tools for massive, complex, multi-person/multi-team production work. The difference is that Hollywood has specialists for every single job, and they all spend all day on the tools, and need a lot of add ons that we just don’t need, because the budgets don’t allow it. We have some great add ons, Boris, VASST, etc, but not even close to the Apple world.

Many, including myself, are migrating to Adobe, which is also a complex tool, but not yet “industry standard”. That name is reserved for Avid and FCP, at this point, but there have been some notable “hollywood” films cut on Adobe. adobe seems to be targeting the special effects industry as their way in. The vast bulk of current FCP users seem to be ‘staying put’, so your opportunity for jobs is in the current product that is in wide spread use, not FCPX. I would not suggest wasting any time with that product, if your goal is a job in the industry.

That being said, I find I use Vegas far more than I ever used FCP. FCP forces you to transcode every bit of video to their proprietary codec, Prores. It is much faster, read Time=Money, to use Vegas. Vegas can do 90% or more of what FCP can do, especially in the day to day cut and run world of inexpensive video production. Add Sound Forge or Protools and your Windows machine is totally capable of competing for most jobs. But it’s not FCP, in that the criteria for getting work is FCP knowledge. Most FCP editors I’ve talked with either dismiss Vegas out of hand, as an amateur product, or don’t even know it exists. Seriously. And 100% of the ones I’ve had say those things to me have never tried it, because I ask them that.

The wildcard for me is Adobe. A much more complex product, but it too does not need to be transcoded if you want to simply stay with your footage (I use a Canon Xf300 to shoot, so I shoot in an very good codecc that is 4:2:2 out of the camera, why I should transcode is beyond me). Many of the FCP editors on the boards around the world are starting to migrate to Adobe, myself included. I have it on order now, waiting on disks, as downloading the entire Adobe suite, even on cable modem,takes days. (just joking). But Adobe is playing for keeps, and wants that market really badly. They now have a product that can actually seriously compete for major motion pictures, and they integrate well with two of the other major tools out there,Photoshop and Illustrator. Then add the specific video add on tools that Adobe throws into the suite, and there is no doubt that Apple will have to work hard to stay on top, and they don’t seem to be willing to do that.

So, you are in a good position. Keep your Vegas skills up, buy Adobe and learn that, or Avid, both run on your Windows machine. For instant gratification, without buying a Mac, I guess I would choose AVID, if I lived in LA and wanted to find a job quickly. Maybe see if you can buy coffee for a few hiring editors to pick their brains.

Lastly, the world of video editing, because of Apple’s dominance, is very Mac centric. Do not dismiss getting a Mac, if you want to break into this field, but to professionally edit on a Mac, you really need a MacPro, the most expensive machine out there. The other machines are not really able to keep up, (I own a state of the art 2009 laptop, and it is dismally slow at rendering or transcoding),though the latest top of the line Mac laptops can do the job, but those too, are very expensive. And never, ever be dismissive about the Mac to these folks, they are a religious cult that cannot be swayed in their belief that Apple is superior to Windows in every conceivable way. Many of them have never used Windows 7, but why should I be surprised…(G).

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Joe, let’s start with some questions…

• Has this been working before ok,or is it a new installation of Vegas?
• Do you have your footage on a separate hard drive or the one with your Windows OS on it?
• If everything has been working fine, what changed in the last day or week? New software? Upgrades?
• I haven’t checked but did you put your computer setup info in your profile, so we could make sure that you have the basics covered?
• What kind of footage is this?

As you can expect, it’s hard to troubleshoot stuff over a bbs. Hope this helps get started.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

This is a good sign. A company listening to it’s customers.i’d love to know the backstory on this!

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Julia, copy the card contents in their entire folder structure onto the windows (ntfs or fat) drive.i.e. Do not copy just individual files. You. Should be able tothen plug the drive into he mac and copythe entire folder to the mac. Thense the canon xf utility to view rushes without using fcp, if you wish. Make sense? I often use this to eliminate bad clips on my windows laptop before copying to the mac.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Mark, i have used 10 & 9, with all hd. 10has been much better, and very stable. Get it.the trial is free.

W7 64bit

Alf

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

You might try simply outputting your HD quality work in Blu Ray. Then it will look like HD. My work in HD looks substantially better than anything shot in SD, and even when rendered down to DVD quality, looks substantially better than anything shot in SD. So follow Scot’s advice. You have professional quality capable cameras (See Philip Bloom’s work to see how good a 7D image can end up), but remember that the 7D is not a broadcast quality camera. It is, however, a fabulous camera and can, when in the hands of pro, produce outstanding results, if you know it’s limitations.

There is nothing stopping you from producing a world class production in FCP 7. I agree that you should hit the books, as I did a few years ago, and figure out how to output the right quality from your great tools.

You’ll get there, just takes some time.

From someone who is still learning…

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Couple of questions:
-Does it need to be broadcast quality?
-Does it need to be small (i.e. out of the way rather than in the way?
-What about audio?
-How will you handle card changes?
-Are you trying to do time lapse or actually capturing everything and editing it down later?

If I had to do something that, for broadcast quality I’d likely go with an AF100 or xf300 from Canon, maybe an EX from Sony. Dual slot cards in the xf300 along with chaining the cards allows you to get a lot of footage on them. Overheating on HDSLs over that length of time would make them likely unsuitable for it. All the pro cameras allow you to plug in a power cord to the camera, so batteries don’t need to be used.

The xf300 (or maybe it’s smaller single chip cousin the 100) would be pretty much out of the way, but the lens is not all that wide. You might need to get an adapter lens for super wide angle. The AF100 from Panny and the ex allows a separate lens to be attached.

Alf