[Andrew Kimery]

Entertaining piece Mark. Nice job. I found all the wipes, image distortions and odd transitions distracting though. I feel like the footage could’ve stood on its own two feet w/out the additional post ‘flare’.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

While probably not a common workflow, we use LT to capture all of our direct feed video game footage which is used for both broadcast and web productions. For our needs LT holds up as well as regular ProRes in A/B tests and for the volume of footage we create (avg. 1-2TB a week) the smaller file size of LT is very beneficial.

But, to echo what others have said, if you are going to be doing a lot of manipulation in post (keying, heavy color correction, etc.,) then ProRes will give you more latitude. Assuming your source footage is high enough quality to begin with of course.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

[Bill Davis] “Once upon a time the few made all the video for the many. Today, there are 2 million FCP editors alone. Show me another tool in development that will better allow 20 MILLION people to edit functional content for 20 million businesses in order to drive the iPad content of the future?

Tomorrows production WILL NOT be the same as yesterdays. Sorry, but as with all massive industrial change – we adapt or die.”

Why is it an either/or scenario? I don’t understand why this
false dichotomy keeps getting brought up. Are people going to stop watching TV shows and movies because they have interactive iPad menus? Did the roll out of the minivan kill the cargo van? Did the spread of literacy or the easy availability of musical instruments mean no one wanted to read a novel or pay to see a professional musician in concert? To me the world of video production is expanding, not contracting.

I see lots of people adapting. They are learning Avid or Premiere Pro because FCP 10 does not suit their workflow and FCP 7 is pretty long in the tooth. The people that are in danger of getting left behind, IMO, are those steadfastly sticking with Apple and hopping that FCP 10 will quickly blossom into a tool that possesses many, if not all, of the features they need that FCP 7, Avid MC and Premiere Pro currently have today.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

[David Lawrence] “My biggest concern is that Apple has painted itself into a corner at a deep level with this design.”

This assumes that Apple even wants to cater to the “traditional pro” market anymore. I know I’m not the first to say it but it’s worth repeating. Apple didn’t make a mistake if they intended to focus primarily on a different kind of editor.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

[Liam Hall] “Yes, it’s true, but that doesn’t make it right.”

I don’t think this naturally occurring process is a moral issue. It’s just pragmatic to create situation specific vernaculars. If some people take knowing their specific trade’s lingo as some sort of badge of honor then so be it. I don’t think only speaking in layman’s terms about everything is a viable alternative.

It’s like saying we should get rid of the concept of money or property ownership because some people are greedy or materialistic.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

[Liam Hall] “It’s true, in the film and television industry there is a widespread use of slang and technical terminology that is lost on many. I think this a bad thing. It’s borne out of arrogance and elitism. It’s designed to exclude, not encourage.”

Isn’t this use of specific language and short hand true in every field though? Heck, even when I was younger and worked at Blockbuster I had to learn the corporate vernacular as well as the slang that was used in our store (and our store slang might not be different from slang in other BB stores).

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

Craig,

It’s kinda weird. My primary interest in FCP 10 right now is from my geek side while my editing side looks on w/the disinterest of a husband purse shopping with his wife.

[Chris Kenny] “Huh? OS X has a very different UI from OS 9.”
I was being vague again. I was meaning to reference that Apple has taken OS X from 32-bit to 64-bit w/o changing the look and feel. And even though OS 9 and OS X have a lot of differences they still function basically the same way when it comes to the end user. It’s only now with Lion that we are starting to see the beginnings of Apple testing the waters of a mouse-less desktop OS w/the public. The magic mouse might be the last mouse Apple ever makes.

[Chris Kenny] “This is the same thing they did with FCP the first time around.”
That argument has never held water for me. Apple started from square one w/FCP 1.0 and there’s no reason they had to back to square one w/FCP 10. Why make an app that, out of the gate, can pretty smoothly take the torch from FCP7 and then add features that expand it out into a broader market? Seems like a better, less incendiary, way to release an app. Unless, of course, the traditional pro is closer to a tertiary market than a primary one.

A week or so after FCP 10 came out one of the original FCP team members was interviewed (wish I could find the link) and he said that the goal, even back then, was to aim for Avid’s market, not the lower end of the market. FCP, like any newcomer, had to rise through the ranks so it makes sense that it was a grass roots type movement that elevated FCP up the post production pyramid. I don’t see the benefit of Apple burning those inroads unless they are rather indifferent to traveling those paths again.

I’m not saying that’s good nor bad just that that’s the way I think it is.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

I wasn’t aware that the underlying framework (whether it’s QT or AV Foundation) could have so much impact on the GUI. The geek in me is curious to learn more.

I agree that Apple is very good at making user friendly devices and software but working professionals should want the best app they can get not necessarily the app with the lowest learning curve, IMO (and FCP’s learning curve was already pretty low compared to other NLEs). Efficiency, not necessarily simplicity, should be the goal I think. As Alan Keyes said, simple should be simple and complex should be possible.

Only time will tell though and it will be interesting to see what path all the NLEs take, not just FCP X. Maybe FCP X falls totally out of favor w/the traditional pro market or maybe Adobe & Avid come to a realization that Apple was headed down the right path but just pulled the trigger way too early.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

[Craig Seeman] “They sure did because they had to throw out the bathtub.”

Two quick things off the top of my head. First, I think I made too vague of a statement. Second, I think the phrase “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” is used so commonly that it’s apparently lost all meaning. 😉

When I made the baby/bathwater comment the idea I had swirling around in my head was that things like completely redesigning the GUI and introducing a new editing paradigm were not requirements in order to rewrite the app in 64-bit and to change the framework from QT to AV foundation. Apple could have given FCP 10 the familiar look and feel of previous FCP versions and still switched everything around under the hood just like they’ve done with their operating systems.

Apple chose to craft FCP 10 in the way that they did. It was not something forced on them due to the technical requirements of going from 32-bi to 64-bit. Apple chose to launch with things like “Share to Facebook”, iMovie compatibility and iTunes & iPhoto integration instead of things like OMF or baseband video out support. Apple chose to sever the ties that they did.

OS X supported Classic until Leopard was released. Rosetta is finally being dropped w/Lion. People could buy USB Floppy drives. Heck, even iMovie 6 was available as a free download for two years after iMovie 08 came out. And, honestly, besides moving from command line to GUI desktop operating systems haven’t change much in terms of user interaction over the past few decades. I mean, someone coming from Windows 3.1 would be able to use Windows 7 or OS X just fine after getting past some superficial differences.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Andrew Kimery]

I don’t want to get into the “what is a pro” debate so I’ll just ask, do you think FCP X will sooner rather than later meet and exceed the level of functionality that FCP 7 has? And by that I mean that anything I can do in FCP 7 I’ll be able to do in FCP X and then some.

I don’t understand the ‘either or’ stance as a justification for FCP X’s current state. Apple didn’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater they choose too. Apple didn’t have to leave out some ‘soon to be brought back’ features they chose to. They prioritized things during development and those priorities are only ‘wrong’ if one assumes that Apple chose to make an app targeted at a specific user base and missed. Maybe Apple chose to target a separate user base and scored a bulls-eye (or near bulls-eye)? IMO Apple will bring many of the ‘traditional pro’ features back over time but the traditional pro user will more of an afterthought rather than a primary target.

I don’t hate FCP X. I just don’t find it useful to me in its current form so I’ll stick w/tools that do such as FCS 3, Avid MC, possibly Premiere and maybe LightWorks eventually. If FCP X ever gets to a point to where I find it usable for my workflow I’ll pick it up too. For me it’s about being pragmatic.

-Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)