Andy Neil
Forum Replies Created
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[Joshua Pearson] “Is there a key command for pushing connected clips up or down to change their stacking order?”
This is one of the most requested shortcuts. Send feedback to Apple. The more people who do, the more likely we’ll get the enhancement.
[Joshua Pearson] “i have a 2-hour timeline and it chugs quite a bit when i move connected clips anywhere”
Without knowing the specifics of your project and it’s format and organization, I can’t help you with that one. As a general rule, make sure you only have your one library open, make sure your clips are optimized for editing, limit things like compounds which could balloon the size of your project, keep your inspector and effect browsers closed while working.
[Joshua Pearson] “and i find re-ordering b-roll stacks to be a frequent necessity as sometimes, when I want to extend a connected shot at its head or tail, FCPX annoyingly pushes the adjacent shot UP above the extension, which is exactly the opposite of my intention”
I do think you’d benefit more from knowing when to use secondary storylines. If you’re trimming connected clips so often that your hand is getting tired from the work, you’d probably be better off putting them into secondary storylines. Just make sure snapping is on and quickly adjust the connected clips so they aren’t overlapping and then hit CMD+G. In the future, drop your clips in as connected and wrangle them into secondaries before trimming to make things easier on you going forward. While you’re at it, send feedback to Apple to change the behavior of creating a secondary so that it acts like the overwrite to primary storyline function. That’s another one I’ve asked for.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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[Alex Johnson] “I can’t leave the files in place because of the DCIM card structure, unless I just save them outside the card structure.”
True, if you’re using the DCIM structure, but as you mention below, since the 5D and GoPro shoot H.264, you can pull them out of their card structure and import them as standalone files. Although that could be problematic with spanned clips (if the Go Pro does spanned clips).
[Alex Johnson] “So I had thought that one of the best things about FCPX would be that the middle step of transcoding wouldn’t be needed anymore and you could just import any file despite its codec or format directly into FCPX. So not being able to leave the files in place is not ideal, but copying the files will not be a huge issue and just be similar to our older workflow I guess.”
X can handle most codecs, but formats are still constrained somewhat. Your FCPX workflow should be similar to your FCP7 workflow except that the files will transcode in the background while you work.
[Alex Johnson] “But what concerns me now about copying the files is the the naming of the copied files, which FCPX changes. For example, I chose a file to copy and it changed the name from BT0045 to “2013-11-02 06_43_17 (id).mov”. Is this a preference issue where I can choose the copy file to retain the original name of the raw clip or is this something I can’t change? “
Ok, so this how it works. FCPX gives a unique file name to imported footage. The “2013-11-02 06_43_17 (id).mov” you mention. The file name on the card is maintained in metadata. Inside FCPX, you can create a custom name structure that you can apply to your imported clips to satisfy whatever format you use at your facility. This includes renaming the clips *inside* FCPX with the camera file name. It’s accomplished in the inspector. There’s a dropdown at the bottom that allows you to set up your custom name.
[Alex Johnson] “My last concern is the issue I also mentioned in the previous post about the files going missing directly after importing. Would you happen to know the cause behind that?”
Regarding your missing files problem, I can only speculate. This is my best guess. When you import clips from a camera source (even a copied structure), FCPX “sees” that source differently than it does regular files. Essentially, the camera has to be “mounted” in order for FCPX to see the clips. If you import clips from a camera and then eject the camera source before the transcoding has finished, X will no longer be able to see the clips and all that imported media will go offline. This can be a gotcha especially if you imported a lot of clips and they seem to come in instantly so then you quit FCPX. When you restart, all those clips minus the ones which had time to transcode, will be offline. All you have to do in those circumstances is go into your import dialogue, re-mount the camera sources, exit the dialogue, and go up to File / Import / Re-import from Camera. FCPX will continue transcoding (you can see the progress in that little wheel in the center by the TC). Just wait for it to finish transcoding before you shut X down.
Hope this helps.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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This is usually the result of a folder at the root of your drive that FCPX is mistaking for the folder structure of a camera card. Something like CLIPS or VIDEO or something. Check to make sure your folder structure doesn’t have anything like that at the root.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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The C300 and XDCam cameras shoot .mxf files which need to be rewrapped as Quicktime .mov in order to used in FCPX. The 5D and Go Pro both shoot H264 if I’m not mistaken and for those clips you could choose to “leave files in place” if you want.
But for the C300 and XDCam the fact that you have to get them out of .mxf is the reason you can’t “leave in place”. For a workflow where you want all the editors to have access to clips in a central location, I’d use the “choose folder” option when importing and place all the footage in a central location. This will double your C300 and XDCam footage but you can always delete the card files after you’ve finished importing (provided you have an archive backup of the cards elsewhere).
This may not be the answer you’re looking for, but realistically, you NEED to have at least one copy of your cards that remains untouched (most productions have two). You do NOT want to edit with your only copy of footage in card form. One misplaced read/write and you’ve lost your media for good. Keeping footage in card form just so you can open it in XF Utility or FCP7 is fine, just don’t edit with those card files.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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The second shot has a lot less red in it and extra yellow to my eye. Try matching the skin tones instead of the grass.
Neither shot is where I’d want to be, so I’d first correct one shot how I want it; probably the top one (take out some of the red). Then try to match the skin tones and see what that does to the grass and shirt. If the shots were taken at the same time but with different cameras, you might be able to closely match them without needing to apply masks and such.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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[Charlie Austin] “Also the ability to paste *at all* into a secondary.”
You can copy/paste into the secondary if the clip you copy is from the secondary. But yes, it’s not possible from the browser and I don’t think it ever will. Since there are no “track selectors” in X, the only way to accomplish a paste into connected from the browser would be to have yet another dedicated shortcut which goes against the “ease of use” idea that Apple tries to maintain with their software.
David’s desire for a paste overwrite is more likely because it can be accomplished without an extra shortcut. Simply work the code so that copy/paste inserts if you have the selection tool active, and overwrites if you have the position tool active.
But I still maintain that copy/pasting from the browser to the timeline is trying to make an NLE, any NLE, act like a text editor. The only time I found copy/paste to be that effective as a tool in editing was using it to copy/paste clips from clips already in the sequence or from one sequence to another. Not for basic editing tasks.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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[David Lawrence] “It’s one of the simplest possible things an NLE can do, right? I mean really… there’s no excuse for any workarounds.”
This is one of those statements that’s so extremely loaded. There are any number of things that anyone can point to and say, “certainly any NLE should be able to do that!” with the implication being that if it can’t, it doesn’t measure up. Just today, I was annoyed that I had to render a ramping speed effect in Avid to see if it matched the music I was cutting to. Surely any NLE worth it’s salt could do this without rendering?
BTW, how is SHIFT+F and D more of a workaround than CMD+C / CMD+V? I can matchframe/overwrite just as fast as I can copy/paste.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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[Charlie Austin] “If you don’t like X, fine. But to say the software can’t do “real” work is complete and utter horsecrap. Move on. Please.”
Thank you. I would have responded something similar, but I was too busy doing a complex project in FCPX to take the time.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
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[Walter Soyka] “although I know editors who still prefer FCP7, MC or Pr, I can’t think of any editors I know who would outright dismiss FCP X anymore.”
I still come across a lot of that negativity in LA. Not from people who frequent forums so much because they stay atop of the changes. But the backlash that occurred when X was introduced spread much further than the internet forum community. Whenever I bring up X in conversation the typical response is surprise followed by, “It’s not any good is it?” or “I heard it can’t do audio,” or some equally dated critique.
Andy
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos
