Andy Neil
Forum Replies Created
-
-
If you need a leg up here’s the basics of what you need.
Create a new effects project.
Clone the effect source layer.
Apply a mask to the clone layer. Publish the controls.
Apply a blur effect to the clone layer. Publish the controls.
Then in FCPX, you just continue to apply the effect to your clip for each blur you need to make.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
Do you have Motion 5? Because you can create a blur effect that you publish to FCPX that will do the job without needing to duplicate anything.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
EDIT: I guess I’m the slowest typist here. I’ll leave my somewhat redundant info here though in case it’s clearer by describing it differently.
The majority of your issues come from attempting to make FCPX work like FCP7 or Avid, or another track based NLE. If you try to approach problem solving from the result backwards using FCPXs strengths, then you’ll (eventually) have more luck working with it. If, on the other hand, you simply can’t fathom working without tracks or track-based paradigms, then X is probably not for you.
I’ll try to address your issues one by one:
[Lillian Young] “1. In FCP 7, I would lock my audio track and edit videos on other tracks. In this Storyline environment of X, I read that using a gap clip on the main track is the workaround. “
There are numerous ways to handle a scenario like this. They include combining audio into compound clips or secondary storylines (depending on the situation), placing the audio in the primary or using the gap clip as you mentioned. The best workflow will depend on the specifics of the project. If you’re doing a music video for example, you can put the music in a secondary storyline where there’s only one connection point to worry about and edit to your heart’s delight, the video in your primary. You don’t need to worry about “locking” tracks because trimming in the primary won’t affect a connected clip.
[Lillian Young] “2. If the clips are on top of a Gap clip, then to do simple things like add transitions, I have to create Storylines.”
This is correct. But you can simply apply the transition to a connected clip and FCPX will create the storyline for you. This works even between two adjacent connected clips.
[Lillian Young] “3. The audio drops or peeks randomly on playback but renders fine.”
I don’t have this problem. Perhaps you have a corrupt user or bad install.
[Lillian Young] “4. You cannot simply select in and out points from the storyline. You have to create a Compound Clip and then select a Range? Seriously?! “
No. Not seriously. I’m not even sure what you’re having a problem with, but you can mark INs/OUTs, jump to those INs/OUTs and everything else you’re used to doing in a typical NLE. If you’re referring to secondary storylines, just use the range tool and you can select with I and O there as well.
[Lillian Young] “5. I can’t just grab a clip like a video clip and move or delete it without the audio (detached but attached via stem) being effected.”
This is not that hard. Detach audio from video. Select video. Hit shift+delete to delete the clip and replace with a gap. Also, you could simply select the clip. Hit matchframe (shift+f). Swap to audio only edit (shift+3) and replace (shift+r). If you want to move the clip, hold tilde and lift clip to replace the video with gap, or swap clips to keep audio in temporal place but change which clip is connected to it.
[Lillian Young] “6. To get the latest version with major updates, I’d have to upgrade my OS. As a pro with multiple third party plugins and apps, there’s no way I’d upgrade my OS on an early release.”
This is true. It can be a headache if you’re not ready to upgrade so tread carefully here. What I did was to create a Mavericks partition where I could load FCPX and test my other plugins and programs. See what breaks and what doesn’t. Still, to be safer, you can wait for a couple OSX and FCPX updates before upgrading. Changing with the tech is the nature of the world these days.
[Lillian Young] “7. I experienced a MAJOR scare when FCPX didn’t recognize my external drive containing my project. On FCP 7, you just open the FCP file.”
Sure you did, except when the FCP project file was corrupt and wouldn’t open. Then you had to hope that one of the autosaves would open, or that you had it set to autosave enough that you didn’t lose much work. This is a non-issue. There isn’t an NLE on the planet that won’t scare you from time to time and X is better than some. I’ve force quit in the middle of transcoding, transferring and had crashes after finishing edits or after hours of tagging and organizing. And when I brought it back up, I lost NOTHING. It’s recovery system is actually really good and has been solid for a few versions now.
I hope this helps answer some of your questions. In the end, only you can determine whether or not FCPX is going to work for you.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
Can you post a screenshot of the root folders of your hard drive? It’s possible even without a DCIM or CONTENTS folder that there’s a folder confusing FCPX.
Secondly, if you did a clean install, it may be the permissions that are the problem. Did you repair permissions for your external drive? You may find that your (me) user has no permissions because those permissions were created on your previous (me) user and not transferred (this happens even if you use the same “name”).
Get info on the drive itself, not just specific folders. Unlock the Sharing and Permissions (lock icon at bottom right). Add a new user (plus button). Give yourself read/write permissions. Then click the gear icon and make you the new owner of the drive. Then apply that setting to enclosed items (also in the gear menu).
Give that a shot.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
Have you installed the pro codecs on your system? Quicktime does this when it encounters a codec it can’t play natively so it converts to one it can (I believe).
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
[Andreas Kiel] “As Dave said its just cmd-C and option-V in the other project.”
This doesn’t work. This only pastes the copy as a connected clip. What Sascha is looking to do is paste directly into a secondary storyline. Something that’s not possible without a second step. Or, as I mentioned, using matchframe instead of copy/paste.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
[willy pimentel] “U can merge/move up/down from secondary to primary <-> with a simple keyboard combination.”
That doesn’t help with what Sascha is trying to do. He’s looking to take a clip from one project and put it in the secondary storyline of another project. Merging down from secondary into primary will delete whatever is in the primary. Lifting from the primary simply makes a connected clip.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
Not the way you describe. You can only copy/paste into either the primary or as a connected clip. However, the solution is to use matchframe instead of copy.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
-
Have you tried deleting your preferences? This kind of display issue sounds pretty significant. If you can’t even see or search for the clip in the full library or event, then it seems like something screwy with either the Library (having a corrupt database maybe?) or bad installation.
If deleting preferences doesn’t work, try recreating the problem in a new library. Reingest the same clips that were disappearing on you and try to get them to do the same thing in a new Library. If you continue to have problems, I might try a reinstallation.
When I installed 10.1.1 on my system, I created a separate partition (because I’m still running Mountain Lion for the majority of my programs), and did a clean install of Mavericks. I’ve heard of issues with update installs of Mavericks so I’m not sure if your issues with FCPX could be related to your OS install.
As for me, I’ve seen some wonky, buggy behavior from FCPX, but nothing that serious. Usually a restart fixes the issue for me.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com