Andy Patterson
Forum Replies Created
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[Brett Sherman] “If FCP X allows you to get to the craft quicker, then that’s what it should be.”
There are people that use both and would say it is personal choice.
[Brett Sherman] “There is a lot of thought that has to go into curriculum development. If one of the students really excels with FCP X and decides to make a career of editing, I have no doubt they will easily be able to switch to another editing program as the need arises. They will be richer for having spent more time thinking about the craft of editing.”
They would be able to switch but they would not be as proficient as someone who trained and knew about the integration of Premiere, AE and Cinema 4D. Same would be true for Avid. Someone who knew all three would be better off. Once again I am not saying the students would have to learn all three but the option should be there. Let me state it this way. I would consider it odd to only see Premiere Pro being taught. That might help clear things up. I am not saying the college is no good or that that they do not have a high percent of people in the workforce. It would also be good to know both Mac and PC platforms. I have seen jobs posted for Premiere and Avid where they want you to know both platforms. I admit it may not be the majority but I would like to think a college education would allow for experience on both platforms.
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[Rachel Bradshaw] “Lowering the playback resolution to 1/4 seems to have worked. Thank you.”
I thought you had tried that. My bad. I knew it was not the hard drive.
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[Dave LaRonde] “It sounds like the connection to the external hard drive. Unless it’s Thunderbolt, I doubt it’s fast enough to keep up with the bit rate of your file. Try copying the file to the internal drive to see if you get smooth playback.”
The external hard drive will be fast enough to play several layers of AVCHD at 1920 X 1080. If you convert to Pro Res it might be to slow to play even one layer of Pro Res. Unless the laptop has a SSD it will probably be slower than the external hard drive.
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[Rachel Bradshaw] “The video is an 4GB 1920 x 1080 HD Quicktime movie file. I am editing off of a Seagate Go Flex 500 GB external drive connected to my MACBOOK 13 inch Mid 2010 Processor 2.4 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo. OS X Yosemite Version 10.10.5”
A cheap $600.00 Dell or HP would be better than that out dated Macbook. Having said that the hard drive will be fast enough to play several layers of AVCHD at 1920 X 1080. If you convert to Pro Res it might be to slow to play even one layer of Pro Res.
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[Raf Zimon] “It’s a a firewire connection using IEEE-1394 Firewire Cable 4-6 – IEEE 1394 cable – 4 pin FireWire (M) to 6 pin FireWire. The deck is a DSR-40 (or 45 not sure atm) or any camera with a firewire. I tried about 3 including my old rusty Canon Optura. Does that help?”
It all still works. I would try CPU mode instead of GPU. Is the DV device selected for output device and do you have Mercury Transmit Enabled? Below is proof that IEEE Fire Wire devices still work.
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[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “Do all your students own an Apple computer?
”Yes. It’s strongly suggested. I have seen about 3 PC’s in 9 years. Much like Full Sail requires a Mac for some programs, we strongly suggest that too. Our graduate program is Mac based.”
Are you saying you could teach the art of editing using an iMac and iMovie but it would be impossible to do that using a PC and Premiere Pro. That is awfully nice of the school to force Apple products on you. What if the school forced you to buy a PC?
[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “$300.00 for FCPX is nice but it is not as good as free. Also FCPX is not cross platform. ”
$199 for the package of software is pretty damn spiffy. Cross-platform? See above.”
It is still a lot more money than free.
[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “Then why teach FCPX? ”
As stated before, it’s the best and easiest software to teach the craft, in my humble opine.”
In your humble opinion you probably think the Mac Pro is better than a PC workstation. Am I correct?
[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “Isn’t that why you have a job?”
yup. And since I have used and made money on all three, I can answer those questions.”
Many people can answer the same question and give a different answer.
[Scott Witthaus] “Andy, you’re not a fan of X. Totally cool. I am. Totally cool. But I know what I am teaching and am comfortable in what and how I teach. I have my student’s best interest in mind for the industries they enter. Student reviews are generally excellent. Our students have a 97% placement rate at 6 months after graduation. I am ok with that. For more info, go here: https://www.brandcenter.vcu.edu/“
Actually your comment is incorrect. I have stated FCPX is a good program many times. I just think Premiere Pro, AE and Cinema 4-D can work well together. AE has some cool features. Having said that I would not have a problem teaching FCPX or iMovie. Avid, FCPX, Resolve and Premiere Pro all work. If you were told you had to teach Premiere Pro next semester on a PC would you welcome it or hate it?
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[Walter Soyka] “Scott falls on the theory side. The actual practice of driving an NLE is immaterial for his approach. The less time he can spend teaching how to use an NLE, the more time he can spend teaching how to craft a story through editorial. That is a very real and valuable skill.”
Keep in mind I added a hypothetical to the equation. Why not teach a program that is cross platform and free? If Blackmagic had a NLE that mimicked FCPX 100% why not use that instead? That is the real question I asked. It was never answered. I stated the school should offer the options. Scott would not have to teach them. It would be up to the student to opt take all 3 (FCPX, Avid and Premiere). He stated they can go to Linda.com.
[Walter Soyka] “A practical education would concern itself more with the mechanics of editing, and thus necessarily less on crafting a story. Those skills are real and valuable, too, but they are different, and one approach is not necessarily better than another.”
This doesn’t really answer my question nor am I arguing with you. You nor Scott have told me anything new. I just wanted Scott to answer my hypothetical question. He did stated he could teach using iMovie. IMovie is Apple only.
[Walter Soyka] “Personally, I chose my school because they although they taught both, they generally valued theory over practice. I thought it was more important to learn why to make a cut than how to do it. Perhaps you would prefer the other way, and that’s fine — there are plenty of places to learn that way, too — but I think Scott’s class sounds pretty appealing.”
No argument but this is really just another strawman. I have not once talked about teaching methods or what I prefer. You just stated you like the fact that your school taught both programs and they valued theory over practice. You are helping to prove my point because your school taught both.
All ask you the same question. If BMD had a NLE that mimicked FCP X 100% for free and is was cross platform would it be wise to offer that as an option to the students? If the school could only teach one program and BMD’s NLE had 50% of the market and it is free would you say it might be the better option instead of FCPX? Keep in mind all the students could download it to their computer. Would some of you still buy FCPX for $300.00 knowing BMD offered the exact same thing for free? That is what needs to be addressed not teaching methods or what type of education I prefer.
Let me put it to you like this. If FCPX was discontinued today. Would Scott opt for Premiere, Avid, Edius, Resolve or iMovie. That is kind of my point. I think some people are 100% dedicated to Apple products. I am not saying Scott is at this point. I’ll say this. I would not mind teaching FCPX on a Mac Pro or iMac. I wouldn’t mind teaching iMovie. Would any FCPX users want to teach Premiere Pro on a PC? Would some of you feel as though you can tech the art of editing with an iMac and iMovie but not a PC and Premiere Pro?
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[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “Your feelings for FCPX are irrelevant.”
Well, no. Since I create the curriculum it is very relevant.”
Your feelings are irrelevant. If your school is not teaching Premiere and Avid the students are not getting the best education. You may not like Avid and Premiere Pro but many do. My second point is not everyone owns a Apple computer.
[Scott Witthaus] ”
[andy patterson] “Premiere, Avid and AE are out there.”Sigh. See my previous posts. Lynda.com is out there for them.”
Then why teach FCPX? Why not just have them go to Lynda.com for FCPX training? As I stated people may have questions beyond Linda.com. Isn’t that why you have a job?
[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “In fact I know of a TV station in Chicago that uses Edius. Oprah Winfrey’s own Harpo productions used to use Edius as well (they still might).”
We are not doing 1:15 news packages or long form broadcast. Note my posts above. Would you say that the Edius station is doing it’s editors a disservice by using such a niche product?”
Don’t confuse the purpose of a TV station with a school that has a purpose to educate students. The TV station’s purpose is to bring the news not educate students.
[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “I could see only teaching FCPX if FCPX was the only NLE being used in a professionals environment but that is not the case. ”
Note my posts above, please. I am not teaching kids to go out and local news or broadcast.”
I never stated you were. Do all your students own an Apple computer?
[Scott Witthaus] “[andy patterson] “The answer to those questions is what I really want to know.”
One more time….I am teaching the craft of visual storytelling not “learn this system(s) so you can get a news gig”. At the end of a project, I want a story based on a strong concept, shot and posted properly. They can use iMovie for all I care. It’s about the end result and less about what tool they use to cut it. To assist my students to get to that result, I teach X. I have always said that I can teach ANYBODY how to operate a software. Talented storytellers are not that easy to find. I am trying to get technology out of the way of the storytelling process.”
I asked if Blackmagic Design had a free program identical to FCPX that worked on Mac and PC both would you drop FCPX in favor of Blackmagic? You never answered that. You went on to talk about story telling. Couldn’t you teach the art of story telling using the Blackmagic Design NLE if it mimicked FCPX 100%?
$300.00 for FCPX is nice but it is not as good as free. Also FCPX is not cross platform.
The fact that you could not respond by saying “if BMD had a NLE that mimicked FCPX for free and worked on Mac and PC I would opt to teach that instead of FCPX. The reason I would opt for BMD over FCPX is the price and it is cross platform. It would be more beneficial to the students”.
You gave responses to some things that were statements I made and not actual questions. On the other hand you did not answer the actual question I asked. I find that very odd. Even though you did not answer my question directly I did find out what I wanted to know. So having said that thank you for your response.
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[Brett Sherman] “But the problem with that is, you are sacrificing a lot of your limited time getting into idiosyncratic details of how different editing systems work instead of teaching the craft of editing. If FCP X allows you to get to the craft quicker, then that’s what it should be. There is a lot of thought that has to go into curriculum development. If one of the students really excels with FCP X and decides to make a career of editing, I have no doubt they will easily be able to switch to another editing program as the need arises. They will be richer for having spent more time thinking about the craft of editing.”
One thing to consider is FCPX is not cross platform for Mac and PC. Other programs are. I do admit FCPX for $300.00 is a good deal for Apple users but what about everyone else? That is kind of my point.
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[Oliver Peters] ” FCP legacy would never have become the force it was without professional, marquee users.”
I think having users who were super passionate (FCP user groups) about the software is what allowed FCP to get some recognition more than anything else. Imagine if there were passionate users of Pinnacle’s Liquid Edition. Apple users could have experienced the thrill of GPU acceleration and background rendering in 2003. Liquid Edition was an interesting program to say the least. I sold my copy when Avid decided to end of life it. Would I be using Pinnacle’s Liquid Edition instead of Premiere Pro if Avid did not to end of life it? Probably but who can say for sure. It took Adobe, Apple and Blackmagic a long time to catch up to Fast/Pinnacle/Avid. Did Fast/Pinnacle/Avid have a patent on GPU acceleration and background rendering? Who knows? Having said that the background rendering of Liquid Edition was needed more back in the days of analogue and digital tape export. As of 2017 I think Media Encoder is a better option than background rendering from the timeline.