[Ann Clark]

@ Craig: You seem to really like FCPX.

Others on this forum (not just me) seem to have a bad taste regarding this product which reportedly has a few big flaws, not the least of which is that it doesn’t open versions of FCP files made in FCP7 or older. That’s already a big minus for those of us with 10+ years of FCP projects in the archives and lots of dollars spent training for the old FCP. Also, many producers’ favorite features were left out, much to their chagrin.

Most notably for those discussing FCPX, it seems to have a simplified interface that some have compared, at best, to Express or at worst, to iMovie. This is why there’s a common opinion that it’s for the less sophisticated producer — the one who typically tries to gain experience by doing small, low-cost jobs. Anyway, I was just jumping off on the poster’s mention of very low cost producers as the culprit for a downturn in business. But that doesn’t affect us here in my business, anyway. We’re all about high-end.

Given that FCPX is aimed at users not necessarily married to FCP7 (see other postings on this in Creativecow and also LAFCPUG) it’s a hard call to say it ISN’T for a brand new (and probably less experienced) user.

I’ve done a lot of research, and can’t use the product because it doesn’t work on my hardware at present. Management isn’t inclined to invest in FCPX until I make a good case for it.

Anyway, don’t be so quick to judge those who are trying to make a judgement on a potentially expensive switch (training + equipment). Before we jump in to buy this software, I need to be sure we really should scrap old machines, but more importantly, scrap old FCP productions that were contracted for by current clients, and which can’t be updated in FCPX.

Anyone else like to counter my assertions? I’d really like some good news about FCPX for a change.

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

You’re hilarious, Liam.

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

My gut feeling is that FCPX is aimed at the prosumer-self-proclaimed-pro “crappy $200-500” category of online vid preditor. I can’t speak directly about its quality, because I don’t own a copy of FCPX. Unfortunately, my video card (which I love otherwise) won’t work with FCPX or Motion5. Apple must know how severely they’ve burned the upper-end of producers with their FCPX release, and it was probably a key decision intended to refocus on the broader, therefore more lucrative, prosumer market.

Since I’m not trying for the price buyers at the <$500 category, the effect of the economy on our business is only indirect. Fewer SMBs starting up means fewer people need ads, corporate video or online video — and many of those who do are content to let the production happen in the illustrious studios of “My Nephew’s Basement.” We just sidestep these do-it-yourselfers, and go for business owners who can delegate these complex creative tasks to experts.

The trick is it’s hard to sell someone on quality, once they’ve experienced cheap — unless you can tap into their discomfort with their somewhat lame existing video production.

Anyway, our business is picking up, despite it all. Onward!

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

Ty,

Thanks for the advice. I’ll be sure the peaks stay within the -6 range and slap a Compressor/Limiter on it. I only saw one peak that went over the -6dB mark, so maybe I’m okay once I add the C/L filter.

As for sending it in to see what they say, I have two choices — the audio is right, or it’s right. If it is not right, let the yelling begin. ;-o

In Space Race parlance, this is an “all-up-test” — because of media and shipping costs, I get just the one chance to make a Beta SP tape, ship it in, and hope DirecTV doesn’t have a problem with it. I also have to send another copy of the tape directly to the client at the same time, so if it’s wrong, it’s wrong twice. Yipes.

Often, if these things are wrong, the net tells the client before telling us here, and it’s just a big, messy blowout over some smallish technical details that would otherwise be easy to fix.

I’m just trying to keep the yelling down, as well as tape costs, by being proactive, here.

I’ll keep you in the loop as to how this goes.

🙂

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

JC,

I just got a spec for commercial audio levels from DirecTV: “Average audio levels shall be -24LKFS +/- 2dB”.

Since I’m working with FCP7, I don’t have a meter that addresses LKFS. How would I determine if my audio levels will work? The peak on the commercial is around -6dB according to the FCP meters. This has worked well in the past. Shall I roll off a bunch of tapes and chance it, or has DirecTV gone off the deep end with a new standard?

Your quick thoughts would be very helpful.

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

Using Motion 4.0.3 on a Mac Pro running Snow Leopard.

I’ve experienced the mystery “touch audio, crash Motion” phenomenon, also. It can happen when simply adding audio to the timeline (I work mainly with .AIF format), but it can also happen when I move, change, or delete the audio.

I just copied an existing Motion sequence so I could re-use it elsewhere – when I tried to select and delete the old audio, bam – crash. I tried it maybe 3 times just now.

Only occasionally have I been successful at keeping Motion running while tweaking audio. The best way for me to get audio into Motion is to start by sending a chunk of a FCP timeline to Motion. And then, I don’t fool with the audio AT ALL, I just use it for shot timing purposes.

This problem seems to be somewhat recent, maybe since 4.0??, because I’ve used Motion since 2.0 and was very accustomed to using the audio features when this problem began to occur. Occasionally, prefs were duly trashed, but this didn’t solve the problem.

A bug, perhaps?

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

Dunno if this helps, but have you tried exporting your Motion sequence as a Quicktime, then bringing it into FCP? I realize this reduces your flexibility when you’re bouncing between the two programs, but I find that if audio timing is critical, e.g., SFX are timed to the action, that creating video in Motion and then finishing the audio in FCP does get a bit clumsy at times.

[Ann Clark]

This is great info. It’s possible they want a great intermediary for posting to sites, but given their webmaster’s sophistication level, I’m guessing not. I do think the client is either misinformed, or wishes to have a broadcast-viable version so he can air or change it on his own. Since we provide editing and air time services, this would sort of take away from our possible future business with the client, so I’m thinking I should talk him into a WMV or other web video.

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

Hello,

I’m not sure I understand your discussion of codecs, here, but it seems like you’re saying H.264 can be used to create a file with an MPEG2 extension?

Reason I ask is that I just got a request from a client that I’m not sure about.

We typically provide clients with a .MOV file of the production (a small, 30-60-sec file at 320×240 size) for posting on their website. Usually is 1-5MB. Occasionally, we do a WMV, of the same approx. size.

This client asks for the web video in MPEG2 format.

1.) Does MPEG2 compress down that small?

2.) Does anyone use MPEG2 to post to the web (other than sending it to a site like YouTube or Blip.TV, in which case what’s the best Compressor setting for that?)

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Ann Clark]

Good to know, Shane.

I use iTunes as you do, and it really is great to locate a track, and drag it right into a project’s audio folder. Due to that fun feature, I loaded tons of stock music tracks and SFX into iTunes.

My interest in other software started after my most recent update of iTunes. I found that some settings had changed, which made a typically fast task into a slight head-scratcher.

Once I put things the way I used to have them, my workflow was pretty much back to normal.

Perhaps it’s all due to Apple’s newfound consumer market, and their desire to use iTunes to gather metrics for their store. I just hope they don’t leave us loyal pro users behind…

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7