[Charlie Austin]

Great thread. X isn’t without issues,but I think we’re all aware of those 😉 So… Leaving aside the oft discussed downsides to some of this stuff, the biggies for me compared to other NLE’s, in no particular order are:

1-Magnetism, no fixed tracks, and thus, no patching and Track Tetris. Being able to perform any combo of A/V, V only, A only Connect, Insert, Overwrite, or Append, with just 2 keystrokes and no thought to whether I’m about to accidentally overwrite an existing clip in the timeline is an enormous timesaver. Huge really.

2-Audio components. I generally work from Multichannel source material (split features) so for any particular edit decision, I may need sync DIA, FX, or just one or the other. In X , I don’t have to make that decision before I cut something in. Slap it in, and then easily Enable/Disable what I need. I can focus on the cut and worry about that stuff later. Also, being able to independently trim the multiple audio channels and video while they remain as a single clip is great. If I do need to split audio off, it’s still connected so it remains in sync unless I choose to connect it to something else.

3-Storylines. They are essentially FCPX’s “tracks”. As others mentioned, the ability to cut freely with connected clips and then commit to the primary is really the best of both worlds. FC7/Pr free form and MC Ripple mode, without selecting modes. And secondary story lines are great for things like Music where you may not want individual clips connected to the primary, as you’re music bed is fixed. Stick your MX in secondary storyline(s) connected to the first frame of the timeline and you’ve got your fixed in time “tracks”. Also great for situations where you’re maybe cutting an A or V clip into a bunch of tiny pieces and don’t want them to magnetically jump around. Creating story lines is just as easy as creating new tracks in other NLE’s and you end up with the essentially same, and in some ways more functionality.

4-Skimming in general, but Clip Skimming in particular. Huge timesaver. Got a stack of composited video and want to know what’s in layer 4 out of 8? One step, hover the cursor over it and you’ll see. Want to know what’s in the source 10 or 20 frames before or after the section of the clip you’ve cut in? When clip skimming, using the arrow keys will skim beyond the boundaries of what’s in the timeline. Want to make a cut on a timeline clip without having to select it? Skim an audio or video clip to the frame you’d like to cut and blade it, even if something else is selected. Want to zoom into a portion of the timeline but leave your playhead where it is and keep another clip selected?. Skim to the section you want and zoom in, your zoom will focus on wherever the skimmer is. Skimming in X is really an amazing time saver once you wrap your head around it. Nothing like it in any NLE.

5-Audio editing. The fact that audio clips in X can be moved in sample increments rather than being constrained to frames is freaking awesome.Yes, you can keyframe Audio in other NLE’s in subframe increments, but if you need to adjust it’s position, frames it is. Editing audio is a pleasure in X. And editing audio components while they ride with clip is a big timesaver as well. Selecting an audio range and changing its levels adds keyframes automatically, Huge timesaver. Short of a dedicated DAW, I can’t think of anything that’s better to edit audio in. And while there are no busses and faders etc yet, it’s trivially easy to get a good mix in X.

6-Compound clips. Yes, you can nest clips in other NLE’s, and yes, there are things about CC’s that need work. But using them judiciously can really speed up workflow. Got a section cut you’d like to save and reuse or easily move to another part of your timeline or another timeline? Create a CC containing it, name it and there you go. Got the perfect dialog cheat or composited pile of video? Make a CC and it’s now one, editable clip. Make a smart Collection looking for Compound clips and all your cheats, section, composites, whatever, all show up in one place for later use. which brings me to…

7-Keywords, KW Collections, Smart collections, range tagging etc. Gigantic timesaver. That’s been covered by, uh.. everyone though. 🙂

8, 9, 10 uh… I’m realizing I could just go on and on but… the main reason I think X speeds up my workflow is that all I have to think about is the cut. Like any other NLE, You do your best work when the software melts into the background letting you concentrate on the craft. And like any NLE, that happens by working with it a lot. But there are always things you need to do that take you out of the flow. I find, cutting in X, that there are simply way fewer “other” things that I need to pay attention to when I’m cutting. It is much better at getting out of my way, getting out of my head really, because it takes care of a lot of the basic stuff that every other NLE forces you to pay attention to. And honestly, If you’re familiar enough with any NLE those things become second nature.

For me though, in addition to it’s unique features, X removes a lot more of those “things”. It really is as deep as you want it to be, but once your muscle memory is trained, and the interface melts into the background, it just lets you edit. I’ve been doing this full time for close to 20 years (Yikes!), and X let’s me just cut, and not babysit the software, more than any NLE I’ve cut on.

Of course, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make we want to tear my hair out occasionally… it really is still a work in progress. But, I also can’t think of any other NLE that makes me smile as much as I do when I’m cutting in X. It’s fun. And *that* is a huge workflow expeditor. 🙂

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Morten Berg] “Has anyone found a working garbage-mask-plug-in (which can be animated) for FCPX 10.0.9.”

Coremelt Slice-X. Not free, but hands down one of the best you can get in *any* NLE. Keyframable and, with the Mocha tracking option, you can do pretty effective rotoscoping, rig removal, color mask tracking etc.

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

Hey Mathieu,

Great explanation of a your workflow… Oddly, I used to do staging, live audio and video projection, and in addition to the requisite trade/stage shows, I would occasionally work at one of these medical conferences. 🙂 Being a bit squeamish It was sometimes a challenge! I can only imagine what having to sift through all the footage is like. My hat’s off to you, for the workflow *and* the work! 🙂

Still, I actually find the fact that X “cleans up” cuts in gap to be very useful. So I still think a disabled generator cut into the primary would do just what you want. 🙂

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Loren Risker] “but auto-deleting markers for any reason isn’t acceptable.”

i agree with that, but when you are placing markers on something that, really, is not a clip at all, it makes sense. Gap is essentially a visual representation of nothing. If you want to use the primary only as a giant marker or scene separation reference then, as Ronny points out, you need to put a clip or something into it. Gap is not a clip – and, all due respect to the OP, this is not a bug.

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Mathieu Ghekiere] “Pretty serious bug, and easily reproducable. “

Honestly, i don’t think its a bug… it’s a feature. For your workflow, yes, it’s bad. For me, I’f I’ve lifted clips from a storyline, I want all the gap clips to reunite.

If I need fixed markers throughout a cut, since ya can’t have markers in the timecode/navigation bar, my solution was to make a long, silent audio clip. Add it to the timeline first so it “sticks” to the primary, and make sure it begins, and is connected, to the first frame of your timeline. Give it a unique role, uncheck that role in the index to disable it, and also minimize it using the button in it’s Role in the index. Put your “sequence markers” on this clip. Voila! Markers that don’t move, unless you want them to.

If you think you may want to cut the marker clip to pull it up, say if you cut out a section but want your markers beyond the cut to stay in sync… create a secondary containing the marker clip and you chop it and pull it up with everything else, but the secondary will alway be connected to first frame so it won’t move. The markers will reference timeline position unless you cut the marker clip within the secondary and move it manually.

It’s actually way better than “sequence markers” from the old FCP, since they stayed put no matter where you moved the clips underneath them that the markers may have referred to. 🙂

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Ryan Smith] “thanks for the tip; just liked the efficiency for editing filters, CC, etc. I just need to readjust my mind a bit until the opt+click is second nature I guess :)”

I hear ya… also, if you press the C key while your cursor is over a clip it selects it if that helps,,, though I guess you need the playhead there to see it… 🙂

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Ryan Smith] “Is there any way to go back to the previous mouse behavior?”

Nope. You can click in the navigation/timecode bar at the top of the window, or skim to the clip and hit play, if that’s what you’re intending to do. Also, if you have skimming or clip skimming turned on, you can zoom into whatever clip the skimmer is over, regardless of playhead position. I tend to keep the skimmer off (unless needed) but leave clip skimming on (because it’s awesome, lol). So whatever clip my cursor is over is the focus of timeline zooming. Plus, no clicking involved. 🙂

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

Something very specific to me regarding a security requirement from a movie studio 🙂 Nothing for other iMac users to fear…. I’m using the Toshiba drive now. Not real snappy, but it’s working…

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

[John Davidson] “Hey Charlie – is this the newer iMac with USB3?”

Hey man… 🙂 Yeah it is. I have a little USB 3 toshiba drive, but it boots the machine, and runs it, like a Performa. I’m assuming it’s a slow-ass notebook drive in it? I have to be able to actually work, so i guess I need something gooder…

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Jeremy Garchow] “[Charlie Austin] “What say the nerds?”

https://www.movieweb.com/dvd/DVfIWhhfvBTbio/im-a-nerd“

🙂 Well, if you’re a nerd… help a brother out! The lacie rugged TB drive looks good, but only 5400 RPM. I need the system to run more or less the same as it does from the internal drive…

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~