[Charlie Austin]

[Oliver Peters] “In the tests I’ve done with another mixer, the AAFs also bring across blank clips that I wouldn’t want to include, like the muted tracks from B-Roll that I’ve cut across as a/v clips, but muted the audio. By going to FCP7, I can troubleshoot any potential issues for the mixer and deliver a reliable OMF.”

FWIW, I think thats fixed in the latest version. Anything muted in the inspector isn’t included in the AAF. It would be nice if they could get the AAF’s to support linked files. X2Pro AAF’s will open and populate a timeline in Logic, but there’s no audio in the clips.:-(

I find Xto7 has bigger issues with this, as well as with multitrack source clips. I’m currently on a gig that’s got 6 channel sources, and the sequences that pop up in 7 after translation are uh… interesting. If I’ve used a stereo FX track in X, I get all 6 tracks, linked, in 7. PITA…

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Bernhard Grininger] “Hello,

a speculation:

– The Event-Project structure is aimed at collaborative workflows yet to be released.0
– Multiple users accessing one Event via rudimentary rights management while working
on their private Project.
– User could share a Project as a Compound Clip into an Event.
“

I concur. Alex4D did a post a while ago about some “hidden” code in X pertaining to a collaborative workflow. I think it’s coming.

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Oliver Peters] “No effects, etc. as you will lose some of these by breaking apart down the road.

Yeah, and that’s kind of a deal killer for me…

[Oliver Peters] [Charlie Austin] “I don’t need to open them all one by one to find the cool cheat I did in a WIP somewhere in the middle”

But you have the same skimming capability in the event.

True, I guess to me it’s just easier to organize projects separately from the Event.

[Oliver Peters] [Charlie Austin] ” I can then organize projects into folders, and at some point I can move projects I know I’ll likely not need again – old WIP’s, dupes made from going between versions, even old versions etc”

Using a keyword collection for “edits in progress” does the same thing. At least within the Event view. You can always move a compound clip to a Project and store it the same way you are doing this.

Oh, for sure. But if you could see my project library for a feature we’ve been cutting stuff on for 8 months or so, it’d make sense as to why i don’t want all that crap in my event. 😉

[Oliver Peters] [Charlie Austin] “I could totally see using CC’s in an event if I was only going to have like a dozen or less sitting there though. But for what I do, that’s pretty unusual. :-)”

I do see your point, but at least for me, I find the opposite to be true.”

I hear ya… The takeaway here is that X is flexible enough, and getting more so with each version, to let folks work in a variety of different ways. 😉

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Oliver Peters] “I will have to send my final sequence to FCP7 (via Xto7) in order to generate OMF and EDL files. (FWIW – neither X2Pro or XML list files are an option.)”

What problems have you had with X2Pro? I’ve actually found it to be pretty good. I still need to go to 7 to spit out EDL’s, which kinda sucks. EDL-X works well, but causes problems when you have transitions other than dissolves, filters, opacity changes etc. The EDL’s are very accurate, but it doesn’t add the notes details telling the online guys what filters etc you’ve applied to clips. I wish i didn’t need EDL’s, but I do. That sort of interchange with other NLE’s, particularly AVID finishing systems, is the biggest roadblock for me in getting everyone here to switch.

On an unrelated note, I DL’d the trial of MC 6.5 just to see how it’s progressed since I last used it. It reminded me of working in X storylines. 😉 Also… there sure are a lot of buttons. lol

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

FWIW, I like having projects separate from the event for a couple reasons. The main one is that for any given spot/trailer/whatever that I cut, I’ll make multiple duplicates of the sequence before I even get to V.1. After that, I’ll make multiple duplicates between v1 and 2, 2 and 3… etc. It’s not uncommon for a spot to get close to or beyond double digit version numbers before it’s done. So, conservatively, if I finish a spot at V.6, it’s likely that I’ll have at least 12-15 copies of it in the library. Multiply that by 2,3,4,5 or more different spots per job (event) that’s umm… a lot. I absolutely don’t want all those projects in my event. That’s actually one thing I love about X vs legacy and others. If I have a folder with 20 versions of a cut in it, I don’t need to open them all one by one to find the cool cheat I did in a WIP somewhere in the middle. Just open the folder in the project library and skim around ’til I find it. Love it.

The other is that by keeping them in the project library, my event stays relatively small and organized. I can then organize projects into folders, and at some point I can move projects I know I’ll likely not need again – old WIP’s, dupes made from going between versions, even old versions etc – into new folders and disable them with Event Manager or by just archiving them in the finder. In many cases we’ll be working on the same project for many months and I shudder to think what my event would look like on a gig like this.

I could totally see using CC’s in an event if I was only going to have like a dozen or less sitting there though. But for what I do, that’s pretty unusual. 🙂

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Bill Davis] “But X is NOT your old software. It’s new software. And the power of the new approach means you must move mentally and emotionally out of the way you once DID things – and move along to how you might use it’s tools to do exciting new things.

I’m remembering Charlie posting about getting home early from his BBC editing and his being surprised at that. That resonated with me because I had similar experiences”

I assume it’s another Charlie… 🙂 In any case… I agree with what you’re saying with one caveat. In my case, I didn’t have the luxury of time to learn all the intricacies of X before I started cutting with it. It was better for me to learn how to get X to do what I was used to doing, even though I wasn’t using X the way you’re “supposed” to use it. I needed to get stuff done right away. Over time, as i’ve gotten used to it, I’ve started to do more things “the X way”, whatever that really means.

The really cool part of X for me, is that you can work lots of different ways. You can move stuff around willy nilly like FCP 7, you can have the timeline behave in a very Avid like way using storylines, it’s pretty versatile really. That, to me, is the X way. And if learning to use it means you need to get it to act in a more familiar fashion initially, then I think that’s what you should do.

I feel that saying “it’s a whole new way of editing that you must learn!” can be counterproductive. In many ways it is, but in many way it really isn’t either, and you can make it work in whatever way suits you, digging deeper as you get going. Well, unless you want fixed tracks. Then you’re SOL. 😉

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Bret Williams] “Premiere still bugs me that they advertise that it doesn’t stop playing for anything. Adjust sound, color, whatever. But yet it stops for clicking. Press play, click ahead in the timeline and it instantly stops. I just can’t get past that muscle memory.”

Yeah… X used to not stop playing for anything, even when clicking the menu to show the viewer on a second monitor. Just kept playing right along. Then they added the second viewer and PIOP’s and broke something. Hopefully they’ll fix it.

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[Julian Bowman] “It is rather annoying. I get that people like the skimmer but personally i loathe it in the timeline as it clashes with my way of working on the timeline, and to have it do the same thing on the blade tool (which doesn’t even seem to offer any benefit) is a tad frustrating. I definitely feel they need to offer turn on/turn off options on a fair few of their ‘cool’ features.

I do get that some people may like them but some of what they have implemented seriously impedes my editing style to the point where any speed gains X offers are completely negated with its interruptions to my way of using the timeline… and no, it isn’t about my having to bend to its will when the things that it makes me do could and should be optional (getting in before the acolytes) because what they have done isn’t some definitive uber best way of doing things, it is just different and in some cases seemingly needlessly so, although in others perhaps just a nice idea that isn’t for all and could be easily made optional…

a big one here is having two separate skimmers for the thumbnails (great, use it a lot) and the timeline (loathe it, never use it) so we can choose which we want on and which off without having to constantly hit the S key when moving between the two.

Another is the large grey area of the timeline being on/offable so that when you click on it the playhead doesn’t go to that point and you can only move the playhead from the little bit along the top with the timecode on it, like 7. This one really impacts on my during every edit. Stops my focus being on my edit as i have to wrestle with the UI.

Little things like this would probably go a long way to accommodating more editing styles,”

Well, I get what you’re saying, and they can definitely improve some functions, but once you get used to working with it, it’s actually a lot easier to move around the X UI than it was in 7. As for the blade tool… just use a keystroke or assign a mouse button to cut your clip. The blade tool sucked just as much in 7 as it does in X. I don’t understand why anyone would use it in any NLE. 😉

Skimming… yeah, it’s annoying to hit S all the time, but honestly, using the skimmer to move around the timeline without moving the playhead is a pretty useful thing. Again, ya just gotta use it for a while, or at least i did…

As far as timeline focus… just click the title bar, or on a clip to “activate” it. The fact that they changed the behavior so that clicking a clip doesn’t move the playhead is awesome. Like all things X, once you retrain your muscle memory you won’t even think about it.

On an unrelated rant-ey note… Can we stop trying to get Apple to make the UI more like FCP 7? Please? That’s what Premiere is for. lol

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[adam chesbrough] “Macbook Pro Retina: 2.6GHZ i7, 16GB RAM 1600MHz DDR3, GT 650M 1GB RAM

Hackintosh (Sandy Bridge): i5 2500, 16GB 1333MHz DDR3, Nvidia GT640 2GB RAM
“

Can you move/open the project on your other computer? I assume they’re not both messed up right?

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~

[Charlie Austin]

[adam chesbrough] ” nor can I download again because apple thinks that I already have downloaded the program.”

FWIW… The solution to this, is to move FCPX out of the applications folder… stick it in a new folder somewhere else, just not in the applications folder. You should then be able to re-download and install it. If reinstalling it doesn’t work, you can try this to get rid of all traces of FCPX and then reinstall X.

https://www.digitalrebellion.com/fcsremover/

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~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~