Gabriel Spaulding
Forum Replies Created
-
“Off the Tracks” was fantastic. A work in progress to be sure, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and watching it in a room filled with professional FCP X users, members of the Pro Apps team, and the film’s creator Bradley Olsen, was an amazing experience.
I’m not sure how it will be received outside the FCP X community since so many people have decided to hate FCP X whether they’ve actually used it or not, no matter how much it has developed over the years. Flying home from the FCP X Creative Summit I read a post online, “People still use FCP X? Lol.” All you can do is roll your eyes. To be in the company of so many editors from all over the world, all using FCP X successfully, from public access shows to weddings to corporate videos to broadcast television to feature films, and read yet another sarcastic, ill-informed comment like that, is just absurd. I have been in threads that have shown dozens and dozens of professional projects created in FCP X and someone still posts, “FCP X is not professional.” Talk about a reality tunnel.
The film was a blast. But like all things related to FCP X I anticipate a wave of negativity with little to no merit.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
“That is a straw-man argument. Please don’t use anymore.”
It has been my experience for years. Please do not tell me what I am allowed to report.
” If you don’t use Premiere Pro daily how can you claim FCPX is a vastly superior program?”
I used Premiere Pro every single day for a year at my previous job, while using FCP X for freelance work on the side. Premiere Pro has not changed very much since then, and I keep up with it so that I can dive back in if requested. I never claimed that FCP X is a vastly superior program. If you think that then you are cherry picking. Re-read my post(s) until you understand what was actually written.
“Instead of stating FCPX is leap and bounds better than Premiere Pro why not just state FCPX works better for my needs?”
FCP X does work better for my needs. I have already said that. And FCP X is leaps and bounds better than Premiere Pro —at some things. If you interpret “some” as “all” then you have a comprehension problem.
“As I have stated I have both FCPX and Premiere Pro and I don’t have the same feeling about Premiere Pro. What does that tell us? Do you kind of see my point?”
You have both and you like one more than the other, but you’re not content with liking Premiere Pro you have a curious desire to constantly validate your preference by comparing it to FCP X and asking FCP X users to justify their decisions. I could not have been more clear that all of the NLEs have their own strengths and weaknesses, that what an individual prefers to use is irrelevant, and that what you use makes absolutely no difference to me. What exactly is the problem? And why is it so important for everyone to understand your point?
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
Thomas Grove Carter’s demonstration (he’s demonstrated this multiple times with different projects) is precisely what I had in mind. Considering these are arguably THE best display of the power of keywording, smart collections, favorites, rejects, etc. I see no point in taking the time to create another demo in an attempt to convince someone who clearly is not open to being convinced, despite his requests for more demos. And Thomas Grove Carter’s approach may not be the best approach for an interview, or a documentary, where connected clips and secondary storylines can be integral components. Different projects require different organizational methods. There is no single demo that can appropriately cover how to organize every type of project, taking into account every editor’s preferences, and every possible ecosystem that the project lives in. However, preferences aside, there are objectively things that FCP X does do better than every other NLE, and organization is arguably an area where FCP X shines. I would be shocked if anyone can accomplish what Thomas Grove Carter did, as quickly, efficiently and effectively, in any other NLE. This does not mean that every other NLE is garbage, it’s just a reminder that FCP X really excels at some things. Avid currently has better collaboration. Premiere Pro has better key framing. Resolve has better grading. They all have strengths. This endless cycle of “yeah, but…” is so tiresome. If you don’t like it don’t use it. But learn how to use it before you trash it, and then, maybe there’s no reason to trash it in the first place (because everything you trash is loved by many others).
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
“Keyword, keyword collections and favorites were in Adobe’s Bridge long before FCPX was released. Randy forget to mention that.”
Did he? We had similar functionality in iPhoto and Aperture. They were not integrated into an NLE until FCP X, so there would have been no reason to mention them.
“There will always be a need to take a dig at Adobe. Be honest about that.”
I have yet to see a FCP X user jump on an Adobe forum and bash Premiere Pro, yet it’s rare to find a FCP X forum that hasn’t been polluted by an acrimonious Adobe user. People are critical, and not always at the right time or in the right place. I honestly don’t see how one can paint Adobe as the victim without wearing a smirk.
“That is why I would really like to see a demo comparing FCPX to Premiere Pro for your workflow.”
I have not incorporated Premiere Pro into my current workflow because I dislike using it so much. This does not mean it isn’t capable. This does not mean I don’t recognize its strengths. This does not mean I wouldn’t or couldn’t use it if requested. I just personally find it cluttered and clunky, though it’s not worth my time to try and convince the rest of the world that it’s cluttered and clunky. Many people feel differently about it, and I respect that they have their own legitimate reasons for using it.
“I am looking forward to your demo but until then this person is stating Premiere Pro (not FCPX) works better for his workflow. How can that be?”
Having seen your last demo comparisons on this site, which had I think the unintended consequence of NOT making things any clearer, I think you would do well to remember your final statement:
“My guess is everyone’s editing needs is different.”
Exactly. Well, they “are” different. And every job is different. I use FCP X differently for different projects, I use it in different ways than I used Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro 7. I still use FCP7 for certain jobs and I use Premiere Pro when requested as well. I don’t have a problem with this. I think that perhaps you do, though, despite the statement “My guess is everyone’s editing needs is different,” because if you really felt that way you would not constantly be asking for comparison videos and continually claiming that “There is (are) a few things unique to FCPX” and then completely disregarding them by saying that all NLE’s have unique stuff. I do not care which NLE you use. It doesn’t make any difference to anyone. But perhaps those few unique things are worth looking into; perhaps those things are why some people prefer to cut with FCP X; perhaps those very things are why so many editors have exclaimed that they are now editing faster than ever before and the process has become fun again. I don’t mean that as an advert for FCP X, but many people DO feel that way, and those feelings are legitimate, and they do not in any way degrade how anyone else feels about their own preferred NLE.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
Apple’s Pro Apps run much faster on lower powered machines than are required to run Premiere Pro (for example) at similar speeds. This is not a critique of Premiere Pro —I am merely pointing out that the Pro Apps are better optimized and specs alone do not always paint an accurate picture of reality.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
Final Cut Studio functioned for SIX YEARS after the release of FCP X —it still functions if you don’t update to macOS High Sierra or keep an older machine around. It seems to me that six years is a pretty long period of time with which to decide which route you want to go. Yes, the launch was bad. And it was a long time ago. I’ve seen people get over national tragedies in far less time.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
“Whenever I hear a comparison between FCPX VS Premiere Pro from someone who edits using FCPX I think they always have a need to make Premiere Pro seem much harder to use that it actually is.”
I did not sense this at all in the article. Rather, compared to FCP X certain tasks in Premiere Pro simply are slower by comparison. This is not a critique of Premiere Pro, it’s just one of the strengths of FCP X. Having used both, organizing footage in FCP X is leaps and bounds faster and more flexible than it is in Premiere Pro. That never stopped me from completing a job in Premiere Pro, but it was definitely slower to get started. Premiere Pro definitely has its strengths. It doesn’t have to be a fight to the death every time the two are mentioned in the same sentence.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
Right. I can understand why one would prefer that the two keyboard shortcuts be swapped, but it’s like microseconds either way, pure muscle memory after doing it a couple of times.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
In nearly six years I think this is the first time I’ve heard anything about someone having problems with slicing a clip in FCP X. If “Apple should have had the basic common sense to figure it out for you” then why isn’t Adobe responsible for providing a clean Premiere Pro UI with logically laid out panels rather than more or less forcing its users to shuffle everything around until it works for them? Why didn’t Adobe anticipate how EVERYBODY prefers to work? No NLE is perfect and every editor works differently but man, this is such a silly little thing.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com -
If you are a software developer I imagine that you find Premiere Pro to be exceptionally clunky. In terms of optimal workflows, reduced clicks and window resizing/docking, screen real estate dedicated to actual content, and so much more FCP X does a better job than Premiere Pro, in my opinion. I used Premiere Pro for quite some time before switching to FCP X (the day it was released), and Premiere Pro allowed me to do my job —it is every bit as professional as FCP X, I am not making that argument— but in terms of outdated code, tacking on new code to solve every new problem, panels upon panels upon panels, a seemingly endless list of old bugs, from a coding and UI perspective I do not see how Premiere Pro can possibly win there.
Gabriel Spaulding
Creator & Director of ACE Enterprizes
Videographer | Video Editor | Motion DesignerHow Can We Help You Tell Your Story?
http://www.aceenterprizes.com