[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “Just substitute the amount of time you have spent reading and writing posts here for playing with the software before asking the questions.”

In my total ignorance I have figured out, over time, the best way for me to proceed and I’ve found that off-hour diddling with complex software tends to get me very annoyed and frustrated with it, so not only is it not a no brainier to download a trial now, it’s a non starter.

Besides which I rather enjoy my time annoying people here with my postings and will continue to do so, with your permission (or without it.)

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “Posting from a position of total ignorance seems to be a waste of your time and everybody else’s”

I may be vain, but I’d like to think my ignorance is not total.

I was waiting for the demo of the new Mac Pro before I would consider staying with OSX, so trying out FCPX would have been premature.

For me anything less than a full month’s immersion with an NLE is not a fair way to test it, and I won’t have that time open till next spring, but until then I will continue to post my ignorant questions if it’s all right with you.

Just sayin’

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “Apart from live shows where audio is mixed live I’ve never known anybody have to mix their music for a TV programme or film. Usually get provided with or select a mixed stereo track Done by somebody else.”

Both Sonicfire Pro and Digital Juice have music libraries where you can optionally split out the various instruments and sub groups for your own mixing; it’s great for the flexibility of creating an underscore where you want to mute some clashing lead instruments, it also allows for a lot of different mixes with the same theme adding variety to your bumpers.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “Just thinking if your workflow is quite specific testing yourself might be the only way that’s all. “

I don’t think my workflow is particularly arcane – PBS cooking show, shot multicam 1080 – it’s just that I’m an old fuss budget and like to have things a certain way.

I’ve cut cooking shows on 3 different NLE’s so far – EMC, *edit, FCP – and it looks like a fourth one is in my near future. I’m confident I could achieve the same results on any system out there – X, PPro, Avid, Edius even Vegas – it’s just that if I’m spending all that time working with a software tool I’d prefer to keep the cursing under my breath and the throwing objects at the wall to a minimum.

The only prefect editing system for me is the one I’ve designed in my head, and unfortunately it has a market of one and is not of much interest to financial backers.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “Have you downloaded it and done a test of your workflow with it?”

Not yet, I plan to early next year when I will be switching out of 7. If I knew the answers I wouldn’t be asking the questions.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[Jeremy Garchow] “And sometimes, the order gets goofy, but it’s not a big deal if you are generally OK with FCPX.”

But that’s one of the points here, if you don’t mind the order getting goofy then all of X’s benefits make the decision easy, but if maintaining that track order is a requirement, then X is not for you. It’s not a right or wrong, it’s a preference issue, but it’s as inaccurate to say that the magnetic timeline doesn’t require trade offs as it is to say that it doesn’t work at all. Neither of those statements are true, and it’s up to each editor to figure out if the trade offs are worth it.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “For want its worth its pretty straightforward to put your audio in any order you like in FCPX….some young Turks are even putting audio above video I read somewhere.
And why not?”

Will it stay there when you make cuts in it, will it stay there as you drop other audio edits into that part of the timeline?

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “So how ideally would you like to be able to identify stuff if not be reading what it is in timeline? Colour coding for different instruments? Or how? I’m interested to understand your requirements. I think so many of us work in a bit of a bubble these days it’s really interesting to understand other peoples’ workflows and needs.”

For music with split out layers Drums is first (top) layer, Bass is second layer, Rhythm guitar or other percussion on three, then keyboards then solo instruments on bottom. This is customary, so when looking at the tracks I know that rhythm instruments are the top few layers, solo and lead instruments are on the bottom. I will have my track heights reduced for the first few layers because the beats are easy to make out and will keep the tracks wider for those layers I need to specifically identify. While i still might have to read a label to find the piccolo, this is a lot better than a random organization with no visual clues.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[Charlie Austin] ” But honestly , I prefer an automatic. In a good auto, I’ve got just as much control as I do throwing a stick around, so why bother…”

Given my take on other issues it probably comes as no great shock to know that I drive a stick.

As for why bother – it’s cheaper to buy, cheaper to repair, and for those reduced dollars gets better mileage and better performance. The negatives are poor resale value (but I keep a car till it turns to rust), PITA in heavy traffic, PITA when stopped on a steep upgrade (until you learn how to handle it) plus there are a lot of production assistants who can’t park your car.

The other plus is the illusion that your an Indy car racer when you cleanly downshift taking a sharp turn on a steep grade. Beep beep!

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[James Ewart] “Am I being obtuse?”

Not at all. You find reading the name of a clip on the timeline or hitting some button to show you where the various roles are satisfying for your needs. I’m much lazier, I want to know those things without reading anything, writing anything, or hitting any buttons. I want to know those things merely by looking at the timeline, and I’m willing to give up a certain amount of operational flexibility to have it that way.

I don’t see this as a “right” or “wrong” issue, but rather as a preference issue. What the magnetic timeline giveth in one area it taketh away in another – and depending on your needs and style of editing the trade off is either worth it, in which case you barely recognize what is lost, or not, in which case you are somewhat blind to the benefits you are missing.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf