[Herb Sevush]

“This mean you can cut a whole section with b-roll, titles, video and audio synced fx . . . and move the whole chunk someplace if needed. Building a story vertically is no longer something one is reluctant to do until the late stages since the whole vertical set of layers is connected to the “master” clip.”

Talking about setting up a straw man – when was this ever hard?

I do this all the time without hesitation in FCP7 and improving it never made the top 100 of my yearly “wish list.” I bet if we did a search on the FCP forum it never made it to anybodies wish list becasue it was NEVER A PROBLEM.

What could be easier?? It’s called cut and paste – select the section your working on, shift-X, go to the place your going to put it, shift-V, done. Yes, you do have to put a moment’s thought into things like dissolves that are on the border of the selection, but come on — there were dozens of things that I really wanted upgrades to in FCP7, basic things like being able to mute the top video track without losing all your renders. The idea that this is somehow a major innovation makes me laugh.

The magnetic timeline – perfect for fixing things that was never a problem in the first place. Like “clip collisions” — oohhhh now there’s a scary term. But what is it really. Why would I EVER want to slide a clip into the same location as another clip without either rippling it or overwriting it? Is there some reason to want to hear 2 different audio clips play at the same time? What’s the point? I honestly don’t get it. But it sure produced a lot of oohhh’s and aahhh’s at the NAB sneak when he showed it on the screen. How about showing the source timecode of the clips on the storyline instead – or is that too pedestrian an idea?

New slogan – “Final Cut Pro X – it solves problems you never knew you had.”

End of rant.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Gregor –

The way I understand it, this is a filter which you would have to apply to a clip in order to read it’s timecode, is that correct? If so where (on the screen) does the timecode window display, and what happens if several clips have he filter on, does it only display the code under the playhead – I don’t understand how this would work.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Thank you, that explained it nicely.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Thank you.

On another note is it true that currently there are no time code indicators for source shots on the timeline? In other words is there any way to look at the timeline and see the timecode of the sources used? And if not is the info available in another way, for example, by right clicking and choosing from a menu (this was the PP method in version 1.)

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“Writers should use pen and paper before word processors. Accountants should use their minds and ledgers before calculators and spreadsheets. Cooks and chefs should use knives and hand tools before food processors and blenders. Carpenters should use hand tools before power tools. Surgeons should use scalpels before DaVincis.”

As someone who started in film and who believes that anyone seriously interested in the visual art of storytelling needs to start with the films of DW Griffith, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Sergei Eisenstein – I couldn’t agree with you more. I didn’t get that from Matt’s posting, and for that I apologize.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Noah –

And I assume you can click back and forth easily, switching between audio channels every time you add something to the timeline?

And as a follow up, how easy would it be to replace an edit that had ch. 1 audio with ch.2 audio.

Thanks.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“I think editors who learn on FCPX may lack a very important skill in editing: Problem solving.
Let’s face it. FCP 7 had a lot of problems and you’d often run into those problems. Any Editor who uses FCP day in and day out has had to become a very good troubleshooter.”

Matt –

I’m sorry but this is a pretty flawed argument. Extending your thesis everyone should use the worst possible iteration of everything to increase their problem solving abilities – word processor, spreadsheet, food blender, hand drill, surgical tool.

Problem solving skills are developed by solving the core problems – how to tell a story with this limited material, how to work with even the best NLE in the world, because even the best has problems and needs workarounds; not by extolling the virtues of incompetence. Lets elect the worst government so that we can learn the value of civic action … oh wait, we’ve already done that.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“Clip collision. That was a roadblock.”

I don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about here. What roadblock?

This whole magnetic timeline thing I don’t get in the slightest. Why would I want to move a clip with both audio and video into the same temporal space as already existing audio and video. Why would you want to have 2 pieces of dialogue occupying the same time, unless your doing a piece about schizophrenia.

What’s the roadblock – you can insert a clip to create new space, overwrite the existing clip, or any of a dozen other variations in a standard NLE – what on earth does the magnetic timeline get you?

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Walter –

Thanks you. Good post. And it’s why I am interested in the nomenclature of X. I think a lot of time is taken with naming these things by the design team and they are clues to how they see the ap working.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Good Chris, now we’re getting somewhere.

Why is an Event not equivalent to a folder?

You mean it contains more than the media, it also contains the metadata connections FCPX uses in conjunction with the media? But I thought you can also just drag clips into an Event, without going thru the import functions. Am I wrong about this?

Also, can you open an Event with the finder, and if so what types of files do you see?

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions