[Hunter Weeks]

Franz,
My documentary is about a 30 day river journey, so for events, I created each day as it’s own events (had 31 + pre-trip, and a couple post trip interviews). In Projects (sequences), I edited my story with scenes (about 3 days each) and created each of these as it’s own project. I eventually compounded all of the clips in each project and added those to a new “Whole Damn Movie” project. It worked awesome. I continued to refine the rough cut this way and have since created various other projects that I’m working on.

By having so many projects, you are slowed down a little when the system has to go into your main index view where you can see all the projects (or when first starting up), but typically FCP X seems to know to only focus on the project or two that are in your recent history, so you can use these small arrows to go back and forth with those.

I do get the beach balls and I try to stay calm, but the crashing is almost non existent for me now (when I first experimented – a few updates ago – i had many more). But the persistent save feature has always come through for me.

I was very nervous to jump in so fast with FCP X, but I did a bunch of short videos and felt I should embrace it sooner than later. And I’m happy I have.

I just wish this finishing side was more considerate of the need for pro help. I get what Apple is trying to do, but they need to understand that while the modern day editor can handle 95% of the post, at least 5% should always go more pro.

Good luck!
Hunter

[Hunter Weeks]

Franz,
I’m editing a feature documentary (Where the Yellowstone Goes) in FCP X right now. The system is handling everything really well; much better than expected. The updates have helped it all feel more secure. But I love the editing process much more than working with the archaic, unreliable FCP 7 and before.

That being said, I’ve had plenty of small challenges with the new FCP X (but have quickly moved past those and had nothing that derailed productivity) and am now that I’m at finishing stage, I’m having all kinds of issues with how to get OMF out and to work with our colorist. I’ve still not decided if we’ll use Xto7 for the whole film (89 mins) or if we’ll try the X2Pro for an AAF and just find a colorist who will work within FCP X.

FYI – We have about 200 hours of footage and I’ve been editing with some proves 422 that was created from Sony fs-100 files, lots of Canon h264 native, go pro, many PNGs, time lapse JPEG sequences, and audio from a variety of sources.

So, I’m definitely happy with how the editing process, categorization, and over all reliability of FCP X has been with all this, but now with finishing this thing, I’m getting nervous. And yes, my post houses think I’m ridiculous for taking the plunge with FCP X. I’m a believer.

Best,
Hunter
https://www.hunterweeks.com