Kenny Miracle
Forum Replies Created
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Hey Travis,
A quick Google search came up with a solution. Always good to check that first 🙂
It basically has to do with exporting your project as an XML file. A full step-by-step can be found here: https://www.midcmedia.com/blog/reverting-final-cut-po-7-project-to-work-with-older-versions-of-final-cut/
Peace!
Kenny Miracle
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Looks like this is shot with a steady cam, which would make the speed fx look much smoother. Try doing the same thing to shaky footage & it just won’t look as good.
As far as technique, you’re good to start with speed ramp. I’ve also just made cuts in the footage where I want it to go fast/slow, then use the speed tool.
Another route would be to take it into After Effects or Motion, where you have more control over the keyframes to make it smooth.
Kenny Miracle
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Will you be using any footage? If so, I recommend using it’s native settings.
If only animation, then it’s a bit more open. I’d probably go with the preset: “DVCPRO HD 720 29.97” That way if you ever do need to use it for something else, you’re ready.
I’m curious if anyone else has other recommendations…
Peace,
Kenny Miracle
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Hey Jared,
I agree to learn one first. There are similarities between editing & animating, but the way to approach them are very different.
For example…
In editing, content is king. You’ll need to know what the video is about or what footage you have to use. That will be what your edit will be about. Knowing how to craft story is essential here.
In animating, there are thousands of avenues because you can create things from scratch. Sometimes you might storyboard what you want, other times you may jump into AE and just start playing with ideas until things work. Knowing how to design & execute ideas is essential here.
I don’t know about schools, but https://www.lynda.com is an excellent resource for training, as well as real world examples.
Hope all works well for you 🙂
Kenny Miracle
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Not sure why it’s only exporting 4 sec, but I always export QT Conversion. You just need to manually set your video/audio settings to match your sequence settings. Then you can compress the full quality QT file to a web format via Compressor or QT Pro.
QT Conversion takes a bit longer, but personally I like being able to customize my settings & I think the quality is a bit better. Of course quality is up for debate, tho.
Kenny Miracle
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Matt,
I found myself in a very similar position over the last couple years. Was an editor/animator that turned into post production manager over multiple workstations & editors with varying levels of experience (both creatively & organizationally).
Here’s what we did as we grew from 3 workstations to 7 workstaions. Like you, I’d be curious what other ppl’s setups are.
1) Moved all storage to Apple’s XSan 2.2 connected by Fiber cable to Mac Pros. Everyone has read/write access. Only issue we’ve had was with folder permissions, which once fixed has been seamless.
2) We tried FCSvr, but the workflow switch was too much, and we didn’t have anyone who knew how to create unique metadata in FCSver. So we resorted to a folder structure that each editor must adhere to. It’s not stumping creativity. It’s enabling collaboration.
3) XSan Root Directory has 4 main folders:
– Projects
We look at all the types of projects we do & categorize them. For us it’s: Events, Music Videos, Podcasts, Promos, TV Shows, MISC. Inside are the actual projects.– Library
Inside is stock footage, graphics, photos, music, & commonly used presets/plugins– Scratch Disk
Each editor has their own FCP Scratch Disk. So I have a folder called “kennymiracle” & someone else has “firstnamelastname”.Reason is: who wants all those folders FCP creates sitting all over your drive cluttering things up. I sure don’t. After capturing footage for a promo, we then drag & drop the footage into Projects > Promos > Specific Promo.
Personal Scratch Disks also double as home folders for people. So no one ever saves anything to their workstation, slowing it down.
– Final Videos
This is helpful becuz you never know when you’ll need to access some old video made a month or year ago.4) Media managed projects are stored offline on separate storage. There are many ways to do this that can work.
5) We often read/write each others projects and work together. This workflow greatly enables it. This also enables anyone to find a cool texture or song and easily share it with everyone.
So that’s a bit long winded, but hope it helps. We have recently hired a full time media librarian & system administrator, which is great for me so I can just delegate 🙂
Peace,
Kenny Miracle
Head of Post Production
International House of Prayer
https://www.kennymiracle.com -
If you’ve used FCP & Motion together, then switching to AE shouldn’t be too complicated. I’ve never found a “best practices” for the FCP/AE workflow. Some good techniques have been discussed, but it really depends on your workflow & needs.
Kenny
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When to add transitions… it really depends on the project. simple fades, cuts, color dissolves can be done easily in FCP.
But if you’re wanting to do more fancy transitions, like lens flares or graphical wipes or something else that requires AE, then there are two common options:
1) Export your FCP timeline with cuts only & add transitions in AE when doing other fx work
2) If you’re not already sending your project to AE, then you can export your AE transition as an Animation with an alpha channel, and just drop it into FCP.I like exporting transitions out of AE, becuz then I can have them available for other projects.
Hope this helps,
KennyKenny
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Sounds like your CPU setup is good. Where is your HD footage? External drives, local drives, san?
Kenny