[Mark Dobson]

[Rafael Amador] “No Mark.
I’ve started the fire for this paragraph:

[Carsten Orlt] “I know there is a bit more to it like loosing quality when upscaling etc but this is peanuts against the problem which format your source should be converted too and what your seq should be set too and what if you need to change it after you edit the program. “”

Rafael some people just don’t want to get into the details. They buy software that does it for them, leaving them free to get on with the job.

Now I personally don’t use any of the auto functions in FCPX but others clearly like to.

However I do drive a car with an automatic gearbox and it’s really not necessary for me to know how that works.

Its never broken down yet, if it did I would take it to a garage. Not knowing how the gearbox works does not affect the way I drive.

What I enjoy about the Creative Cow forums is the huge generosity that people have in sharing their knowledge.

What I don’t enjoy are the negative ping-pong matches that do nothing to educate or inspire other participants.

[Mark Dobson]

[Oliver Peters] “Unfortunately the original premise isn’t correct. FCP X handles a few codecs natively, but generally rewraps native codecs into MOV using the Import From Camera function just like FCP7’s L&T. “

Now there’s a reply from someone who understands both the creative and technical aspects of NLE.

Without that background knowledge one has no idea of what goes on under the hood. This is fine until something goes wrong.

In the case of FCPX this is a frequent occurrence. A seasoned editor will resolve any problem pretty quickly through drawing on operational experience and technical know how.
.
The way one becomes an experienced editor is through training, which is more readily available now than ever before, and putting the hours in.

You would think that FCPX, with it’s lack of depth in the user interface, would be easier to learn than legacy FCP or the other 2 main NLE contenders, but it’s so fiddly and unstable in the current version, that I’m not sure that’s true.

[Mark Dobson]

This thread started off with Carsten saying he liked the fact that FCPX could handle many different formats with ease.

It is now a thread about editors or editing with a lot of low balls being tossed about.

Or is it the pro vs non pro discussion.

The truth is that there are many different levels of editing, and many different kinds of editors. There always have been. I started off as an offline editor, making a basic rough cut versions for approval and development further on up the line in the company or with the client.

Only when the content and narrative had been fairly firmly nailed down was an edit decision list generated.

We then moved into the grown ups edit suite with a very technically proficient editor controlling an array of different tape decks, normally situated in another room with an assistant feeding tapes into them on request from the editor. Supporting this operation was a video engineer who was called in to frequently re-calibrate the machines and keep them maintained.

And sitting there in the edit suite was the producer and sometimes the director instructing the editor to maybe shave a half second off here or lengthen a dissolve there.

And meanwhile in another room a video graphics artist was constructing graphic components and titles to be inserted in the edit.

Ha, and we haven’t even mentioned sound yet!

So, a complex collaborative process involving a team of highly skilled and trained people all working under the direction of the producer or production company.

That’s the world I learnt my programme making skills in.

And it’s a world that, bar high end and broadcast work, has largely disappeared.

All of these roles and functions can now be carried out by one person sitting at a laptop.

What technical ability they require will depend on what they are producing.

The wonderful world of NLE enables editors at every level, from producing simple pieces for Youtube through to complex drama and documentaries.

Each level will have it’s own skill base, with experience playing a key role as individuals develop their
careers.

To degenerate editors working on the more basic productions does not really make sense.

The world most editors find themselves earning a living in now is a multi skilled one where to survive you have to wear many different hats. Camera operation, graphics production, music production, and NLE editing, let alone communication skills are now all desirable areas to master in order to make a living as a programme maker.

Anyway how complicated is it really to edit?

All you need is scissors, some tape, an editing block, 8mm film and an idea.

[Mark Dobson]

Just got an email from plural eyes with new link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyEwPh7EgQQ&feature=youtu.be

Also an invite to download the beta version of PluralEyes for FCPX.

I’m going to try it out on a real project I’m working on.

It looks pretty neat – but the big downside is that it all eventually resolves into a compound clip in a new project.

So the next step for basic one camera and zoom tyre situations will be to export that as a pro res clip and re-import it to get it into the event side of life for clipping out , favouriting etc etc.

PluralEyes for FCPX seems to add a level of control that syncing within the app lacks. But we will see how it actually works.

From watching the video I would imagine that this method will for the basis for how multi cam will work in FCPX.

Mark Dobson
Producer and Director
Alembic TV
http://www.alembic.tv

[Mark Dobson]

Whilst I’ve certainly had my moneys worth out of Logic Pro it is galling to see it being sold for such a low price.

Great news for the first time buyer though.

I’m just wondering how one gets the App store to acknowledge the existing version I’ve got to allow me to
easily download any future updates.

I’m currently upgrading to 9.1.6 via software updtate and look forward to reading the upgrade documentation.

[Mark Dobson]

Isn’t that just the way. You work out a logical workaround and then find it’s a one way street and only works up to an extent.

I’m now using compound clips as a practical way of breaking up complex edits. I produce short sections in their own projects and then when they are just about there I convert them into compound clip, copy them and then paste them into a master project.

If any further work, almost inevitable, needs doing I then open these compound clips into their own timeline, adjust them, before returning into my master project.

This all goes well until, I don’t know if anybody else has found this, sometimes the compound clips refuse to open in the master project timeline. It might be that some audio has gone astray or maybe it’s just a bit confused and the only way round it is to copy the compound clip, open it in another project, re-compound it and then replace the original faulty compound.

Sometimes weird things happen like opening up a compound in it’s own timeline, amending it , returning to the main project and finding some, not all, of the changes have not been reflected in the compound clip.

I really like compound clips and just wish the whole caboodle worked properly. They are a bit like a Russian doll, a master compound can contain smaller compounds etc etc.

As well as visually tidying up a complex timeline they are really great for ganging audio clips for mix downs prior to finishing a project.

[Mark Dobson]

Oliver you are quite right.

But seriously I wouldn’t use FCPX to start a project, as a cutting bench, if I couldn’t complete the work on the the software by bringing it back in.

This facility, X27, could well be useful for those wanting to share their work with someone working on a different NLE, or as you say, wanting access Color, STP, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Smoke, Media Composer, Pro Tools and Audition.

I’m booked up for a training day with DaVinci Resolve next week so maybe I’ll start using that to do my color correcting. Although for my purposes, non broadcast, I’m getting on pretty well with the built in scopes and tools in FCPX.

[Mark Dobson]

Jeremy Garchow is right FCPXML is not there yet.

Magic Bullet looks 2 will not be released until it has been updated.

I haven’t tried X27 as I have no need to take a one way trip back into the past but Event Manager X and Preference Manager are daily companions of mine.

I am also using Crumplepop’s Shrink RayX which works really well in FCPX as does Magic Bullet Mojo.

FCPX is still full of holes and unless the 2012 update fixes things in a substantial way many present users might well reconsider their commitment to this fledgling, shows promise, software.

[Mark Dobson]

I’ve yet to copy anything to the Events Folder.

I capture and transcode whatever files I want to use to external hard drives (Gtech Esata) using either Mpeg Steamclip ( for Canon DSLR) or FCP7 Log and capture (for all Canon MXF Files)

I transcode to either Prores 422 or Prores 422 LT, In the case of the MXF files from a Canon XF305 I transcode them natively using the Canon plugin for FCP7.

Certainly there should be a new Canon utility for FCPX, long overdue now, to import directly into FCPX.

I have not had any problems to date apart from the normal issues that almost everyone seems to have to deal with through trashing preferences and in extreme situations re-installing FCPX from the App store.

With hard drive prices at an all time high at the moment due to the dire weather and flooding that occurred in Thailand I have to conserve resources and not create any more duplicate of media than necessary.

[Mark Dobson]

I’ve had a terrible day with FCPX today. Crashes, compound clips not opening (got round that by opening in timeline – copying – opening up in new project) and my old friend cmd z not workin – and to compound issues stabilisation has disappeared – so having trashed prefs countless times I’m now going to trash the app and re-install it from app store.

So I have a lot of sympathy for anyone else running into similar problems.

Mark Dobson
Producer and Director
Alembic TV
http://www.alembic.tv