[Mark Dobson]

This thread is so similar to other almost identical threads posted over the last few days that it just goes round in the same old circles that have been debated over the last few months.

So we had ” to stick with FCP7 or not?” or “if FCP isn’t really for Pros, who is it for?”

The truth is all the key NLEs are simply amazing and are getting exponentially better with each version.

FCPX has however really gone down a totally different track from the others, ruthlessly shedding it’s previous skin, upsetting a load of people on the way.

This is a great forum when it digs deep into the detail of the changes, what works, what doesn’t work, what can be improved.

To simply state NLE preferences promotes a narrow debate that few can learn from.

[Mark Dobson]

Thank’s for the heads up Shawn,

As clarified in the follow up posts below it is a genuine if minor update available through the App Store.

Which is just great. Many minors make a major but the one we are all waiting for won’t be with us until the new year.

[Mark Dobson]

If you think you are going to be asked this often I would really recommend Telestream Episode (&Pro). Its not the cheapest bit of software but it produces really good files of all persuasions including WMV.

To be honest the main reason I bought it was to create WMV versions.

There are loads of different templates from 640×360, 720P up to 1080P.

It’s also now Lion compatible.

But for a one off there doesn’t seem anything to lose from using the service Timothy Payton recommended although it seems a bit too good to be true.

Is anything in life free?

[Mark Dobson]

Whilst this is obviously a joke to warm us up as winter sets in I get a daily post from Shooting People and positions advertised in the Unpaid/Collaborate section are not that far off this ad sometimes.

But people generally get offered a DVD ( Wow …thanks! ) of the finished production in return for working for nothing.

The capacity of people to totally exploit others is also demonstrated in the Intern programmes that many UK media companies run.

[Mark Dobson]

Herb,

Not quite joking but slightly tongue in cheek.

The 35mm sensor would be a considerable jump up for me from the APS-C sensor thats in the 7D – almost twice as big.

However its not just the size that counts! The XF305 with its 3 1/3rd” sensors has been accepted for broadcast use by the BBC.

Maybe everyone will go for the EOS-1D X – or maybe there will be a 5DMk111 either way your quite right in that Canon seem to have jumped into the wrong market, possibly for the wrong reasons rather than simply providing a very active and responsive customer base with what they actually want.

[Mark Dobson]

Herb,

it’s a good point that all of this started with the 5D MK11 and yet here we are with C300 looking at a camera at ten times the price, and that’s without all the outboard kit that will be needed to make the camera functional out on location or in the studio.

I won’t be buying.

I sat on the edge of the DSLR pool for about a year looking at the Heath Robinson contraptions that came onto the market to make these cameras usable. To my eyes it seemed incredible that people were actually strapping these pieces of hi tech meccano around the DSLRs.

Then I bought a Canon 7D and it all made sense, kind of, fabulous rich colour and shallow depth of field. But suddenly my visa card got really hot with all the bits I had to buy to feed the new beast.

And the sound recording was the biggest pain. Sure everything is possible but firing up 2 machines to record an interview out on a busy location and monitor both machines takes a lot of concentration. And the camera needs to have a break every 10 minutes to catch its breath. And then there’s all the AA batteries I started buying in large multipacks.

On the up side it totally rejuvenated my interest in the filming business and I can honestly say that I’ve learnt more about aperture, depth of field, shutter rate, ND Filters and lenses than I had ever done through using camcorders.

And the shots looked great.

However the stress of external audio recording resulted in me buying the Canon XF305 camera, a small sensor very high definition 1080p camcorder with a really solid codec to record onto the SD cards.

So I’ve been really excited with the new developments from Canon. I can’t afford the C300 but there is a Full Frame new Canon video DSLR (4K) in development which will draw on the same technology. It will be with us within the next year and I’m sure that that’s when most people will upgrade from their 5Ds.

I imagine it will cost around the same as the AG AF100 and Sony Brick ( NEX FS100) and that all the lenses and toys I’ve bought over the last 2 years will find a new host.

The Canon XF Mpeg2 4:2:2 50Mbs codec will become as ubiquitous as Pro-Res is now.

And companies like Zacuto will continue to prosper well into the future.

And in a years time FCPX will probably be in its 4th version with every single problem resolved ( sure? ) and ready to roll onto the next crest of the HD wave.

So I’m feeling quite positive about this development.

[Mark Dobson]

Absolutely fabulous images.

It might seem churlish to criticise this film but it was a real shame that the camera functions on the top shot at 1:16 were left on Auto. Either the focus, iris or gain was not locked off.

I personally would have rejected that shot as unusable. There are enough great shots of the event to have not missed it.

I had the same thing happen to me with a time lapse of a road crew laying a specialist surface on a road.

Unfortunately with a time lapse you are stuck with what you have got.

[Mark Dobson]

Ah – I get it now

more haste less speed.

[Mark Dobson]

Oliver,

I sure you will correct me with you superior technical savvy but surely when you launch the application ( as shown in the video demo) it launches a separate window within which the app resides.

So it’s as if it is, probably through using xml, sending the clip to its own application and then publishing it back to FCPX.

The demo clearly shows a colour wheel ( at 01.42) which it appears can be adjusted either with the mouse or sliders.

Either way i’m really looking forward to its release and feel sorry that RGS have had such an uphill struggle to port their software over to FCPX. Seems like they are very nearly there.

[Mark Dobson]

I’m really impressed with the brief Looks demo on the video.

I had wondered how Magic Bullet Looks was going to be crammed into the effects inspector but through launching an overlay window they have got round this restriction. To my knowledge no other plugin provider has come up with this solution before and I’m sure many will follow.

I actually think that the FCPX designers took a lot of ideas from Magic Bullet Looks when they developed their colour correction shape masks.

Once the technical bugs are sorted Magic Bullet Looks 2 will really enhance the capabilities of FCPX. Colorista 11 is now included within the software and so we will get our colour wheels back and the ability to really refine colour correction without round tripping.