Michael Garber
Forum Replies Created
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Jeremy +1,000,000! I was trying to find the name of that song, like, forevers.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
I didn’t read your whole post. Just responding to the question you posed.
I can prep a day’s worth of jam-synced multicam dailies in 10 minutes using Sync N Link and FCP X. No rendering or transcoding required if editing with RED or Alexa. Assuming audio has been properly tagged with subroles, I can also output the most organized AAF of any NLE using X2Pro in just as much time.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
[Jim Hines] “: ) That was a pleasant rebuttal. Thanks for passing the time with me. “
I try not to get too crazy about these things. But seriously, you post something like this in the lion’s den without anything to backup your claims, prepare to get eaten for dinner!
[Jim Hines] “Just Re: Avid – this is all Avid does. Probably why no one has knocked them off as of yet. Surely you see that the potential is much greater for a company like Apple to simply discontinue this aspect of their business if the shareholders deem it’s a liability?
“I thought at the NAB launch, one of the guys from Apple said that FCP X was their plan for the next decade. When they say something publicly, I feel they are good for their word. Because they are a public company, they could face a backlash for misrepresenting something like that.
This is from Wikipedia: Immediately after the release and its backlash, Richard Townhill, Senior Director of Applications Marketing at Apple, gave a public interview stating that Apple had a 10 year development plan for the software.
As for Avid, you are correct, it is all they do. They were too stratified, so they shored up and are now focusing on their core products. I think that’s great news for Avid editors. But they are not innovating enough for me to jump on board.
The software feels incredibly old and clunky and does not fit into my workflow. Whenever they develop new features, they don’t seem to quite fit with the aesthetic of the rest of the software or the OS. Just a simple case-in-point, the new AMA import window in MC 7. Annoyingly, it doesn’t react like a regular finder import dialog window. It is its own thing.
Also, I’ve called Avid sales managers many times to ask questions and have never received a return phone call. I find that a compelling reason not to move over.
Since FCP X is “new” and has so many hooks into the OS, it feels fresh(er), more responsive. I fully admit this wasn’t the case when it first launched. This has only been my experience since upgrading to the iMac.
Avid has gone through major architectural changes in the past, too. It’s just been a long time (in industry time) since the last one. They’ve also sold hardware (eg my analog Mojo) that are no longer supported.
I’ve only dabbled in Avid, but for the the work I do, FCP has almost always cut the bill. It’s always been forward looking and better suited (again, for my purposes alone) for Quicktime/file-based editorial. The hiccup in that chart occurred directly after the launch and lasted for about a year, right around the time I was restructuring my company and work.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
[Jim Hines] “They’ve shown a propensity and no compunction to do so in the past – 9 to x – Motorola chips to Intel chips, FCP 7 to FCP X – USB & Firewire to Thunderthighs – the list goes on. Apple has never been interested in backwards compatibility.
I don’t really know why I’m getting into this conversation. Guess I’m bored, too ;P.
OS9 to X? Seriously? I can only assume you’re baiting people into an argument with that one. Actually, I think you’re baiting us all with your entire post. But I’m game, so here goes.
Motorola chips ran hot. Remember the “blow dryer” G4? Thunderbolt is way faster than firewire – and there’s TH to FW compatible cables. USB3 is backward compatible to USB2. Don’t see the issue with any of this.
FCP 7 to X. It’s been 2+ years. I’ve moved on. It now works much better for me for lots of the projects I’m working on. I’m using both 7 and X. X clients are very happy and I’ve seen a return on my investment in my iMac. 7 clients are legacy jobs or documentaries that started 4 or 5 years ago. FCP 7 still works and I’ve kept a legacy system around for when it won’t work.
I spent a whopping $600 on a 6TB Thunderbolt drive late last year that’s faster than any drive I’d previously owned for that amount of money. I also sold lots of old gear on Craigslist. So, other than a little bit of extra work, which I’ve done every 2-3 years since I started my business in 2000, I’ve not had any issues with this current upgrade path.
For eSATA, get a $20 USB3 to eSATA adapter. They work great.
I also finally sold my waveform/vectorscope. And I said goodbye to tape officially. I’m very happy to move on from both of these pieces of gear that break down or need calibration often enough to be a nuisance.
The huge cluster**** that I thought thunderbolt would be has turned out to be a very easygoing parceling out of gear that either stacks or hides quite nicely on my desk. So, to wrap up, this incremental change worked out just fine for me…
…and I don’t plan on it to last. In a year, if I don’t have a Mac Pro and a 4k monitor, I’ll be left in the dust. Fact o’ life and fact o’ business in a highly competitive environment.
[Jim Hines] “Are any of the “stable” post houses with rich histories and longevity in the industry moving over to X?
I don’t know of any stable post houses. If you come across one, please let me know. I’d love to find out their secret. My feeling is that the post-related facilities who embrace new technology and lead the way (CO3, Light Iron) are the ones who survive. Light Iron seems to be embracing it. I also find that the companies that have their hands in areas other than just post have more longevity.
Many post houses flourish for a time on big budget jobs, suffer when those clients move on, go through ownership transfers and squabbles, get gobbled up by bigger companies, or just liquidate and move on. That’s been my eagle-eye view of the industry since the mid-90s. It hasn’t changed since 1″ was king.
A post house’s success rides on its clients. The equipment they own plays a huge part of that because they need to be able to provide the best product for the price. When word gets out at Computer X can provide Y service. Client Z talks to the post producer and requests the service. If it can’t be provided, Client Z moves to another facility.
When new tech comes out, smaller, lighter companies emerge that can do more for less quicker. I was part of this cycle back in 2000 when FCP 1.0 was released. By 2004, I was coloring syndicated shows and documentaries that the “stable” houses were doing. Because of this, the big companies become top-heavy and the cycle starts over.
By 2011, my company was top heavy. I sold off the detritus, looked at the new landscape and started over. It’s hard as **** but sometimes you don’t have control over it.
If you can figure out a way to end this cycle and allow the post world to exist solely on an upward trend where everyone profits, then you will win the prize.
[Jim Hines] Will the next shareholders meeting vote on cutting loose this low margin aspect of Apples business? “
Can’t the same be said for Avid, being a public company and all?This video has been circling the inter-ways for the past 18 hours or so. Give it a look-see.
https://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/news/1231-michael-cioni-talks-about-innovations-in-post-production-including-final-cut-pro-xMichael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
I believe that’s a bug (or a lacking feature). The guys over at X2Pro’s site are good with support. You’ll need to create a user id to write a question in their forums.
https://x2pro.net/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=category&catid=12&Itemid=276
My hope is that true integration b/t LPX and FCPX will come in the fall update. Bummer that it didn’t work out of the gate.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
I completely agree with him about Sync-N-Link X. Because you have the option to merge the audio metadata onto the video clips, I am able to import, sync, rename, and multiclip a day’s worth of dailies in 10 minutes. Since there was no need to sync audio based on waveform, the multiclips were created by FCP X instantly.
I think, because of programs like SnLX and the deep metadata integration in FCPX, that on-set metadata creation will become a very, very important part of pre-pro-post workflow.
Good on Sam for getting word out there.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
For now, you should purchase X2Pro. It has worked remarkably well for me. It exports AAF files which Logic X will import.
I recommend setting roles for your dialogue, sfx, and music in your timeline. That way, when you import into Logic, the clips will be lined out on tracks per their role.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
I have the 6TB model. Very cool to touch. Fast. Mostly quiet. My model makes a strange tweeting noise every so often which LaCie said is due to the specific drives they use. I got used to it, but worth noting.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
[Jeremy Garchow] “You beat me to it! :-D”
Ha! Please forward all your answers to me first from now on. 😛
Good tip on using the keyboard in addition to skimming. Would be difficult for me since I use a wacom. I find the wacom in X can be more difficult sometimes because of skimming and mouse pointer focus issues (hit cmd 1 while hovering over the timeline causes the timeline to playback when you hit play).
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X -
This can be done with skimming on or off. Hover over your clip. Hit c to select it. Drag the playhead to near the point in your clip that you want to blade. Move the mouse pointer off any clips. Select the blade tool. Use the keyboard to find the frame, then cmd-b to blade it. It’s fast once you do it a few times.
But I actually like Jeremy’s method from an earlier post – change the keyboard command for blade to B. Then select and skim over the clip you want to cut. When you find the frame, just hit B. This is the opposite of what you want to do, but it’s very fast.
Michael Garber
5th Wall – a post production company
Blog: GARBERSHOP
My Moviola Webinar on Cutting News in FCP X