[Petter Stahre]

Since XML:s simply are textfiles, could it be an option to do a search&replace of the referenced filenames in the XML before importing to the next app?

[Petter Stahre]

[Jeremy Garchow] “I took the beginning of your movie, so it’s short!
“

Ah… not my video, but thank’s for the effort.

[Petter Stahre]

[Nick Toth] “Do the luma key. I’ve been doing it since the days of video switchers and tube cameras. The same idea carries forward into today’s NLE’s. Why make it difficult?

And why stop making it easier? 😉
I understand the luma mask concept but think it could be much easier and less time consuming. A simple checkbox for the clip could do the job (“Clip values outside 0-255”).

[Nick Toth] Also, you can’t apply overall color correction to your white clips. You have to correct one white clip to match the other.”

I made the situation up only to show that what seems matched on screen could still have different color values.

In my own case I noticed the problem when I was working with a movie clip and tried to get the over exposed whites become 5% grey. A luma mask would probably have been the solution.

Thanks for your input.

[Petter Stahre]

Couldn’t see the video (it starts/stops within 1 sec) but I think I get what you mean.

Thanks for the information, will try that next time!

[Petter Stahre]

I would just like to confirm that I guess I’ve run into the same problem, but I’m sorry to say I have yet to find a good solution.

A situation similar to what you describe can be repeated in FCPX by doing this:
– Create a clip containing a solid background (generator) 100% white (RGB 255,255,255).
– Make a copy of the clip, crop it or trim it and color it light grey (I used 90% white).
– You should now have a white background with a light grey rectangle somewhere.
– Mark them and make a compound clip (CC).
– Color correct the CC by changing the exposure so that the light grey rectangle disappears – all should seem to be white.
– Now good luck in trying to make a good transition using that CC 🙂

What I guess is happening is that the color values that FCPX is using internally for calculations can be over 255 (and under 0 I guess). Like a raw-image in Photoshop until you convert it.

So the two whites in the CC in my case becomes something like RGB 255,255,255 and RGB 280,280,280 which all displays as solid whites until you start to do calculations with them, then their actual color value is used – thus the difference during transitions.

Anyone awake? 😉

This is what the CC looks like in FCPX:

This is the CC when I apply an exposure correction (+11% overall):

And this is how the transition looks when I move the playhead:

Even if you create the transition using a separate clip above/under the CC the same happens.

It would be super if FCPX had some kind of limiter / clipping functionality that said all values under or over RGB 0 / 255 for this clip should be calculated as no less than 0 or no more than 255.

At least this is what I guess the problem is about but I would be very glad if I’m wrong and if there is a simple solution to this.

Best,
Petter

[Petter Stahre]

RGB values are always dependent on what color space you are using. So the same color should have different values in different color spaces.

I guess your problem is that you are entering the values in the Rec 709 color space (standard for HD movies) without knowing it. This means you get other colors than if you enter the same values in sRGB or Adobe RGB color space, which is the standard in Photoshop, depending on your setup.

(Side note: Standard for display/webb would be sRGB and for print Adobe RGB.)

Let’s say your client’s brand colors are defined in sRGB color space, then I guess you could create a sRGB document in Photoshop (when creating a new document you get to choose under Advanced), create color patches of the colors you need, and then “Convert to profile…” under the Edit-menue. Choose “HD-TV (Rec. 709)” as target color space (if that’s your target).

Now the patches have different RGB-values but will look exactly the same (or as close as possible within the limitations of what colors can be defined in that color space).

Then use the magnifier tool* to pick up the colors, which now has other RGB-values but when showed “through” the Rec 709 color space should look on the screen just like they did in sRGB & Photoshop.

* Haven’t tested this, if it doesn’t work I would use the pipett (or whatever it’s called, I’m using a swedish Photoshop 🙂 ) to pick up the colors within Photoshop and write down the new values. Or save as an image file, import into FCPX and then use the magnifier.

Hope this helps.

Best,
Petter

[Petter Stahre]

I can recommend Michael Wohls courses that has just been updated for 10.1:

https://www.macprovideo.com/finalcut

He got the knowledge and serves it in an easy going style which I really like. The first 39 minutes are free and gives you an overview of 10.1 before diving deeper.

I can also second Gerrys recommendation about Ripple training. Usually very high quality and I’ve bought some previous videos from them.

Larry Jordan also has updated his videos for 10.1, https://member.larryjordan.biz/subscriptions/fcp-x-10-1/ but I haven’t looked at them.

… but if I had to decide between them my vote goes for Michaels courses.

Good luck!

[Petter Stahre]

Superb! Very interesting, since I’ve experimented a lot with finding the best keying software for FCPX.

I tend to use PHYX keyer mostly and sometimes the built in keyer.

But after this tutorial I might try Motion and make my own. It will be very interesting to see the forthcoming tutorials.

Thanks a lot!

Best,
Petter

[Petter Stahre]

I’m using Time Machine and I’m very happy with that.

I can’t say I notice any particular lag, but when I edit under time pressure I tend to watch if TM is doing a backup and if it is then I’m suspending TM just to make shure.

My impression is that editing gets slightly affected when TM is working, but I haven’t done any “scientific test” 🙂

When Finder copy files on my machine it uses up to 7% of the CPU. I would expect TM to have the same usage as a maximum.

[Petter Stahre]

I’ve had similar problems in two situations. The first was due to an external DVD-player I had connected. Once I unplugged that one Compressor ran smooth again (seems it was looking for files on that player). I suspect this is not your case though, but maybe Compressor is curious about other drives (like on a network) that could be a potential problem.

The other free ticket to a slow Compressor is to have the Preview-window open. Close it.

Since I did these changes I’ve never experienced problems with spinning beach balls in compressor again.

About your other question, I’ve also looked for a solution but haven’t found any. I also tear off tabs and drag the files. We would really benefit from a better FCPX-Compressor integration, at least the possibility to export multiple projects at the same time from FCPX.

Best,
Petter