Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
-
Lots of great ideas here on how to fix this.
I would offer one more that is an old school trick.
Sometimes it is possible to ‘steal’ a piece of the BG and use it to cover things like this. Could be tough due to all the edges created by the palms. Or the busy nature of the surroundings might make it easier to hide the fix. Hard to say for sure without trying. Just thought I’d throw it out there.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[matt love] “Scott I agree shooting has changed a ton, but im not so quick to jump on the bandwagon that this a bad thing. As a editor it forces you to evolve and adapt to differnt styles. Which in part makes you a more well rounded editor. Mostly everything has been done at this point so showing the viewer something different ( which may be technically poor shooting or editing) can create a sense of intrigue and emmerse the viewer more. My OP was worded poorly , I wasnt looking for “snazzy transitions ” see jigsaw puzzle dissolve. I was trying to get dfifferent viewpoints on unique cuts.”
Matt,
That was really written for humor value for some of us ‘old timers’, like Mark.
I actually gave a serious answer in another post.I know a lot of folks out there think that things like continuous search and destroy zooms, pointless jump cuts and things like that are simply a matter of style and taste. I guess you could say the same thing for wearing black dress socks with sandals at the beach, or wearing jeans to a black tie event.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[matt love] “I feel like the common eye has seen just about every stereotypical transitions or shot. Just trying to get some new ideas”
I know what you’re saying. For me, most of where these ideas come from the material I’m working with, not so much from an existing ‘bag of tricks’.
Not to be dismissive but I think the use of transitions and/or FX, matching the content is more important than looking for something new. If the content demands something new it will come to you on its own.
Like a million others will say, a well placed cut is almost always the best, unless you are trying to. And depending on how you line up the footage, a cut can look like a custom transition.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
Mark,
“The trick is in how an when you put the cut, so that it seems seamless. Walter Murch talks about cutting on eyeblinks. I think that’s right. You can cut on an eyeblink, but also on the place in the shot where a human would most likely blink while watching. Our vision is made up of cuts in real life, moment to moment. It is our brain that stiches all the cuts together and makes it seem seamless.”Well that’s what all of us old timers learned. The best transition is a well placed cut, the best cinematography is that which goes unnoticed, etc.
Blah, blah blah… That is so dated, so old school and so not kewl.
In response to how not kewl production values are, a new style emerged.
OK, it didn’t emerge, it was more like ‘stumbled on to’, but that is a minor point.
Gone were the days of boring, steady, in focus, well shot footage. In the new style, all camera work had to draw attention to itself, and distract from the story, becoming the focus (no pun) of what was being shot.
For a while, this style was mocked by many professionals who soon found themselves in a minority. Because this style was accompanied by a flood of new shooters who wore several hats like producer. They worked cheap, and didn’t waste all that time setting up the sticks. Or making sure shots were well framed. Why waste time setting up new camera angles, when you can just stay in one spot and pan and zoom? Duh!
Things that were normally considered production mistakes and cut out, were now considered ‘art’ and left in.
Soon many of the old editors that wanted to cut this stuff out, and demanded action matched footage were being replaced by new editors that worked cheap, cut whatever came in without bitching and also wore several other hats like producer. They soon grew tired of all the attention their artistic colleagues were getting with their flashy camera work. They said to themselves “why should I work deliberately, trying to make my shots flow together seamlessly?”, when the only attention this got them was that of the boss asking what was taking so long? They soon learned to work faster by jump cutting and leaving in focus rolls, light leaks, flares etc. This solved their speed problem, but only got them so far, because it wasn’t their art. They were in a quandary. There was only so much art you could add with the DVE and a couple of dozen modulated switcher wipes. Sure, jump cuts and fast cuts were really cool, but very limiting. You can only do thirty of them in a second. How is an artist supposed to work under those conditions?
Gradually new toys would come along. More DVE channels, a few more wipe patterns, better chroma keys. It helped, but it was really more of the same.
But then a knight in shining armor arrived in 1990. The Video Toaster. Now editors could finally unleash their inner artist with awesome Toaster FX like the tumbling gymnast wipe. No longer will editors have to screen hours of footage with search and destroy zooms feeling like second class citizens. They now had their own weapon, they could put their own mark on every story. Now if some rookie photog stupidly came back without a lens flare, the editor could save the day and add his own… or a dozen! More is better right? How about a transition that looks like a jigsaw puzzle? Got that!
Hey, now this is way cool!Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
Try this, I think it is as close as you’re going to get.
https://www.apple.com/feedback/finalcutpro.htmlScott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[Shawn Larkin] “Thanks for the reply Scott. I’m glad someone had something to say to me regarding that post.
For the record:
I use Avid, Premiere Pro, AE, FCP, Motion and any other tool I need in a given situation or environment. I’m not really a “fanboy” of what Apple makes. I just like well designed solutions that make things easier.
Basically, I look at things from “does it work or not” perspective. Apple is in a unique position to survey the NLE landscape from 10 years of experience and feedback and to create what they think answers a lot of problems with editing.
I “got” this from watching the demo. The way you navigate the timeline and media and, well, edit seemed like a paradigm shift to me and if felt like these smart architects were really trying to re-think editing from the basics on forward. This, of course, is my opinion. But it felt very “new” to me. And I’ve been making my living at this for over 10 years — started on Media 100, then Avid, then FCP, then PP, blah, blah, blah…
Hence, no one knows if this is going to work or not. Not yet.
And yet there is a very closed mind to this before actually testing it for an extended period of time.
So it goes…”
Fair enough.
I was using you’re post as a springboard to comment on several similar type posts along this theme. And while quoting you, I was speaking in a more general sense, which is not clear in my post. I should have said that up front.“And yet there is a very closed mind to this before actually testing it for an extended period of time.”
I can justify this, and it is not about having an open or closed mind.
So if you have been around for a while, you know how much work goes into a proper upgrade. Factor in the install and the learning time, the cost, the risk to system stability, and the unknown of will my current devices/drivers/plugins/projects work with the new version and for some of us, there has to be compelling reasons to try something new. As a one seat shop, I have no interest in risking my system just to be an unpaid Apple R&D guy, or learning new software just for the sake of. If I’m not seeing any benefits to myself, that outweighs any of the potential downsides, I would rather spend that time/money shooting and editing. And with Lightworks for Mac coming out this fall, if I really want to try something new, I can do that for free.
There may be folks out there that see real upsides to the new version, or just love to tweak on new stuff as much as they like to edit. Great. Have at it, and take one for the team.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[Ron Craig] “Can’t one express reasonable opinions here with conviction and passion without being personally criticized?”
Sometimes I wonder.
As one of the skeptics of X, I have found that if you’re one of those that don’t automatically fall in line with the group, responders are using inflammatory rhetoric like ‘closed minded’, ‘mature’ (in quotes), ‘afraid’, and general language that implies a lack of skill on the part of the dissenters and/or superior skill of the Apple defenders.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
“My feelings reading this and other Pro responses have to do with the open vs. closed mindset of “Mature” Pro Editors.”
Are you implying that anyone that has a different/skeptical opinion on this is closed minded and immature?
How close-minded is it to automatically assume the new=better?
How closed minded is it to gush on and on about how great a product is that has only been shown in a limited demo?
History is on the side of the skeptic.
The list of things designers and engineers thought were ‘better’, ‘innovative’, or the ever trendy ‘paradigm shift’ that turned out to be total failures is a lot bigger, than the list of successes.
There is no doubt that failure paves the road to success, and it is the way to advance, but it is not automatic. This is something you will learn as you ‘mature’.“…but misses the point of the demo: to show Pro Editors a new / better way to edit with a shift in habits.”
This is completely subjective. At best.
I don’t recall asking Apple to show me a better way to edit. I’ve been editing slightly longer than Apple has been in business, and I know what works best for me.
In fact I don’t remember anyone else asking that either. If you can find a post in the FCP forum since the release of 6.0 where the person was looking for “a better way to edit” in this context, I ‘d like to see it. There are however, a lot of posts asking for improvements to the software and advertised features to actually work.“But change is not always easy. It’s almost like listening to those Avid Editors which never wanted to try FCP. Or try telling a die hard AE guy that his composite is easer(sic) with a node-based solution, like Nuke.”
Change, for the sake of change is unproductive. Unless you’re an interior decorator. For change to make sense in a business (that is what editing is) several things have to happen. It has to produce a clear and definable improvement. It has to make financial sense. It has to cause no unwanted consequences, or side effects.
So far, none of these questions can be answered. So those who are currently resistant to change, are probably right.You know what is worse than “listening to those Avid Editors which never wanted to try FCP”? It’s listening to pretentious know-it-all’s trying to push their hobby/brand/music/religion on others that didn’t ask for it.
I’m sure the Avid guys are tired of unsolicited opinions from FCP fanboys.
So “try telling a die hard AE guy that his composite is easer(sic) with a node-based solution,” is a good example of that.
Nodes are great. DVDSP and Color are a couple of good examples of where they work well, but I prefer the viewer/canvas/timeline for editing. If you like node better, bully for you. Your love of nodes doesn’t make you a better than anyone else.
And if the AE guy doesn’t see things your way, so what? Unless you’re getting paid as a consultant I’m guessing the AE guy doesn’t really care what you think. He is happy with what he has. It also doesn’t make him a Luddite. Maybe he is just immune to ‘group think’.“So what if the software looks pretty and clean and “iMovie-ish?” At the end of the day, if Editor A can use FCP X more fluidly with a shorter learning curve and get more power out of it than Editor B can form his older editing software, then who cares what it looks like?”
This is an interesting reversal of attitude to reinforce your point. So on one hand you’re ragging on the Avid and AE guys for liking what they have, and not caring about what others think about it. And then when people are doing the same thing and harshing on the iMovie like UI of X, you revert to the Avid and AE guys attitude of if it works for me what do you care?
This reminds me of another typical double standard seen on these forums. How about all those that make cracks about us ‘mature’, ‘old timers’ not liking change, to make some group think point, and then evoking Murch’s in the next breath to make some other point.“Everything seems very speculative to me and without using this tool no one knows if it works or doesn’t.”
This is the only thing in your post that I didn’t find insulting or condescending, and can agree with.
“Even if Apple forces everyone using FCP X to abandon current gear — WHICH I DOUBT THEY WILL DO…”
Yeah, Apple would never do that, or abandon a group of loyal users…
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
[walter biscardi] “Well, the problem I can see for the Cow hosts with starting a new forum specifically for FCP X is when do you then bring it all back to the regular FCP forum? At some point, FCP X just becomes FCP.”
I think the simple answer is, you don’t.
The new version may (or may not) eventually become the default ‘Final Cut Pro’, but lots of folks will still be using Final Cut Studio down the road.
If X is a completely ‘new from the ground up’ app, it should just live in its own world.
This is complete speculation on my part but it seems like the issues most people have problems with will have different answers for X, than FCS 2-3.
Plus there will be at least two months of hell for everyone when they install X and their old plugins, drivers and devices don’t work, can’t figure out the interface, their pre-X SL installs are done wrong, and the usual “why didn’t they (insert your desire)” rants. None of that troubleshooting will have much to do with pre-X FCP, and the new version should have it’s own leaders to help address these issues.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
I agree 100%!
The sooner, the better.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed…