Simon Ubsdell
6
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[Chris Frantz] “That makes sense, but if it’s even one frame off, doesn’t that throw every clip out of wack? “
It pays to make sure that the TC of both clips is exactly the same – this is the necessary due diligence for this method. There are obviously a variety of utilities for adjusting the TC as necessary.
[Chris Frantz] “If you did want to try this in FCPX, for one master clip in multiple instances a timeline, why not open then master clip in the timeline from the bin and replace with the new master within it? Wouldn’t that accomplish the same thing?”
It doesn’t ripple through to the edited clips in the timeline, which is the object of the exercise here.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
Here’s what a “replaced” clip looks like in Premiere when the replacement footage is shorter than what you are swapping out:
Note the areas at the start and end that have been hatched out to indicate there are no source frames for these portions.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Chris Frantz] “What would be a real life example of a clip going out, then being trimmed on both heads and tails then having to be force relinked back?”
We cut trailers and sales promos for movies so in almost every case we are working from a temp version of the movie (or temp dailies), which may or may not have logos, leaders, slates, end credits, etc., etc. We have to match this to final pictures (and sound) when they finally arrive which may or may not have matching logos, leaders, slates, end credits, etc., etc.
It does sometimes happen that the temp and final pictures have the same start and end – the law of sod being what it is, that’s about as often as it snows in the Sahara.
I should add that your workflow is about replacing multiple different clips, usually in your case with matching starts. Whereas our workflow is about replacing multiple instances of the same clip. It goes without saying that, in our case, if you can relink once, you have saved a massive amount of time. In your case clearly less so.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Chris Frantz] “Either way, force relinking should be done meticulously because things can get messy quick in any program.”
I’m not sure anyone is suggesting that you relink and don’t review the results 😉
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Chris Frantz] “but they also would in Premiere right?”
No, Replace Footage works from TC not from frame starts or ends and hence you are relinking to the same absolute frames even if your start and end are completely different. If your new footage is shorter than the footage you are replacing, you will have blank frames where the footage is shorter – exactly what you want.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Chris Frantz] “Force relinking should be done one by one anyway, you should always check and make sure nothing got lost in translation, so I really don’t see it as much slower than even Premiere. Works for us, day to day. :)”
Your method is great if you are lucky enough to be swapping out clips that have the same start frame, which is presumably going to be the case with most stock footage – one would hope.
Sadly it doesn’t fit the bill when the clip you are wanting to relink to has a different start frame to the one you are wanting to swap it with, as is very frequently the case for what we do, as when someone has added or removed a leader or a slate or a logo, etc., etc.
Now imagine that you are having to replace a hundred edits or more, all from the same source with non-matching start frame – and you can see why the FCP 7 method was so attractive and why Premiere solves the problem too, but where FCP X can make life quite difficult.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Oliver Peters] “Agreed. A versatile conform engine.”
Some very well-informed guy wrote this really excellent piece on “The NLE that wouldn’t die” which is well worth the read!
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Oliver Peters] “FCP 7 was far easier to work with than FCPX.”
FCP 7’s brute force relinking was what made it one of the most powerful NLEs ever – if that’s what you needed.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Michael Hancock] “10 years of editing doesn’t mean he’s well versed on the technical stuff, especially if he’s more of a story editor.”
Tell me about it!!!!!!
We recently worked on a movie where the editor was a really serious, incredibly talented Hollywood superstar with years and years of experience with some truly jaw-dropping credits to his name – who in this case was doing a favour for the wife of a very famous director and hence was working pretty much on his own, and having to be his own assistant.
Lovely guy and everything, but his lack of basic AVID knowledge was a real eye-opener, to say the least.
Those plucky assistants acting invisibly in the background make life so easy for the big guys – it’s only when they’re not around that you see how important they are.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
This one feature is why we can’t migrate our business to FCP X.
For the vast majority of the projects we work on, we need the ability to relink “temp media” to “finished masters” and with FCP X – just as with Media Composer – this is a non-starter. As you say, Premiere obviously handles this just fine with the Replace Footage option.
I realise that we have a niche requirement in this regard but it’s a requirement that’s fundamental to how we run our editing business.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com
