Simon Ubsdell
6
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[Charlie Austin] “In my case, doing advertising for features, we always get at least 2, and sometimes many more versions of the cut. So we have to over cut all our existing work with pix from newer versions. In X, if there are just straight cuts, and you can match the first or last frame it’s easy. But if there’s a dissolve, or there isn’t a good frame to be able to eye match, not having match frame replace is a huge time-suck.
Also folks who do a lot of SFX work, again with multiple versions of the same shot, really need this feature.”
And in my experience (which is not far different from yours, I suspect) I’ve always only got about half an hour to turn around jobs like these, so every second is ridiculously precious – no time for even the most efficient of workarounds.
The other complicating factor for these workflows is the limitation X still has as regards relinking to new material that doesn’t match the original very precisely – one of the great strengths of FCP7 that can still save huge amounts of pain.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Erik Lindahl] “The lack of proper timecode readers in FCPX is one of the main issues I have with the app. It’s really hard or impossible to see timecode on clips in a project / sequence vs clips in the browser. Have I completely missed something or is this just the way FCPX is?”
You can use Clip Skimming to see the current timecode at the playhead position – but really a lot more feedback is needed for certain workflows where this feature isn’t enough to cut it.
Simon Ubsdell
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[Tim Wilson] “That one’s called Glacier I think.”
There was me thinking it would be called Disneyland.
Simon Ubsdell
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[Charlie Austin] “The fact that this is still in the code, archaic names and all:
-key- ReplaceWithSelectedMediaAtPlayhead -/key-
– string-Replace the selected Sequence clip with the selected Organizer clip aligned to their Playhead locations -/string-gives me (false?) hope that the one glaringly missing feature will one day reappear.”
As I say, I do think there are structural problems with implementing it and it’s not just a simple case of “turning it on”.
If we think about the way that X handles “time”, then I think it’s possible to speculate about the potential difficulties.
If it were as easy as flipping the ON switch, I suspect they’d have done it by now.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Herb Sevush] “The depth of most NLE software is quite amazing – and it’s getting deeper, not simpler, as time passes.”
Indeed. But here FCP X seems to be the exception, at least from an editing point of view. We see an increasingly complex media management system (which is great for countless users, but virtually meaningless to me), but advances in the editing toolset seem to have stalled quite dramatically.
Maybe we’ll see amazing new things in the next release.
Or the one after that.
Or the one that one that comes with the OS that comes after Yosemite.
Really soon, in other words.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Charlie Austin] “Also, the fact that “scrolling timeline” is his number one issue makes me take the rest less seriously. I can’t think of a future I would want less. ;-)”
Couldn’t agree more.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Charlie Austin] “I’ve got actual playhead match replace on my short list of WTF? issues. Send to Motion/open in editor is another, but I don’t miss it all that much. “
It’s interesting what each of us thinks if important and the other doesn’t.
I know Send to Motion is high on a lot of users’ lists, and you’d think that as Motion’s Number One Fan, I would be demanding this as well, but it’s something I can pretty comfortably live without.
Genuine Replace Edit and Gang Sync are the two things I genuinely can’t do without.
Which is a completely different list from Things I Would Like To See.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Craig Alan] “Can you name the missing functions?”
1) Replace Edit – in the conventional sense, not the feature Apple cheekily call Replace Edit which is fun but not what I’m talking about here.
2) Gang Sync.
3) Multiple simultaneous timecode displays (optional).
Trivial things to countless other users but essential to virtually every editing job that I undertake, and hence non-negotiable must-haves.
For me.
Yes, there are countless other cosmetic improvements that we might all like to see, but when a missing feature doesn’t actually allow you to do your job, it’s a pretty big deal.
But sorry, I’m boring everyone who has heard me ask for these things so many times before.
And, to reiterate, in case this is taken the wrong way, I do very much enjoy cutting in FCP X on the few occasions when I don’t absolutely need the above features.
As things stand, though, I’d happily swap every single last ground-breaking media management feature, if I could only get my hands on those paltry editing options.
I do suspect there are some basic architectural issues which stand in the way of these being implemented, but I could be completely wrong.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[Charlie Austin] “The trackless bit of X is not it’s only differentiation from other systems by a long shot. I do this 8-10 hrs a day every day of the week, and X is way more pleasant to cut in.”
I completely agree about the pleasure of cutting in X – though I’d have to say that every NLE has its “pleasure spot”, as it were, and they’re all different.
(And that means, believe it or not, that there are even some things I really enjoy about Media Composer that aren’t as well implemented elsewhere – though I can’t believe I just said that.)
The problem for me is that there are still two or three basic editing functions that are missing from X that mean I can’t really commit to using it because my job doesn’t allow me the time to juggle the workarounds.
(I don’t think that makes me a Luddite, or lazy, or stupid – though I may be all of the above and more.)
As to whether we will ever see these functions implemented, I’m starting to become doubtful.
Maybe there are more editors like me who are missing the, to them, essential functions that mean X is just not a plausible option at this point.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo-uk.com -
[David Mathis] “1. If then conditions. For example, have particles per second be set to 0 at a certain time, or position of another layer; could also have the particles move in the opposite direction of another layer, such as a text layer.”
Not sure I quite understand your instructions here but it all sounds pretty doable with some simple linking – remember that you can have a negative link Scale for example which will invert the result but there are many other tricks you can pull to achieve this kind of thing.
[David Mathis] “2. The ability to add sliders to add to an expression. For example, have an object move around like it is a bit crazy. Then with the slider controls I can keyframe the values that go into the random expression.”
In this case, you can do exactly the same thing in Motion, given that the sliders in a Motion rig are essentially identical to Ae sliders. You can very simply rig the Wriggle or Randomize Amount value to a slider (Widget) and keyframe away to your heart’s content if that’s what you want to do (although it doesn’t strike me as being an entirely necessary process as you could simply animate the Amount directly with the Wriggle behavior.)
On a general note, although the theoretical limit of what you can achieve with expressions is clearly infinite, in practical terms you can achieve some satisfyingly complex results in Motion with the right combination of interacting behaviors. Remember that linking to null objects can give you a lot more flexibility that you might at first think and is often the key to creating complex interactions – for an example, have a look at what I did with parenting in this tutorial (from about 9 minutes in):
EDIT: Just for fun, why not also try out Custom behaviors? For example, you could decide you want your Wriggle to turn alternately on and off every second. Create a Custom Behavior for a null object that animates its opacity from zero to 100% over 1 second, set its Interpolation to Constant and its After Last Keyframe behavior to Repeat. Now you have a ready-made trigger to which you can link your Wriggle Amount. If you want the on/off pattern to happen faster or slower simply shorten oR lengthen your Custom behavior. Remember you can always save this to the Favorites library so you can call it up at any time for any similar purpose.
Simon Ubsdell
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