Simon Ubsdell
6
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[Brett Sherman] “He’s presenting how to work faster IN FCP X. “
I just said that, but thanks for the paraphrase.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Michael Hancock] “The hardest part isn’t learning to use software for a job – it’s learning which software to use for a job.”
One of the most sensible things that’s been said on this forum in many a long year.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Bill Davis] “That’s pretty much my definition of “faster” in this context.”
In most ways that one can think of, all NLEs are very closely matched in terms of their overall speed, with small benefits in one area offset with small annoyances in another.
However today I had to do one of my least favourite editing tasks, in a screaming hurry as always at this time of the year, and given this week’s revival of the “FCP X is unquestionably faster” meme, I was revelling in the fact that I was working not in FCP X but in Premiere.
Because it was a task that related to timecode.
I have had to do this same thing many times before in FCP X and each time I was minded to stick a hot pin in my eye to remind myself what lesser suffering felt like.
I would trade the marginal conveniences of FCP X any day in order to access the superior timecode handling of Premiere or Media Composer … for this particular recurring task.
When you need a specific tool, you need that specific tool and workarounds just don’t cut it.
Not all editors have the same requirements so can we just cut a bit of slack to those whose needs are not fully met by FCP X in every situation?
As I have to keep repeating whenever I say anything slightly disobliging about FCP X, I enjoy and admire many things about it. Just not everything.
(Catch an FCP X enthusiast adding a similar rider when they are discussing another NLE!)
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Steve Connor] “Seriously though I’ve always found this function of the magnetic timeline to be more convenient than offering any real increase in speed, for me it takes a little less “think” time than a traditional tracked NLE.”
When you put it as reasonably as that, it’s hard to disagree.
But if everyone around here was reasonable, this place would have closed long ago …
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Oliver Peters] “I would argue that to do the equivalent function in a track-based NLE takes more keystrokes, but isn’t inherently slower.”
It always surprises me to hear people make such a big deal out of this.
Did they really have so much difficulty doing this in other NLEs? How did they ever get anything done?
It makes you wonder whether they had in fact mastered all the different ways of achieving this result in those other NLEs (to borrow an argument that FCP X enthusiasts are fond of employing when championing its way of doing things).
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[greg janza] “You are correct that it’s easy to pick up and that many editors are highly adaptable to it. I learned it quickly as well.”
I learned it before it was even released commercially.
Because, as soon as I saw the sneak peek, I went and got iMovie and familiarised myself with the fundamental paradigms.
I know that is going to sound provocative but it’s true and it was extremely useful.
I could actually work fluently with FCP X from Day One for that simple reason.
Contrary to received opinion, FCP X is conceived from the ground up to be extremely easy to use. It’s bizarre to see claims that it’s complicated and difficult and deep.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
I’ve always felt that this forum without Aindreas was like Gladiator without Russell Crowe.
It lost most of its lustre when he went into premature retirement.
(Sorry, Tim, I know you disagree.)
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[greg janza] “Most people want the path of least resistance. When prompted with the option of learning a whole new approach to editing I’m going to guess that 9 out of 10 folks will pass.”
I think you have allowed Bill to mess with your head here.* FCP X is really, really, really not difficult to master – and master in depth.
The editors I know (most of them) are very clever people and have no difficulty accommodating themselves to new ways of working. (Maybe that’s not the case in other territories but it’s certainly true here.) You just have to convince them that the change is worth the effort … and more importantly the disruption, given that their workflows are dependent on a large number of interactions with other workflows and other applications.
If you can make an adequate case – and bear in mind that they are a very discriminating bunch – then they’re perfectly happy to embrace any change you throw at them.
* It’s an essential component of the FCP X mythology that you have to be a Zen Master with many years of training to appreciate its complexities, to which the answer is: “Pull the other one.”
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
[Tony West] “He didn’t really have to make that one frame gap clip though. He could have held down the tilde key while hitting delete or if he wanted to keep the position, then just be in the position tool and then do the same thing. Either way that music would stay : )”
No, indeed. You’re absolutely right.*
But that doesn’t change anything about the point I was making which was that he’s not showing how FCP X is “Smarter and Faster”, he’s only showing how you don’t have to let it slow you down unnecessarily.
That’s not at all the same thing.
* Every NLE has workarounds that you need to just accept.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki -
Steve is a brilliant educator (and a lovely guy!) and he’s at the top of his game again here.
However, one thing struck me about this presentation.
While he does a good job of explaining the wrinkles of editing in FCP X, he doesn’t actually make the case for editing “faster”.
What he does show is that you need to understand the ways in which FCP X is different in order not to stumble over it – and actually make things slower! But that’s not really the same thing at all.
For example, the one frame gap clip to make sure you don’t lose your music when you delete your first clip is actually a workaround that tries to fool the default behaviour of the timeline – this is not a problem you face in conventional NLEs, it’s just one of the things you have to live with in FCP X. But it’s not a “feature” to get excited about – its a limitation that you have to know about!
Similarly with the tilde key thing for over-riding clip connections when slipping – in a conventional NLE this is not something you have to worry about so you can hardly claim it as a plus point that makes FCP X “faster”.
And the technique of editing with gap clips is well explained, but I have never found this to be much of a timesaver – and it’s mostly not unique to FCP X to be able to edit using gaps. You have to use gaps clips in FCP X because you’re missing other ways of doing the same thing. That’s not a bonus.
The roles bussing thing is actually a very poor workaround for what track based NLEs do much better. It would be a great deal less problematic if they could find a way to do away with the necessity of compounding in order to access this functionality, but it still wouldn’t be as versatile as traditional bussing.
I think a lot of people think of the peculiarities of FCP X as special features to get excited about, when the reality is that they’re just different solutions to problems that other NLEs approach in other ways. You might personally prefer them, but they’re often not objectively “better”.
So what Steve is really showing here is how to edit smarter and faster with FCP X and avoid it slowing you down. What he’s not really showing is that FCP X is a faster way of working. That’s not to say that the case can’t be made, but it isn’t being made in this video.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki