Simon Ubsdell
6
COW Coins
Forum Replies Created
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[Walter Soyka] “But what about new editors — people just starting in editorial for the first time today — whose only experience with editorial is going to be with FCPX? How will they learn differently than we have? How will they think and solve problems differently than we do?”
I think – to descend for a moment from the lofty realms of philosophy to a more practical level – one of the key things that is different with FCPX is that it encourages you to edit on the timeline, in other words to throw stuff down quickly and start thinking about the actual editing once you’ve got it there.
In the old days, and especially for editors who came from a film and/or tape background, making an edit (inserting material into your story) was always a very considered act. You selected very carefully, you refined your selection, you thought about what you were doing and the consequences of it before you “made the edit”. On tape for example, the magic button was the preview button – you made sure you were going to get the result you wanted before you committed to it. The consequences of “getting it wrong” could be seriously painful – in different ways on film and tape, but no less so in either case.
The development of NLE’s and their attendant working practices did not eradicate this element of preparatory thought and caution in making the edit – and one of the key tools for evaluation was the source/record window model. In Media Composer, while you had great tools to fine tune your edit once you’d made it, they weren’t the fastest and you would still save time by getting it right first rather than by “being sloppy” and fixing it later. FCP in my view somewhat loosened this constraint as it was definitely easier and more intuitive to fix stuff on the timeline – but I don’t think a lot of editors necessarily changed their method because of that. All in all, the hesitancy about making edits never really went away for a lot of people.
Conversely, FCPX emphatically takes the anxiety out of this part of the process and indeed out of editing as a whole. It’s not to say that you can’t do it the old way and carefully think through every edit, but you will clearly save time if you just dive in a throw stuff on the timeline with a view to crafting it there. I think then to answer a least one aspect of Walter’s complex question, this is one of the areas where you will see a marked divide between old and new schools.
Personally, I don’t think this is a bad thing – having observed many editors at work down the years, I always felt that “performance anxiety” at every level was a debilitating factor, and a large part of this was down to worrying about how much extra work would be involved in making the wrong edit decision and having to fix it. Oddly, the ability to keep multiple versions and Undo at will never seemed to be enough to conquer this anxiety. But maybe finally FCPX will do that.
My view is that it is frequently better to dive in and make lots of edit decisions, even “wrong ones” (if there are even such a thing as “wrong ones”), rather than endlessly agonize about making the right ones. Editing for me is about reviewing as many options as you can and seeing what comes out (often serendipitously quite amazing), rather than prejudging that a certain set of edits is not worth the trouble of trying.
So I hope and expect that FCPX will shape a new generation of editors who are fundamentally “braver” than their predecessors …
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Matt Callac] “I agree with this, and it’s one of the reasons I’m trying to learn it. But the question is will starting on FCPX make someone a better editor.”
I totally agree that learning any new editing paradigm will expand your horizons as an editor and not just technically but creatively as well.
Every time you learn a new way of doing stuff you get better and more imaginative – and that’s regardless of whether the new way is better or worse than your old way. In all probability you are creating whole new neurological circuits each time you do this kind of thing and creating new avenues of possibility.
It’s limiting yourself to one little world of editing that limits what you can achieve – this will be as true of those who only ever learn FCPX as it is of those who never wanted to get beyond Media Composer.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Walter Soyka] “There are two kinds of problem solving we’re talking about so far: technical problem solving (like converting H.264 clips to ProRes for use in FCP7) and creative problem solving (like identifying and fixing a bad cut). Sometimes technical and creative problems overlap (like fixing a bad shot that’s the only right shot for the cut). In any case, problems are inevitable in the process.”
Isn’t one of the great pleasures of editing – whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing is another matter – precisely the interplay between the technical and the creative, using both sides of your brain at the same time or at least in parallel? At its most satifying one side is always distracting you from the problems you are having with the others – at its most frustrating neither side is working out!
I’m not sure where this leaves FCPX but there will always be mechanical limitations no matter how easy the editing UI and this for me has to be a good thing. I think the general point that constraints are beneficial for creativity will always hold good.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Jean-François Robichaud] “This might be a leftover from my linear beginnings (or it could be constructive procrastination), but it works for me. However, once I start assembling in the timeline, the process becomes more impulsive (in a good way).”
I think a lot of editors use the organization process as a “displacement activity” which puts off the dread of actually having to be creative – it’s a whole lot easier to spend time naming things and making them tidy rather than getting down to the nitty-gritty of editing.
Just enough organization is the right amount – any more and you’re wasting time. But I guess finding the right balance is the key 😉
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Craig Seeman] “That a single clip can exist in multiple collections is hard (but not impossible) to replicate in other NLEs.”
That’s surely not true, is it? There is nothing easier in FCP7 than copying a clip to new bin and it’s probably faster to do. Is that really any different? (In Media Composer too it’s a doddle to have copies of the same clip in different bins – something that happens all the time with feature film edit organization.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Try using Cmd-B instead of invoking the Blade Tool – or better still do what I’ve done and map “Blade” onto the B key.
I’ve never understood the point of invoking a different mode for such a basic editing operation.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
It might be because of the skimming tool which takes a bit of getting used to and might be fighting with you here – try turning it off (hit S) so you can park accurately where you want.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
[Brendan Gibbons] “We don’t want everyone’s hard work and brilliant sharing of ideas lost in space.”
I’ve even lost track of the ones I’ve made let alone all the great stuff everyone else has made …
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Hi Ethan
I’ve made the 3 and 4 panel versions for you:
Let me know if you have any problems with them.
All the best.
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Now that I’m liking a lot – definitely adding that to the arsenal!
And I thought you said you were getting combat fatigue!
Simon Ubsdell
Director/Editor/Writer
http://www.tokyo-uk.com