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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

After a year of bitching about it, Ive moved to the dark side.

I have both the Larry Jordan and the ripple training. That link is the ripple training I have. It's excellent. I even rewatch stuff once in a while as a reminder.

It will teach you a heck of a lot toward using the software intelligently. I think it's no brainer to invest 50 bucks in this stuff.

David
 
Welcome!

My own relationship with it is still one of love and hate. Maybe going forward you can teach us all some new tricks.

Ain't change a bitch?

Im so glad I forced myself to learn this the day it was released.

When I have to work in Avid/Premiere, going back to FCPX is like butter ;)
 
I bet it is. I have only gone back to 7 briefly since switching over and that seemed oddly laborious. I say oddly, because it felt more work intensive than I expected. I guess ia am really getting accustomed to the new girl. ;-)

Im so glad I forced myself to learn this the day it was released.

When I have to work in Avid/Premiere, going back to FCPX is like butter ;)
 
I have both the Larry Jordan and the ripple training. That link is the ripple training I have. It's excellent. I even rewatch stuff once in a while as a reminder.

It will teach you a heck of a lot toward using the software intelligently. I think it's no brainer to invest 50 bucks in this stuff.

David

Okay thanks David.

But which one of the two you think is best to get, the $39 Ripple edition, or the $129 Larry Jordan Complete edition?
 
The thing about learning this programme is to go deep - no half arsed measures. You have to fully commit to it.

And that was my problem at the start... 4 attempts... I never really committed.

And the stupid thing is. It's dog easy to learn. When I look back, it was actually easier to learn than AVID, FCP7 And Prem.

Just finished another edit today, I gave myself 3 days to cut it, 5 hours of footage, 4 TVC edits, finished it in 1 day, Actually online, graded and finished in the same day... Cannot believe I didn't jump on earlier. hahahahaaa... lesson learnt.

Anyways...moving on. :) Back into my Cinema 4D tutorials.
 
I second some of the ripple training videos. I think the Apple Pro Video Series is a good place to get started. The Multicam Editing one is good too. I haven't watched any of the other ones so I wouldn't be able to comment. www.fcp.co can be a good source of information too. I love Larry Jordan, his training videos are good, but I personally have a hard time staying awake/focused with his soothing voice.

My guess is that FCPX 10.0.9 will be a "big update" like 10.0.6 was, due to the time it's taken to get here. They might even jump straight to 10.1. I have no idea how long it will be till we get this update, but something tells me there will be an updated/3rd edition training videos once this comes out.
 
I love Larry Jordan, his training videos are good, but I personally have a hard time staying awake/focused with his soothing voice.

Haha

Alexis Von Hurkman can give me the same trouble. Late night training sessions always end with the same result; repeating the lesson in the morning. :-)
 
It exports EDL and it's own brand of XML. Via FCPXML the round trip to Resolve is a piece of cake and with the new Logic X you can import projects for editing directly in Logic, or export AAF or OMF from there, with the caveat that Logic X is in it's first incarnation and integration isn't as tight as it could be; Every clip is imported as a discreet track, so you have to work around it.

It does NOT export EDLs. It also does not export OMF or AAF, does not easily consolidate media, and does not support audio tracks in the same way as any other software. It is a world unto itself, which is my only real problem with it. For projects that start and end in FCPX (or a combination of that and Resolve) it's great. For any other collaborative requirements, you'll need to use third party hacks and jump through some hoops in order to make it really fit into the work flow. I really enjoy cutting on FCPX and I really enjoy using it for personal projects. But unless and until they make it fit better into the existing real world the mainstream industry (and all of the software and hardware it uses) lives in, you won't see it used much by mainstream editors on mainstream projects. Apple has moved a little bit in that direction with the most recent release. They need to go a LOT further and make it play well with others.
 
Okay thanks David.

But which one of the two you think is best to get, the $39 Ripple edition, or the $129 Larry Jordan Complete edition?

i have them both Ketch,

each teacher has a different style. Start with the Ripple training. It's very good. But Larry is as good. Larry puts a few good jokes in there and his voice is easy to listen to.

Maybe try a sample of each, but it doesn't matter which they are both very good.

David
 
My apologies RE: EDL... Faulty memory. Thank you for the clarification but please understand that I am not trying to sell this to anyone. I understand it has it's limitations. As I posted earlier, it is in it's infancy so you do have to jump through some hoops but OMF and AAF are now possible through Logic X.

I think this is a solid indication of where they are headed and as such it further debunks the edit "is no longer interested in the professional user/market" argument. Taken with the growing number of endorsements like Mark's, I am feeling like David Battisella; a little vindicated. :-) finally.

It does NOT export EDLs. It also does not export OMF or AAF, does not easily consolidate media, and does not support audio tracks in the same way as any other software. It is a world unto itself, which is my only real problem with it. For projects that start and end in FCPX (or a combination of that and Resolve) it's great. For any other collaborative requirements, you'll need to use third party hacks and jump through some hoops in order to make it really fit into the work flow. I really enjoy cutting on FCPX and I really enjoy using it for personal projects. But unless and until they make it fit better into the existing real world the mainstream industry (and all of the software and hardware it uses) lives in, you won't see it used much by mainstream editors on mainstream projects. Apple has moved a little bit in that direction with the most recent release. They need to go a LOT further and make it play well with others.
 
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It does NOT export EDLs. It also does not export OMF or AAF, does not easily consolidate media, and does not support audio tracks in the same way as any other software. It is a world unto itself, which is my only real problem with it. For projects that start and end in FCPX (or a combination of that and Resolve) it's great. For any other collaborative requirements, you'll need to use third party hacks and jump through some hoops in order to make it really fit into the work flow. I really enjoy cutting on FCPX and I really enjoy using it for personal projects. But unless and until they make it fit better into the existing real world the mainstream industry (and all of the software and hardware it uses) lives in, you won't see it used much by mainstream editors on mainstream projects. Apple has moved a little bit in that direction with the most recent release. They need to go a LOT further and make it play well with others.


You are right. I hope it's only a matter of time that most other manufactures begin to read the fcpx XML format. davinci was able to do it, so why not protools, base light, Pablo, etc, etc, etc. it's just an XML file format.

I think that might be easier than them reverse engineering older formats like edl and omf, standards which kinda go back to tape. I am not arguing their usefulness, just figuring out a better way forward.

There is a small app that turns the fcpx XML into edl cmx 3600, but I was using that format in 1988 for gosh sakes.


David
 
Join the club, Mark.

You can find enough posts from me about FCPX in this board, so I won't repeat except in short: like you, I bought it, and returned it in anger.
Cut a project after the 10.0.3 update, and forced myself more and more to use it. Now I've switched about 100 percent, and I switched our facilities to it also.
You really *have* to accept when you learn the software, you will have some frustrating moments, but also a lot of "aha, now it clicks for me" moments.

For me, one of the "click" moments, is that if you edit in FCPX, you start thinking with putting things in the primary storyline (magnetic timeline) or as connected clips. You can switch a clip easily from one to another with shortcuts. But it's something that really had to click, and now I can use the advantages of the magnetism when it suits me.

One of the 3 big film schools is teaching their students FCPX exclusivily. The teacher there was an Avid/FCP man, who was also one of the sound editors for Les Triplettes De Belleville (animation that was nominated for an oscar), says he was skeptic at first with all the automations that FCPX 'seems' to be doing (one of them being the magnetic timeline), but he said he learned the software was rarely wrong.

I can really advise you to check the (free!) tutorials from Sam Mestmann at We Make Movies, they are great and geared towards RED users.

EDL it doesn't do out of the box, you need a 3rd party program for it.
XML has its own flavor, but one that is getting accepted all the more with time (DaVinci, Smoke, now Logic although that one is full of bugs, ...)
ProTools can go trough XtoProTools (yes, 3rd party software), or hopefully in the future trough Logic.

There are so many great concepts in FCPX (The organisation of media, the proxy workflow, the magnetic timeline which I love if you learn how to use it, and which can pretty much be worked-around like you do work-arounds in every NLE at some points for things you could do in FCPX immediately, the concent-driven concept behind Roles instead of Tracks, ...)

Yes the software still needs a lot of work (I have my own wish list, and it's about 50 bullet points), but I just can't imagine going back to another NLE at this point in time.
 
For EDLs, use EDL-X from the App Store. For AAFs, use X2Pro from the App Store. For instant merging of jam-synced audio and video, use Sync-n-Link. All in the App Store.

I read a complaint about slowed down, buggy timelines when cutting in 4K. Create proxy files at your ingest, or after the fact for that matter. The online edit is as simple as a click of a button if you do this---use original media---then you finish in 4 or 5K. Playback is flawless when using proxies, of course it creates media and uses up extra (negligible) space, but the playback benefits are incredible. I recommend watching Sam Mestman's "FCPX for Feature Film Workflow" video. It's a great watch, he's worked extensively with RED I believe.

Like RED initially, FCPX has suffered from unfounded rumors spread via individuals who haven't taken the time to dig deep. If you dig under the hood you'll see its arguably the best NLE out there at the moment.
 
<snip>

Remember, we have been told that a major update for FCPX will launch along with the new Mac Pro. Speaking of which, a lot of people still keep complaining about the design of the new Mac Pro... Whatever. I think Apple is really on to something good here. Let the hate mail flow, I don't mind. ;)

This part is really going to be exciting!
 
The bigger question is really how long will the broadcast world really be around? Avid is is rough financial shape and they have always been extraordinarily proprietary, limiting, IMHO creativity. (I mean in terms of how you could import things and such, and I am not talking about now, but when fcp was initially introduced in the 90's)

some companies want to spur progress and some wan to limit it. I have not seen a shred of editing innovation from AVID since maybe version 5.5 of media composer. It's the same editor, based on a source record model, that comes from tape.

I really feel we needed this new direction. Less hindrance.

David

Yea - if you look at Avid's financials, there are hurting. The question is will they survive if they just serve the so-called "broadcast" marketing (whatever that means in the future). They may have to go back to charging Hollywood houses tens of thousands of dollars for a seat in order to survive. How will that go over?
 
This part is really going to be exciting!

I remember when AVID "dropped" Mac support because apple wouldn't put more PCI slots in their quadra 950 to suite avid's needs. Then apple made finalcut pro. Now the new macpro (with some TB2 expansion chassis) is going to be a little ass kicker. They only kept what was necessary onboard and everything else can attach to something via thunderbolt or USB2.

I think this little cylinder is going to cause a tornado when it its. It's just another cool, practical idea by apple. It's what we have come to expect and of late they really have delivered.

david
 
To put in in a less gentile fashion, EDL sucks balls. (My words, not David's) ;-)

Everything has a purpose, even if its not one that you might personally need. EDL's are great for tasks like file consolidation, provided the dailies were handled properly. They also are the simplest way of troubleshooting "holes" in a timeline and figuring out whether they should or should not be there. They represent a simple, standard, human readable list of everything required to conform the show, and as such, are used alll the time - often through scripting - to do things like compile one directory containing links to all of the original files, regardless of where they might be scattered on a large SAN, thus avoiding very lengthy search time and possible resultant crashes by the conform software. They are also the one list format that is universally understood by essentially every piece of software in our industry - with the notable exception of Final Cut X, of course. If you look at EDL's as "sucking balls" simply because they don't represent multiple video tracks or complex effects, you're missing the bigger points of why we still have and use them.
 
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