The exhibition isn't even open yet and there are already headlines being written. New cameras, Blackmagic Design gets their cheque book out again, 4K everywhere and a very interesting piece of FCPX news that we are tracking down.
Day one of IBC and one thing is for sure, 4K will be everywhere. It's even plastered on the outside of the halls on exhibitors banners. This year 4K will not be a novelty, it will be a standard.
Good then that yesterday Avid announced that they have finally broken the 1920x1080 frame and will now support higher resolutions. In fact they say any resolution upwards, which is a bit ironic seeing as they are possibly the last popular NLE to support 4K. We couldn't make the press conference on Thursday, but you can get the details from the Avid blog.
Sony created a buzz with the leaked fuzzy photos of their new PXW-FS7 camera. Again, because we are focused on FCPX rather than shooting, we decided to give the Sony press conference the swerve. Lucky for us they posted a live stream online. We expect the rush in the press room the moment it finishes!
All the details on the new camera on the Sony blog. Does Final Cut Pro X support XAVC-L? We shall try to find out more on the Sony stand or we should say building as they occupy their own 'hall.'
Some lucky people got their hands on the camera early!
Here's the official Sony footage from the new camera
And finally before we hit the show floor, exciting news, Blackmagic Design has bought Eyeon who publish Fusion, a 2D and 3D compositing and modelling programme.
Full press release here. No mention that they have acquired Hamburg PRO Media.
Hopefully later today we will have some very exciting FCPX related news to post!
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
