In the run-up to NAB, expect to see many new Final Cut Pro X plugins. One of these is the just released LUTx from CoreMelt, a $29 utility for the loading of LUTs into FCPX.
The colour grading flavour of the month for the last year or two if you can excuse us the blatant mixing of timescales has been the use of LUTs in Final Cut Pro X. Just do a search in the column on the right for LUT and you will see that there has been a lot of past interest, loaders, packs and tutorials.
Final Cut Pro X cannot accept external LUTs (Look Up Tables) without using a third party loader at the moment - but the potential is there. We have tied and tried to lever open FCPX to get our own LUTs into that Log Processing dropdown menu. We have failed every time!
Confused what a LUT is? A LUT or Look Up Table is a matrix of numbers which when applied to an image or video, convert a set of RGB values to another set of RGB values. The change doesn't have to be linear across the values and that's where the building of special LUTs or looks becomes interesting.
So why has CoreMelt released a product when there are already plenty of LUT loaders for FCPX out there?
Roger Bolton told us: 'If we’re going to do a product that has already been done, we’re going to go in, do it better and offer something different, or we won’t bother, LUTx has the ability to really create new variations of a LUT with our luminance mix tools and mask tools , has our own custom LUT browser that lets you instantly see LUTs on your own footage, and you can apply camera and look luts in one plugin'.
Well, we have to agree and looking at the demo video it does seem to have that 'Magic Bullet' browser feel.
The first release is of LUTx has a $29 intro price with 40 Feature Looks in a collection and 16 camera LUTs. Roger says that more LUT collections will be coming soon.
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!
