We are pleased to start publishing the thoughts, findings and humour of a Final Cut Pro X newbie. Called The FCPX Man Diary, it really does start right from the beginning with entry number one.
The FCPX Man Diary
WEEK ONE
We live in interesting times. Or more accurately, in my case, other people live in interesting times. As a middle aged TV producer I tend to live about two years behind those brave, risk-taking pioneers who actively seek out new technology and whose work inhabits the Staff Choice pages of Vimeo.
So it was that when Apple announced that they had revolutionised non-linear editing with Final Cut Pro X I did what comes naturally. I ignored it.
As good fortune would have it though, my mob is less of the villagers with pitchforks and burning torches kind and more like a group of kindly citizens trying to get me to see the error of my ways. And I can see their point. I remember looking back on that first Filofax and wondering how I lived without it Same went for the first cell phone, my Canon 5D MkII and Final Cut Pro 7. So, it is time for a deep breath and my first step on the road to joining generation X.
But like a kid waiting for Christmas morning who wakes to find it is only Christmas Eve there are things I have to do before I can even look under the tree for my new present (which I am going to have to buy myself). First is an upgrade to Mac OSX 10.8.5 on my MacBook Pro : and no, it’s not one of those new ones with Thunderbolt and a screen that means I can throw away my spectacles. I will only start looking at those two years after their issue date.
Now, people who know about these things have told me that you should never, ever upgrade your laptop’s operating system before you have backed everything up and definitely not when you are away from home. I am presently 12,000 miles from home. The only way I could get further from home, and add an element of physical danger to proceedings, is to fly from London up to the Arctic ice cap and download Mountain Lion whilst sitting next to a polar bear. But what the hell….
It worked. One application I didn’t even know I had has been rendered obsolete but my laptop has not caught fire, so now it’s time for the real present giving. Again, people who know about these things have told me I should partition my disc and take other precautions before purchasing X, Motion and Compressor. But I have gained courage from my reckless OS episode so I am going to ignore them again.
Oh dear. After a few hours of a slow download I may be in a bit of distress. I have looked in my Applications folder and FCP 7 seems to have disappeared. Ha! Once again my bravery has been rewarded. It is still there but in a new folder along with the rest of my Final Cut Studio stuff.
Now, in the company of a very patient, understanding, articulate and expert friend and colleague I am opening my new Final Cut Pro X. It’s a good start. Not only does the application actually pop up on screen along with a sexy new icon in my Dock, but I am able to get my head around the initial lesson, which is that I must stop calling it X and start calling it Ten. With practice I believe I can crack that.
The rest of the brief overview is less comprehensible. I am told to forget everything I knew about non-linear editing. Considering the paucity of my knowledge that shouldn’t be too onerous. My friend is now telling me some important stuff and pointing at the GUI and clicking things with the mouse.
Tomorrow I fly back to the splendid isolation of my homeland. Twelve thousand miles of economy class air travel. But that journey seems like a trip to the corner shop compared to what lies ahead. It will be an interesting few months.
To be continued ……
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!
