Something we haven't had for a while and that's a brand new book. The Craft of the Cut is billed as the Final Cut Pro X Editor's handbook.
The brand new $29 book 'The Craft of the Cut' written by authors Marios Chirtou and Mark Riley has a pretty bold tagline. It's up against such best selling favourites as Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro X and of course Edgar Rothermich's excellent graphically enhanced manuals.
The USP for this book? You'll actually get to edit your own short film 'Pranks' with the supplied media.
"Although technology is rapidly evolving, it is still complicated to edit video. This unique book not only teaches you the art of professional editing, it also gives you authentic professional experience. You'll be guided through a typical industry production workflow; you'll have access to raw footage, including alternate takes of each scene from a professional short film; and you'll make your own decisions. By the book's end, you'll have completed your own version of a film. It's the perfect primer for aspiring editors who want to ascend to industry-level positions."
- Immerses you in the actual experience of editing a film, from video rushes to the shooting script and continuity notes
- Provides actual media, including alternate takes, and you make all the decisions
- Walks you through the post-production of a professional short film; by the book's end, you will have acquired the skills to complete your own version of the film
- Shows you how to use Final Cut Pro X as part of the production process"
We would say it is pretty hard to get a grip of how good a book is from the short preview that Amazon gives you. Well we would say that but we seem to be able to read quite a lot of the book without having to part with any money! You won't get the media of course, but we can publish a BTS video to show you what went into creating the course material. Hopefully the book won't advocate those faux film leaks!
Looks like the Kindle version has been on Amazon for a while and although they are taking orders for the paperback edition, it is yet to start shipping.
Please let us know if you've read the book and made the short, we would love to know your opinion.
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!
