We have had Final Cut Pro X in under five minutes, now we have XinTwo which aims to break down learning FCPX into shorter bite-sized chunks.
Good to see more new professionally produced FCPX tutorials, but this time they are broken down into smaller chunks and available for a monthly subscription.
XinTwo is a set of tutorials produced by long-time FCPX convert Bill Davis and distributed by FCPWORKS. We have to give credit to both as this is a challenging time with the smorgasbord of free tutorials available out there. We think that over supply was what eventually sank Larry Jordan's ageing fleet of learning resources. However, subscribing to a plan that supplies information in regularly updated small chunks does seem to be a much better idea.
XinTwo is available now for subscription at $4.99 a month. There is a seven day free trial available as well. You can watch an XinTwo sample lesson here.
“There are a lot of really great training products out there already,” says FCPWORKS’ Noah Kadner. “We use a lot of them ourselves and recommend them to our integration customers all the time. But we did hear a sizable group of customers looking for something more that would enable them to get into the intricacies and special capabilities of Final Cut Pro X in the most efficient possible manner.”
“We discovered there also wasn’t a knowledge base type resource with screencast examples delivered in bite-sized chunks. So we decided to create one. The goal of XinTwo, as its name implies, is to help you get into Final Cut Pro X via lessons of two minutes or less. And there’s not a more knowledgeable or more experienced editor and Final Cut Pro X evangelist out there than Bill Davis.”
“We want to be here for the editor who's ‘in the flow’ of getting their work done - but hits a point of frustration,” says Davis. “That's where we want XinTwo to shine- searching for a specific problem in the knowledge base presents not just a text description like a classic knowledge base, but short, focused, curated video clips that show the editor exactly how to do what they need to do. Some explain FCP X style editing concepts; others are designed simply as step-by-step micro tutorials that show the viewer exactly how to accomplish a specific task in the software.”
"XinTwo is not just about an arbitrary ‘two minute limit’ on content,” Davis adds. “It’s a promise: if we can effectively help in two sentences, two paragraphs or within two minutes, that's great. Our brand promise is working carefully NOT to waste anyone’s time with excessive sidebars or fluff. It's more important for XinTwo to be concise, scrupulously accurate, and focus on rapidly returning you to your editing armed with the specific knowledge you need to get your job done."
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!
