FCPX 10.1.2 PRE-RELEASE DISCUSSION

• Bold indicates "Feature" release.

10.0.0 - 2011.06.21 Tuesday
10.0.1 - 2011.09.20 91 DAYS Tuesday
10.0.2 - 2011.11.16 57 DAYS Wednesday
10.0.3 - 2012.01.31 76 DAYS Tuesday
10.0.4 - 2012.04.10 70 DAYS Tuesday
10.0.5 - 2012.06.11 62 DAYS Monday
10.0.6 - 2012.10.23 134 DAYS Tuesday
10.0.7 - 2012.12.06 44 DAYS Thursday
10.0.8 - 2013.03.28 112 DAYS Thursday
10.0.9 - 2013.07.30 124 DAYS Tuesday
10.1.0 - 2013.12.19 148 DAYS Thursday
10.1.1 - 2014.01.16 28 DAYS Thursday


After 2 FCPX updates in less than a month, am I nuts to be starting a new PRE RELEASE thread? Possibly...

2013 was in turn a very quiet and very busy year for FCPX. 3 updates during the calendar year (down from 5 in 2012), and only 1 feature release- just squeaking in at the end of the year, 15 MONTHS after 10.0.6. And while I don't think anyone sane would say 10.1 was a minor update, many of the areas of development discussed in the 10.1 Pre -Release Thread were not addressed in the release.

Seemingly, Apple was more concerned about foundational changes that needed to be made, than surface features or UI changes many were expecting. And regardless of what I personally would have like to see, I think that was a smart move.

So in a lot of cases many of us could probably transport our wish-lists from the 10.1 to this 10.1.2 thread. There's still some obvious low-hanging fruit.

• More flexible UI layout options
• Improved color correction tools
• Better timeline organization (presumably using Roles)
• Audio mixing
• Motion round-tripping

But Apple are making progress. Richard Taylor's FCPX Requests List is getting progressively shorter; down to 97 items now. 10.0.6 struck 14 items from the list. 10.1 eliminated another 14.

At the recent FCPWorks Event , an Apple rep reportedly reaffirmed the FCPX development team's schedule of releasing an update every 3-4 months.

In the short term, I'm somewhat optimistic we'll see 10.1.2 arrive somewhere around NAB. Apple has released updates to X just before NAB in both 2012 and 2013, though neither of these have been major feature releases- so it's obviously no guarantee that 10.1.2 will be a 10.0.3/10.0.6-sized release; and Apple has stopped pre-announcing upcoming features on it's FCPX "What's New" page.

Pure speculation- but my personal bit of kremlinology is because MacPros are SO backordered, that 10.1 could have been waiting around since as early as the October Apple event for the MacPro to be ready to launch. If that's the case, then development on the next feature release of X could be further along that we might think.

Here we go again!

My biggest concern is the constan delay of Mac Pro. Next month it will be April, then May and so on. So it is not unthinkable that the new version will appear in October at the same time Apple is finally ready to deliver Mac Pro to all.

Regardless of how many units are actually on people's desks, the MacPro is out now.

The slipping ship date (now March) isn't for existing orders, but for new ones. My ship date is still February, and has been since I ordered. It may take into early Summer for manufacturing to catch up with demand on all configurations.

But I don't see Apple holding any further updates to X for "broader" release of that hardware, even if further optimization takes place.

Desproportionate Pictures, I agree with your big requests

I would suggest little things as well, like:

- Proper and more solid playhead for Event Browser clips. Skimming is not accurate.

- Better Match Frame. We should be able to match frame to the clip from the keyword it was edited from.

- Secondary storylines need more editorial capabilities. Primary storyline is, in my opinion, too primary.

- We need an option to freeze one clip on time, something like non-connected clip, mostly for audio.

- It would be nice to be able to assign roles to keywords, so that when we import clips to them, they automatically have those roles assigned. Or maybe, have an option in the import window to choose a role.

- The "spinning ball" of the playhead is a great idea. I think it should be more flexible or have similar functions to Smoke. It would be great to quickly select second storylines so we can edit clips in them, without having to select them (Selecting a secondary storyline is a pain)

- It would be very useful to have an Edit on Top-Bottom option. We could select a connected clip with the "spinning ball" and choose Edit on Top to put it above or beneath it. It could be very useful for audio and video connected clips

I think they need to improve the installation instructions of FCP X updates, It should clearly state that a clean install of the OS X should be done if a new OS X 10.whatever comes out. Quite a few users including myself had less than stellar experiences with compressor and FCP X during the last major update.

One bit of info that came out of an Apple presentation here in Toronto. When asked about OMF export, the Apple rep reaffirmed the previous stance that it "remains a great 3rd party opportunity." So I'd imagine we won't be seeing native OMF/AAF coming to X anytime soon.

Richard's list is really good.
I think the updated keyframing is the biggest thing that I want right now.
More options window configurations would be great too (and shouldn't be that hard).

JasonP wrote: Richard's list is really good.
I think the updated keyframing is the biggest thing that I want right now.
More options window configurations would be great too (and shouldn't be that hard).

Agreed. I've just got a new Cinema Display sitting beside my iMac and the one second screen option I want is the one they don't have- the timeline.

I'd like to see auditions function more like multicam. Auditions are a great tool, but still are kind of weak. I'd love to be able to have a few auditions in a clip and then be able to switch to the multicam viewer to see all of the different auditions. I'd also like to be able to detach audio from auditions as well. Also, I'd like to be able to add clips from the time line to an audition or create a new audition all together.

I'd also like to see a dictation feature added in where I can just select a portion of a clip, hit a keyboard shortcut and have Mavericks dictation transcribe the audio into the metadata of the clip. Pretty much like quote and note, but transcribed for me. I don't want to type this stuff out, FCPX is supposed to be the most advanced NLE out there, so these are the kind of advanced features I would like to see.

I imagine that after the initial release where they went a little too crazy with all these awesome new features, they needed to take a step back and refine. Now that the app has been refined more, I'd like to see it continue to develop new groundbreaking features. So far the best thing to happen to FCPX is SliceX and TrackX by Coremelt.

I want to be able to see more than 16 angles simultaneously.

And I want a control app for iPad, like the one for Logic... Seems liek it would be great for colour correction work and for choosing angles on the fly when more than 10.

Some form of Audio Units manager, like in Logic. Would be great to shut off the ones you don't use in FCPX, for example.

Also, let's say you have more than 16 angles, is there a way to go to the "second page" of angles via a key command? If not, I want that too.

Julian wrote: I'd like to see auditions function more like multicam. Auditions are a great tool, but still are kind of weak. I'd love to be able to have a few auditions in a clip and then be able to switch to the multicam viewer to see all of the different auditions. I'd also like to be able to detach audio from auditions as well. Also, I'd like to be able to add clips from the time line to an audition or create a new audition all together.

Since audition clips can be of different lengths, and presumably could be different reads of the the same shot, I'm not sure how a multi cam style layout would be helpful. Also, I'm not sure how you could detach audio from an audition clip and have it retain any kind of link back to the video. Agreed about your last point though- being able to create or add Project clips into an audition.

Dictation could be something that FCPX tries to internalize, or it could be another 3rd party opportunity. It's hard to tell at this point

It would be nice to be able to force a back up of a library

What's the default? 20 minutes?

15 minutes, as long as the modification date changes (you are actively making changes).

It would also be great if the angle viewer was more intelligent in using space, this isn't very efficient use of screen real estate:

More Multicam wishes: When right clicking on an multicam edit in the timeline and choosing "Open in Angle Viewer" it would be nice if that angle was highlighted instead of just opening the angle viewer and you then have to try to find the angle...

DmitriZigany wrote: More Multicam wishes: When right clicking on an multicam edit in the timeline and choosing "Open in Angle Viewer" it would be nice if that angle was highlighted instead of just opening the angle viewer and you then have to try to find the angle...

+1

Lately I have been wanting curves in the CC controls. I've been learning resolve and I feel that the curves give you great control over shadows. I simply don't have time to finish most projects in resolve and I have still been finding it a little buggy with multi cam clips (which means more time spent trouble shooting). Third party plugins that provide curves just aren't that good. I would like to control where the nodes are placed on the line of the curve.

Agree completely. Curves would be a nice addition to the CC tools.

With any of the specialized toolsets, it has to be difficult to draw a line in the sand between NLE and Color Grading, or Mixing, or Graphics. Some people are always going to want just a little more so they can stay in X, but beyond a certain point a tool like Resolve is going to be the better solution. Where that functionality line is will be different for everyone.

I know exactly what you mean, but Premiere Pro has it, as does Avid. I admit that deep down, I wish that Motion was folded directly into FCPX making some kind of Smoke like edit/motion graphics app, but I know not to whinge about it because it is silly. I also understand the FCPX model of offering an inexpensive solid base for third party solutions and expansion. But there don't seem to be any takers for the job of providing an expanded CC toolset (a good one). I think that part of the problem is that for the most part FCPX has a great set of CC tools, and for most people the next step is to go to Resolve. I feel like adding curves would be that one thing that would allow for the native CC tools to really shine in situations where an extra day or two in Resolve are just not an option. And like I said, Resolve is only recently getting to the point with FCPX XML where round tripping is smooth in most cases. For my workflow, the trip is still too buggy even when I can carve out an extra day in the schedule.