FCPX virgin questions?

I'm a long time editor (24yrs) and have been using FCP 7 for the past 8 years. I tried FCPX when it was first released, and did not like it so did not look any futher…

Now i am looking to replace a lot of my edit suite and the edit app is one of the main concerns for me. I am seriously considering all the current options (Avid , FCPX, Premiere, Smoke) and as yet i'm not totally convinced by anyone of them!
As i write this post I am upgrading my laptop to Mavericks so i can try the FCPX demo, but i also wanted to ask a few questions that should help put my mind at ease…

I make broadcast commercials, and virtually every ad i make will have at least 5 variations of endframe, as we tend to add specific store logos showing where things can be bought.

To speed up my current workflow I have a master Project Template which contains all the graphic files i will need, as well as a heap of Pre-made Sequences containing the specific files used for each variant of the ad. Then when the edit has been finalised, its an easy process to copy the cut to each timeline, adjust the graphics. Then each of those Sequences gets renamed with the clock number, so i can then batch export using Compressor into the correct formats for the broadcasters.

Because of the way Apple has altered things in FCPX my big worry is that I'm not sure if i will be able to work this way any more.

It maybe because they have changed a lot of the terminology - from what i can tell they now have things called events and libraries, projects appear to mean something different to previous incarnations, i dont even remember Sequences being mentioned, etc.

Please can someone in the know explain what these new definitions actually mean?, and also tell me if it is possible to have a blank template that contains all my pre-made sequences etc?.

(i realise i will not be able to import from FCP7 - i just need to know i can create a new template that will be the starting point for each new job).

thanks in advance
Adam

Adam,

With the Motion capabilities built into FCPX for effects, titles, transitions and generators, you'll find it a lot quicker than FCP7 to build ads and version them.

Peter

thanks Peter,

my concern is more to do with having an overall project structure that allows me to create and re-use specific pre-made timelines for each variation.

I can create the variations i need very quickly in FCP7, and thats down to having it organised the way it is… can i do a similar thing in FCPX?

all the demo's i have seen at trade shows dont seem to understand why this is important for me!

regards
Adam

Adam,

I too am similar to you - longtime FCP7 editor. I have used X as often as I can (not as often as I'd like as many companies and most post houses I cut in are either Legacy or AVID) so I've some experience of your situation.

I'd certainly recommend X - I can cut faster and with far more enjoyment that any other NLE - but a warning. It will do your head in if you try and compare it with 7 or Avid. I fought with it for a week before the proverbial lightbulb went off and I started to 'get it.' If you don't persevere it'll do your head in as you'll be constantly trying to make the old paradigm fit and it simply won't work!

As to the terminology - crudely put, Libraries are projects, Events are bins and Projects are sequences. So it's entirely possible to have a master sequence template to work from and reversion - indeed X is good at that now with snapshots and copies. Auditions are powerful too. But you need to get some good tuition - there are some great resources here, and I found the Izzy tutorials very good as a starting point - and free too!

Try and dive in on a project - it's the best way - but maybe one that isn't time critical or requires client input. If you've a client like I had who was happy to be 'experimented on' with X then all the better, but you really need to run a job through in order to see if it benefits you. X and 7 can happily co-exist, so I'd recommend a parallel strategy rather than a leap in the dark.

Actually re-reading your last post, I'd probably construct an event for 'template' projects and copy those into another event for completion. You could use Libraries to separate clients work from one another if that was important to you too. Look into the way Libraries and Events work - they can be very powerful tools if you use them wisely, and good for backup too.

Adam,

Very often, people at trade shows don't edit for a living, so they may know the app, but they don't have real life experience.

Get your head around rigging & publishing in motion/FCPX and you won't look back.
Not to mention you can store 'timeline temples' (projects) as XML and bring them into FCPX.

It does a lot of very complex things very easily.

Peter

All food suggestions here. Another thing you might want to look at is working in Compound Clips, which can be used as reusable templates.

Do formal training first, save yourself days of headaches. The three best are:
Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro X, Professional Post Production
(Hands-on real world workflow, official text of Apple authorized training.)
macProVideo.com
Ripple Training

Get some solid information under your belt and things will go much smoother.

And do NOT try to relate anything in FCPX to anything in other NLE apps, as stated, it simply doesn't work. I have to disagree, Events are not Bins, nothing like a bin in FCPX. The functioning is simply too different. Just do some quality lessons, dive in.

thanks for the replies everyone. Its very reassuring to know that there is a solution to that which bugged me most!

I have heard many other saying the best approach is forget what you've done before…so i'll give that a go.

Tom - i assume thats a tasty little typo! or are you just rubbing it in because today i'm on a fasting day and feeling ravenous?
adam

In that an Event is a repository for footage or projects there is a degree of similarity, but I did say 'crudely put'..

There needs to be a little comparison of function I find when transitioning to something as radically different as X - it helps to sort out new ways of achieving goals that are so ingrained as to be almost unconscious, certainly with more conventional NLEs like Legacy, Avid and Premiere. But you're right - they're far more powerful when you get used to them as they can do so much more.

Adam,

I've been working in X since the first of the year. Right now I've just been learning the ropes by taking old footage, and doing test edits, testing effects, edit options, learning the structure. Along the way I've come across different ways to learn the program: online tutorials, occasionally reading the actual FCP X manual, but for me, by far, the most help has been right here and I can't thank this community enough.

The problem with going through the manuals and training for me is a lot of the time I'm trying to find a simple answer to something, but have to go through a 10 or 15 minute video or hundreds of pages of text, only to sometimes come up empty handed. Not that that is a bad thing, and I recommend finding and studying anything and everything you can get yourself up to speed with X.

I am at the point where I feel I could work start to finish on a paying assignment in X, and feel comfortable doing so.

Soon, the last time I will open up FCP 7 will be to export all my pre-X video projects as Master files that I will archive, then it's good by to 7.

Jonathan

lightningad

You actually can import 7 into X with a fairly cheap program called 7toX or something along those lines. I do similar work as you. At work I still use 7 because my boss hate X (simply because of how it looks, he can't give me a real reason) but at home when I freelance (making broadcast commercials as well just like at work) I use X and I absolutely love it. I have become far more proficient they way the software utilizes my hardware, I get stuff done so much quicker.

When you try the demo I would use X and ONLY X. Make yourself try to get comfortable. It;s different, there's no cover up there. But if you go into it with the mindset of "I'm going to learn a new software," I think you'll set yourself up for success. Let us know how it works out for you!

think whilst learning i would rather not import from 7. These are all fairly old templates, so i would like to update them all.

Its not option to use only X, as i spend all day using a whole pile of different apps to get my job done. On top of that i also want to be auditioning the other options available...so i'm ready to decide which i need once my budget request gets approved!

I can see a few busy nights ahead!
again, thanks for all the comments.

adam

People underestimate how similar FCPX is to 7 in terms of the basic structures of clips and timelines (which are called projects in X), now that there is the Library structure. In X, you have additional tools that make sorting and organizing footage way more flexible and powerful, but it has the "base" stuff that 7 had (clips, markers, folders, etc).

All you have to do is put your pre-made timelines in a library. You can make a separate library for your new project and then work in there. When it comes time to cut in your pre-made stuff, just copy and paste from that library to your current one. FCPX will automatically carry over the clips to the new library (I suggest using externally managed media, which will make it just like how you know it in 7). So pretty much it's the same way you do it in 7, there's just different terminology. Don't be spooked by "it's a whole new paradigm" and things like that. There ARE things that are pretty different, like the trackless design, but it's just a different road to get to the same place.

Great to see some very open-mindedness in considering all of the options.

First, let me suggest some educational content.

Dan Allen FCPX tutorials are really great and worth checking out for a more casual quick look at some features.

MacProVideo.com is great for really going through the program step by step, but there are a lot of videos and it takes a lot of time to get through.

My favorite piece of educational material is Edgar Rothermich's GEM iBooks about FCPX. They are some of the best instruction manuals I've ever seen and really helped me take my skills to the next level.

Finally, the most fun FCPX thing is the FCPX Grill Podcast hosted by Chris Fenwick. Totally worth checking out, he has a lot of guests on that have just recently started using FCPX so there will be a lot you can relate to.

As for your alternate endings, ROLES! I haven't don't this myself, but other people around here have. You can basically assign a Role to each alternate ending (A, B, C, D, etc...). Then, when you export a master file, you can chose what videos roles you want to export. Like I said, I haven't done this, so maybe someone else can step in and explain better in relation to FCP7 since I only started editing on FCPX.

But, really, look into roles, they are what you are going to use a lot for your work.

again, thanks for all the helpful comments.

first impressions are favourable, even though its a pain having to relearn all the new keys, and terminology changes.

Its definitely a better product than the one Apple launched a couple of years back.

back to grind.....


adam

Adam,

I found one of the keyboard covers for FCPX indispensable when I started, and still use it now - seems like I have the capacity for 2 sets of layouts in my head but 3 gets too much. I got the Editors keys one (about £30) and it's paid for itself many times over in ease of use, especially as X is the less often used NLE (not by choice, I hasten to add...)