Workflow question for Logic X

I'm fairly new to FCPX but have been enjoying myself

However, I have a quick question about the work flow from FCPX to Logic. Right now, this is what I am doing and I find it a bit cumbersome

1. "sharing" a low-quality export from FCPX
2. create a new project on Logic
3. open the low-quality movie on the Logic project
4. create sound track
5. bounce soundtrack
6. import the soundtrack on FCPX project

There has got to be a better way, or isn't there?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Welcome to the forum and I am happy to hear you are enjoying FCP X.

If you use Logic to create a soundtrack for your movie then yes, this is the best way to go:

- Export your FCP X edit as a movie and import the movie in Logic X
- Create the soundtrack and export it
- Import the soundtrack in FCP X

I really cannot think of any faster way in any existing software

If you want to get deeper into FCP X and Logic integration, here's a tutorial that shows some more advanced workflows using XML:



XML has been updated in 10.1.2, allowing for a better translation of FCP X audio to Logic Pro X.

- Ronny

Thanks Ronny ... that's a bit of a disappointment considering how both are Pro Apps from the same ecosystem.

A more integrated interchange is high on many people's list. Not only for Logic, but Motion as well.

I don't see what's disappointing about this. If I got this right you asked about how to create a music soundtrack in Logic X for a movie edited in FCP X:

Export ref movie from FCP X
Compose and bounce soundtrack In Logic X
Import soundtrack in FCP X

That's the way it is done in any given workflow. Do you know of any easier way you could do this?

Of course if by "soundtrack" you meant creating a complete final audio mix from an FCP X project in Logic X then we are talking about a completely different thing. Logic X has always been primarily a music composing application, not a DAW. In this regard FCP and Logic have never really been in the same ecosystem, that's why Soundtrack Pro was created to fill this gap.

Since STP went EOL I can see FCP X and Logic X gradually growing towards each other. FCP X includes most of the excellent audio filters Logic has (which increases compatibility between the two apps), and Project XML transfer gets better all the time. The Logic Pro X UI has also undergone quite some revamping to make it better suitable for audio sweetening than classic Logic was.

Wether Logic Pro X will further evolve from the excellent composing app it always has been to also being a suitable companion DAW for FCP X, or wether FPC X will get its own dedicated mixing and sweetening capabilities over time, is an open question.

One thing is sure: no-one would like to see a half-baked solution like the "Send to STP" or "Send to Motion" we had with classic FCP or "Dynamic Linking" with the Adobe apps. If Apple thinks it's not really worth doing all this work to accommodate only a small user base: using X2Pro to bring FCP X projects into ProTools already works pretty damn well right now and this is what we will continue to use.

- Ronny

The new version of XML is working quite a bit better with Logic X.

ronny courtens wrote: One thing is sure: no-one would like to see a half-baked solution like the "Send to STP" or "Send to Motion" we had with classic FCP or "Dynamic Linking" with the Adobe apps. If Apple thinks it's not really worth doing all this work to accommodate only a small user base: using X2Pro to bring FCP X projects into ProTools already works pretty damn well right now and this is what we will continue to use.

The issue with "Send to Motion" was never the outgoing part, it was once it was brought back. Crashing on playback. Randomly becoming un-rendered. These are not impossible problems to overcome. Certainly the way Motion project are published to X indicate there's perhaps even a healthier interchange between the two than in Legacy.

Ronny, my disappointment is that FCPX & Logic X is both designed by the same company. I was assuming that there would be a much better integration between the two (or as Disproportionate Pictures alluded to, Motion as well) because of this.

Please understand and I want to reiterate that I am new to FCPX ... there are lots of assumptions on my part that may have been been addressed and/or being addressed already. One thing I agree, no half-baked solution please.

Thanks for the insights, though. It's definitely great to know a little bit more

The overriding question is the one that Ronny mentioned earlier- "Does apple see Logic Pro X as a Video oriented DAW"- if not, then the need for interchange is obviously less important. First and foremost, Logic Pro X needs to be a great music recording/creation/editing tool. If Apple has plans to expand its market as a broader ProTools competitor, they haven't pulled the trigger on that yet. Video isn't mentioned in any meaningful way on Apple's Logic X page, and there's VERY little documentation about FCP X in the support documents.

Apple's plan for FCP X audio is very foggy at this point. Will it be expanded functionality "in-app"? Better Logic Pro X support? A new SoundTrackPro replacement? Impossible to say at this stage.

Certainly the way Motion project are published to X indicate there's perhaps even a healthier interchange between the two than in Legacy.

Exactly. I was just doing some tests with FCP X to Logic X and just for fun I decided to create a "Sent from Motion" template in Motion 5.

I started filling up the template with some clips, a title with a Sequence Behavior, some PIPs with shadows, a particle emitter and a matte clip wit Blend Mode set to Add:



I saved the template without including any media and it appeared in my FCP X browser. I dragged it onto the timeline and I could see everything I had created in Motion play in my FCP X Viewer, including the ability to modify the title because I also had published some parameters for it:



Of course I can easily modify the composition in FCP X by selecting "Open in Motion" and saving again.

And most important: this template (with the animated title, three 1080p overlaid clips, particle emitter...) plays without rendering on an i5 Mini. A big step forward from Motion projects crashing classic FCP :evil:

Now all we need is Motion X to read FCP X XML, or even a more direct way to send our projects to Motion, but that's a different story.

- Ronny

We've been using Logic Pro, and not Logic Pro X as a DAW, it is a great DAW. How can you say it isn't a real DAW? It is.

I'm not saying it's not a DAW, I'm saying Apple isn't marketing it as a general use DAW, but strictly as a music creation tool.

FCPXML integration at this point seems like an afterthought- at least in it's current implementation.

If there's a broader, cross-App audio strategy for Apple ProApps, we haven't seen it yet.