Other important missing FCX details

It's true. As most already know, Apple released the new Final Cut Pro X, the newest version of its dedicated editing program, used by thousands of video editors and producers around the world. It was a release that brought much controversy and created a big "fuss" in every community of publishers and the like. Many complaints and low job approval ratings due to lack of tools considered essential to any professional editor.

For many professionals this new version of FCP is a disaster and is considered an upgrade of iMovie. Analysis and have left many reviews that show (most things) that the new program has not, and some benefits are probably aware that all was well and released by Apple. This brief review aims to show what was missing in the software based on our work day-to-day running real projects.

I will not dwell or repeat things that have been cited in many other reviews, I will mention only the basic things that were left out without much explanation.

1) You can not make the white balance.

Incredibly, you can not select a white spot on the image to white balance setting in the image. I consider it unbelievable, and can not be something "forgotten." The option he offers is the automatic reading of the image, which can often destroy his image leaving us with nothing to do.



2) Can not copy and paste a filter

Something really sinister. You can no longer copy or drag a filter specific to another clip as was possible in version 7 of the program. Now, the only choice we have is to copy and paste (all parameters of each clip), so all the properties of size, crop, plugins, and colors are pasted automatically to the next clip. Before the FinalCut Pro 7, with the "paste attributes" could paste only the desired properties.

Apple? what your goal taking this role?



3) You can no longer mark the clips that are being used in the timeline to organize your project. Tool "Labels" Version 7 allows you to mark which images are being used on the timeline for a label color, and thus know which visual images that have not been used in the project.



We started editing a big project and it seems a simple function made us spend much time working, looking for scenes that had not been used. Even with the powerful tools for organizing clips Metadata, the absence of this function we have lost a long time. We try to use all the resources and did not find a simple and practical as its predecessor.



4) Saving files

All your project is saved automatically every action taken. This theory is something wonderful and dangerous at the same time. Who ever was working and decided not to save your changes? Just as it was essential to keep a hand on Control + S, it is now essential to be doubling your project if you want to go back.

What does it cost to put an option on or off autosave? For most fantastic technology Apple should remember that the machines need men. I consider this a basic point of decision to any user, or may not decide to save your project.

5) Other things that almost everyone already knows

- Could not open projects from previous versions of FCP. Apple says that due to total reprogramming of the software architecture that is not possible.

Now, good news for those using the Properties, Now you can import iMovie projects to complete the FCPX. Can you understand?

- We do not have that version 1.0 as Multicam editing any project. A joke.

- Export and import OMF and XML formats eliminated. This is a problem for many people.

- Color Correction reasonable, based on presets and a few improvements. Do not compare with the "Color" program of professional color correction that followed the previous software package.

- No audio track, making it impossible to export a single audio track, or do a mix of channels separately. Oh boy.

- Incredibly, the FCP does not output to external monitors and monitoring professional. For now you can only see the second monitor. Our Matrox MXO2 turned museum piece. Completely useless so far.

- It is not possible to do the old "Log and Capture" from an analog source, only via FireWire.

Final Thoughts

Apple is an innovative company. Making a difference is her strongest. But after a few years using the FCP waited a triumphant version of the new software, as advertised. What happened is that this innovation goes beyond the so pervasive sense of responsibility with thousands of professionals who use its software every day.

During years of investment experience and feedback from customers and publishers, many played by knowledge bankrupt. Apple has just put down a base of more than 10 years of implementation and the improvements that the FCP toune a reference standard in the audiovisual market and post-production in the world.

Today, I regret to say that Apple is not as innovative as it seemed. They created software that has many advantages and disadvantages of thousands. It's as if you had to unlearn how to ride a bike. Learning to walk again, simply because someone wanted to, so be it.

Now what remains is to wait for new updates promised by Apple, bring back what we already knew everything, and everything you want and know that Apple was keen to forget.

"2) Can not copy and paste a filter

Something really sinister. You can no longer copy or drag a filter specific to another clip as was possible in version 7 of the program. Now, the only choice we have is to copy and paste (all parameters of each clip), so all the properties of size, crop, plugins, and colors are pasted automatically to the next clip. Before the FinalCut Pro 7, with the "paste attributes" could paste only the desired properties."

There is away to do this. All you have to do is deselect all the aspects of a clip you do not want to paste to other clips, copy the clip, and then highlight all the ones you want to apply the effect to, and paste filters. It will only transfer the ones that were active at the moment of copy. Very handy for color correct. So, in that sense, it's the reverse of FCP 7...uncheck boxes instead of checking boxes.

Good to know that, great tip. But this procedure is illogical, since it will give double the work to perform a simple task. Because we have to disable and then re-enable all the clips. It would be much more practical to just drag the effect to desired clip, as we did earlier in FinalCut 7.

But, what intrigues me most of all is not possible to know which clips I'm using in my project.

How are you solving this problem? How to organize and to know which images have been used?

Imagine working with more than 1,000 clips. How do I know which images are already being used in the timeline? I want just select all clips in timeline and put a marker. Just it. To apply this one, by one it's very hard and time consuming.

I tried using the properties of the clips, notes ... But when I insert any metadata in the timeline clips, the notes does not appear in the properties of the clips in the library. How to solve this inconvenience?

Thanks

3) You can no longer mark the clips that are being used in the timeline to organize your project. Tool "Labels" Version 7 allows you to mark which images are being used on the timeline for a label color, and thus know which visual images that have not been used in the project

hit shift command 2 and the timeline index will pop in there you can find the info on the clips that are in the "timeline" plus a nice search option.

We work with images, not in the database, we use the visual perception of the image, that's what defines a professional editor for a video hobbyist. And that's why you never see a blockbuster edited in FCP X.

You don't understand me. The timeline index can't mark my USED clips. What i need is MARK (in fcp7 i use the label colors) just select all clips in timeline and put a label color... this clips appears in the bins marked by the color. Nowww, in FCPX how i do that? Any way to select USED clips? any workround?