Recommended Editing Books for Final Cut Pro X and more

November 14, 2016 Tags: books, Editing, fcpx, Noah Kadner, reviews

Here’s a list of recommended editing books to help you become a better editor.

Recommended Books for Editors

Are you brand new to editing or a seasoned pro? Perhaps your skills lie somewhere in between. Regardless of where you might be in terms of experience, everyone can benefit from additional knowledge and you don’t have to go to film school to really educate yourself. Here are some of Noah Kadner from FCPWORKS’ favorite picks for books to help you master both the art and craft of editing.

Final Cut Pro X-Specific Editing Books

Let’s begin with some key books on the subject of editing with Final Cut Pro X itself. Of course these aren’t updated to 10.3 just yet as it’s so new. However, in terms of overall workflow and editorial philosophy these are all still highly useful and valid:

Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro X 10.2: Professional Post-Production
By Brendon Boykin

Brendon’s book is awesome (I love working with this guy) and chock full of tips gleaned from years of working both with X and with previous iterations of Final Cut Pro. You can also use this as a workbook toward becoming Apple Certified as a Final Cut Pro professional or even a trainer. Study well though, that final exam is quite tricky!

Final Cut Pro X: Pro Workflow: Proven Techniques from the First Studio Film to Use FCP X
By Michael Matzdorff

Mike was an assistant editor and full-bore post-production guru for Focus, the 2015 Will Smith movie which had the honor of being the first major Hollywood movie edited in Final Cut Pro X. This is a deep dive into Mike’s editing room where he shares his tips and tricks for handling all of the deliverables you may run into while making a complex project with FCPX. I fondly recall Mike working his tail off on this tome, it’s a labor of love for craft.

From iMovie to Final Cut Pro X: Making the Creative Leap
by Tom Wolsky

This book is still in the hopper but I’ve known Tom for so long and trusted his every word in regard to Final Cut Pro, that I suspect this book will be the real deal. FCPX sometimes gets knocked as ‘iMovie Pro’ but experienced users know there’s much more to it than that. That said, many new editors come to FCPX as a stepping stone up from iMovie. Tom’s book is aimed squarely at them. Tom’s previous iteration of this book has 5 stars on Amazon…

History of Editing Books/Traditional Filmmaking

So now that we have the mechanics out of the way, let’s delve more into the artistry. These are books from seasoned filmmakers haring their decades of knowledge. Although post-production technology is in a constant state of evolution, the deeper thinking behind the creative calls goes largely unchanged. Here are some of the best both in terms of the authors’ movie credits and their innate ability to spin magic from the barest building blocks of production:

In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing
By Walter Murch

Walter is the grandaddy guru of editors and until recently a huge proponent of Final Cut Pro. Perhaps the latest 10.3 update will help bring him back into the fold.

The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film
By Michael Ondaatje

Walter again, this time collaborating with writer Michael Ondaatje give a master class discussion of the artistic tenets of his movies and storytelling approach. Along the way, you’ll receive a treasure trove of insight into classics like American Graffiti, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Saga, The Talented Mr. Ripley and The English Patient.

Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
By Robert Rodriguez

Though Robert Rodriguez’s focus was initially more on low budget production, a key aspect of of his success is shooting specifically for the edit. Mastering frugality in production will pay huge benefits once you get into the editing room.

On Directing Film
By David Mamet

Mamet’s rapid fire dialogue style is not for everyone’s tastes but his renown as a screenwriter and filmmaker are hard to deny. Learn from his challenges and his triumphs.

Making Movies
By Sidney Lumet

Maybe you haven’t heard of Lumet’s varied directing credits including Twelve Angry Men, The Pawnbroker, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict and more. But you’ll be hard-pressed to find a smarter filmmaker who’s able to communicate all of his experiences and knowledge in such generous ways.

Story
By Robert McKee
McKee is one of the most popular screenwriting teachers and the results speak for themselves. His graduates have written among other films: Air Force One, The Deer Hunter, E.R., A Fish Called Wanda, Forrest Gump, NYPD Blue, and Sleepless in Seattle.

Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen
by Steven D. Katz

Katz breaks down the visual language of filmmaking, specifically by treating the frame as a three-dimensional object ready to bend to the demands of your screenplay. Via mastery of this language you can go well beyond spoken dialogue to communicate your story directly to your audience’s shared subconscious.

Respect for Acting 2nd Edition
By Uta Hagen

Yes we said this list was about editing but if you’re cutting any sort of narrative project (or want to get the best out of documentary subjects) you need to know something about the process of acting in order to unlock the best possible performances during post. Uta’s method may be old school but this book is full of acting insights you can follow through into the cutting room.

Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect

Modern NLEs like Final Cut Pro X make it easier than ever to make a cut between two pieces of media. Knowing when and why to cut is the true art of editing. It’s a skill set that will serve you well on any NLE platform. We hope you’ve enjoyed our brief survey of books on editing and filmmaking. Please let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorites.

Zoom F8 and Zoom F4 Audio Recorder Review

November 11, 2016 Tags: Audio, Editing, fcpx, Noah Kadner, ProApps, workflow

FCPWORKS’ review of the Zoom F8 and Zoom F4 Multitrack Field Recorders and why they’re so awesome for Final Cut Pro X.

Zoom F8 and Zoom F4 Audio Recorder Review

A Final Cut Pro X Audio Powerhouse

Zoom’s F4 and F8 audio recorders offer some pretty amazing specifications and can create automatic audio subroles for Final Cut Pro X. When compared to higher-end timecode-enabled recorders like the Sound Devices 744T, which go for $4K and up they are actually a real bargain at $999 for the 8 (with 8 tracks)and $649 for the F4 (4 tracks).

Some key specs:

Up to 24-bit/192 kHz audio resolution.
Super-low-noise microphone preamps for professional audio.
Discrete, locking Neutrik XLR/TRS combo connectors for all kinds of wired and wireless mics.
Time code generation with 0.2 ppm accuracy (unheard of before in this price range or anywhere close).
Dual recording on two SD/SDHC/SDXC cards up to 512 GB each
Metal chassis that feels solid as a rock but weighs in at a very friendly 2.27 pounds.

For a closer look at the Zoom F4 and how it works, check out the official product video:

Starring Roles

What truly excites us about the F8 and F4 is their support for iXML metadata. With iXML you can name each track something useful on the Zoom and that name will automagically become a Final Cut Pro X subrole upon ingest into Final Cut Pro X 10.3 and up and can be visualized very clearly via the new Audio Lanes layouts in 10.3. Out of the box, each track is named intuitively enough Tr1, Tr2, Tr3 and so forth.

So even if you do nothing but hit record, you’ll automatically have each track neatly sorted in Final Cut Pro X from ingest through to final mixdown.

The one and only trick is making sure your Final Cut Pro X ingest preferences are set correctly for handling iXML metadata. To accomplish this, first launch the Media Import window with File>Import>Media. Then in the Audio Roles section click the checkbox for Assign iXML track names if available:

Automated Mixing

So just think of the possibilities. Sure you could leave the Tr1, Tr2 nomenclature intact and be able to see all of those channels discretely in the timeline by activating audio lanes and getting the benefits of track assignments without having to actually organize them yourself. Or you could take it to a whole different level by adding more specificity.

Some suggestions for metadata track configuration:

Name for characters: Bob, Linda, Narrator, Doc Subject 1, etc.
Name by Mic Type: Lav 1, Boom 1, Wireless 1, etc.
Name by mix type: Direct 1, -10dB pad, etc.

The Zooms also allow you to do all sorts of bouncing of individual tracks to others for confidence recording at different pad levels and the like. There are really limitless possibilities and the best part is you can do this directly on the Zoom by editing the metadata via the built-in display. Or if you’re in a bit of a hurry to get into production, you can stick with the default track names and rename them as subroles in batches later within FCPX after ingest.

Finishing with A Zoom

The bottom line is you get an incredible amount of metadata organization with the Zoom F4 and F8 because the iXML from the original tracks to subroles will continue to live on as you edit clips into sequences, nest into compound clips and the like. It’s like having an assistant sound editor working alongside you to quickly group and organize all your tracks— only everything happens automatically.

You can just focus on making good edits and when it’s time to do your exports- you can again use the subroles to quickly make sub-mixes and do exports with precisely the audio you want to hear in your final exports.

We think the Zoom F8 and Zoom F4 are essential pieces of kit for your Final Cut Pro X production package. They’re very easy to operate, record very high quality audio and are perfectly complementary to Final Cut Pro via the iXML to subrole ingest power.

DJI Osmo Mobile Review for Final Cut Pro X

November 2, 2016 Tags: Editing, fcpx, Noah Kadner, ProApps

In this article, read our DJI Osmo Mobile Review and learn how to use it with Final Cut Pro X.

Going Steady

For those of us shooting and editing our own projects, there’s a constant tradeoff between compact, portable (and affordable) production gear and final image results. One production category that has seen a lot of innovation in recent years is camera stabilization— specifically 3-axis automated brushless gimbals.

These devices steady compact cameras (as well as smart phones) to produce incredibly smooth handheld shots, previously requiring a complex and expensive steadicam rig. Here’s a quick working definition from DroneFlyers:

The word gimbal can be used to describe any adjustable camera holder designed to keep the device level. It uses brushless motors (powerful and quiet as well as long lasting) to adjust the position of the camera. 3-axis describes that the camera is adjusted in all directions – up/down, left/right and forward/backward (3 dimensions or, as we call it, the real world).

And here’s a quick demo video to show what footage can look like with and without a stabilizer:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=UzKeKpRnPFk

With that out of the way, let’s take a quick overview at some of the better known camera gimbals currently available:

•Quick Gimbal Survey

The Feiyu G4 Plus 3-Axis Brushless Handheld Gimbal is one of the more popular smartphone gimbals. It’s a bit unfriendly on the Mac side and is aimed more at the PC world as evidenced by the hoops you need to jump through in order to update the firmware. It doesn’t include it’s own iPhone app and when we get to the DJI Osmo later in this review you’ll understand why this is a problem.

However, the G4 can capture really nicely stabilized shots and the handle has the ability to shift into several modes combining roll and tilt with stabilization. Since it relies on the smartphone’s camera app you can shoot with the iPhone’s built-in camera app or grab one of the higher end ones like MoviePro. This is a greater starter rig to help get your head around what is possible with a gimbal.

If you prefer to shoot with a compact camera such as a GoPro instead of a smartphone, Feiyu also offers the Feiyu Tech G4 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal. This unit is slightly less expensive and simplified specifically for these smaller units vs. the G4 Plus. As it has no onboard app at all, your workflow route to Final Cut Pro X will depend on the camera itself and which format it shoots.

In terms of the GoPro to Final Cut Pro X workflow , you’re starting with highly compressed MPEG-4/H.264 files which are great for capture but pretty lousy for editorial. So you’ll want to follow a simple workflow: First copy the entire card structure to your system. Then ingest into Final Cut Pro X and optimize media.

•DJI Osmo Mobile Review

Finally, let’s look at the DJI Osmo. The first thing you’ll notice about the Osmo is the level of finish compared to a lot of other brushless gimbals. The Osmo is built like a tank and feels more like it belongs on the instrument cluster of a sports car rather than its selfie stick cousins.

This is also trickle-down technology from DJI’s bread and butter drone/quadcopter products like the Mavic Pro. But what really sets the Osmo apart from the rest of the gimbal pack however is the app that comes with the product: DJI GO. This app is actually used for several of DJI’s products including the Osmo 4K which includes its own camera vs. a smartphone mount.

What’s awesome about the app is that it enables object tracking. This means you can select an object in the frame and while you move around it, the app will automagically control the gimbal to keep the position of that selected object centered. This means you can achieve super sophisticated multi-axis camera moves with very little effort.

DJI Go Object Tracking

You can achieve super sophisticated multi-axis camera moves with very little effort.

•Taking it for a spin

The Osmo Mobile includes hardware controls to start/stop video recording, shoot still frames, reset the gimbal to neutral and control pan/tilt.

DJI Osmo Mobile Onboard Controls

For this next portion of my review, I shot some video. In the following clip you can get a taste of how the Osmo operates both in stabilization mode and in object-tracking mode shooting in the highest 4K resolution my iPhone 7 can muster (then down-converted to 1080p for this demo). Take a look:

•Back to Final Cut Pro X

Once you’ve got your amazing shots, here’s where things got a little bit clunky but workflow is what we do. The DJI GO app is great for syncing up the gimbal to the video but you’ll need to jump through a few hoops to get those shots over to FCPX intact.

Osmo footage back in Final Cut Pro X.

Number one concern is that DJI expects you to edit directly in the app. There’s a couple of issues with this: their editing functionality is super basic and barely good enough to slap a few clips together. Second and more importantly you’re taking a major hit in quality because you are unwrapping and rewrapping MPEG4 video in the editor and the resulting image quality.

So getting clips from the phone to your Mac is a little more cumbersome than it should be. GO stores each clip in its own library rather than automatically going into the phone’s photo library. And you have no other way to get shots out other than getting them to the phone library first. And instead of just multiple selecting of every clip you want to save in one step, you instead have to open each clip and manually hit save. Hopefully DJI will address this in an update.

Saving an image with DJI GO is a little painful.

Once the clips are saved to the device’s library you can get them onto your Mac the usual iOS ways. If you happen to be near your computer I highly recommend using AirDrop, it’s super fast and you’ll be ready to drop the results into FCPX right away and get cutting. Otherwise you could sync through Photos or even email yourself clips. And that’s about all there is to it.

Airdrop back in OS X

•Executive Summary

Next-generation camera stabilization products like the DJO Osmo Mobile can add a huge level of production value to your video content. This can translate into higher satisfaction with your clients and the ability to produce better content than you previously thought possible. With just a little tweaking, you can make the footage available for use in Final Cut Pro X. It’s just a quick Amazon order away, give it a shot so to speak. If you do, please sound off in the comments.

MacBook Pro Storage Solutions for Final Cut Pro X 10.3

October 27, 2016 Tags: Editing, fcpx, Noah Kadner, ProApps

In this article, we’ll survey Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C professional MacBook Pro storage solutions for Final Cut Pro X 10.3.

The New Way

We’ve been here before: Apple removes a venerable interface standard in favor of innovation and elicits a spectrum of reactions. But let’s ask an honest question: do you in 2016 have a serious need for floppy drives, SCSI ports, CD-ROM burners or Firewire? Or have updated technologies taken their place and improved over their original function? For most of us, that answer is yes.

•Bold Moves

With the 2016 MacBook Pro, Apple has taken its boldest leap yet (well maybe after that earphone jack on the iPhone). By removing the USB ports, Thunderbolt/Displayport ports, SDHC card slot, HDMI port, heck even the MagSafe power connector from the previous generation, Apple has gone all in with USB-C/Thunderbolt 3. You need to know that USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 in its native form is blazingly fast and opens up an incredibly versatile swath of options via dongles,hubs and adapters to connect to legacy devices.

USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 in its native form is blazingly fast and opens up an incredibly versatile swath of options via dongles, hubs and adapters to connect to legacy devices.

CNET wrote about the advantages of Thunderbolt 3 and here are some important factors to digest:

The Mini DisplayPort connection type has been ditched in favor of a USB-C connection type.
All Thunderbolt 3 cables will work as USB-C cables.
All USB-C cables will work as Thunderbolt 3 cables as long as they are good quality cables.
Thunderbolt 3 has a top data transfer speed of 40Gbps as long as the cable is 0.5m (1.6 ft.) or shorter.
For 1m (3.2 ft.) or longer cables, Thunderbolt 3 supports passive (cheaper) ones that have a top speed of 20Gbps, and active cables (more expensive) that retain the 40Gbps speed.
Thunderbolt 3 is backward-compatible with earlier versions of Thunderbolt, but due to the new port type, adapters are required to use legacy Thunderbolt devices.
Any USB-C device plugged into a Thunderbolt 3 port will function normally.
Since Thunderbolt 3 devices use discrete Thunderbolt chips to function, they will not function if plugged into a USB-C port.
All versions of Thunderbolt allow for daisy-chaining up to six devices together to a host and in addition to data, can also carry HD video and audio.

The key takeaway is you don’t need a huge box to hold multiple interface types anymore. This is one connector and one nice compact laptop to rule them all. So let’s dive in first to converters that get you USB-C on one end and just about any legacy device on the other.

•USB-C Adapter Options

The MacBook Pro is not the first Mac with pure USB-C ports. That honor goes to the 2015 MacBook, in many ways the spiritual predecessor to the MacBook Pro. This is a little ironic, as advanced features and interfaces generally debut on the flagship MacBook Pro and then trickle down to the Air/MacBook.

But as you know Apple likes to shake it up. So, that yearlong period since the USB-C MacBook’s debut has lead to a variety of USB-C adapters and hub you can use to greatly expand your interface options as well as support all of the gear you already have. Here are some of the better ones:

Anker Premium USB-C Hub with Power Delivery is a tiny unit, styled to fit well with the MacBook Pro and focusing on greatly expanded USB-3 ports and power delivery. If you’re willing to go all in with USB-3 hard drives and many Thunderbolt 2 drives are multimode, this is a solid opening option that won’t set you back much.

CalDigit USB-C Docking Station promises full Thunderbolt 3 cross-compatibility and giving you MacBook Pro audio i/o, Ethernet USB 3.1, HDMI and more. As CalDigit is long known for being Mac-focused, the Docking Station will even connect to an Apple Superdrive for those legacy DVD and CD burns some of us still have to deliver.

The HooToo Shuttle 3.1, with its silver finish and rounded edges is clearly styled to look right at home next to Apple devices. It offers power passthrough, HDMI, USB-3, HDMI and SDHC ports. This would be a solid option for the traveling videographer/photographer as so many DSLRs and compact camcorders rely on MicroSD/SDHC cards.

Apple’s own Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter succeeds mainly on its compactness. With just one port, charging and HDMI connectivity this is more aimed at increasing the relatively paltry amount of ports on the MacBook and probably not as useful for the MacBook Pro.

•MacBook Pro Storage Solutions In Depth

So now you can see the clear path toward leveraging your existing peripherals with your shiny new MacBook Pro. But let’s say you’re ready to make the leap into purpose built storage for higher levels of performance than previously possible.

•Thunderbolt 3 Native Solutions

•LaCie

LaCie is a storage provider long associated with Apple, you’ll find their stylish external Rugged and D2 Thunderbolt 2/USB-3 hard drives on the shelves at the Apple Store. For Thunderbolt 3, they’ve come up with the 12big Thunderbolt 3. As the name implies, this is a stack of 12 hard drive bays connected to a Thunderbolt 3 bus. You can count on this low footprint setup to achieve read speeds of up to 2600MB/s.

Of course the 12big is intended as a single user, direct attached storage device. So if you’re of the lone gun variety of producer this is right in your wheelhouse, as opposed to a larger workgroup needing to share. You can daisy chain up to 6 12bigs to each other via Thunderbolt 3, which results in a whopping 576TB of total very high speed storage space.

•Promise Pegasus 3

Promise’s Pegasus line of RAIDS has always been among the top-rated go to direct attached storage solutions and is perfectly suited to Final Cut Pro X. With the Pegasus3 and SANLink3, Promise has upped the ante to full Thunderbolt 3 compatibility, for up to 40 Gbps throughput.

Let’s unpack that for just a second. 40 Gbps throughput is a doubling from Thunderbolt 2’s 20 Gbps throughput. In practical terms we like to think of streams. The R2 was already capable of multiple 4K ProRes streams in Final Cut Pro X. With the doubling of throughput we can only expect to see a nice bump on the number of streams with the R3. That means more angles of multicam, more live effects/filters, you name it.

•Symply

It would be impossible to mention Promise on the one hand without mentioning its newly merged partner Symply on the other. Symply launched in April at NAB but a lot of its team members hail from the likes of Quantum, Active Storage and even the original Apple Xserve team. With that kind of pedigree you’d expect some next level products in the mix and Symply has done its homework.

Of interest to the Final Cut Pro X editor are the SymplySTOR and SymplySHARE solutions which are tailored to function both as single user direct attached storage and as shareable NAS network devices, both leveraging the full power of the Thunderbolt 3 standard. Check out a video about Symply here.

Think of the SymplySTOR as a Pegasus on steroids with Thunderbolt 2 and 3 connectivity, easy device management via iOS/Apple Watch apps and up 64TB of RAID storage. Intended as an onsite ingest and edit/DI playout solution, SymplySTOR brings robust performance ready to roll to the new MacBook Pro. SymplySHARE takes that power to the next level by connecting it to the network as a modular dock for the SymplySTOR.

SymplySHARE enables up to 8 Thunderbolt 2/3 workstations and 20 10Gb IP clients to share a single or dual SymplySTOR units over a network. With Xsan and StorNext protocols, the SymplySHARE brings enterprise class performance much more into the reach of small and mid-sized production teams. If you are running a production facility that’s been used to sneaknet and NAS level performance, this is a way to get almost all of the power of very high end SAN solutions at a fraction of the price.

•Thunderbolt 2/Ethernet Solutions

•Lumaforge Jellyfish

Lumaforge is another newish player to the storage business with an intriguing Final Cut Pro X pedigree. Created by our own Sam Mestman and backed up by his formidable expertise in Final Cut Pro X. Jellyfish is highly optimized for the app (though not limited to it). With ShareClient, a custom volume mounting app, Jellyfish is designed to be as easy to setup as a directed attached drive while offering the sharing power and flexibility of a NAS solution.

The Jellyfish 4K variant is rated for simultaneous 1600 MB/s (12.5 Gbps) reads across a mix of 10GbE and 1GbE connections while simultaneously ingesting over a 10GbE connection with no interruptions in playback. While this is well below Thunderbolt 3’s 40 Gbps throughput in practice it’s well within the parameters for sufficient 4K ProRes streams for multiple Ethernet connected users simultaneously. Sam’s provided a friends & family discount: just mention FCPWORKS to receive 10% off any Lumaforge system. More info here.

•QNAP

QNAP’s TVS-882T is a hybrid NAS/DAS that channels the Thunderbolt connection as a network interface, providing connectivity across the network. It does interfere with other Thunderbolt traffic on the same bus. So if you are planning to use this model for shared storage it needs to be on a MacPro with its multiple Thunderbolt ports. Check out our article about those ports for more details.

On the subject of workflow, the QNAP is a great deal for the money and offers the promise of a NAS in a Thunderbolt case. Configuring the network share for OSX/FCPX is not the easiest setup in the world but you only have to do it once.

That’s just a taste of what is out there and more to come on the horizon on the connectivity front for the new MacBook Pro and Final Cut Pro X.

The USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 interface standard for the MacBook Pro is a clean slate for content producers.

•The Bottom Line

The USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 interface standard for the MacBook Pro is a clean slate for content producers. If you are interested in upgrading your performance to the next generation there’s plenty to work with here and much more to come. Whether you’re at the one-person band, multiuser enterprise facility level or somewhere in between- this single laptop can become your high speed content creation hub. We hope you found our guide to MacBook Pro storage solutions informative and we’ll continue to update it as new Thunderbolt 3/USB-C gear appears. Please sound off in the comments.

YouTube Influencer FCPX Tutorials from ipsy

October 18, 2016 Tags: fcp exchange, fcpx, workflow

If you spend any time on YouTube (and really who doesn’t) you might have heard of ipsy Open Studios, the production platform created by Michelle Phan to enable cosmetic and beauty consultants to turn into YouTube Stars and Influencers. More on the runaway success of ipsy over at Fast Company. Well it turns out, they also love to use Final Cut Pro X to create content.

Topics and stars include:

Add Third Party Effects by Cydnee Black
Export a Thumbnail to YouTube by Madeline De La Rosa
Record Voiceover by Lynette Cenee
Retime Video by Cydnee Black
Create a Video for Instagram by Michelle Phan
Color Correct Video by Michelle Phan
Create a Title by Madeline De La Rosa

Enjoy these clips and learn how to use FCPX from some highly knowledgeable makeup professionals:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FCPWORKS Noah Kadner

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Marketing Director, Noah Kadner. Prior to joining the company, Noah spent several years at Apple where he worked with internal Workflow and Editorial teams in support of Final Cut Pro X customers. Noah also directed a feature film available on iTunes called Social Guidance and wrote “RED: The Ultimate Guide to the Revolutionary Camera.” Noah’s ongoing career goal is communicating digital post-production workflows to experts and enthusiasts alike.You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

FCP Exchange @ NAB 2016

March 28, 2016 Tags: fcpx, workflow

FCP Exchange continues at NAB 2016 . This special session takes place in Las Vegas at the Renaissance hotel, right next to the main Convention Center from April 18-19th, 2016. Some highlights:

Guest filmmaker workflows and case studies including Apple, Softron and more.
Tips and tricks to maximizing Final Cut Pro X from pros and developers.
Networking and interaction with fellow FCPX editors and enthusiasts.

Join the Exchange!

View the FCP Exchange NAB 2016 schedule & directory.

For more information and to register, please visit:

http://www.fcpexchange.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FCPWORKS Noah Kadner

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Marketing Director, Noah Kadner. Prior to joining the company, Noah spent several years at Apple where he worked with internal Workflow and Editorial teams in support of Final Cut Pro X customers. Noah also directed a feature film available on iTunes called Social Guidance and wrote “RED: The Ultimate Guide to the Revolutionary Camera.” Noah’s ongoing career goal is communicating digital post-production workflows to experts and enthusiasts alike.You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

FCP X 10.2.3 is out, here’s how to get the most from it.

February 4, 2016 Tags: Editing, fcpx, Noah Kadner, ProApps

•Customizable Default Video/Audio Effect
Now with audio and video as separate customizable effects. The default audio and video effects are EQ and color corrector out of the box. So if you happen to have a different favorite audio or video filter you’d like to choose as your default and apply via a keyboard shortcut you’ll be all set. Keyboard shortcuts are ⌥⌘E for Add Default Audio Effect, and ⌥E for Add Default Video Effect.

•Faster Performance for Libraries on a SAN
This is a mighty feat of engineering that has been desired since Final Cut X was first released way back in 2011. If you’re not working in a shared environment with other editors this is not something you care about.

This feature opens up huge new workflow potential and is a major leap forward toward X’s viability in more enterprise grade post/broadcast environments.

However if you do work across a SAN, this is really critical. It now means Libraries can be kept on a SAN volume without the performance hit normally associated with it that forces many users to keep Libraries on local volumes. This feature opens up huge new workflow potential and is a major leap forward toward X’s viability in more enterprise grade post/broadcast environments.

Timecode Display is (finally!) Fixed in El Capitan
Ok this one may not be that sexy. But if you’re using X day in and day out in the latest version of OS X you’re looking at the TC display constantly. You want this…

•Canon XF-AVC import from the Canon C300 Mark II
Canon’s C300 cameras are incredibly popular in the episodic, broadcast and event videographer world. The more native support in FCPX the better.

•Ability to Share video to different YouTube accounts
If you’re on a shared system or you run multiple YouTube accounts, it’s great to not have to re-enter share credentials every time you want to export direct. For the YouTube stars of the world this will be a major time-saver.

•4K Support for more current Apple Devices
Again, another no-brainer for those of us who like to screen completed projects looking their best on iPhone/iPad. Having native Share support directly in FCPX means optimal image quality format. The iPad Pro’s screen is especially well suited to showing off 4K originated footage. It’s truly a golden age for playback.

•Support for more Video Formats
Yep, let’s rejoice in AVC-LongG, XAVC, and XF-AVC. These are formats used in HD/4K for cameras from Canon, Panasonic and Sony. The camera makers constantly like to reinvent new flavors of codecs for their gear. Wish they’d all just get along to ProRes and be happy but until that day comes let’s shoot up cheers to see support in FCPX catching up to what the cameras are shooting as quick as possible.

•Tons of bug fixes and performance improvements
In our bays, FCPX has been remarkably stable and fluid for a number of versions now. It’s great to see the FCPX team keeping vigilant on squashing remaining bugs and increasing overall stability. With each new release X gets more robust and battle-ready.

Hold off on updating until you’re about to begin a new Project for the easiest transition.

•The Bottom Line
We recommend of course as always, don’t do an update in the middle of a project if you can wait. Hold off on updating until you’re about to begin a new Project for the easiest transition. Our kudos to the FCPX team for hitting another major milestone. Now about that Send to Motion…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FCPWORKS Noah Kadner

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Marketing Director, Noah Kadner. Prior to joining the company, Noah spent several years at Apple where he worked with internal Workflow and Editorial teams in support of Final Cut Pro X customers. Noah also directed a feature film available on iTunes called Social Guidance and wrote “RED: The Ultimate Guide to the Revolutionary Camera.” Noah’s ongoing career goal is communicating digital post-production workflows to experts and enthusiasts alike.You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

FCP Exchange – Session Two

January 20, 2016 Tags: fcpx, workflow

We’re continuing our collaboration with Peter Wiggins over at FCP.co and the good folks at AbelCine to bring you FCP Exchange, our Final Cut Pro X Workshop series. The second session is March 5th in Los Angeles. Just like our events at NAB and FCP EXPO, you’ll learn straight from working professionals. Some highlights:

Guest filmmaker workflows and case studies.
Tips and tricks to maximizing Final Cut Pro X from pros and developers.
Networking and interaction with fellow FCPX editors and enthusiasts.

Session two features Collaborative Workflows and Shared Storage Solutions.

Join the Exchange!

For more information and to register, please visit:

http://www.fcpexchange.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FCPWORKS Noah Kadner

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Marketing Director, Noah Kadner. Prior to joining the company, Noah spent several years at Apple where he worked with internal Workflow and Editorial teams in support of Final Cut Pro X customers. Noah also directed a feature film available on iTunes called Social Guidance and wrote “RED: The Ultimate Guide to the Revolutionary Camera.” Noah’s ongoing career goal is communicating digital post-production workflows to experts and enthusiasts alike.You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

FCP Exchange – Extras from Thomas Grove Carter

November 30, 2015 Tags: fcp exchange, fcpx, workflow

As you might have heard, the first session of our FCP Exchange workshop series that FCPWORKS is co-producing with FCP.co went quite well last October. As a follow up, we’re proud to present this group of new workflow videos from Thomas Grove Carter of Trim Editing. These videos were produced by Alex Snelling of Slack Alice Films. Some highlights:

Retiming tricks.
How to edit and make changes to a moving timeline.
Maximizing clip connections and the magnetic timeline.

We think you’ll find these clips highly informative and easy to follow. Please feel free to share them with folks using competitive NLEs as well.

Here’s Thomas’ completed Audi commercial cut in Final Cut Pro X from these demos:

And some additional amazing work from Trim Editing:

For more information and to register for FCP Exchange, please visit:
http://www.fcpexchange.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FCPWORKS Noah Kadner

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Marketing Director, Noah Kadner. Prior to joining the company, Noah spent several years at Apple where he worked with internal Workflow and Editorial teams in support of Final Cut Pro X customers. Noah also directed a feature film available on iTunes called Social Guidance and wrote “RED: The Ultimate Guide to the Revolutionary Camera.” Noah’s ongoing career goal is communicating digital post-production workflows to experts and enthusiasts alike.You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

News Graphics Plugin from Idustrial Revolution

October 19, 2015 Tags: apps, Editing, fcpx, motion, Noah Kadner, plugins, tutorial, workflow

Here’s a news story about the XEffects News Graphics plug-in from our good friends over at Idustrial Revolution and FxFactory. You know exactly what these look like because you see them all day long on TV monitors in airports, restaurants, hotel lobbies and in the comfort of your own home. Check out this sample of what News Graphics ($49) can do:

This plugin makes short work of all kinds of ubiquitous news graphics standards including tickers, bugs, DVE, picture in picture and more.

Some specific features:

Six preset color palettes in every template or choose your own
Use any font, any color, any size
Build In & Out animations on templates to choose between cuts & adjustable animations
Many display options and positioning on every template
Shrinkback effect controls all video DVE moves without key-framing
Not locked in to a single template, layer many elements on top of each other
Color shaded background, transition & title wipe included
4K Ready

We came up with this shot in just the first couple of minutes of playing around with the plugin:

You’ll find the Shrinkback effect in the FCPX Effects Browser:

and everything else in the Titles Browser:

Settings are very simple and easy to use:

If you’re doing any sort of project that requires news graphics you want this plugin. I can see it being useful for corporate videos, news shows, online streaming and more. Sure you could make these kinds of things on your own in Motion if you really wanted to…

…. but why waste days of your time when all the hard work has already been done for you. Go grab XEffects News Graphics instead for just $49. There’s also a free trial and tutorials available here: http://www.idustrialrevolution.com/x7-news-graphics

Look out for a few free copies at the October 24th, 2015 edition of FCP eXchange too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FCPWORKS Noah Kadner

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Marketing Director, Noah Kadner. Prior to joining the company, Noah spent several years at Apple where he worked with internal Workflow and Editorial teams in support of Final Cut Pro X customers. Noah also directed a feature film available on iTunes called Social Guidance and wrote “RED: The Ultimate Guide to the Revolutionary Camera.” Noah’s ongoing career goal is communicating digital post-production workflows to experts and enthusiasts alike.You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.