The Logic of Sound

October 20, 2014 Tags: Audio, fcpx, plugins, Sam Mestman

In my experience, it’s very rare to meet a picture editor with a lot of hands-on DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) experience. And it’s also just as rare to find a sound designer who has a ton of experience with NLE software.

As much as this makes logical sense, since specialists are supposed to specialize, I feel like this situation holds a lot of projects back and can cause a lot of problems (and inflated post budgets).

When it comes to DAW’s, Pro Tools is the industry standard. But the main problem is that you have to basically start over when you hand off your sound to your mixer, regardless of how much you knew about EQ, compression, and noise reduction. The sound engineer always wants a ‘clean slate’. Also as an application, Pro Tools is not a cheap proposition, especially once you throw in the plugins and extras you might need for a specific workflow.

As a Final Cut Pro X editor, I wanted more control over my projects and my mixes. I wanted to figure out a better way to get my projects into a DAW so that when I brought in a sound designer, they could spend their time making my mix better and not reinventing work I had done already. All of this led me to Logic Pro X.

I chose Logic over Pro Tools because I’m fairly convinced Avid is never going to get on the same page with Apple to incorporate FCPXML the way that I want them to. Logic also uses all the same plugins that I’m already using in FCPX. So, if there was going to be a platform that allowed me to take work I had begun in FCPX and bring it cleanly to a DAW, it was going to be Logic Pro X.

As an alternative DAW to Pro Tools, Logic Pro X is much more affordable and it accepts FCPXML (even though that translation is not quite as robust as I’d like it to be yet). Before we get going, though, some key takeaways about where the Logic-FCPX workflow currently stands:

All of the FCPX native audio filters come from Logic.
XML import from FCPX is possible but compared to using an AAF import from X2Pro projects lose a good amount of fidelity.
If you use sub roles correctly with audio components, AAF’s created using X2Pro import will import great.
If you want to maintain audio work begun in FCPX already, tagging your components with roles and beginning a Logic mix with exported FCPX roles as tracks is a very effective starting point for a mix.

Anyway, as I continued working more between Logic and FCPX, I realized that there’s a reason audio turnover is so complicated for people. Video and audio people really have no concept of what the other one does or how they do it, and they work in completely different ways.

For most post-production workflows, when it comes to video and audio integration, it’s like having one person on your team that only speaks French, and another that only speaks German… and then occasionally you have to ask them to work together and build something. But they can’t really communicate with each other, and prefer to work separately and hand each other finished items back and forth without truly colloborating. But if you can have a common language going back and forth easily, that opens up a whole world of possibilities.

Over the coming weeks, we’re doingt a series of blogs detailing some of the advantages of going from FCPX to Logic, as well as some strategies you can use to really take advantage of the strengths of both applications. Before we get started with the series, here are the main reasons that an FCPX editor would take on the transition of learning a new way of working and a new “language” of editing:

I’m going to be a better editor because of it… and my projects are about to go to a whole other level.
I’m going to have more control over what I want to do with my mixes.
I’ll no longer be held back from a high-end mix by not having access to Pro Tools.
I’m going to be able to be to collaborate properly with sound designers if I need to.
I’m going to have an entirely new skill set that I can bill my clients for.

Also, as you delve into the DAW world, much like color correction or visual effects, you should prepare yourself for a difficult learning wall to crawl over. Sound editing in Logic is VERY different from picture editing in FCPX, and your approaches to things will need to change in order to really achieve the benefits.

In short, think about how moving from FCP7 to FCPX felt. Initially it was slower, but once you got the hang of it, you likely had a bit of an epiphany and began turning out edits much faster and at a much higher quality. It’s the same with transitioning to mixing in Logic.

Once you build the muscle memory and understand the way Logic is designed, it’ll feel like you’ve gotten a new toy and you’ll begin a whole new level of experimentation. Logic has become my new secret weapon.

The bottom line is that once people figure out that you CAN mix a movie professionally in Logic X, Pro Tools has a lot to worry about in terms of maintaining its stranglehold on the audio world… especially as the FCPXML implementation continues to improve between the two Apps.

There’s going to be A LOT more to come on all of this. Stay tuned.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Mestman, FCPWORKS.

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Workflow Architect, Sam Mestman. Sam’s also a regular writer for fcp.co and MovieMaker Magazine, teaches post workflow at RED’s REDucation classes, and is the founder and CEO of We Make Movies, a film collective in Los Angeles and Toronto which is dedicated to making the movie industry not suck. If you’ve got any FCP X questions or need some help putting together a system, drop him an email at workflow@fcpworks.com and you can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

5K Retina iMac for FCPX

October 16, 2014 Tags: 4K, fcpx, Sam Mestman, workflow

Apple finally brought in a key missing piece to its 4K editing workflow/ Thunderbolt 2 Mac pipeline. On the high end, you’ve got the Mac Pro with dual GPUs, Thunderbolt 2 buses and the ability to run up to 3 4K displays. On the Mobile end, you’ve got the Macbook pro which has a 4K HDMI out.

Now for your everyday editor, you’ve got the new Retina iMac, which has a built in 5k screen, and Thunderbolt 2 capability. At 5120‑by‑2880, that leaves enough screen real-estate for 4K at 100% with space left over for the UI. For your average FCPX editor, this is an amazing sweet spot. Check out the full tech specs here: http://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/specs/

You’re going to be able to easily monitor pixel-for-pixel 4K footage on a solid display and in many ways, the new iMac represents the missing piece for 4K workflow: a very high quality, affordable 4K workstation to watch/edit all the 4K material that the new cameras from BMD, AJA, Sony, RED, GoPro, Panasonic, and pretty much everyone else are now recording to by default.

The main challenge up to this point was that even though you were recording to these formats, it was hard to actually monitor the resolution. Now, your average editor is going to be able to do that, and I think that this iMac release is further confirmation that it’s time to get your 4K workflow together.

The price point for the 5k Retina iMac is also really astounding at $2499. 4K editing is here. Let’s all get back to making movies now. My real takeaway from the 5k iMac is that we’ve finally got a machine with a proper standard 4K ready panel that makes it easy to view and edit in a great form factor.

As usual, Apple took something that everything else was making really difficult (4K display/editing) and put it all together into a computer that makes the workflow a lot more straightforward and makes you wonder why no one else is offering something like that already. (No doubt Apple’s scale of manufacturing and ability to source exclusive vendor arrangements helps a lot here).

4K is here. Time to upgrade if you haven’t already… and if you need an iMac-based Final Cut Pro X package, FCPWORKS is a full Apple reseller with unique workflows and tons of experience with FCPX. We’re ready to get you up and running now. (One hint, you’ll probably want to get the AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GPU option and not the stock configuration).

Izotope RX4 for editors

October 14, 2014 Tags: Audio, fcpx, plugins, Sam Mestman

So… Izotope recently released RX4 and RX4 advanced, a large update to their suite of audio repair tools, which for those of you who didn’t know, is just an AWESOME set of audio tools that you can use right in FCPX.

The really big news is that my favorite plugin from of theirs, the dialogue denoiser, is now included as a part of the regular Izotope RX package (about $400) and is no longer only part of the Advanced Suite ($1200).

If you’re curious what the dialogue denoiser does, it’s literally a “make it better” button for dialogue. You slap it on pretty much anything, and the background noise gets sucked out without really affecting the dialogue.

My other favorite plugin from the suite is the dereverb plugin, that basically pulls some of the “space” out of your dialogue to make it feel like it wasn’t recorded in a room that isn’t meant for recording sound.

In terms of what the advanced suite got in its arsenal, it now has EQ matching, which is pretty fantastic, as well as some built in loudness tools… which is you aren’t aware why that matters, you may not need them at this point, but I think the industry is largely heading toward a new standard for broadcast delivery, which is loudness as opposed to the traditional DB readings.

Anyway, If you’re an FCPX editor, and you need a rock solid, really useful set of Audio repair tools for basic tasks, Izotope RX is a great option, in my opinion… and the fact that the dialogue denoiser is now included with the standard package makes this a far more affordable and useful purchase for the average FCPX editor.

Just a heads up, BTW… don’t try and use the learn button for these plugins in FCPX. It’ll cause some headaches.

Instead, especially for things like the dialgue denoiser (which should do 95% of what you need just by applying it), work with the sliders in the inspector, and for any advanced heavy lifting, just go into RX standalone editor and make your changes to the file.

On a side note, you can expect a lot more sound and Logic related stuff in this blog coming soon.

TED Goes FCPX with the help of FCPWORKS

October 10, 2014 Tags: 4K, fcpx, Sam Mestman, workflow

In what may be one of those Cold Mountain moments for Final Cut Pro X, TED reveals it has made the complete move to FCPX for all of its editorial work. Our own Sam Mestman was privileged to be a big part of TED’s transition plan as he worked directly with Michael Glass, TED’s Director of Film + Video. For the full story, please head over to Studio Daily. Some nice excerpts:

TED made the official transition to FCPX on September 1. “There really was a long runway before officially switching,” says Glass, “but we made that the date at which we would never open FCP7 again in order to edit a talk from scratch,” he says. “If we need to go back into a previous edit, instead of trying to translate from one to the other, we’ll edit in the old software.” Assisted by Sam Mestman from FCPWORKS, the TED editorial team spent six months training in the new version, starting with tutorial on Lynda.com and Ripple Training and moving to one-on-one tutoring with Mestman, especially at the beginning and again during the week “marathon” leading up to the official transition.

“This whole process really started almost two years ago,” says Glass. “We knew Final Cut Pro X was there, but we also looked at Premiere, Avid, even Smoke at one point. We narrowed it down to Premiere and FCPX, and once we had the lay of the land from the press and what we could read about it, we took two-to-three-day intro courses offsite to both softwares. That gave us a good handle on where the problems would be, whatever we took on, and also what the advantages would be.

People were starting to come around to the idea of FCPX before Sam showed up for a week here, rotating through two-hour sessions one-on-one with each of the editors and assistant editors. I think having someone be able to walk you through the nuts and bolts of how it all worked, as well as give the context of how to think about this new-ish approach to editing made the editors finally feel safe and excited about taking on the new technology.

"I think having someone be able to walk you through the nuts and bolts of how it all worked, as well as give the context of how to think about this new-ish approach to editing made the editors finally feel safe and excited about taking on the new technology."

But to make that leap you still need someone to encourage you along the way that you’ll land safely. That’s when everyone came around. They went from saying, half-heartedly, ‘OK, I can use this,’ to ‘Wow, this will actually improve my workflow, and even makes editing kind of fun again.’ That was better than even I expected.

The meme has been stated over the years that Final Cut Pro X isn’t a professional tool… And yet a company as intelligent, world-renown and respected as TED is now using it as their primary editorial platform. It appears that the game has changed…

Intelligent Assistance Producer’s Best Friend

October 9, 2014 Tags: fcpx, Sam Mestman, workflow

Producer’s Best Friend from Intelligent Assistance, an awesome program for archiving and sharing information via spreadsheet about your edits (think music cue sheets, notes, revisions, etc.), just introduced a really interesting new feature called Layouts.

Basically, it allows you to choose custom layouts that feature user specified amounts of information on just about any criteria from an XML a user can specify into a spreadsheet.

In English, this means that you can specify the information you’re sending out to someone into a custom layout so they’re only seeing the things you want them to see.

So whether you’re delivering for music, VFX, GFX, etc., if you know how to tag things in FCPX, automated custom reports for people is pretty simple and straightforward now.

Simplified reports. Editing continues to become easier.

Should You Get a Mac Pro?

October 8, 2014 Tags: fcpx, Sam Mestman, workflow

Hey guys,

Did a Mac Pro webinar for Moviola last week on The new Mac Pro, and there were some interesting questions that came out of it, I thought.

The biggest ones were people asking whether they should get a Mac Pro or the new powerful machine from (insert random PC vendor).

The answer to that question depends on what’s important to you.

If you value pure horsepower, crazy amounts of speed, and the ability to do things with hardware the like of which no one thought were possible… you probably should get the high end PC.

If you need to get work done… you should buy the Mac Pro.

It’s the fundamental difference in perspective that I feel is prevalent in the industry.

So many places tout the number of features they have in the hardware/software. They never quite mention when those things are half baked, more trouble than their worth, or the fact that the whole system runs on a poorly designed operating system, etc.

For me… the question is… does the thing work? Can I get from point A to point B in a clean, pain free way?

I don’t care if my PCI 3.0 bus is faster than the the Thunderbolt 2 bus if the apps/hardware I’m running everything on are always infected by malware and need constant upkeep/maintenance/drivers to do what I need to do.

If I need ninety different apps/passwords/licenses to replicate the functionality I get across my devices that the App Store/IOS/iCloud/OSX provide… I’m just not interested.

Sure, your tricked out Linux PC with 7 graphics cards (yes, that actually exists) can run Resolve like nothing you’ve ever seen… but what’s the workflow from pre production to post to get you into the finishing room where that matters (good luck with that prores workflow you wanted to use)… and how much time is a machine like that really saving you?

Also… what happens if there’s a problem with one of those GFX cards/Linux/random other things? Who do you call? And what’s easier to diagnose… that or an issue with the Mac Pro?

Plus… the Mac Pro fits on your desk and there’s no PCI cards necessary.

The truth is that it’s no longer a question of… can my App/Computer/Connection/Bus/technical thing do a given task? The question really should be, can my random piece of technical stuff complete the task in a pain free way and allow me to work within my larger ecosystem/not detract from the other aspects of the work I do?

Specs matter a little bit. Workflow matters much more these days as we are asked to do many more different kinds of tasks on our machines.

And really… how fast do you need to go anyway? Most raids can’t even max out the Tbolt 2 spec in the first place… so whether that PCI bus is faster or not doesn’t matter unless you have the associated hardware (and software) that is designed to take advantage of your amazing tech specs.

What practical use case that the average editor runs into (including VFX and Color) can the Mac Pro not accomplish?

If you can’t answer that question… well, then you should probably buy the Mac Pro. You’ll have fewer problems with it.

In terms of the real question you should be asking yourself when you buy something… the question should really be:

Will the piece of gear i’m buying suit my overall lifestyle?

p.s – Yes… we sell the Mac Pro at FCPWORKS (as well as just about any other post gear you’ll ever need)… and if you do run into problems with your gear/workflow… if you buy your gear through us, you’ll have someone to ask if you actually have a problem with something.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Mestman, FCPWORKS.

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Workflow Architect, Sam Mestman. Sam’s also a regular writer for fcp.co and MovieMaker Magazine, teaches post workflow at RED’s REDucation classes, and is the founder and CEO of We Make Movies, a film collective in Los Angeles and Toronto which is dedicated to making the movie industry not suck. If you’ve got any FCP X questions or need some help putting together a system, drop him an email at workflow@fcpworks.com and you can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

Check out FCPX Grill

October 7, 2014 Tags: fcpx, Sam Mestman, workflow

Hey guys,

Just in case you’re not listening to it, if you’re really into FCPX workflow, there’s a podcast you need to start checking out called FCPX Grill.

Hosted by San Francisco editor Chris Fenwick, it is maybe the best way there is to stay on top of how editors are integrating FCPX into their workflows.

You can check it out on iTunes, or go here:

http://digitalcinemacafe.com/category/fcg/

A recent podcast you need to check out is from Mike Matzdorff (@fcpxfeatures), who goes in depth about the workflow on the mythical studio feature we worked together on that there were so many conspiracy theories about. Between that and the LACPUG event I mentioned yesterday… well, the thing was real, guys. Anyway, here’s a link to the podcast… Mike drills a little deeper into some of the specifics on the grill than he does at LACPUG:

http://digitalcinemacafe.com/2014/09/21/fcg083-fcp-features-feat-michael-matzdorff/

Additionally… you should check out the recent episodes from Michael Glass and Scott Simmons. I worked with Michael to help get TED up to speed in X and it was a blast. In my opinion, FCPX Grill is the best podcast there is for FCPX users (and maybe post in general), and Chris Fenwick is a good guy and great host.

And if you want to hear more from one of our team, check out the episode with Noah Kadner. Some interesting talk from behind the iron curtain at Apple….

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Mestman, FCPWORKS.

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Workflow Architect, Sam Mestman. Sam’s also a regular writer for fcp.co and MovieMaker Magazine, teaches post workflow at RED’s REDucation classes, and is the founder and CEO of We Make Movies, a film collective in Los Angeles and Toronto which is dedicated to making the movie industry not suck. If you’ve got any FCP X questions or need some help putting together a system, drop him an email at workflow@fcpworks.com and you can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

FCPX Feature Film Workflow

October 6, 2014 Tags: fcpx, Sam Mestman, workflow

So… that whole FCPX Feature Film Workflow studio thing that my name got dragged through the mud on… not a lie. It happened, we worked on it, and it’s great to see Mike Matzdorff filling the world in on how it was done in this recent LACPUG presentation:

http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/news/1512-mike-matzdorff-on-the-organisation-behind-editing-a-major-hollywood-feature-on-fcpx

We’re still not going to give you the name of the movie out of respect for our client (when they’re ready to officially talk about it, they will), but the truth is that a lot of really smart people worked on this, and it’s nice seeing some of them starting to talk about it.

If it wasn’t already obvious, FCPX can and will continue to be used at the highest levels… anything else you hear is basically just FUD.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Mestman, FCPWORKS.

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Workflow Architect, Sam Mestman. Sam’s also a regular writer for fcp.co and MovieMaker Magazine, teaches post workflow at RED’s REDucation classes, and is the founder and CEO of We Make Movies, a film collective in Los Angeles and Toronto which is dedicated to making the movie industry not suck. If you’ve got any FCP X questions or need some help putting together a system, drop him an email at workflow@fcpworks.com and you can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

Vizrt Changes the Broadcaster Game

October 2, 2014 Tags: Editing, fcpx, plugins, ProApps, Sam Mestman, workflow

Hey guys,

Sam here…

Some of the most interesting FCP X related stories to emerge out of IBC this year came from the broadcast world. Great news included EVS showing ProRes recording and edit-while-ingest connected to FCP X and of course we all know that the BBC have decided to use FCP X for news-gathering. To me, that shows some real momentum in the broadcast world for a fast, easy to use video editor and now some of the more well known developers have started taking interest in how deep their integration can go with FCP X.

Between the lack of transcoding with FCPX, options like Tools on Air, Softron and SIENNA– which can do amazing things for ingest and playout on off-the-shelf Macs, any modern broadcaster should take a close look at what’s happening.

Norwegian graphics powerhouse Vizrt have taken it just that extra bit further. First of all they released a very low cost MXF plugin for FCP X, but they also previewed an amazing piece of integration of their graphics system running inside FCP X. Just that by itself is amazing; Viz One is not a toy, it’s an ultra high end graphics system for broadcasters that’s been in use for years. Viz One is a really big step forward for FCP X as a serious broadcaster’s tool:

NAB 2014 – Viz One & Final Cut Pro X from Vizrt on Vimeo.

It basically works by presenting templates from their graphics system inside FCP X (complete with previews) and you can position the graphics layers anywhere you want on your timeline and preview what it will look like. That’s all well and good, you say, you can in fact do the same thing with regular Motion templates which essentially turns FCP X into a live production system.

However, the real magic happens on export. Instead of burning in the graphics onto your finished package, the system inserts timecode-based metadata into Vizrt’s database. So, when the time comes to play back the clip to air, the system knows exactly when to trigger the graphics based on your edit decisions from FCP X. This means that exports are much faster (no need to render those graphics) and also modifications can be made up to the very very last moment before going to air! Spot a typo? No need to go back to the edit bay to fix that, just do it from the news system even after the edit is finished!

This truly is a complete game changer for news and sports. Take a look at the demo, if you’re in news or sports broadcasting this will really get your attention: http://www.fcp.co/final-cut-pro/news/1506-viz-one-integration-with-final-cut-pro-x-will-support-meta-graphics

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Mestman, FCPWORKS.

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Workflow Architect, Sam Mestman. Sam’s also a regular writer for fcp.co and MovieMaker Magazine, teaches post workflow at RED’s REDucation classes, and is the founder and CEO of We Make Movies, a film collective in Los Angeles and Toronto which is dedicated to making the movie industry not suck. If you’ve got any FCP X questions or need some help putting together a system, drop him an email at workflow@fcpworks.com and you can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.

Moviola Webinar for the Mac Pro

October 1, 2014 Tags: fcpx, Sam Mestman, workflow

Hey guys,

If you were curious about learning a little more about how to take advantage of the Thunderbolt busses in the new Mac Pro, I did a Moviola Webinar on September 30th, 2014 on the subject:

http://moviola.com/webinars/understanding-the-mac-pro-for-professionals/

In general, it’s all about how to take advantage of the ports on the MP to make sure you’re getting the most out of it, and getting the largest bang for your buck. This is a follow-up to the article I wrote for FCPWORKS a little while ago- http://www.fcpworks.com/thunderbolt-bus-mapping-new-mac-pro/

Here are some tips for mapping out your thunderbolt devices across the individual buses from that piece:

Do not attach more than 2 displays to a thunderbolt bus. If you do, expect to see problems.
You can connect up to 6 Thunderbolt/mini displayport displays (2 on each bus) to the new Mac Pro.
You can connect up to 3 4k displays (1 each on buses #1 and #2) and a third through the HDMI port, which connects to the third Thunderbolt bus.
On my setup, I have my ports configured this way: my two desktop monitors are on bus #1. My Promise R8 and some additional thunderbolt storage is on bus #2. My Ultrastudio 4k for video I/O is on bus #3, and I’ll connect additional drives/peripherals when necessary to this bus.

We did a nice Q&A afterwards. Take a look, I think you’ll get a lot out of it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Mestman, FCPWORKS.

This blog post contains the personal musings of FCPWORKS’ Workflow Architect, Sam Mestman. Sam’s also a regular writer for fcp.co and MovieMaker Magazine, teaches post workflow at RED’s REDucation classes, and is the founder and CEO of We Make Movies, a film collective in Los Angeles and Toronto which is dedicated to making the movie industry not suck. If you’ve got any FCP X questions or need some help putting together a system, drop him an email at workflow@fcpworks.com and you can follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @FCPWORKS.