It's August 2012 and I'm back on Final Cut Pro X again. Some of my colleagues have asked me why I took this decision. They're quite surprised because I was complaining about FCPX from the day it was released.
I have certain requirements, which include importing footage from my camera, taking the project to Pro Tools, external A/V monitoring, a more or less stable software (without corrupted projects) etc.
Recently, I decided to give FCPX one more try.
• XML / AAF export to Pro Tools is working now via X2Pro Audio Convert.
I am sorry, the audio portion of Final Cut Pro X might be nicer than any other NLE, but it still does not fulfill my requirements for audio postproduction.
• XML to EDL export via EDL-X
This is a definitive requirement, not only to have a list representation of the project in case things go really wrong, but also as a source / destination timecode reference for clients.
• Stability & safety
With MC6, I had a couple of really big issues lately. Quirks in the AMA workflow, MXF Long GOP errors, export bugs, stalls etc. Now that FCPX reached 10.0.5, it seems to be a much more stable platform to me.
I was using (more or less "trying out") FCPX until 10.0.2, and I had horrible experiences in regards to corrupted projects and general stalls. Nowadays, a backup version of the project is created every 15 minutes within the folder, so these issues (hopefully) belong to the past. In the last 2 weeks of (intense) editing, I encountered no bad surprises.
• Easier use of the software on multiple machines
I now have 2 MacBooks and 1 Mac Pro, and I am using all of them for work depending on the situation. It is really NOT quite funny to transfer the Avid license via internet every time I switch computers.
• Updates via App Store
Some of the applications, at least the main one and the two XML transfer programs, were purchased via the Apple's own App Store, so once a new version is released, it immediately shows up. While some people don't like this idea, I am definitely of the opinion that updating via the App Store is much less hassle and less time consuming than wasting time poking around Avid's web site to find the latest Media Composer patch that might (or might not) solve your problems.
• Always up-to-date with the latest version of OSX
There is nothing more disturbing than to constantly take care whether the latest version of OSX (which might include required OS bug-fixes I have been longing for) is really compatible with the latest version of your software (or vice-versa).
• Importer plug-in for Canon MXF
I own a Canon XF305, and ever since they released an appropriate plug-in for FCPX (I guess they did that in February 2012 but back then I was already shooting a documentary in Indonesia), I can import my footage without round tripping to FCP7. Less time consuming, less of a show-stopper.
• Red Giant Magic Bullet Looks
I am a big fan of Magic Bullet Looks. In regards to the creative approach towards the look of a film, it is the BEST thing that ever happened to me and I simply love working with it (check out this feature on the Red Room Blog). Didn't work with FCPX for a long time, now it does.
• External A/V monitoring
I am using a Matrox MXO2mini for external monitoring. With the first versions of FCPX, that sort of monitoring was totally out of sight. Now it works. Fine.
• Unique and innovative features
Now that the application fulfills most of my basic requirements, the innovative features really start to count in. "Sub-grouping" audiovisual information in compound clips is a great way of working, especially when also coming from an audio engineering background where sub-grouping has been a tool of the trade ever since it started. Also, the Magnetic Timeline is an incredible time-saving innovation, especially when coming back from the Avid.
Of course, the workflow is not comparable with any other video editing application on the market. While trimming can be done quite efficiently on the keyboard, I feel most comfortable using a Magic Trackpad for all other tasks. As somebody mentioned, it's no longer a keyboard-based but touch-based workflow. Seems legit. And from now on, things can only get better.
Sonntag, 19. August 2012
Samstag, 18. August 2012
MBP Retina outperforms Mac Pro
Yesterday, I received the MacBook Pro Retina I had ordered a while back. Configured with 16 GB of memory, 512 GB of flash storage and a 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7 quad core CPU, I thought that it will be a good solution for editing on the go. Needless to say, the display is capable of displaying full HD at 100% in the viewer while still leaving enough space for the application and looks just gorgeous.
After installing Final Cut Pro X, I copied the documentary project I am currently working on and had the immediate impression that the overall response of the app had increased on the Retina.
After a couple of more short tests today, I found out that it indeed smokes my mid2010 8core Mac Pro (16 GB memory) over in the studio:
Even though I am only working with a small LaCie Little Big Disk (Thunderbolt, RAID-0 configuration, approx. 160 - 190 MB/sec read/write), render times for the same tasks were impressively shorter. Mind that I'm working with larger RAID-5 disks in the studio (eSATA, 250 - 300 MB/sec read/write).
• Task 1 - Rendering of the FCPX stabilizer (same clip):
MacBook Pro Retina: 01min21sec
Mac Pro: 01min37sec
• Task 2 - Render cineLook S-Curve plugin (same clip):
MacBook Pro Retina: 01min35sec
Mac Pro: 02min01sec
Quite impressive!
Mobile computing has come a long way from the times when the fastest laptops would offer 1/3 - 1/2 of the performance of a (more or less) up-to-date desktop machine. Of course, there's still the Mac Pro 12c which, at a different price point, offers an even better performance, but I wouldn't have guessed that not even within a whole 2-year-cycle, my big machine would be outperformed by a laptop.
 |
| Final Cut Pro X on the MacBook Pro Retina |
After installing Final Cut Pro X, I copied the documentary project I am currently working on and had the immediate impression that the overall response of the app had increased on the Retina.
After a couple of more short tests today, I found out that it indeed smokes my mid2010 8core Mac Pro (16 GB memory) over in the studio:
Even though I am only working with a small LaCie Little Big Disk (Thunderbolt, RAID-0 configuration, approx. 160 - 190 MB/sec read/write), render times for the same tasks were impressively shorter. Mind that I'm working with larger RAID-5 disks in the studio (eSATA, 250 - 300 MB/sec read/write).
 |
| LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt performance |
• Task 1 - Rendering of the FCPX stabilizer (same clip):
MacBook Pro Retina: 01min21sec
Mac Pro: 01min37sec
• Task 2 - Render cineLook S-Curve plugin (same clip):
MacBook Pro Retina: 01min35sec
Mac Pro: 02min01sec
Quite impressive!
Mobile computing has come a long way from the times when the fastest laptops would offer 1/3 - 1/2 of the performance of a (more or less) up-to-date desktop machine. Of course, there's still the Mac Pro 12c which, at a different price point, offers an even better performance, but I wouldn't have guessed that not even within a whole 2-year-cycle, my big machine would be outperformed by a laptop.
Looking back at one year of FCPX
Until last year, my main tool for my edit & postproduction work for the LIA - Lab Inter Arts (www.labinterarts.com) and Murdock Event & Media was done in Final Cut Pro (7).
Then Final Cut Pro X came out and changed it all. In an instance, FCP7 became a legacy product.
Ouch!
Especially for the LIA part of my work, it is of major importance to go back to projects that have been finished a while ago for re-editions and changes. And I am talking about severe changes that require me to actually access the project, not just going back to the PRORES masters and snipping out a few parts. Some producers are more demanding than others - and the Lab Inter Arts work is in "constant flow" and thus not comparable to "standard" projects that would be definitely finished at some point.
Knowing that FCP7 would be still around for a while but also realizing that basing my future workflow on a product that will definitely become extinct sooner or later, I gave Final Cut Pro X a try.
And like many others, I was shocked:
First off, "legacy" projects could not be imported. A major showstopper. But: iMovie projects could be imported ... and I went (like many others): "What's that now, iMovie Pro?!?" Don't get me wrong, but the obvious connections to a consumer app is not really a hot reference for a "pro" tool, isn't it?
Secondly, there was no easy way to export an AAF or OMF of the project for audio postproduction use. Working on my projects in Pro Tools is my workflow, and even though FCPX offers some of Logic's audio functionality, the built-in functions are just too limiting for me.
Yes, there was Automatic Duck (which has been discontinued by now), but somehow it just didn't work reliably for me.
I really tried to understand what Apple had in mind with FCPX, and despite it's limitations I worked as much as I could with it. Until some projects got corrupted (out of any obvious reason) that I had been working on for weeks. I got angry. I didn't trust the software no more. Like many others, I switched back to Avid Media Composer (6) when it came out.
Ever since of that, I didn't touch FCPX any more. Actually until MC6 stopped the show, mostly because of AMA - Quicktime related problems. Long GOP errors on playback, exports that sometimes worked and sometimes not. Things were not easy for me on a *native* Media Composer platform without DNxHD transcoding.
I started to check on Final Cut Pro X again a couple of weeks ago, and nowadays it's a different piece of software than it was last year. Thanks to X2Pro Audio Convert, interfacing with Pro Tools is easy, EDL-X provides source / destination Timecode lists for me and the producer. Projects get backed up automatically every 15 minutes just in case, so it's not possible to loose days of work in case a project gets shot. It is also possible to convert legacy FCP XMLs to FCPX. Wonderful!
A week ago, I started to edit my next feature length documentary film on FCPX, and so far, I am very happy with it. It finally became the application it should've been in the first place!
Then Final Cut Pro X came out and changed it all. In an instance, FCP7 became a legacy product.
Ouch!
Especially for the LIA part of my work, it is of major importance to go back to projects that have been finished a while ago for re-editions and changes. And I am talking about severe changes that require me to actually access the project, not just going back to the PRORES masters and snipping out a few parts. Some producers are more demanding than others - and the Lab Inter Arts work is in "constant flow" and thus not comparable to "standard" projects that would be definitely finished at some point.
Knowing that FCP7 would be still around for a while but also realizing that basing my future workflow on a product that will definitely become extinct sooner or later, I gave Final Cut Pro X a try.
And like many others, I was shocked:
First off, "legacy" projects could not be imported. A major showstopper. But: iMovie projects could be imported ... and I went (like many others): "What's that now, iMovie Pro?!?" Don't get me wrong, but the obvious connections to a consumer app is not really a hot reference for a "pro" tool, isn't it?
Secondly, there was no easy way to export an AAF or OMF of the project for audio postproduction use. Working on my projects in Pro Tools is my workflow, and even though FCPX offers some of Logic's audio functionality, the built-in functions are just too limiting for me.
Yes, there was Automatic Duck (which has been discontinued by now), but somehow it just didn't work reliably for me.
I really tried to understand what Apple had in mind with FCPX, and despite it's limitations I worked as much as I could with it. Until some projects got corrupted (out of any obvious reason) that I had been working on for weeks. I got angry. I didn't trust the software no more. Like many others, I switched back to Avid Media Composer (6) when it came out.
Ever since of that, I didn't touch FCPX any more. Actually until MC6 stopped the show, mostly because of AMA - Quicktime related problems. Long GOP errors on playback, exports that sometimes worked and sometimes not. Things were not easy for me on a *native* Media Composer platform without DNxHD transcoding.
I started to check on Final Cut Pro X again a couple of weeks ago, and nowadays it's a different piece of software than it was last year. Thanks to X2Pro Audio Convert, interfacing with Pro Tools is easy, EDL-X provides source / destination Timecode lists for me and the producer. Projects get backed up automatically every 15 minutes just in case, so it's not possible to loose days of work in case a project gets shot. It is also possible to convert legacy FCP XMLs to FCPX. Wonderful!
A week ago, I started to edit my next feature length documentary film on FCPX, and so far, I am very happy with it. It finally became the application it should've been in the first place!
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