Been a while since I spouted off on anything, but here we are. FCP (not X!) 10.6 was released this week and, along with some bug fixes (that are actually listed!) and some cool new features – Apple Easy® Object Tracking & Cinematic Mode – it has unleashed the predictable Chorus of Disappointment. :sigh: It never fails… Excitement builds! Rumors fly! The big day arrives and… it’s just not enough! No Roles mixer! Can’t flatten multi-cams! No built in collaboration! Etcetera! Apple. Hates. Pros! …c’mon, get a grip people. Now, I should point out that I would love it if any of those features ..read more

NOTE.. I wrote this a while ago but for some reason never posted it.  I Just ‘rediscovered’ it and I think it’s worth throwing up here DAY ONE So… the other day we got a gig which we planned to cut in Premiere. It was a short piece, a couple minutes long with about 8 takes, 2 cameras rolling on each. We got the sources, R3D 4k files, 1080 422 HQ ProRes transcodes, and multichannel WAV location audio. As it was a 1080 delivery, the plan was to use the transcodes. Easy right? It was a quick turnaround gig, first cut due the middle of the next day. Right off the bat there were a couple issu ..read more

Hope you all have a great one. Not a lot of activity on my part here, but the blog is not dead! Just… resting ..read more

Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re familiar with the very cool LumaTouch iOS NLE from LumaFusion. It’s a full featured NLE for your iPad, or iPhone for that matter. Multitrack editing, compositing/keying, titles… pretty much anything you need, and really nice to use. And now, you can export your cut right into FCP X. Not some convoluted process, just make a few decisions about media and location, export fcpxml, and open in Final Cut. It works pretty much flawlessly. Your FCP timeline will look just like your original, titles and all. It’s a $20 in-app purchase, but totally worth it. Until ..read more

Broadcast Mixing In FCP X Thought I’d pop in with a little post about what’s been up. Doing a couple interesting things Using X in concert with other NLE’s lately. First one is broadcast Mixing in X. Cut some spots in Premiere and we decided to mix in house. I could of course use Logic, but these are pretty basic spots and everything I need is in X, so in it goes! Export final 422HQ pix from Pr. All done and colored already, so why re-invent the wheel? Then use SendToX to get the audio in. A few minutes to set roles correctly, and off we go. Get everything to a nice even level, comp the VO an ..read more

Seasons Greetings! Once again, in lieu of actual content, I invite you to download this gift! Again. It’s the fabulous pile of GeekCo Generators! Bars! Checkers! Trailer Tags! Other Random Junk! Click either pic below to go to the ancient post from which you can download it all! And have a Happy Politically Correct Non-Denominational Generic Holiday ..read more

As you all know by now, FCP X 10.4.7 is out. It’s a huge, mostly under the hood update resulting in a big performance boost on Mojave, and an insane performance boost on Catalina. Really great update, you can read all about it in the usual places I did, however, run into a little issue that I wanted to share. Ya know, in case I’m not the only one… NOTE: this is a Mojave OS issue/conflict with some apps, including FCP 10.4.7 and VLC, Not an FCP X bug!  Anyhoo, if you install 10.4.7, and your OS menus completely freak out system wide when you launch FCP, here’s the fix… (from this VLAN Thr ..read more

Maybe I’m the last person to discover this but… if you quit FCP X using OPTION-COMMAND-Q, the next time you open it, you’ll be right where you left off.  Am I late to the party? In any case, happy I found this one. EDIT: Turns out FCP X may not restore windows by default based on your OS “General” settings. Specifically this setting... HT Marc Bach FWIW, in most apps I like the setting to *not* restore windows, so glad to discover a way to override it when needed. This shortcut also works in all apps that respect the system settings. (Pixelmator and others ..read more

You may have heard about Off The Tracks, a documentary about FCP X that came out a year or so ago. It’s a a great story about the launch -and subsequent blowback against- what should be everyone’s favorite NLE. A free, abridged version was just released, and you really should check it out. It’s well balanced, and though the POV is that FCP X is a very good NLE choice. it’s not a “fanboy” take at all. Worth the 45 min or so to watch it, and the full length version can be found via Google ..read more

Let’s talk about dissolves… Yeah, I know, boring right?  Well, today I was working in Premiere  – doing some fancy multiple dissolving shot sequences – and I realized how much better the Dissolves in FCP X are. In Premiere, it’s a pain to get a decent ‘look’. Changing blend modes on the shots and stacking them, or keyframing opacity… basically fiddling around endlessly to try to get a nice, smooth, soft effect. It’s do-able of course, but annoying AF. You also have the option of “starting” your dissolve on the cut, or “ending” on the cut, or trimming one side or the other of the effe ..read more