155 replies to this topic

[ATJ]

Did you try it with the trial program first though?

Bugger! I didn't know there was a trial program. Oh well.

I think I was a little ambitions for my first project. I imported 2 hours of footage from a recent trip to Borneo and I also selected transcoding and analysing. The background tasks of transcoding, analysis and rendering has been going for 8 hours and is only 67% done. It is also taking up 100-150% of the MBPs CPU (dual core). I guess it will be done by morning.

[Drew]

Yes it does pay to read up on the dos and don'ts on the Apple website. I would've shut off stabilization and color analysis for underwater. Background rendering is really only speedy if you have 4 or more cores. Otherwise it's just an annoyance and causes slow downs.

[Steve Douglas]

Good advice Drew. While I have 12 cores and 20 gigs ram, I do not have stabilization and analysis on in prefs. The only thing I keep on is to optimize any footage that needs it. I can always stabilize any clip that might need it down the post production road. Your views on X are valid, I was furious when it first came out and still complain about some of the wonky things that always seem to come up in completely new applications. It is inexcusable that older projects cannot be opened in X but there are work arounds for that as well. Just export a sequence as as self contained movie and then import that into X. You can then do some recutting and trimming of the sequence in X if desired. It won't be perfect as cutting out dissolves will affect the duration of the pre and post clips but it can be done. I have found that some of the color grading I could do in FC7 I can not recreate yet in X but I predict that within a year all 3rd party plug ins will be updated for X. Several companies have already done that. Spoke to the Matrox people yesterday and they will have upgraded firm and software out as soon as Apple's major update is released which Apple has said will be in early 2012. However, as I said before, there is a ton of potential here and I completely empathize with those so disappointed with the release of X. I am one of them but the more I use it the more I will be prepared for its jumping to the top again. Meanwhile I can always use FC7 for anything I can't do in X just as you might use AE to create something and export to your NLE.
Steve

[ATJ]

I successfully created a project and shared it. Seems to work OK. I still have a lot to learn, though, but that would be true of any NLE as I'm new to video.

Two annoyances, though:

1) I wanted to shared directly to Vimeo. To start the process, I put in my Vimeo ID and password (it doesn't store the password), title, description and tags and kicked it off. I left it running while it built the file. When I came back it had failed because I must have mistyped my password. It still created the file but nothing was uploaded and all the data (title, etc.) were discarded. You'd think it would either verify the ID/password up front or at least let you retry at the point it wants to upload. As I have to enter my password every time, this could become very annoying.

2) I have an external drive which is basically a clone of my second internal drive. When I start FCP it complains because it finds the duplicate events on the external drive. Does anyone know of a way to tell FCP to ignore the volume?

[Drew]

It's 1.1 software. Expect annoyances until 3.5!

[ATJ]

It's 1.1 software. Expect annoyances until 3.5!

Lightroom 3.6 still has annoyances!

[peterbkk]

It's 1.1 software. Expect annoyances until 3.5!

By the time all the "new software" annoyances are gone, it'll start to have a whole bunch of "old software" annoyances.

Then it'll be time for a new start and everyone will hate the new one for a while...

The circle of software life...

[peterbkk]

I successfully created a project and shared it. Seems to work OK. I still have a lot to learn, though, but that would be true of any NLE as I'm new to video.

Two annoyances, though:

1) I wanted to shared directly to Vimeo. To start the process, I put in my Vimeo ID and password (it doesn't store the password), title, description and tags and kicked it off. I left it running while it built the file. When I came back it had failed because I must have mistyped my password. It still created the file but nothing was uploaded and all the data (title, etc.) were discarded. You'd think it would either verify the ID/password up front or at least let you retry at the point it wants to upload. As I have to enter my password every time, this could become very annoying.

2) I have an external drive which is basically a clone of my second internal drive. When I start FCP it complains because it finds the duplicate events on the external drive. Does anyone know of a way to tell FCP to ignore the volume?

1. I had this happen too. Now it just output the Vimeo file using Compressor and upload it to Vimeo with the Vimeo loader app.

2. FCPX looks for projects and events in a specific named folder in the volume root directory. Either rename the folders or move them deeper than the root directory and FCPX will ignore them.

regards
Peter

[ATJ]

2. FCPX looks for projects and events in a specific named folder in the volume root directory.

I understand that part.

Either rename the folders or move them deeper than the root directory and FCPX will ignore them.

So I have to essentially change my whole backup procedure to work around Apple's shortsightedness.

[peterbkk]

So I have to essentially change my whole backup procedure to work around Apple's shortsightedness.

Yep.

I use ChronoSync for backup and I have setup the target folder to be one layer deeper than root folder on the backup drive.

Or just leave your external drive turned off when you are using FCPX.

It is a minor nuisance but it realy made me scratch my head when Apple designed FCP X using specific folder names in a specific location. I thought we'd moved beyond that kind of primitive design in the 1990s. The location of the events and projects ought to be configurable in the preference file. I bet Apple will fix it in v2.

Regards
Peter

[Steve Douglas]

Read this article this morning and while it does not directly relate to the discussion, it talks of the value of transcoding in FCX and whether it really is necessary. I haven't done the testing this author did but it might be appropos to the other NLE's as well.
http://www.macprovid...optimized-media
Steve

[Drew]

Seems Apple has lost market share 1 year later, but apparently not as much as many thought. According to SCRI, marketshare for new purchases (excluding cross/upgrades etc) was 52% for Final Cut vs 54% in 2010. Of course, a few things like price ($299) may have a play in it as well as the pull on effect of Mac sales.
Still almost 1 year later, FCX doesn't seem to be slowing down Apple's software division.

[peterbkk]

Seems Apple has lost market share 1 year later, but apparently not as much as many thought. According to SCRI, marketshare for new purchases (excluding cross/upgrades etc) was 52% for Final Cut vs 54% in 2010. Of course, a few things like price ($299) may have a play in it as well as the pull on effect of Mac sales.
Still almost 1 year later, FCX doesn't seem to be slowing down Apple's software division.

Once again Apple successfully gave us what we didn't know we needed.

But, after a year with FCP X, I have to say I am having a great experience with it. I am enjoying editing more than I ever had in the past. And the comments that I am hearing from my audience indicate that the results are showing through into the final work.

Regards
Peter

[Drew]

Well Pete, I think Apple lost a lot more in bulk sales but made up for it in single user sales. Also I think SCRI's numbers are fudged. Apple has the real sales numbers and they don't need to quote SCRI to push marketing if they were doing very well. I'd expect to see the number decline as the Mac Pro disappears and Adobe CS6 gains ground by OPEN CL acceleration.

[peterbkk]

Well Pete, I think Apple lost a lot more in bulk sales but made up for it in single user sales. Also I think SCRI's numbers are fudged. Apple has the real sales numbers and they don't need to quote SCRI to push marketing if they were doing very well. I'd expect to see the number decline as the Mac Pro disappears and Adobe CS6 gains ground by OPEN CL acceleration.

Apple has rarely chased market-share, focusing on products for a targetted customer base that they can serve well. Even their successful iPod, iPhone and iPad market did not start as a market share play. This product-excellence strategy has served them well over the decades. In fact, the only time they got into deep trouble was when, under Sculley, they did start playing the market share game.

Let's see how it pans out over the next few months and years. But, despite the maturity and capabilities of CS6, I believe that FCP X appeals more to the creative community as there is less technology between the creative vision and the finished result.

[Drew]

The one key advantage FCP/S had for it was that it was tied to the Mac. With performance lacking, and the unnecessarily heavy burden of background rendering vs just using hardware that's there already (like the Intel HD GPU), Apple lost the plot in performance, which it always did really. Final Cut came out because of the post Sculley market share loss. Adobe had slowed development of the NLE, as did Avid, and DV had just started in the infancy. Back in the 90s, marketshare and lack thereof killed off a lot of absolutely wonderful software like Commotion. Once Apple market steadied and even grew, Adobe/Avid came back in. But FCP was well established due to fantastic rebates for hardware with the Apple developer programs, all for market share.
While there's no denying the i products have pushed Apple into new grounds, the halo effect of those products benefitted the computer side. However, with the computer industry, cool hardware and OS apart, performance is a big issue for 2 areas, gaming and design/production. Apple bought marketshare with the developer program for production companies, to gain the halo effect of FCP being used by professionals for feature films etc. And Final Cut did play a part in the indie film circuit. However, as the market matures and competition caught up and surpassed, I think Apple lost a lot of market buzz with FCX and just played price wars, knowing @ $299, it's a good deal for the consumer/enthusiasts bigger market. I think it's great that companies jockey and fight as it only benefits innovation.