My experience with FCP X (from a sceptikal FCP 7 user)

[Rob Ruffo]

Here is a link to a test example of Scarlet on FCPX

No background music included.

Scarlet-X 655 filmed at 4K HD, RC6 on Canon 24-70 F2.8 and 70-200 F4, Heliopan ND Variable filters (very good and no colour cast what so ever, expensive yes, but worth it).

Exported out of RedCine X without grading as a flat ProRes 422 file at 3K.

Edited in FCPX at 1080p 25fps. All grading done within FCPX, its not heavily graded more colour corrected, but the last shot the wide view from Beachy Head has a couple of secondary grades.

This was to see how easy it is to process and edit footage from Scarlet through FCPX without a Red Rocket Card.

No problems, very easy and fun to use.


http://vimeo.com/groups/scarletx/videos/37195240

Looks great, but I do the same (edit Red footage, not saying my work looks like yours, we are all different) with no transcode process at all, edit in Premiere and then grade those same raw clips in Resolve. We only transcode at the end, only the chosen clips within the edit, and until then, everything is realtime. We fell no pressing need for a rocket (noy saying we don;t want one, just no pressing need) Until Final Cut gives me THAT (and something as powerful or better than After Effects) I could not be less interested.

[Terry VerHaar]

I knew it was only a matter of time before the naysayers took over.

[Andrew Salter]

Hi Rob

Yup l have PPr too V 5.5.2 and think it is a really great editing tool and wonderful for R£D, this was a test to see how easy it was in FCPX that's all.

[Joe Pontecorvo]

I am a FCP 7 user and reluctantly trying to migrate to Avid for my next project. This thread gives me some hope for FCP X, but I would like to know if anyone has had experience editing a long form project on FCP X?
How does FCP X manage it's media?

[Eric Santiago]

Good to hear the positives.
I've stayed away from replying to forums especially defending FCPX.
Just replying to the ones that contribute and help the cause.
I got the app first day knowing that I had to deal with it eventually.
I got lucky since I teach it at local college (basic night class) so I forced myself to learn it right.
Hey it crashes and does stupid things but not as evil as the CS4 After Effects when it first came out :P
I'm pretty sure Adobe tech put my crash reports on ignore after the first week and that went on till CS 5 :P

Again good to hear folks are giving it a try :)

[Frederick Giles]

I'm in the process of finishing up one feature shot with a Red camera and edited using FCP X. Was a bit of a learning curve, about two months before I was comfortable, coming from FCP 7. Made mistakes along the way, FCP X is very forgiving and I never lost any work. Managing media was can be easier if you buy event manager x. Basically you create an event (stored on the root of any specified drive) which is a window within FCP X that contains all your Media files, it is extremely easy to navigate and select the clips that you will put on your timeline. You can decide at any time if you want to move any of the imported clips into the final cut events folder. Then you have your PROJECTS which can be thought of as your sequences(FCP 7) which is a timeline to place all of your clips. FCPX creates a folder called Final Cut Projects on the root of any specified drive for each project. I'm sure you can google more questions about media handling.

[Ces Peynetti]

Like many of you, I was a FCP 7 user and purchased FCPX the moment it was up on the APP store. Like many of you, it was a miracle I didn't throw my laptop across the room in frustration. At frist glance, they had destroyed my favorite Software. I had worked on Premiere and, and Avid before, but FCP was my favorite tool. I felt heartbroken and thought I would have to move on. I even watched Larry Jordan's Tutorials, and though they are very informative, I still couldn't get comfortable in FCPX.

I continued using FCP7 and tried to start getting used to Premiere. I have a very beefy desktop computer so I didn't want to be stuck in 32b land anymore. A month or two passed and ran into a very small not so important project and my backlot was very small. I decided to give FCPX another go. Little by little, and still with a bit of frustration, I got the hang of it. Then, I felt that from one second to the next, I got it. I understood how the program worked. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. I tested using it in a few other projects.

Then, an important project came along. I opened FCP7 and... I couldn't do it. I realized my workflow, despite all the hiccups and headaches, was faster in FCPX. It made me see the real power behind the new software. I made a decision that day, believe that FCPX can get better. It certainly isn't there yet, but every once in a while leaps of faith have to be taken. So I spent hours upon hours using FCPX, and tried to run into any kind of editing scenario that would be relevant to me and my company. It was mostly a positive experience.

Then the multicam update came. I was blown away on how simple it is to use. Something that was taking me 30-45 minutes in FCP7, took me maybe 5-10 minutes in FCPX. It blew me away. Now I hope that future updates will be similar to this experience. I hope FCPX keeps surprising me and making me believe that I made the right choice into taking this leap of faith.


All that to say, FCPX is far far from perfect, and I do miss some features that some of the other programs have. I still get frustrated every once in a while, but the speed of my workflow outweighs those frustrations. Being new to RED I've also learned more about the power behind Premiere, but there is just something about Premiere that doesn't fit right with me. Not for the stuff I mostly do anyways. If FCPX brings R3D support sometime soon, I think that would be it. I understand FCPX is not for everyone, and I was fortunate enough to find a gap of time where I could sit down for a long time and learn the program. Fight through all the "weird" things about it. Not many of us have that privilege.

Like mentioned above, Event Manager is a must. Makes things much easier on the manage media department. Creative Cow has a great community working with FCPX who will have shared the same frustrations you might run into, and will help you through them. I will always have Premiere as a fallback, but for now, FCPX is my horse.

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Hi Ces,

to respond on what you wrote about FCP X versus opening FCP 7 again. Had exactly the same feeling. Yes, I love the ease of making a sequence of in FCP 7 vs FCP X, but for the rest...
It was when switching back to FCP 7 after a couple of days of FCP X, that I suddenly realized that I began to get how FCP X worked.
Not only the speed of the interface or the renders, but also the WAY it worked.

I don't think it's perfect, far from it. But I will look for every future project what I can do in FCP X, to learn it more, look to the future, where a just a couple of weeks ago I thought FCP X wasn't something I was gonna touch again.

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/in-action/electric/

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/in-action/radical/

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/in-action/phoenix/

Seems like Apple is updating their pro pages again.

[Ian B. Johnson]

I have to say I've been experiencing similar sentiments when giving FCPX another try on some recent smaller projects. Lots of work still to be done to make it a mainstream pro app, but it can be damn fast in not only exports and renders but also simple cutting.

Incredibly unimpressed by the color correction tools and effects though.