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100 Final Cut Pro X Questions Answered

67) how would you apply a transition to clips on the 2nd story line?

Just as you do in a primary storyline but clips MUST be in some kind of storyline before you can apply transitions between them.

68) What options are there for creating a DVD now that there is no longer DVD Studio Pro?

The Share menu has export to DVD and Blu-ray options with simple templates for menu creation:

69) How/where do you see stereo audio tracks?

Stereo is set for the project via the project settings when creating a new timeline. For individual clips look in the audio tab of the Inspector under Channel Configuration.

The audio Inspector is where you deal with variable and multiple audio channels of a clip.

70) how do you find/use the audio sync tool?

Select the proper clips in an Event and go to Clip > Synchronize Clips or right + click and choose the same thing.

71) How do you export out to Tape?

You export a Quicktime movie and use a 3rd party tool from someone like AJA or Blackmagic. Or take that clip back to FCP7.

72) Can you work with.h264 files natively for editing and color correcting?

Yes, though best performance will still be had from transcoding to ProRes. Transcoding can take place in the background. That said I keep a lot of what I’m doing in FCPX native H.264 since the option to transcode to ProRes LT isn’t there.

73) what options for editing audio and performing an edit/mix with no soundtrack pro?

There are a lot of audio filters with parameter controls as well as basic level control and keyframing in the timeline. Automatic enhancements can be performed on individual clips after they have been analyzed.

There are a lot of included audio filters, including some from Logic.

74) Must the FCP Projects reside on the root drive and not the media drive?

No. FCPX Projects can reside on any hard drive and should not be on a boot drive since renders are often saved into the project folders. An FCPX project folder can become very large. I was eight versions into a small edit and the Final Cut Projects folder had ballooned to over 6 gigs and that didn’t include the source media which resided on my media drive.

75) Would you buy now or wait until X.1?

If you want to integrate FCPX into a broadcast workflow, use your 3rd party hardware or plug-ins then wait to purchase FCPX when it has received a significant upgrade. If you only upload to online video services or produce strictly for the web then the $299 price is worth the risk.

76) Would the architecture of this new FCP be able to have multi cam(and others) as an add on?

Rumor has it that there is a new XML-like format that will allow for very tight 3rd party integration. Multicam will be a future update as Apple addressed in their recent faq.

77) Worthwhile building new edit suite around FCPX or still shrink-wrapped FCPStudio 7… etc?

Personally I would never build an edit suite around a single NLE so I certainly don’t feel the current release of FCPX is enough to build an entire edit suite around. As one tool in that suite yes but the only tool? Not in its current form and probably not for a long while. Plus, if Apple is going to rely on 3rd parties to supply many of the pro-workflow tools that we need for FCPX then the final cost is going to end up well above $299 to run FCPX in a professional / broadcast environment.

78) Working between 7 and X - can both be open at the same time?

No. When launching Final Cut Pro 7 with FCPX running I get this warning:

79) Will old FCP projects translate into Final Cut Pro X easily? When can we expect our workflow to even out?

No. There might be a 3rd party utility to address this someday but Apple has basically said this isn’t possible in their faq: “Final Cut Pro X includes an all-new project architecture structured around a trackless timeline and connected clips. In addition, Final Cut Pro X features new and redesigned audio effects, video effects, and color grading tools. Because of these changes, there is no way to “translate” or bring in old projects without changing or losing data.”

80) Will Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Compressor be supplied with FCP X?

Both Motion and Compressor are available for download from the Mac App Store for $50 each as there is no bundled or boxed application suite anymore. As of this writing Soundtrack Pro is only available as part of Logic Studio.

81) Will FCP X need a convertor application to use RED footage? Can you edit R3d files without transcoding?

No to native RED editing as FCPX doesn’t support RED’s native .R3D file format as of this first version. You do need a convertor application to transcode so one can use RED’s free REDCINE-X application (among others) to convert to ProRes which FCPX does support.

82) Why should I invest my future in this software?

I would never invest my future in a single piece of software, especially not Apple software. They have killed most of their pro applications (Shake, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Server, Cinema Tools, Color and Final Cut Pro) so IMHO that’s not a good track record for investing my future in. This post by Ron Brinkmann addresses this question very well. Never put all your eggs in one basket so to speak. Though at $299 FCPX is easily able to be a part of your (and my) future. I’ll have it and know it because I know at some point I’m going to have a job come in the door that was cut in FCPX. And questions 37 aside ... FCPX has been great for home movies thus far as it’s fast and can edit native files from my Canon 7D. That’s not a slam against FCPX that’s just the truth of my reality where FCPX currently sits.

83) What’s your favorite new feature, and new disappointment?

Favorite new features are the many different background processes from rendering to transcoding to media management. Auditions is another strong new feature. Disappointment is the Magnetic Timeline and single Viewer that changes between source clips and the timeline.

84) What types of snapping are available in the timeline? How much control is there over snapping?

Snapping can be toggled on and off via a button in the upper right of the timeline or by the keyboard default of N. Snapping can also be toggled on and off as you are moving a clip.

85) What new FCP goodies are there for those of us whose primary output is to the web?

In addition to tight integration with Compressor there’s a number of built-in upload options via the Share menu:

86) What is the minimum system that FCPX will run on?

From the tech specs page: Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better, 2GB of RAM (4GB of RAM recommended), OpenCL-capable graphics card or, Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later, 256MB of VRAM, Display with 1280-by-768 resolution or higher, Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later, ProKit 7.0 or later, 2.4GB of disk space

87) What is the closest thing to multicam in FCP X?

Using the Synchronize Clips command to automatically sync the multiple camera angles into a Compound Clip and then cut away what you don’t want to leave the edit. Though that is such and old-school way to multicam edit. You can see in the image below where I built a music video sync map but this could be a multicam shoot as well. It is quite a clunky way to edit compared to multicam modes and clip grouping in FCP7 and Avid Media Composer that I can’t think of a reason I’d ever want to do this in FCPX (at least until Apple addresses the multiclip / multicam issue) if I had other options available.

A music video sync map that I began building to test out of the FCPX features and ideas.

88) What are the collaborations with another software? What happen to timeline when I open it in Da Vinci or Smoke? How does Final Cut X integrate with the Adobe software line up?

There is no direct integration or collaboration with other software (besides Motion or Compressor). To move an edit to other tools would require exporting a self-contained Quicktime (ProRes, Uncompressed) and importing that into 3rd party software. FYI there is no option to export a Quicktime Reference file anymore.

89) Is media captured by FCP7 usable by FCPX?

Yes.

90) Is there a “classic” mode where we can use the viewer widow and operate the NLE as FCP 7 but take advantage of the 64 bit?

No.

91) Is it possible to create a project with non-standard frame sizes or is FCPX limited to standard presets for 16:9, 4:3, etc? Is it possible to create various custom sequence resolutions and not from a menu of presets? [Resolution Independent]

FCPX uses standard frame sizes from SD up to 4K. There is an other option when creating a sequence but it is limited to the rations below:

I created a 480x4000 tiff file to see if that would force FCPX into that resolution but it still made me choose a preset when importing as the first clip in a timeline.

92) Is FCP X correction tools equal or more Powerful than Apple Color?

Personally I don’t think it’s as powerful as Apple Color but it is much easier to use and understand with powerful features like secondary keys and masks. There is a free 15 part tutorial series online for color grading in FCPX. This post on Tao of Color asks Has Apple’s Color Been Merged Into Final Cut Pro X?.

93) How will FCPX integrate into a shop that has continuous post with Final Cut Pro 7 on multiple workstations and shared storage?

FCPX is really an island unto itself so integration with other applications and workstations doesn’t exist in its current form. Quicktimes can be exported so you can moved finished work out via Quicktime export. You can’t export a piece of a timeline (like say a single shot) without sending the edit to Compressor and choosing an IN to OUT there.

94) How does project sharing and working on shared (XSAN) storage work now?

I don’t know the answer to that but this Creative Cow thread is discussing just that.

95) how do I deal with very large three-hour movie clips? Every time I make a change, there is just a ton of background processing

That’s a good questions that I don’t know as I’ve never had such a large piece of media in FCPX. One approach might be to break the clip into smaller pieces via Compressor.

96) Close Captioning Is A Big Issue To Me.

FCPX has no capabilities to work with any type of captioning file or layback caption files to tape. This discussion is asking that same question.

97) Should I partition a drive with fcp x on one and fcp 7 on another? Will I be able to run Final Cut 6 and Final Cut X on the same hard drive, not necessarily running together? Have you experienced any problems in running FCP7 and FCPX on the same system?

Apple recommendations for installing says this: “It is strongly recommended that you install Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4 on a startup disk that does not have Final Cut Studio (2009) already installed.” I have FCP7 and FCPX installed on one computer for testing but for a mission critical work machine I would follow Apple’s advice.

98) As you’re searching for an in-point or out-point, can you single frame by pressing the arrow button like in previous version?  If not how do you single frame the video?

Yes.

99) Where are layered photoshop files? ESSENTIAL. saw the PSD layers test on your desktop, can we do layered PSDs in FCPX?

FCPX doesn’t support importing layered Photoshop PSD files with layers intact. You can import a PSD with layers but it will be flat. You can import with layers intact in Motion. I did that and then publish that template back to FCPX but it flattened that as well.

100) Sometimes when I’m move clips around later in a timeline other clips earlier will start to move around as well for no real reason that I can determine. Is this a feature ?

I’ve noticed the same thing. They don’t actually change position and move later or earlier in the edit but they just seem to “rearrange” themselves vertically when they don’t really need to. I’d call this a bug but Apple might consider it a feature.

101) User manuals online?

The FCPX user manual is online and can be found here. This forum topic on fcp.co is a good one to follow for FCPX docs and other information sources.

Wrap up.

If you made it this far then thanks for reading. Again, these questions where asked as part of the FCPX Hands On Tour webinar I hosted for FilmmakingWebinars a few weeks ago. If you have any better answers for some of the questions (or found a mistake or issue with one of mine) please post in the comments below.

Happy editing!

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@ Scott - are there keyboard shortcuts for the Range Selection IN an OUT points? I know that R brings up the Range Selection tool? But after that you have to use the mouse, am I right?

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/19  at  05:48 PM

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You can use I and O to mark with the Range Selection tool as long as your mouse hovers over the clip or storyline were you want to set an IN and OUT. When using the keyboard with Range Selection tool FCPX will select in the clip or storyline you’re hovering over.

Posted by Scott Simmons  on  07/19  at  06:10 PM

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I see. So with the Range Selectoin tool the skimmer determines where your in and out points are going to be. You could use JKL to find your in and out, but you’d still have to move the mouse/skimmer to where the playhead is parket and hit I or O…

The skimmer is a great tool, but maybe not for audio editing…

Thanks for clearing this up, Scott.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/19  at  06:31 PM

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Regarding question 94, on Xsan compatibility:

As of now, project and event folders can’t reside in an Xsan volume, as they won’t be shown in FCPX’s event and project library.

However,  media on those volumes can be imported with the “Copy…”  preference disabled. This way, FCPX will make aliases of the files on the Event folder and the media will be kept in the Xsan volumes.

The same behavior occurs with all other non HFS+ volumes, including network ones.

According to this post (http://alex4d.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/notes-from-apples-london-pro-briefing-on-final-cut-pro-x/) Apple will make FCPX fully compatible with Xsan. I would imagine something like Final Cut Server’s check-out feature, where an editor could check-out a project or part of it and it would then become locked until checked-in again.

Regards,

JP

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  08/11  at  04:38 AM

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