I have been using Final Cut Pro X extensively over the past month and I have to say – I really like it. Maybe it’s using Aperture for so long but FCP’s new interface, which is similar, is a breath of fresh air. I was never an expert in the old Final Cut Pro (v7.x), I used it for personal projects and for client work for about a year. It always felt kludgy and the interaction between it and Apple Color a bit of a dark art.
FCP X brings a consistent interface, intuitive design, and it delivers on its promise of keeping clips in sync. That latter is something I had grown to fear in the old FCP – reopening a project could open new wounds; edits lost, clips out of sync. The round trip to Color and back often required a lot of work to get the timeline back to where it had been.
There are many critics of FCP X but they come at it from a different perspective. If you are doing DLSR based video and don’t need legacy plug-ins or some of the above and beyond features of v.7 then FCP X will work very well for you.
Notes:
-Syncing Audio: If you recorded using second system sound and used multiple mics (e.g. lav & shotgun on a boom) you’ll want to pick which audio you want first before syncing the sound. You can do this in the inspector window for the sound file.
-FCP X has built-in utility to sync the sound. It works well but it is simple. Unlike Plural Eyes you don’t want to do a many to one sync command. Many video clips to one sound clip. FCP X works better if you sync one video clip at a time to one audio clip at a time.
-FCP X has a bug where syncing audio to a 1080p video clip will cause the synchronized clip to read as 720p. This will correct itself automatically if the synced clip is put into project which already has 1080p clips in it. If you are putting the synced clip into a new project you can reset it to 1080p by clicking the gear icon in the project library project inspector and changing the setting. I don’t know if this bug was corrected in 10.0.1 update.
-Even though FCP X is more intuitive it still helps to have a guide. I bought Ripple Training’s $40 Apple Pro Video Series: Final Cut Pro X. Well worth it!
-As expected, you can copy and paste settings between clips in FCP X but I don’t see a way to copy and then paste only select parameters between clips. One work around to paste only audio or only video settings is to detach the audio and video. Another method is to use the video animation or audio animation buttons. Either way, I’d prefer to be able to select what I am pasting via an options window instead of potentially deactivating and then reactivating settings on a clip.
-Apple updated FCP X to 10.0.1 yesterday. The update is only available via the Mac App store (similar to how an iPhone or iPad updates apps.) If, like me, the Mac App store tells you it cannot update FCP X you still can. TheC47 has a work around.
-Larry Jordan, in his blog, has a full post on what 10.0.1 addresses.
The last four videos on my Vimeo page were edited in FCP X. They can also be seen on this blog in the prior three posts tagged with video.
If you are curious to try FCP X Apple has added a free 30 day trial.