[Thomas Frank] "Well since there was allot complains that FCPX has Skimming from iMovie and it makes it unprofessional I was going to jump to CS6. Wait it also has Skimming now."
Skimming was one of my favorite features in FCPX, and I'm glad to see hover scrub in Pr. Smoke has always had skimmable thumbnails (though it requires a click and drag, not just hover).
Skimming may take a little getting used to, but both FCPX and Pr allow the user to toggle the feature, so the "skimming is unprofessional" argument was really pretty weak when it was originally levied against FCPX, and I don't think there's anyone left in the room who actually feels otherwise.
That toggle which both Apple and Adobe saw fit to include was really, really important. Using mouse hover for major functionality, rather than limiting its use to simple visual feedback about the interface itself, is a really big departure from just about everyone's UI standards. Think about it -- what other actions can you accomplish with a mouse, but without a mouse button?
While we're on the subject of skimming and hover scrub, I think that the naming of these features really exhibits the difference in mindset between Apple and Adobe.
"Skimming" is a simplified, accessible name which gives the gist of the feature without any other detail, while "hover scrub" combines two technical terms to describe precisely what the feature does and how to use it. It's interesting to see both companies executing their philosophies, even in relatively minor details like this.
[Thomas Frank] "P.S. I also noticed that the default layout reminds me allot of the Final Cut Pro 7 layout Apples marketing images used for there Laptops."
It's an interesting layout -- really puts your footage and the current cut front and center by maximizing the source and program windows. The classic FCP default layout maximized the timeline at the expense of viewer and canvas. Project/bin windows in each are roughly comparable.
One of the things I like best about Pr and Ae is the Adobe windowing environment. Docking panels rock (but floating windows is still an option if you are so inclined), and everything is highly customizable.
Personally, I find that the bin window in the default view is usually too small to use with hover scrub in icon view, so here's one of my favorite Pr/Ae shortcuts -- the grave key (`), immediately next to the 1 on the US keyboard, and often mistakenly called the tilde key. Press it once and it will maximize the panel under the cursor (hiding all other panels); press it again and it will restore all panels to their previous sizes and locations.
This is perfect for bouncing back and forth between reviewing footage (with icon view and hover scrub) and actually cutting it.
Walter Soyka
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