I didn't post in the FCP forum because I didn't want to start an Avid vs. FCP debate over there. Asking this question over here was really just my own way of seeking final confirmation of what I already believe to be true. And I got some excellent information on the major differences between the two from here.
When I have issues with Final Cut Studio I usually call my network of editing buddies. My FCP buddies give me some awesome workarounds, while my Avid buddies say things like, "Wow, I've never run into that problem before". I want to be one of those "never run into that problem before" guys!
Just to give you an example of today's adventure:
- I open a project this morning only to find out that, for some reason, my file reverted to a version I saved a week ago. Consensus among my FCP buddies: It just does that sometimes.
- Then I try to capture some behind-the-scenes footage from a firewire deck. It's a no-go, so I have to do that 'close FCP, hunt down the presets files, delete them and restart' thing. Problem solved.
- I then spent an hour trying to figure out why FCP was ignoring my audio rubber band adjustments in certain areas of my project. Only certain areas. Workaround: replace all audio fades with transitions.
- I then realize that some text overlays are changing the background brightness as they appear and disappear. Again, only in some places. So we go onto a portable drive and to another machine. Problem 2 solved.
- I then spent 2 hours exporting 4 sections of a timeline via Compressor only to find out that only about half of 2 of the sections exported video. Audio is fine. Workaround: export manually to a self-contained file which I then place onto another timeline and export with Compressor. It worked except...
- Despite the fact that I exported 16:9, my output video is still 4:3. I call a buddy who walks me through a way to "trick" FCP into exporting the way it should. Problem solved except...
- My audio is off when I import into DVD Studio Pro. We go back onto the portable drive and back to the old machine. Audio is fine here on 2 of the 4 clips. So I adjust the audio by hand until it matches. Ugh.
- Then a client comes over to record a scratch VO directly onto a FCP timeline. Audio isn't recognized. I mess around with it for 45 minutes, apologizing repeatedly (I've gotten used to that during an editing session). Other programs are recognizing the audio so I restart FCP... nothing. Restart again... nothing. Restart a third time and bingo... it suddenly works! Settings are the same as they were before. Not sure why it just started, but I'll take it!
And these problems aren't even counting my usual little headaches that I don't have time to fix, like why my FCP 'recent projects' folder clears every time I reboot and why my Soundtrack Pro only closes with a 'Force Quit'. And I can't even begin to understand why sometimes my audio lags when I capture DVCPro via my Kona - the solution to which is uninstalling and reinstalling my Kona drivers. The guy who told me this advised that I should get familiar to this process. Greeeeat. And I should mention that the 'Home' and 'End' buttons don't work in FCP when I'm editing text.
Watch this video... this guy is dead on:
I don't remember having this many problems with the older version of FCP. Final Cut Studio 2 is giving me hypertension!
Sorry for the rant... just a little stressed after today, knowing I have another day of it tomorrow.
