Okay, so what do you REALLY think?

	Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Tim Wilson on Aug 9, 2009 at 10:29:10 pm So now that you've had a few days to kick around the new FCS, what do you think? Is it working okay for you? Anything broken? Do you have any new favorite features? This is intentionally an open-ended question, so please take it away. Please note - if you've got some things to say at length, consider throwing in a couple of screenshots, and sending it along. We'd LOVE to publish as many reviews as people send us. Doesn't have to be super-comprehensive, either. It might even go into depth on a single feature. Just let me know, tim at creativecow dot net. In the meantime, kids, start letting us know here -- what do you REALLY think? Best, Tim Wilson Creative COW Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Shane Ross on Aug 9, 2009 at 11:56:30 pm I can't be happier...there SO MANY new things that came out that I use. MARKERS - Good lord, not only are they color coded, THEY MOVE with the sequence when you add footage. HUGE workflow improvement. ProRes codecs. This is so major words cannot express. offline/online workflows are now more solid, and tapeless ones just took a giant leap. P2 Import options. You can now map USER CLIP NAME and see more metadata than before. You can't map all of it...so there are shortcomings. But I don't use all of it...and there are great options out there if you do. The big timecode window. My producers will now be happy in every bay. I bought the Digital Heaven one, but not everyone did. Now, there it is...big as day. iChat Theatre. Now my producers don't have to drive 2 hours to see a cut...and they don't have to put up with the horrid quality of my isight camera pointed at a monitor. And this includes VISIBLE TIMECODE...even though your sequence doesn't have that filter on there. Anyone notice that? Media Manager has HUGE improvements when dealing with speed changes and copying footage, deleting unused and having handles. SO much so that going back to FCP 6 I feel crippled. Color 1.5 deals with these speed changes better too. And you can visible see when you turn off your grade...the timeline says so. YAAY! I haven't used the SHARE options...not my ball o wax at the moment. Overall...i am VERY happy. Great improvements. ProRes alone does it for me, but then Markers and P2 import options, AVCI support! Did I mention Markers? ProRes Proxy... Shane GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD...don't miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by walter biscardi on Aug 10, 2009 at 12:21:29 am Good note Shane. It was amazing to me how many whiners we had on release day when so many of the nuts and bolts things we've been asking to have fixed for so long were finally addressed. All everybody looks for is "new stuff" when it's the old stuff that needed fixing all along. Now we finally seem to have a very solid editing tool with the nuts and bolts stuff now working as well as the "whiz bang" stuff. Walter Biscardi, Jr. Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author. Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards. Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post Biscardi Creative Media Creative Cow Forum Host: Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. Read my Blog! Twitter! Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Rob Grauert on Aug 10, 2009 at 12:41:13 am The new FCP sounds awesome, but Shane, what do you mean when you say the markers move when you add footage? Do you mean the markers move down the timeline if you perform an insert edit? How does this help you out when you edit? I can't say I've ever needed that...not that I'm knocking what you have to say about the new FCS. Just wondering if you're doing something that makes for more efficient/organized editing that I don't know about. Robert J. Grauert, Jr. www.robgrauert.com Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Shane Ross on Aug 10, 2009 at 12:53:24 am [Rob Grauert] "Do you mean the markers move down the timeline if you perform an insert edit?" Yes, it does. They move when you do an Insert edit. NOT when you perform a TTTT move though, so you have to be careful. [Rob Grauert] " How does this help you out when you edit?" Well, I make notes on my cut. "Trim here" "Fix audio here" "Add Music" "Temp footage, replace ASAP" ...stuff like that. I also work on shows with multiple editors, and assistants, so we will put markers on the timeline and ask the other editors to address those notes, or for the assistants to address those notes. Well, I did this on Avid, where we have locators that are also color coded and move with the timeline. Stuff like "please address all the yellow markers" that might contain notes. Or I might use the WHITE markers as the location of Act Breaks...then yellow for notes that need addressling, red for temp footage or stock footage that still needs master footage...all sorts of things. When the markers don't move when you make a cut, or add something, then they are darn useless for ANY task I use markers for. Shane GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD...don't miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Rob Grauert on Aug 10, 2009 at 1:04:20 am Ahh..making notes. That's a really good idea, especially when working with multiple editors. I've been working all on my own up until recently, so I never thought of that. Huh, I wish I would have thought of that. Thanks. Robert J. Grauert, Jr. www.robgrauert.com Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Shane Ross on Aug 10, 2009 at 1:10:14 am Well, it was pretty useless for that until FCP 7, so no wonder you didn't think of it. All editors with Avid backgrounds do this (well, most) and when they tried, they cursed at FCPs implimentation. Shane GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD...don't miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Kevin Monahan on Aug 10, 2009 at 1:17:42 am How about...MOTION people? This got a huge chunk of cool features. I like the behaviors and features associated with the camera: Focus Behavior, Framing Behavior and Depth of Field are huge. Reflections and Shadows are also very nice too. Anyone had a chance to play? ;-) Kevin Monahan www.fcpworld.com Author - Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Shane Ross on Aug 10, 2009 at 1:35:53 am I only use Motion for simple things, like some text and moves on stills. I know there are HUGE advancements made in Motion, and that made a buddy of mine very happy. I just don't use Motion enough to notice that. Just like a lot of people don't realize how the new Markers are simply 100% ...1000%...better. Shane GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD...don't miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Tim Wilson on Aug 10, 2009 at 2:06:36 am Great point, Kevin. I'm going to go start this thread up in the Motion forum too. See you there. :-) tw Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Wayne Carey on Aug 10, 2009 at 4:29:20 pm [Bouke Vahl] "Closed Captioning support. I have to dive into that as well, as my subtitler can output .SCC files that 'should' be compatible. (I have not tested it yet though, waiting for a compatible card to arrive.) Acutally, it is not so much in FCP, hardware does the job. (As expected, CPC holds a patent about generating CC info using a computer, this is a nice way around the patent) " Word of caution here... Closed captioning only applies to which version of the CPC software you have. If you own the HD Enterprise version, you can caption anything. BUT... if you have any other version, yo0u can only caption your SD timelines to SD. Personally, I haven't tried this yet. But I did get this information straight from CPC. I'm hoping they are wrong and are just trying to sell me an upgrade (about $4,000 for HD Enterprise from CPC-700 software - OUCH!). _______________________________ Wayne Carey Schazam Productions http://web.mac.com/schazamproductions schazamproductions@mac.com Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Zane Barker on Aug 10, 2009 at 2:29:26 am I have noticed that Motion projects and templates seem to render much faster in FCP 7. There are no "technical solutions" to your "artistic problems". Don't let technology get in the way of your creativity! Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Shane Ross on Aug 11, 2009 at 10:25:26 pm [Ben Insler] "Did they fix the little bugs, like the fact that pressing Shift+V in the export window frequently pastes the contents of your clipboard rather than typing a capital V?" It pastes the content of the timeline in a TEXT window? [Ben Insler] " Can you rename video/audio tracks from v1/v2/a1/a2 etc.?" No. [Ben Insler] "Relink Render files?" I can now...reconnect. Or do you mean in some other instance? [Ben Insler] "Do long name exports of reference movies still get an arbitrary code on the tail end of their name, causing them to lose their embedded QT Timecode?" Wow, never noticed this. That seems like an OS issue. Why not keep the file names short? Why the need for LONG names? Shane GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD...don't miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Tom Wolsky on Aug 12, 2009 at 11:32:46 pm Shift-V does not paste into a dialog box. Cmd-V would, but you must be hitting the wrong key or the keyboard has been reconfigured somehow. All the best, Tom Class on Demand DVDs "Complete Training for FCP6," "Basic Training for FCS2" and "Final Cut Express Made Easy" Author: "Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials" and "Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop" Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Marc Bostrom on Aug 12, 2009 at 3:56:37 am Hi Ben, Here's some reading stuff: http://images.apple.com/finalcutstudio/docs/Final_Cut_Studio-In_depth.pdf Marc Bostrom -| just another PRO FCP user |- Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Jim Schaefer on Aug 12, 2009 at 5:03:57 am WOW I love how Apple has taken the approach of releasing a new program every year with the least amount of changes, but very costly to the consumer. They say they have 100 changes, more like a 100 "should have had" in FCS2 update tweaks. Blue-Ray is the biggest change. Export to blue-ray is just another thing Apple can sell for a over expensive price, as if its not already $30.00 for a blank Blue-Ray disc. Make sure all you Post production people not to miss a frame of anything when you export to Blue-Ray cause its gonna be costly indeed. Things I like but should just be updates, not a new full version. Markers!! I can finally label my markers and even color them, (this should have been done 10 years ago!) More Effects... They just take away from what people have learned and how to apply filters and motion adjustments. Plus you could download effects on some sites for free, why did apple include this. Motion and Color app: Don't get me wrong Motion and Color have been a great program but Apple again is selling an image. Can anyone tell me you've seen Apple really tell consumers lots about Motion and Color in the past like they advertise it now?, I cant find any advertisement for FCS2 for these 2 great programs, Why now is Apple starting to show consumers the quality of these programs? This is Apples marketing approach to show something that's been around for a while is now New even though nothings really changed in them. I will not get Final Cut Studios 3 because there was no reason to make it. They should have just came out with an update for Final Cut Studios 2 with all these new features. I'm also upset now too cause who knows what crazy Apple will pull on us in 12 months form now? Final Cut Studios 4, More add on's. If they release a new version every year Final Cut Program will fail. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Shane Ross on Aug 12, 2009 at 6:51:27 pm [Robert Semeniuk] "these improvements should have been a free download, or at best only a few bucks, not the current sticker price. If not for the Blu Ray export option I'm not sure I would get it either." So all the hard work that scores of people put into this version should go unpaid? The ProRes codecs aren't worth the money? I beg to differ! THe P2 import changes aren't worth it? The under the hood fixes to how FCP handles speed changes and how COLOR handles speed changes? The addition of shadows and other things to Motion...stuff that took a LONG time to work on...is worth nothing? Just because YOU might not use ProRes, or P2, or other things that they fixed doesn't mean that this update is worthless. The advancements made don't affect you...OK then, don't buy the upgrade. Buy the one that DOES affect you. Don't bitch and moan about how much you have to shell out for something that you don't need to buy. Don't need it, don't get it. Simple. Find something that does what you need? Get that. Simple. Sheesh. Shane GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD...don't miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by walter biscardi on Aug 12, 2009 at 6:58:51 pm [Shane Ross] "So all the hard work that scores of people put into this version should go unpaid? The ProRes codecs aren't worth the money? I beg to differ! THe P2 import changes aren't worth it? The under the hood fixes to how FCP handles speed changes and how COLOR handles speed changes? The addition of shadows and other things to Motion...stuff that took a LONG time to work on...is worth nothing? " All the under the hood fixes are worth the price of admission alone. All these things we've been asking for, as in all the professional editors who use this application, have for the most part been answered. Those looking for new flash with each version are definitely disappointed but they miss the point of the application. It's not about all the new flash bang stuff, it's about the basic stuff working. Not having a speed change ripple the timeline is worth $299 to me. That's a workflow thing that will make it so much more efficient on our end. And of course it all comes back to BluRay. Those are the biggest whiners I've seen on this entire deal. Who cares. Buy something that works. If you're not happy about the FCP updates, buy something else, doesn't affect us. I wasn't happy with Media 100 in 2001 so I switched. The day FCP doesn't meet my needs, I switch again. No big deal, just need to what I need to do to keep moving the company along. Walter Biscardi, Jr. Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author. Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards. Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post Biscardi Creative Media Creative Cow Forum Host: Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. Read my Blog! Twitter! Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Andy Mees on Aug 13, 2009 at 5:53:00 am [walter biscardi] "All the under the hood fixes are worth the price of admission alone. " Agreed. Upgrade after upgrade, we've all whined like babies over the continuing issues with clip speed handling, especially so with respect to rippling timelines and more importantly Media Mangling, and with this release Apple have addressed exactly these issues ... and not by just tacking on an extra checkbox here or there either, but by completely rewriting the core handling of the functions so that they perform exactly the way we've been asking them to. [walter biscardi] "All these things we've been asking for, as in all the professional editors who use this application, have for the most part been answered. " Heee. Well now you're over egging it Walter :-) There is still a very long list of things that weren't addressed ... little things that would have gone a very long way to making this upgrade really feel like they'd pulled out all the stops to address our niggles. But its still early days. Despite the naysayers I think Apple are listening very carefully to our feedback and are reacting accordingly behind the scenes. This is a very encouraging release, in fact one of the most encouraging in FCP history. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by walter biscardi on Aug 13, 2009 at 12:29:21 pm [Andy Mees] " This is a very encouraging release, in fact one of the most encouraging in FCP history." I'll agree there. It's like they actually listened to a wide range of editors this time. Walter Biscardi, Jr. Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author. Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards. Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post Biscardi Creative Media Creative Cow Forum Host: Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. Read my Blog! Twitter! Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by David Battistella on Aug 13, 2009 at 2:24:26 am Look out for this problem I just discovered in an SD sequence. any cut I make in the the timeline RENAMES the sequence to the name of the FILENAME of the shot I have cut into the sequence. IE. Sequence is named CUT 1. Cut shot number 2343726hdg into the sequence sequence name changes from CUT 1 to 2343726hdg Very, very strange stuff. Never seen that before. David Peace Check out my new web series. http://www.ripperhockey.com Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by Tom Wolsky on Aug 13, 2009 at 2:29:30 am Very weird, I've been playing with it for a while and have not seen that one. Wonder what triggers it. All the best, Tom Class on Demand DVDs "Complete Training for FCP6," "Basic Training for FCS2" and "Final Cut Express Made Easy" Author: "Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials" and "Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop" Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Okay, so what do you REALLY think? by James Fortier on Aug 13, 2009 at 5:06:24 pm I also switched mid-project and I had no problems at all. I recently purchased the Panasonic HPX300 and I was eager to see how FCP 7 would handle native AVC-I 100 footage from the P2 Card during Log and Transfer, and it worked great. Main let down is that while this is a big improvement over having to transfer the clips as Apple Pro Res Wrapper Files, it sure would be nice to some day be able to just drag and drop MXF files directly from the P2 Card folders into a new FCP project Bin. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index