There has been all kinds of outrage over Apple’s release of Final Cut Pro X.

It was so bad that Apple broke one of their most sacred rules and offered cash refunds to the disenchanted.

Even yours truly, shortly after buying my own license, jumped onto the bandwagon.

However, I must now apologize to all my fellow professional editors, and say…

After using FCP X for several months, I’m ready to change my tune… mostly.

Though it's still not ready for prime time, Final Cut Pro X is pretty close.

Yes, it took some getting used to, but that’s only because I was conditioned to edit in the traditional “professional” way.

I’ve found enough powerful editing tools in this interface that I can achieve everything I want with even more precision than any other tool i’ve ever used.

I can definitely understand why other long-time editors would reject this software package.  It defies the time honored methods that have sustained our livelihoods for so long.  Change like this has always been met with resistance.  If your old enough you surely remember the same kind of push-back when Grass Valley Switchers became swapped out for Avid boxes.  It sure seemed like a huge step backward.

While AVR 77 AVID video looked like crap, it marked a milestone of change in our industry.

Those that did not understand the shift from linear to computer-based editing where missing the whole point back then.

I certainly didn’t embrace AVID 16 years ago when my employer switched over, but I respected the fact that things were going to be different.  I respected that I was either going to go along with the change, or I was going to be left behind.

Of course, I was young and bouncy 16 years ago.  The idea of paradigm shifts in time-honored work pipelines didn’t mean as much to me.  I was just thrilled back then to be editing.

This is the main feature of Final Cut Pro X for me.

I have done several projects on it, and I ‘m having fun again.  Storytelling is again, as it should be, my main involvement.

Don’t mistake the mechanics of injesting footage, transcoding formats, and logging clips for the joy of telling a story.

Apple has litterally brought the joy of story telling back to me.

There are problems with Final Cut Pro X, I mean let’s be real.

• It has miserable compositing tools. (I know Motion 5 is $30, but it doesn’t count)
• Timeline navigation is wonky – undoing often results in teleportation to nether regions of your show.
• Subclip? There’s no such thing.
• Still subject to random crashes.

Still, despite all the unbelievable oversights on Apple’s part- I love using Final Cut Pro X.  I’ve found work-arounds for all the above problems.  The crashes aren’t nearly as frequent as say Media Composer 3.  Also, unlike AVID’s earlier offerings, crashes never seem to result in any loss of editing work. (Thanks to the latest update, anyway.)

I’m sorry.  During the last revolution (linear to non-linear) I just wasn’t this happy, guys.

I’ve been tormented nearly my entire adult life…

The Summer between my Sophomore and Junior year of college, I worked for Disney World.

In addition to the daily humiliation of being dressed in polyester lederhosen, I was exposed to the most terrifying force in Orlando, Florida.

I, of course, am referring to the attraction they call “It’s a Small World.”  My candy stand was nearby to the exit of that ride, and I had to listen to the song all day.

Combined with the incredible heat and humidity, my wee-little brain turned all mushy and susceptible  to evil.  Luckily, I never caved in to the horrible voices that echoed in my head.

What’s this have to do with Creative Home Movies?

I’ll tell you.

After nearly 20 years since first being exposed to Disney’s “It’s a Small World”- I bravely picked up my camcorder, and set out to face my demons.

With the help and support of my family, I took a boat ride into the belly of the beast, and I emerged a new man!

You Too, Can Defeat Your Personal Demons.

Grab a camcorder.  You may be surprised to see that, through the viewfinder, your child-hood demons don’t seem so intimidating anymore.

-Or maybe they’re completely more ghastly than you ever recalled.

• If that’s the case then try throwing  a camcorder at your old tormentor.

That should buy you enough time to make an escape- if you’re lucky.

When my son was a little younger he liked to jump out of hiding spots in the hopes of scaring the ba-geebies out of me.

When he was 7 years old, scaring his dad, or being scared by his dad were awesome moments.

I was fortunate enough to capture a few of these precious times on my camcorder.

Even now, he gets a kick out of seeing how scared he got!

Here’s some tips for getting your own scary adventures on video…

• Use the Night Vision Feature on your camcorder.  Many SONY models have infrared built in to them.  (I was using a SONY PC101 for this video)
• Buy a third party Infrared video light.  Most camcorders will be able to pick up a picture just fine with one.
• Put your camera on a tripod.   Keep it in the corner of a room ,where it won’t get tripped on by your unsuspecting offspring.
• Be patient and wait in the dark for the right moment.  I waited for my wife to send Ryan to say good night to me.  Then I played Hide-and -Seek.  It took over 10 minutes of me waiting in the dark before he stumbled into my trap! Mha-ha-ha-ha!

Capturing on camera those cherished times with your family is what it’s all about.

Check this out.

This is why I want you to always have a camera charged and ready.

You may miss video gold like this accidental flying dog kick to my nether region.

In what can be considered the biggest mis-step since the Apple “Cube” Final Cut Pro X has been released.

Only days after the release the App Store was consumed with hatriolic (it should be a word) reviews like this:

Vital Features Missing

No External Video Monitoring, Can’t Open Old Project Files, No EDL or XML Support

DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY IF YOU ARE A PRO EDITOR!

The software has been a huge disappointment to pro editors that have been using the Final Cut pro products to date.

My question to Apple is, why?

Their arrogance is simply appalling to people like me working in TV for decades.  But, I think Apple is simply not afraid to alienate the tens-of-thousands of paid FCP owners.

Again, why?

Apple is clearly looking to gain a massive amount of new users.

To the freshly innaugerated- Final Cut Pro X is a very enticing software package, and it makes creating video content much simpler.  This is where Apple is likely going to win out in the long run.

We all need to accept that Apple has changed the way editing will be done from now on… again.

In the mean time,  I’m going to keep using Final Cut Pro 7 for my work.  When I decide to start using Final Cut pro X- it will be for my personal projects.  That is- until I see Apple reintroduce the professional features that the first release is lacking.

I know 1 easy thing you can do to make your next home movie far more entertaining.

Ready?

Get up.

No.  Not right now.  I mean when you’re shooting.

Don’t sit in one spot while your kid opens every birthday gift.  Get up and change your perspective with the camera.

In fact, every time you press the stop button- get up and…

• Change the distance between the camera and the subject
• Change the angle your viewing the subject from (move left or right at least 5 feet)

There.  That wasn’t so hard.

The part is now you’ll have a video that’s already watchable- no editing necessary.

(Unless you rolled camera on every blessed second that your three year old spent unwrapping her gifts.  You may still want to edit that down.)

Apple unveiled the much anticipated Final Cut Pro X last night in Las Vegas.

I’m going to reserve my personal opinion until the end of this article.

FCP X screen shot

First, here’s the cool stuff that will make this product a must-have for Mac owners that want to have editing tools like the pros.

1. Kickstart your project with advanced technology Unique to Final Cut Pro X
   • Begin editing while the software imports and transcodes your source footage.
   • Use advanced image analysis to help sort your footage into categories for you- a huge time saver.
   • Have the option to automatically remove camera shake and/or audio hiss from your source footage
2. True resolution independence.
   • Mix and match several different types of video and still imagery together without worrying about their technical compatability.  (A lot of words- This means that your stuff will just play when you hit the “play” button)
3. Intuitive Interface
   • Final Cut pro has always been favored by professional editors who appreciate a nice elegant interface.  This new version takes all that to a new level with more advanced gestural tools that will let you work the way you want to.
   • Automatically keeps footage in sync with “Clip Connection.”
   • keep track of different versions easily with new Auditioning tools
   • Easily view the media outside of your edit points without leaving timeline with new “Inline Precision Editor”
   • Use “Compound Clips” to combine groups of smaller clips into subsequences- Very useful to simplify complicated sequences.
4. Full Hardware Integration
   • Under the hood of your mac- know that all your cylinders will be firing to keep the editing software running smooth.
   • Use all available memory and processors that are on your system.
   • Render in the background while you continue to work.
   • Will run on your computer with practically no configuration problems or issues.  (I’m speculating, but this software was written from the ground up to run on your mac- no matter what the configuration.)
5. Price
   • Selling on the App Store in june for $299- it will be hard to pass up.
   • You’ll be in good company.  Even though FCP products have long been maligned in my industry as being less-than-professional- Apple has 60% of the professional market share.  It’s here to stay- and at this new price- you’ll find that there will be no shortage of people that can help you learn how to use this software shortly after its release.

So… What does an editor of 20 years think about the new Final Cut Pro?

I’m excited that I will be able to buy this software for my own use at home.  For a price of $299, I think every pro editor with a Mac at home will be very tempted to make this purchase.

However, I’m pretty underwhelmed with the information Apple has leaked out about it so far.

I realize there’s a lot of time before the actual release date- and there’s much that was not talked about.  But I really had hoped that Apple would have listened more to their loyal user base, and had addressed the day-to-day problems we have all been voicing.

If there’s a “Pro” in the title of any editing software – it really should be capable of making frame accurate edits onto any professional editing deck.  The current version of FCP cannot do this reliably, and I really want to know that Apple has fixed that kind of basic problem.

As Apple has left it in Las Vegas, we really don’t know all that much about the nuts and bolts of how the new version was built.

I will reserve my opinion for after I’ve played around with the software for a good while.

If you’re a prosumer or hobbyist- I think you can’t lose.  Final Cut Pro X will be a huge step up from whatever editing package you currently have.

If you’re a professional editor- please reserve judgment until we can get our grubby little tv hands on it.

– Peace

Scott Markowitz

If you’ve got a camcorder, or have posted to YouTube- you may have HMD.

I’m not going to judge you poorly if you make bad videos.  I’m just going to judge your videos.

The truth is many people suffer from what I call “HMD.”

• HMD = Home Movie Denial; It’s a medical condition that causes people to post really stinky movies on YouTube, or to force loved ones to watch awful streaming videos at family gatherings.

It’s not the end of the world.  I’ll help (you discover if your videos stink.)

Top 7 Signs that your videos stink, and nobody wants to watch them.

1. You managed to make a video that’s not about anything.
   • Fix it by steering your audience to a point.  (It would help if you knew what your point was going to be before you started making your crappy video.)
2. You’re being sneaky- and try to sell your audience something without offering anything of value.
   • People don’t like to get a sales pitch when they’re not expecting one.
     • This problem can be overcome, however, if you can offer your viewers something that’s worthy of their time.  If your video is very funny or teaches something of legitimate value- then I’ll give you a pass on the sales pitch.
3. You’ve failed to edit out mistakes.
   • Let’s say that you’ve recorded a poignant soliloquy about [fill in your hot button topic here], and the phone rang in the middle of the recording.  Please edit out the phone ringing in your finished video.  For flying monkeys’ sake- edit out the phone conversation
4. You’re Annoying.
   • Please- if you KNOW that others find you annoying, then maybe it’s not a good idea to make yourself the focal point in a series of videos about making home movies.  (Just sayin’)
   • Just because your mother has to love you- doesn’t mean the rest of us have to
5. You are completely unaware about the basic rules of visual composition.
   • The Rule of Thirds is a rule because it SHOULD be obeyed.  Otherwise, we’d call it the “suggestion of thirds.”
   • While I’m on the topic- watch your headroom, please.
   • If I see a tiny head at the bottom of picture, I get uncomfortable.
   • Your eyes should always be above the center of the screen- and your head should be near top of frame.
6. You can’t afford to pay your electricity bill?
   • Must be.  Why the @%#$ else would you be shooting in the ^&#$ dark?!!
   • Cameras need a good source of light to reproduce an acceptable image.
   • If you can’t afford the electricity- wait until daylight hours, and shoot then.  Please.
7. You have an itchy zoom button finger.
   • Yes.   The camera has a zoom button.
   • No.  Don’t throttle it back and forth like you’re a crazed weasel.  shh. shh. Just don’t.

A quick way to prevent anybody from ever watching your video is to have crappy audio underneath it.

• Do you want crappy audio, kids?

Of course you don’t.  I’ll tell you right now how to dramatically improve your audio- without having to spend a dime!

Pay attention.

We’ll Begin With Audio Acquisition Tips- Record Better Audio To Begin With.

1. Put a homemade windscreen on your camera’s microphone.  This will prevent those annoying wind “pops” from ever being recorded.
   • cut a patch from an old cotton sock that’s the size of your camera’s microphone.
   • Do likewise with an old pair of pantyhose.
   • Layer the sock and then the pantyhose on top of your microphone and adhere to camera with gaffers tape. (You can use duct tape as well-but it may leaf adhesive on your camera body.)
2. Pay attention to the sound levels of your camera while recording.
   • If your camera has audio meters- turn them on.  Adjust the mic level input accordingly.
   • Many cameras don’t have this feature.  That’s ok.  Get a pair of headphones, and plug them into the camera.
     • Put the headphones on and start shooting the way you normally do- except this time you’ll hear what is getting recorded adequately- and what’s not.
       • Adjust your shooting style accordingly.
         • If you self narrate a lot- then you’ll know if you have to speak softer or louder.
         • If your shooting subject can’t be heard, ask them to speak up.
3. Avoid noisy shooting locations
   • Seems obvious, but sometimes you don’t realize just how noisy a place is because your brain will try to filter noise out automagically for you.
   • If you have to shoot your BFF at the food court next to the wishing fountain- make sure they either shout to camera- or they have a hand-held microphone.

Well Done.  Next, We Have Tricks For Better Audio in Edits.

4. Do An Audio Pass- for cryin’ out loud.

• • Once your done editing the picture- Your still not done-done.
    • Go back and use the audio gain tools to level out all the audio.
      • Adjust everything so each audio clip is the same perceived audio level when playing it back.  (Turn off the music tracks until all the spoken words are level.  Then, go back and adjust the music so it sounds good with the spoken word.)

5.  Double The Audio Track

• • If you’re using editing software, like Final Cut Express or Sony Vegas, then it will allow you to double up the audio segments.
    • Very useful for when you have cranked up the audio gain already to the maximum, but it’s not enough.

Do these 5 things for your next video, and people may actually watch it.

Now, get out there, and make an awesome home movie!

Strap in CHuMs, because you’re about to learn one of my most valuable editing hints.

But before I lay down this media wisdom…

You know what’s weird?

Ehem– No.  It’s weird when you’re watching a video, and the scenes cut so fast that your eyes begin to bleed in their sockets, and you can’t tell what the sweet merciful crap you’re watching.

Rule #1, kids, is to Hold your shot.

Keep your shots on screen AT LEAST long enough for the average viewer to

• People in the biz would say a shot doesn’t have enough time to “read” if it’s not on screen long enough.
• The amount of time a shot needs to “read” is different for each shot.
  • It depends on how complex of an image it is.  Here’s things to look out for.
    • The more objects in a shot- the longer it needs to read
    • The crazier the camera movement is- the longer it needs to read
    • The less similar it is to shots around it- the longer it needs to read.
    • The more stunningly pretty a single composition is- the more you should let your viewers linger on it.

You know why this is tip #1?

If you don’t keep a shot on screen long enough, and pictures go by too fast- your intended audience will STOP WATCHING.

Also- you’ve made a stinky video.

Don’t make your videos stinky.

Hold your shots on long enough, and make your videos awesome!