For my fellow filmmaking friends, the last couple of days has brought some terrific news.

For those who have been frustrated with the features lacking in FCPX, there has been an update that among other things supports XML exporting/importing. This means you can use all of those third party applications and work with others on a project much easier. I look forward to still using Soundtrack Pro and Color with FCPX. I have been waiting for this update for months! Lots of bug fixes- we are on our way with FCPX! For those who are on the fence about FCPX, you can download a free 30 day trial here: http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/trial/  I also HIGHLY recommend the tutorial videos to learn FCPX from Ripple Training: http://www.rippletraining.com/.  It’s $40 for the videos and well worth it! I have been using Ripple Training for years and Steve Martin, the trainer on the videos- not the actor, was my teacher when I became an Apple Certified Instructor.

Also, exciting news is the long awaited Lacie Little Big Disk-Thunderbolt drive! For those who don’t know about Thunderbolt- Apple and Intel have worked together to create a blazing fast connection that is 20x faster than USB 2.0.

Why is this exciting? Because when you edit the massive high quality HD files, your computer is drawing the source material in real time from the place where your files are stored. If you are like me and you edit a lot of projects, there is not enough space on your computer (nor is it good to tax your computer that your software is running) for all of these files. In the past Firewire 800, was the best option. But it was dragging down my projects and I had a lot of crashes because of read speed. I also need a fast drive for editing while traveling with my Macbook Pro. Both my Imac and Macbook pro have thunderbolt technology. If you do not have thunderbolt, than this drive is not for you. Mark my words, this technology will eventually be in a lot of devices and change how we access our files and bring on new possibilities.

The Lacie Little Big Disk is $399 for 1TB and $499 for 2TB available here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H7150ZM/A/lacie-little-big-disk-thunderbolt-series-hard-drive Don’t forget to get a Thunderbolt cable- it doenst come with one.

Finally, I would like to mention something completely unrelated. I have been working on a website to serve as a hub for all of my projects including The Philmont Documentary, The Tobasco Donkeys, current projects and my blog. I’d be happy for you to visit and take a look at: www.LarryMcLaughlin.net

**UPDATE: I was using FCPX on a recent edit and became so frustrated with my limitations that I ended up editing it in FCP7.  This might be because I simply didn’t know how to achieve what I knew I could in FCP 7 and grew tired of it.  I have not given up yet on it yet, not after I learn the software better.  But for now, I’m sticking to FCP7.   Here’s what I wrote before:

I have been editing with Final Cut Pro studio for years and have even been an Apple Certfied Trainer for Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Color, which were in the Final Cut Pro studio bundle (much like Adobe’s CS5). As you might expect, I was a bit nervous when they combined these 3 apps into the new Final Cut Pro X and changed everything I knew.

There has been so much negative feedback about Final Cut Pro X that it even made for a funny sketch on Conan O’Brien:

WHY DO I LIKE IT?

I took the time to learn the software with Ripple Training http://www.rippletraining.com/. The new FCP X saves me time and allows me to focus on being creative. The way the software organizes your media and makes it easier to scan and add keywords is like having your own assistant editor. For my Philmont Documentary Collection, I would have saved a month or so of time. That’s worth a lot right there. It is also easier to edit in the timeline. The magnetic timeline is impressive. Previous versions had numerous keyboard short-cuts and work-arounds that took years to learn. I knew all those short-cuts and was a quick editor, but it was a lot of time wasted when I could have just been being creative.

On the surface, the interface seems consumer-like and ‘not pro’ as many people have been complaining about. But if you learn the software, you will find there is much more under the hood. What makes one a ‘pro’ is the quality of the edit, not the interface of the software they use. I think a lot of people are upset because they have to relearn everything that they have taken years to learn. Personally, I like change. And in the video business there is a lot of change that you can either embrace or get left behind with your opinions.

WHAT I DON’T LIKE ABOUT IT

There are a few things that I would like to see change. The color controls are not what they were in Color. I don’t know why they abandoned the standard color wheel. For most sound editing, FCP X has what I need, but it’s missing advanced features that I liked in Soundtrack Pro such as adding effects to the master mix. Also, many of my plug-ins are not working. It is said that this will be fixed. I also have a two monitor set-up which I loved for editing: my final movie on my second monitor and a smaller viewer on my primary screen. In FCP X you can use 2 monitors, but you only have one ‘viewer’ and have to move your one viewer to the other screen, which is weird. There are also some bugs which Apple says will be fixed with an update. They need to be more clear on when the fixes are coming. After all, this isn’t an iPhone release we’re talking about. The longer Apple stays quiet about it, the more customers they lose.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you are a one-person operation, I would recommend Final Cut Pro X. It’s $299 in the App store. FCP studio was $999. Take the time to learn the software through someone like Ripple Training or Linda.com before you get too frustrated trying to figure it out yourself and label it, ‘iMovie Pro’.

I also learned Motion 5, which was released at the same time. It, too, is powerful software and for $50 is a steal.  If you have any specific questions about FCPX, I’d be happy to help.

Cheers,

Larry

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Pictured above is where I spend most of my time.  For the Philmont documentary, I spent a good part of a year and a half here.   My set-up: iMac, 27-inch: 3.1 GHZ with 8GB ram and i7 processor.  My second monitor is a 24 inch Dell 2407WFP.  The Dell monitor has served me well, but difficult to calibrate for color accuracy.  Some day I hope to replace it with an Apple 27 inch Cinema Display.  The speakers are nothing special.  However I have found them great to mix with because they match most consumer set-ups.

Above my desk, I draw inspiration from my son’s art work.  Below my desk- my dogs, Diogi and Lola.  Diog (the golden retriever) has been a fixture under my desk through all of my various projects over the last 11 years.  Lola usually lays on another bed behind me, but she saw I was taking a picture and didn’t want to get excluded.

On my desk, notice my Canon lens novelty cup.  I love it!  It’s a great water and tea cup, but I must admit that I have a horrible addiction to Coke Zero.  And when I am editing or writing, that addiction seems to kick up a notch.  I’ll have to work on that.  A friend suggested a good cure for Coke Zero addiction might be arsenic.  I think that was meant to be a joke.

My editing software of choice is: Final Cut Pro studio.  I am an Apple Certified Trainer for Final Cut Pro, Color and Soundtrack Pro and so I feel very comfortable with them.  It’s amazing how much can be done these days with this software, a decent camera and a little know how.  It makes it possible for a guy like me to be a one man production company and I shrill like a school girl when new technology comes out.  Since new technology comes out so often, I shrill just about every other day.  To give you an idea, how much things have changed in the past decade-  when I was in film school I shot a short 12 minute film on Super 16, which cost thousands just for the film stock and development.  Then I had to take it to a special colorist and transfer the footage to Digi-beta so that I could edit it on a $25,000 Avid system that I rented time on.  Once I had the edit, I brought it to another studio where I sat behind a guy who worked on the sound (mixing, sound fx, music, mastering). I’ll never forget my sister (who was the producer) and I going through hundreds of CD’s in the breakroom of the Sound Studio picking out the music we would use from their music library.  This was in 2000.  Now I just shoot it on SD or Compact flash cards, import, color and do sound design right on my computer.  I can sample tens of thousands of songs through a number of music services from the comfort of my desk and my dog at my feet.  Everything has gotten so much cheaper and more accessible.  Some college friends of mine bought a very early HD camera in 2000 for $75,000!  I have 2 cameras now that shoot higher quality and cost about 10% of that camera.

But no matter how cheap they make the equipment, it will always require practice and skill.  It’s like if everybody could buy Eddie Van Halen’s exact guitar set-up for $25 it doesn’t mean everyone will sound like Eddie Van Halen.  But it might provide access for someone who would have never even thought they were skilled to give it a shot.

This week a new version of Final Cut Pro hit the app store.  I have been shrilling everyday as I anticipated its release.  It was rebuilt from the ground-up and Apple made the software look so good, it practically edited your footage for you.  I knew it wasn’t smart to upgrade, as much as I wanted to, until after my current editing job is finished.  It’s a good thing too because I would have downloaded the software the day it was released.  I’m SO happy I didn’t.  The reviews have been horrible!  Looks like Apple was trying to dumb down the pro software to appeal to a wider base and therefore lost a lot of features that pros depend on.  Very disappointing.  I hope they improve the software soon because I was hoping to cut my Philmont footage in July with it.

Okay, back to editing.  I am happy with everything so far and look forward to you seeing it soon!

-Larry