ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 8 months ago - SP User

I think FCPX is great software but I would hesitate to recommend it for a feature length doc.

It tends to get very sticky and unresponsive on longer projects although having said that I've just completed a 50 minute programme with it.

There is an editor who is using FCPX to cut pieces for the BBC1 culture show but I'm not sure what inroads it has made within the broadcast sector.

The latest update 10.0.6 has really improved aspects of the performance, rendering time is now considerably faster than Adobe Premier 6 according to a test done by Alex Gollner.

http://alex4d.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/adobe-premiere-cs6-vs-apple-final-cut-pro-x-speed-test/

But If you've got the time I would take up Tom Kinnersly's suggestion and try out the free demos.

12 years, 9 months ago - Lawrence Alexander

I've been using FCP 7 for years and now Premiere 6. It's been a striaght forward jump across. Depending on the format of the rushes it's likely you will have to convert them to ProRes for FCP 7 while Premiere 6 (most of the time) can work with the native files. Also Prem 6's media browser is very powerful. 20 hours of  rushes can be easily be sorted in FCP 7 and Prem 6. I've been a freelance editor for years and never been offered work on FCP X. Good luck with the doc.

12 years, 8 months ago - Phil Macdonald

First fix with the computer is easy. You can buy really cheap RAM from Komputerbay (search amazon) and quickly update to 8gb ram for about £30....with regards to the software, I'm not predominately an editor but when I do edit I use premiere cs6 and find the linking between the different adobe products super useful, I've heard that render times for premiere are longer than some of the others but again I guess that's dependent on your computer setup. Someone mentioned a trial, definitely the best bet, get that an maybe look to cut a small teaser for your doc and see how you get on. Best of luck with it all

12 years, 8 months ago - Felipe Madureira

I always ask myself if it really worths to "wait for FCPX gets better". Premiere are taking his space, for me it's dead and gone, I'm still using FCP 7, but when I needed Premiere did a great job.

12 years, 8 months ago - Felipe Madureira

And these tests are only based on effects rendering, on the everyday life of an editor you have to deal with so much stuff, and for me at least FCPX don't attend these demands. And if you already got After Effects, Premiere is there, why not give it a try?

12 years, 8 months ago - Richard Ridout

Thanks for all the comments on this.
It’s looking like Final Cut X isn’t the way to go despite some benefits which Apple should have just put in FCP 8.
Think I’ll just stick with fcp 7 for now. Although now I’m worried my new computer won’t handle my project (after Dan’s comment)…

(MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Quad-core Intel i7
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM)

12 years, 9 months ago - Tom Kinnersly

I work on Avid, FCP 7 (rarely) and now Premiere with After Effects. My colleagues who use FCP X tell me that its still frustrating and not ready for professional use for another year or two. Meanwhile I have learnt Premiere and it gives you that FCP 7 feel but with many great new features. The dynamic linking to After Effects and Audition saves a lot of time in the edit. Audition is better than ProTools for cleaning up noisy or clicky audio (I have both). Together they work really well and they use all the power of whatever system you use. For example, even my 5 year old Avid HP workstation works so much better in Premiere, it will play a lot of HD and mixed formats in the timeline without rendering. FCP7 cant manage the same trick.
You can try a demo of both Premiere and FCP X, if you have a great system and a minimum of 16GB ram then FCPX will work without too much crashing. Premiere behaves well with half that RAM but it will use more if you have it.
I've been editing for 15 years and I dont work for Adobe, I've used all edit systems and Avid is still the best cutter/trimmer for pro editors. Premiere with AE and Audition is the best package though.
I hope other answers will answer the specific issues with FCPX. Good luck with your project

12 years, 8 months ago - Dan Selakovich

I worked on Avid for years, then FCP up to 7. Stay the hell away from FCP X. I simply don't trust it to handle a feature length project. You don't mention the footage you'll be working with. FCP X can't utilize 4k. Premiere can. I'm pretty pissed at Apple. Just when FCP 8 was nearing release, they sacked all of the FCP guys and put the iMovie people on FCP X. That should tell you something about X. While I hated Avid as a company back in the 90's (SO many work-arounds), I hear they've gotten better. So I'd go with them or Premiere. If you're using After Effects, Premiere is the way to go. You can also utilize DaVinci color grading with Premiere (or FCP X, or Avid). I've not used the audio editing (Audition) for premiere, but I hear it's pretty great. Once I'm done with my current project on FCP 7, I'm switching over to Premiere for the ability to handle 4k. Whichever you choose, make sure you have a computer that can handle the size of project you're doing. It's not just about the software. Best of luck with the doc!

12 years, 8 months ago - Dan Selakovich

More RAM would certainly be helpful. Also, think about breaking the show into "reels." In the film days, a reel was about 1000 feet, or around 11 minutes. Do the same digitally, keeping your reels less than 20 minutes, then combine them when you are ready to lock reels. This will keep your laptop from getting "glitchy" when it tries to deal with 90 minutes in one go.

12 years, 8 months ago - Mike Wood

I've been a Pro Editor for a few years, most recently in a post house in London that used FCP7 soley for editing TX programmes in SD, HD and 5.1 HD. The tech and engineering have been keeping tabs on FCPX as a possible upgrade, but recently, even with the new update to FCPX, they've decided against it and are sticking to FCP7. It just isn't worth it, and can't cope with editing anything to broadcast standard. The trial machines we had it running on had the fans flying faster than the old concorde, and as an interface it was ropey; the magnetic timeline is a real PIA. I run my own edit station using FCP7, but have recently installed the Adobe suite as I need a solution that will scale as the technology progresses now FCP is a dead duck in the Pro world.

My suggestion? Stick with FCP 7 or load up Adobe and use the Premiere/AFX/Audition suite.