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I use FCPX, what am I missing out on since I don't use avid or Adobe editing software?


scott karos

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I actually like FCPX (I may be the only professional editor who does), but they've been improving it and cutting in it is very nice. HOWEVER, it is severely lacking in some departments. For example, because it doesn't have traditional tracks, you can't really mix audio. You can adjust levels with keyframes manually, but there is no way to ride faders while the picture plays, and of course there are no audio mixing surfaces that are compatible with it.

 

Beyond that, working collaboratively in a studio setting can be a huge pain. With FCPX, they intend that you stay within FCP to do everything -- color correction, audio mixing, compositing, etc. If you need to export or conform with any of that stuff, you end up having to figure out a workaround, or purchase third-party apps (which don't work perfectly).

 

When you work with AVID or FCP7, you end up relying heavily on keyboard shortcuts to do things quickly. That can make it feel faster, or like you're getting more work done, but I actually think that FCPX is more efficient in some ways.

 

Finally, let me just say that I've had countless total nightmares trying to get FCPX to work properly. Most of those issues have been addressed in updates, but it certainly has its quirks.

Edited by Josh Gladstone
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I've been an editor for almost two decades, started bench editing on film and moved into ABC roll linear, then into non-linear with Media 100 and was a developer of the first version of FCP back in 1999.

 

When I got FCPX and started cutting with it, I realized Final Cut Pro was dead. Even the current versions have huge issues because Apple has decided to make it for the masses. This means, you basically have to function within the operating system parameters for smooth media integration and MOST functionality has hit the cutting room floor compared to it's counterparts.

 

Working with Avid and Final Cut 7 all day long and switching to FCPX is a lesson in futility. Managing media, adding/subtracting multiple effects to shots, preview/program windows and previewing media, all very poorly conceived. It makes the absolutely poorly written Avid, look like a genius software package.

 

Honestly, I dislike every single editor on the market. Each one of them has their own substantial bugs which leaves them neutered in some way. Avid is poorly written and way too complicated, developing their own terminology and workflow which makes no sense. If you work in Avid, you'd better have extra displays and keyboards because there will be moments of rage where both will get destroyed. However, it's the industry standard and if you wanna cut fast and proper, it is the best tool on the market. Final Cut 7 is 32 bit, so it's very slow compared to Avid with simple things like rendering and exporting, but it's still very powerful and more intuitive then Avid. Final Cut 7 is also a "lightweight" software, not needing expensive GPU's to function properly, which is very nice. You can run it on an old system perfectly fine and it's compatible with the latest and greatest codec's natively. Media management is also much easier with FCP 7 and so is import and export. Adobe Premiere is kludgy, Adobe wants you to use their software for media management and there are some other silly things about mixed media and exporting which aren't so friendly for post production. However, it's the cheapest software on the market today, only $49 bux per month and it's very powerful, with a 64 bit engine and all the tools necessary for doing some serious work.

 

If I wasn't a professional, I would delete Avid off my computer and use Adobe Premiere. However, as a professional, the Avid workflow seems to be the industry standard and if you treat Avid like FCP, do your own media management, it does work very well. It takes a while to get use to it, but if you can live in Avid world, you will reap the benefits of being able to get work in places you wouldn't normally get work and that to me is the most important part. If you truly know Avid, you're truly an asset to the industry.

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If I wasn't a professional, I would delete Avid off my computer and use Adobe Premiere. However, as a professional, the Avid workflow seems to be the industry standard and if you treat Avid like FCP, do your own media management, it does work very well. It takes a while to get use to it, but if you can live in Avid world, you will reap the benefits of being able to get work in places you wouldn't normally get work and that to me is the most important part. If you truly know Avid, you're truly an asset to the industry.

 

For a near, or exactly, one man band Premiere has pretty much satisfied most of my requirements. I actually started using After Effects first for... well... effects... then I started shooting live digital footage, I got Final Cut Express to basically be a 'cutting tool'. I thought I'd graduate to FCP... but by the time I really needed better features, it was clear that FCP had stopped 'improving'... moved to Premiere...

 

Since I don't usually have share in a major way with others, using the Adobe Creative has pretty much 'solved' my digital film editing and audio needs. (with Audition...).

 

At some ancient time I did supply networking cards used in Avid systems, FDDI cards if anyone can recall that 'wonder' of 150 Mb/s at the time... but as Gigabit Ethernet took hold, I moved on to other things...

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