Apple Releases Final Cut Pro X 10.0.2 Update

Apple has released the Final Cut Pro X 10.0.2 Update via the Mac App Store.

According to the company, this update improves overall stability and addresses some minor issues including the following:

  Fixes an issue where a title may revert to the default font after restarting Final Cut Pro X.

  Resolves an issue that could cause files recorded with certain third-party mobile devices to play back incorrectly.

  Addresses a stability issue caused by changing the start time on a Compound Clip.

The Final Cut Pro X 10.0.2 Update is recommended for all users and requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later.

Download in here

Final Cut Pro X: Three Tips from a Top Trainer

The Manhattan Edit Workshop has been getting a lot of calls for Apple Final Cut Pro X training, says Apple Certified Trainer Ari Feldman. That’s why it’s holding its first FCPX class, a hands-on intensive, on July 9th and 10th.

To prepare, Feldman has been spending a lot of time with the new software. “Man, is it different,” he says, praising its much faster performance. He also likes the new markers feature, which lets producers place to-do items within a project. Markers can be set as done or not done.

Much is missing, of course, like multicamera editing and XML export, but Feldman notes that Apple has promised to get those restored with an upcoming update.

Many experienced editors, including Feldman, are having difficulty adjusting to the trackless timeline. “That’s a new one on me,” he says, although he’s reserving judgment on whether or not he likes it until he’s spent more time with it.

At the moment, the user forums “read like an angry mob,” says Feldman, something he predicts will blow over in six months to a year as Apple provides improvements. Until then, plenty of people, both experienced and new to Final Cut, will need training.

“It’s the most polarizing piece of software I’ve ever seen,” he adds.

To help you adjust to the radically new Final Cut Pro X, here are three tips that Feldman has discovered:

Scrub with the S Key
With FCPX, Apple has introduced a simple way to scrub through your footage without moving the playhead. Press the S key on your keyboard to turn the feature on. Then, you can move your mouse over your footage to scrub through the video. Press the S key again to turn the feature off. “It’s a faster way to scrub through your footage,” says Feldman. Afterwards, your playhead is exactly where you left it.

Reverse Your Ken Burns
Adding motion to still photos (the Ken Burns effect) is possible in Final Cut Pro 7, but Feldman especially likes how simple and intuitive it is with FCPX. Zooming in or out on a photo is a snap. But there’s also a Swap button on the interface that lets you reverse the effect you’ve created. This is a great timesaver when you change your mind or want to play with different effects.

Duplicating a Project
Creating duplicates of a project has baffled some users, since FCPX lacks a Save As menu item. The solution is to hit command-D to bring up the Duplicate Project window. This lets you create a duplication on another hard drive, duplicate a project and all of its clips, or duplicate a project and only the material used in the timeline. It’s the FCPX version of the Media Manger from previous versions of Final Cut, says Feldman.

Source is
http://www.onlinevideo.net/2011/06/final-cut-pro-x-three-tips-from-a-top-trainer/

Final Cut Pro X Take Two

This time I’m working on a major project so I need to know if Final Cut Pro X is up to the task.

Firstly the bad news. Version 10.0 on my Mac just could not do Titles. I couldn’t change any of the text attributes – font, size, colour, etc. which meant that any form of text generation inside the program wouldn’t work. I tried a few workarounds and dropped in on relevant forums where others had similar issues but with no success. Luckily version 10.1 arrived before I gave up, and the problem disappeared.

Over a few days of heavy use I have had to restart the program twice when it was starting to run a bit too slowly. Otherwise, no other major problems.

Things I’m not yet convinced about are the themes, most of the transitions and some of the video effects. They’re all still a bit too iMovie for my liking. But there are enough alternatives for me to do what I need. And, in the life of a major piece of software, it is still very early days.

One difference between X and previous versions is the use of Events and Projects instead of Bins and Sequences, but this soon becomes second nature. I have my media files sorted by the date they were imported into the program, which I’m finding useful in this project as it logs my progress into one-day units.

Once I got used to the Magnetic Timeline concept I found it really useful for keeping things in sync. Not having tracks as such was a bit weird at first but I soon adapted. Ancillary files – sound FX, narration, cutaways still sit above or below the main storyline and can be repositioned, edited or muted very easily.

The speed at which FCPX fires up (30 seconds for a 30-minute project) and renders in the background is pretty impressive, although at times I found it better to wait until the progress meter told me background rendering was finished. But there were nothing like the wait times in previous versions.

Although I miss not being able to connect directly to Photoshop or an external sound editor the program now has a definite one-stop shop feel. All the music and sounds on my Mac are accessible as are all my photos.

In addition to the FCP audio FX I also have access to every audio effect from Logic, the Mac system and third-party ring-ins. I needed to simulate the baritone sound of a large seabird but I only had a soprano seagull. With two effects – pitch shift and EQ I had a reasonable sounding facsimile in seconds.

When I needed to quickly lay down a rough narration to enable me to place stills and clips in the right place, I USB-connected my trusty old Røde Podcaster and recorded directly into the timeline via a neat little window which immediately recognised the mic and showed input/output gain sliders. Simple.

For this project I don’t need to connect a camera as I am using files from disk. But just to be sure I tried out my little Kodak Zx1 which I had used for stills and HD video on a recent trip to Thailand. While Final Cut did not recognise the camera (I didn’t really expect it to) I could still import footage from the disk icon which the connected Zx1 placed on my desktop. Or I could have slotted the camera’s SD card into my Mac and loaded the files directly from that.

There’s even another way. While I was away I had been transferring my video and stills to my iPad. I connected this to the Mac and Final Cut treated it like a camera, showing files in the camera browser ready for import. Nice.

The resize, reposition, trim, crop and distort functions work really well either manually or numerically for that fine tweak.

A quick and dirty Ken Burns effect offers a start and an end frame which I can adjust to suit. There’s even a reverse button so I can start with the end and end with the start. If I wish.

The video editors are really impressive. One of the video clips had a little too much camera movement which I was able to quickly suppress. Another clip had an exposure problem which was also quickly fixed with level sliders monitored on a histogram. Another clip needed stretching a a few seconds to fill a gap. Easy, with a little help from my friends . . .

As I mentioned in my first piece the video tutorials by Final Cut Pro X expert (if anyone can be an FCPX expert yet!) Michael Wohl in the macProVideo.com series have been my lifeline. And this has continued. I find myself returning to these snappy, sharply-focused mini lessons time and time again. I reckon I’ve saved myself hours of anguish and lost production time this way. Highly recommended.
So there you have it. I’m even more impressed than I was after my first go at FCPX. Each day I become a little more comfortable with the vast array of tools available and certain basic routines and shortcuts are quickly becoming instinctive.

It’s really well designed software with a beautiful interface – very Apple. I’m also enjoying a bit of poking around at the end of the day to uncover new features.
But there’s still so much to learn. I have the feeling I’m not even halfway into what FCP X can do. I haven’t yet tried the Precision Editor, the Auditions feature, Color Balance or Audio Match to name but a few. But that’s all to come. I’ll report on my progress when this current project is finished.

I think Steve would be pleased with his last major software production. I certainly am.

Source is
http://www.macworld.com.au/blogs/final-cut-pro-x-take-two-38513/

Final Cut Pro X Update

Apple has begun the long, difficult journey towards repairing the damage caused by the Final Cut X debacle.

After stunning the professional editing community with a product that's missing many essential features, Apple has made a small step in the process of replacing those missing essentials. The most important new addition to FCPX is XML support which offers some measure of backwards-compatibility as well as compatibility with other platforms. It's far from ideal but at least it's something. Perhaps more importantly, it's a signal that Apple is trying to fix things.

Apple has a serious task ahead if they want to save their reputation among professional tastesetters (and let's not argue for now about that "if").

As I write this news item, a video editing seminar is being held in a city very near to me, at which editors are learning about the main options for migrating away from Final Cut Pro. The promotional blurb began with this:

Following the demise of Final Cut Pro as a professional editing application, digital editors are left with some big questions. Which platform will win their hearts?

Whether or not you agree that Final Cut Pro is dead in the professional world, this is a clear indication of the sentiment that still exists months after the failed launch.

Apple, for its part, is hoping you'll be patient. If you're still undecided and haven't tried it yet, you can get a free trial of Final Cut Pro X here.

As for our opinion on the whole thing? Hopefully we'll have a video out in the next couple of weeks discussing the impact of Final Cut Pro X and how it's going to affect us at MediaCollege.com.

Source is http://www.mediacollege.com/forum/content.php?79-Final-Cut-Pro-X-Update