FCPX with AE CC

[josh.b]

Is it crazy of me to use AE with FCP X instead of Premiere cc in terms of using direct link vs rendering out my AE projects to bring into FCPX?

I have never used Premiere and know FCPX at a beginner level. I have no problem with FCPX but just thinking maybe I should spend my learning time on an application that supports After Effects better.
Right now all I do in AE is some colour correction and titles. In the future I might use it more extensively though.

Thoughts?

 

[nateo200]

Is it crazy of me to use AE with FCP X instead of Premiere cc in terms of using direct link vs rendering out my AE projects to bring into FCPX?

I have never used Premiere and know FCPX at a beginner level. I have no problem with FCPX but just thinking maybe I should spend my learning time on an application that supports After Effects better.
Right now all I do in AE is some colour correction and titles. In the future I might use it more extensively though.

Thoughts?

After Effects for color correction is sort of like signing a check with a giant rainbow glitter pen. Its overkill and unless you have a CPU and GPU that rips through renders like no tomorrow you'll hate it. I'd look at DaVinci Resolve Lite, which is pretty CPU and GPU intensive BUT its more fitting. Also you can CC in FCP X, I used to use AE for CC'ing out of FCP X but I either just stay in FCP X to CC (pretty good tools inside of it) or render out to Resolve.

 

[handsome pete]

First off, no, you're not crazy. I've been using AE with FCP for years and use it daily with Avid now. You do miss out on some of the dynamic linking features with Premiere but it's no big deal.

But as already pointed out, using AE as a color corrector is overkill.

 

[josh.b]

thanks for the replies will have a look at davinci.

 

[nateo200]

thanks for the replies will have a look at davinci.

Its really great and its free! It is very taxing on computers though and having an Nvidia discrete GPU is pretty much essential, although I've seen it run on an 11" MacBook Air before... The free version doesn't let you export anything over 1080p but if you needed say 4K you can export an XML and open the project at say your local post production house or a friends house who has the full version and it will render out projects past 1080p resolution. Theres a bunch of articles on Resolve Lite from various video professionals who praise it (and rightfully so!).

 

[josh.b]

Its really great and its free! It is very taxing on computers though and having an Nvidia discrete GPU is pretty much essential, although I've seen it run on an 11" MacBook Air before... The free version doesn't let you export anything over 1080p but if you needed say 4K you can export an XML and open the project at say your local post production house or a friends house who has the full version and it will render out projects past 1080p resolution. Theres a bunch of articles on Resolve Lite from various video professionals who praise it (and rightfully so!).

yeah I have been playing with it since my last reply. Surprised to see a stripped down free version. Love it when companies do that.

I am usually just editing gopro stuff and if I shoot at 2.7k it is usually just for cushion room if I stabilise the footage. Normally I render out at 1080p anyway.

my setup is the late 2012 iMac with 2gb 680mx, 24GB memory and quad core i7 turbo boost 3.5ghz. Seems to be running well.

 

[josh.b]

So I used premiere equally as much as FCPX yesterday and discovered apart from the GUI (I like both) there is not much difference in workflow. All tools are the same, workflow is the same (I dunno what people are going on about when they say PP workflow is way better because it is the same lol). Actually I do see advantages in each. Keep in mind I am a beginner on the trials so I am sure there are a lot more things to add to both lists below.

FCPX Advantages over PP:

• effects has a preview before you apply
• magnetic timeline is really awesome
• less clutter in the UI without taking out tools/features

PP advantages over FCPX:

• dynamic link to other Adobe stuff
• import any adobe file format (such as .ai)
• seems to be the more widely used software currently so more support / plugins

I think I will stick to FCPX for now unless I find some serious issue. I was kinda bummed when I realised I couldn't import .eps or .ai files but then again it is just a couple of seconds to resterize them into a psd or tiff so no issue I guess.

 

[nateo200]

yeah I have been playing with it since my last reply. Surprised to see a stripped down free version. Love it when companies do that.

I am usually just editing gopro stuff and if I shoot at 2.7k it is usually just for cushion room if I stabilise the footage. Normally I render out at 1080p anyway.

my setup is the late 2012 iMac with 2gb 680mx, 24GB memory and quad core i7 turbo boost 3.5ghz. Seems to be running well.

Your machine is very well equipped for the task. The 680MX will help allot as will the quad core i7 option. I to edit GoPro stuff from the GoPro 3 Black and GoPro 3 Silver and 99% of my stuff is 1080p since the 2.7K looks beautiful down rezz'ed to 1080p and you get allot of wiggle room for stabilizing, zooming in, etc.

So I used premiere equally as much as FCPX yesterday and discovered apart from the GUI (I like both) there is not much difference in workflow. All tools are the same, workflow is the same (I dunno what people are going on about when they say PP workflow is way better because it is the same lol). Actually I do see advantages in each. Keep in mind I am a beginner on the trials so I am sure there are a lot more things to add to both lists below.

FCPX Advantages over PP:

• effects has a preview before you apply
• magnetic timeline is really awesome
• less clutter in the UI without taking out tools/features

PP advantages over FCPX:

• dynamic link to other Adobe stuff
• import any adobe file format (such as .ai)
• seems to be the more widely used software currently so more support / plugins

I think I will stick to FCPX for now unless I find some serious issue. I was kinda bummed when I realised I couldn't import .eps or .ai files but then again it is just a couple of seconds to resterize them into a psd or tiff so no issue I guess.

Yeah the one thing Adobe has that will always be an Adobe think is dynamic link with other Adobe programs like After Effects and Photoshop....its so convienient but I can deal with rendering out files and then importing them into AE from FCP X. Go ahead and learn both NLE's though, it'll give you more oppurtunities if you want to ever do some jobs and even if you don't its nice to have multiple tools.

 

[josh.b]

Your machine is very well equipped for the task. The 680MX will help allot as will the quad core i7 option. I to edit GoPro stuff from the GoPro 3 Black and GoPro 3 Silver and 99% of my stuff is 1080p since the 2.7K looks beautiful down rezz'ed to 1080p and you get allot of wiggle room for stabilizing, zooming in, etc.

Yeah the one thing Adobe has that will always be an Adobe think is dynamic link with other Adobe programs like After Effects and Photoshop....its so convienient but I can deal with rendering out files and then importing them into AE from FCP X. Go ahead and learn both NLE's though, it'll give you more oppurtunities if you want to ever do some jobs and even if you don't its nice to have multiple tools.

I just thought of something that might cause an issue. If I choose to shoot at 2.7k it is for stabilising reasons in post (crop in and end up with 1080p). Just say I am using davinci resolve free (which I plan to do from now on). I will create a story in the timeline of FCPX then export the xml for use in davinci to do my colour corrections. This will in turn export out that 2.7k file that I used for stabilising and I won't be able to send it back to FCPX for final render. Or am I missing something? Will FCPX spit out only a 1080p version of that once 2.7k but now stabilised in the xml for davinci or will it still be a 2.7k file just fit in a 1080p sequence causing an issue to export out of davinci?

 

[nateo200]

I just thought of something that might cause an issue. If I choose to shoot at 2.7k it is for stabilising reasons in post (crop in and end up with 1080p). Just say I am using davinci resolve free (which I plan to do from now on). I will create a story in the timeline of FCPX then export the xml for use in davinci to do my colour corrections. This will in turn export out that 2.7k file that I used for stabilising and I won't be able to send it back to FCPX for final render. Or am I missing something? Will FCPX spit out only a 1080p version of that once 2.7k but now stabilised in the xml for davinci or will it still be a 2.7k file just fit in a 1080p sequence causing an issue to export out of davinci?

It all depends on your timeline. 2.7K 2.4K 2384782K whatever if its in a 1080p timeline FCP X renders out all of the footage as 1080p. In DaVinci Resolve lite however their is a limit to resolution so if you color correct in Resolve do it last because it will only render out 1080p and not 2K+. I would just shoot some test footage and try the workflow out and work with it....thats effectively how I've learned every NLE beyond the basics.

 

[josh.b]

It all depends on your timeline. 2.7K 2.4K 2384782K whatever if its in a 1080p timeline FCP X renders out all of the footage as 1080p. In DaVinci Resolve lite however their is a limit to resolution so if you color correct in Resolve do it last because it will only render out 1080p and not 2K+. I would just shoot some test footage and try the workflow out and work with it....thats effectively how I've learned every NLE beyond the basics.

Hey mate, just discovered something that you will really like to hear.

http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?6031-New-to-DaVinci-Resolve

One of the devs for Davinci Resolve lite says that V10 (current) can now export UHD resolution which is exactly the same as the 4k resolution on the go pro hero 3 black (3840x2160). Neat huh no more issues lol

 

[nateo200]

Hey mate, just discovered something that you will really like to hear.

http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?6031-New-to-DaVinci-Resolve

One of the devs for Davinci Resolve lite says that V10 (current) can now export UHD resolution which is exactly the same as the 4k resolution on the go pro hero 3 black (3840x2160). Neat huh no more issues lol

Oh wow! I gotta give that a try! Thanks! Only thing is I rarely shoot 4K on my GoPro unless its a still scene. I will say that 2.7K scales beautifully to 4K so thats a good choice, I'd give it a shot. If only they could overclock the GoPro3 processor to squeeze out UHD at 30fps...

 

[josh.b]

Oh wow! I gotta give that a try! Thanks! Only thing is I rarely shoot 4K on my GoPro unless its a still scene. I will say that 2.7K scales beautifully to 4K so thats a good choice, I'd give it a shot. If only they could overclock the GoPro3 processor to squeeze out UHD at 30fps...

you can do anything below 4k as well though so 2.7k works fine also