Final Cut Pro 5 at NAB?

[zanuzan]

so is anybody going to tell me how to get a job doing film editing/compositing?

i taught myself photoshop/illustrator/indesign and pretty much mastered the first. i would love to get ahold of shake and FC pro, learn the hard production techniques and apply for a position but is that even possible in the industry or do they demand a more traditional approach to education.

You are talking about tools. You need more of a foundation than just knowing what buttons to press in an application. It's a start but you're competing against a lot of qualified people that have more core knowledge.

For example, an animator should learn animation and not just an animation program.

So you want to edit/composite? Get on a set, read books, learn the production process, google and learn, become a production assistant/intern, go to a good film school that is not too expensive, shoot footage, edit/composite for free to learn. You have to want it. No one is going to hand you anything.

In the film world editing and compositing are generally very separate fields. In commercials/freelance it can often be a combination.

cheers

 

[Gregory]

By the way I can use Motion to build better Comps and faster than most people can with Pro Apps. . . I Think Motion is going in the right direction for workflow. If apple builds a stronger GUI for Motion it will do very well . . . Maybe after Version 4.0 or so, as FCP did since Ver. 1.0 to FCP HD. . .

 

[Gregory]

You are talking about tools. You need more of a foundation than just knowing what buttons to press in an application. It's a start but you're competing against a lot of qualified people that have more core knowledge.

For example, an animator should learn animation and not just an animation program.

So you want to edit/composite? Get on a set, read books, learn the production process, google and learn, become a production assistant/intern, go to a good film school that is not too expensive, shoot footage, edit/composite for free to learn. You have to want it. No one is going to hand you anything.

In the film world editing and compositing are generally very separate fields. In commercials/freelance it can often be a combination.

cheers

Ask the guy what field he wants to get in, and what are his talents . . .
Then tell him some advise . . .

 

[beatle888]

You are talking about tools. You need more of a foundation than just knowing what buttons to press in an application. It's a start but you're competing against a lot of qualified people that have more core knowledge.

For example, an animator should learn animation and not just an animation program.

So you want to edit/composite? Get on a set, read books, learn the production process, google and learn, become a production assistant/intern, go to a good film school that is not too expensive, shoot footage, edit/composite for free to learn. You have to want it. No one is going to hand you anything.

In the film world editing and compositing are generally very separate fields. In commercials/freelance it can often be a combination.

cheers

thanks zanuzan, i mentioned editing and compositing because i wasnt sure of the process and wanted my question to spawn feedback. would you be able to simply state what type of core knowledge you are refering to? i guess its not something i'll be able to study on my own during non working hours. i hear what your saying...thanks for the wake up call.

 

[Gregory]

what do you mean, is it uncommon to be self taught in the industry? ive mastered photoshop and am considered one of the best compositors at every agency ive worked at.


also, thank you for the feedback.

No its not uncommon to be self taught at all, some of the best people I know are self taught , read my post again and maybe you will see what I said . . .

I'm not knocking you at all, I said get to know people in the field and showcase your best work. Also learn some Pro Apps, its a big Plus to know them . . .

What are your talents, and what field do you want to go in ?

 

[zanuzan]

thanks zanuzan, i mentioned editing and compositing because i wasnt sure of the process and wanted my question to spawn feedback. would you be able to simply state what type of core knowledge you are refering to? i guess its not something i'll be able to study on my own during non working hours. i hear what your saying...thanks for the wake up call.

It's not always easy to explain this. My thought is it takes 5 years to become really good at something. So a path that teaches you from a foundation of a discipline or series of discliplines will help you immeasurably. When things go wrong (they almost always do) you have an idea of what to do.

To make a total list of what core values you need for editing or compositing? I can make very brief ones 🙂

editing

great attention to detail, great sense of timing and context, knowledge of storytelling

compositing

knowing when something looks "right" and knowing how to fix it when it doesn't. A critical and artistic eye.


for both:

and a balanced left and right brain (the biggest core ever)


cheers

 

[Gregory]

Like I said before I am a Professional in the creative field, I worked for many big companies to produce Major TV Commericals, such as JEEP, FORD, GM, K-Mart, and etc. I know what it takes, and that is talent, drive, knoweldge, and problem solving. In production or post production I make magic happen and at the end of the day. It is sweet as pie !!!

 

[Gregory]

It's not always easy to explain this. My thought is it takes 5 years to become really good at something. So a path that teaches you from a foundation of a discipline or series of discliplines will help you immeasurably. When things go wrong (they almost always do) you have an idea of what to do.

To make a total list of what core values you need for editing or compositing? I can make very brief ones 🙂

editing

great attention to detail, great sense of timing and context, knowledge of storytelling

compositing

knowing when something looks "right" and knowing how to fix it when it doesn't. A critical and artistic eye.


for both:

and a balanced left and right brain (the biggest core ever)


cheers

In most part I agree with what you say, but 5 years, maybe if a person has the drive and talent behind him/her I say just 2 years to get good at what you do, some people might even do it in 1 year, so It depends on the person, totally !!! Some people have talent and some people think they have talent . . .

 

[Gregory]

If you have talent it doesn't take long to make a master piece !!! It only takes the time, to learn the new tools. . .

 

[beatle888]

well, i would love to do something different. right now i do image compositing. I take numerous images supplied by the art director and i compose them into one final image (they do this cause they like to shoot each object of a scene separately, it really helps with lighting and perspective). I also do color correction.

i just cant see myself doing this when im fifty. i want a more substantial career and thought motion graphics or film would be an obvious progression. compositing i believe would be fascinating. working will CG, models, and film...meshing it all together with lighting, texture and transitions.

i also thought editing would be cool but i could see how that would take more of a directors eye. its composing as well i guess, in a sense. combining footage in a way that best tells the story and captures the feel. editing would be incredible. cutting the scene at just the right moment into the next.

shake looks so cool. i would love to work with shake, or the industry equivalent.

 

[zanuzan]

In most part I agree with what you say, but 5 years, maybe if a person has the drive and talent behind him/her I say just 2 years to get good at what you do, some people might even do it in 1 year, so It depends on the person, totally !!! Some people have talent and some people think they have talent . . .

In five years look back and tell me again if you disagree with me.

 

[puckhead193]

Sounds good, i'm still trying to figure out FCE 2 😱 🙄 (i'm on chapter 8 in the apple book 😎 )

 

[billystlyes]

Is it normal when all you think about is Tiger all day and all night? 😛 For real though I'm thinking Tiger is going to come out back to school time. 😕

 

[virus1]

At last! Video stuff! Compositing and graphic design is my job. I edit more as a hobby. Shake and photoshop are my two best friends (besides you guys, of course).

Whoever said that it takes an eye for compositing is correct, but you phrased it like you have the talent or not. It is somthing that can be easily developed, as there are only a few different things that can make it look wrong. ie. lighting, grain, color, and movement (which is really the animators problem), and seeing if stuff is wrong can be trained with time.

FCP5 better be kickass, because fce hd is catching up to it in terms of features, especially with it including real time, hd, soundtrack, and livetype( 😱 ). some of the major reasons i bought fcp instead of fce. (back when fce was just at v1)

 

[virus1]

Sounds good, i'm still trying to figure out FCE 2 😱 🙄 (i'm on chapter 8 in the apple book 😎 )

don't read the books, just go to the apple website and watch the quickstart movies, then once you know the basics, you can fool around and get real good.

i hate reading...

 

[virus1]

Like I said before I am a Professional in the creative field, I worked for many big companies to produce Major TV Commericals, such as JEEP, FORD, GM, K-Mart, and etc. I know what it takes, and that is talent, drive, knoweldge, and problem solving. In production or post production I make magic happen and at the end of the day. It is sweet as pie !!!

i must correct you. it is sweet as apple pie..

couldn't resist.. 😀

 

[h'biki]

Do you use Shake at all , I use and own Shake and I disagree with some of your statement, maybe you should get the facts straight. Final Touch is a Color Grading System and it does that very well. Shake is a Comp. App. so we are talking about two different apps. all together.

I'm an editor, but many of my close friends are Shake ops. I admit my information is second hand, but they have no reason to lie 🙂

As for Shake vs Final Touch HD, I was talking about underlying technology. Final Touch HD can work in real time 2K frames by using the GPU, no reason the same tech can't be applied in Shake. Certainly the rumours amongs the post community are that Motion was a 'beta test' for Shake tech.

That said, I'm very open to hearing your thoughts on my thoughts!

 

[madrobby]

From the Think Secret article: "A new application, code-named Fantasia, is also in development."

Could this be a CoreImage-enabled image editing application?

What do you think?

 

[Lacero]

It's a new CoreAudio plug-in for Soundtrack and Logic that allows for real-time processing of vocals so it makes you sound like an American Idol.

 

[D*I*S_Frontman]

Distributed Rendering

This is the biggie I am hoping for. I currently use FCP HD and DVDSP2 for my DVD projects, and if I do major things (like adding film grain to an entire hour-long program to make it look even more like it was shot on film) the render times are "hit 'render all' and check it next morning" slow. I am contemplating picking up a 17" PB to go with my tower, and it would be great if I could link them via GbE to one another and crunch more data.

Heck, if they do add distributed computing to FCP HD (as they did with the last version of Logic), they'll probably sell tons more of those DP XServe cluster nodes. Imagine a rack of those babies grinding out your rendering!

BTW, if you are interested in 24p issues. go to DVXuser.com and check out the info. Great site. It is devoted to the Panasonic DVX100 and 100A camera series, which are fantastic cameras for creating a film look. In fact, they pretty much spell the end of 16mm as the indie filmmaker's medium of choice. If you go to the site's FCP forum, you can find the answers to almost any question about 24p &24pa that you could ever think of.

 

[Windowlicker]

would it be reasonable to assume that Apple will also release new iBooks to take advantage of the new OS features such as core image? And what of the mac mini?

Well, not right now. Because if you want more bling bling, you get a PowerBook. You don't really need CoreImage for text editing and surfing the web..

But of course the iBooks will be updated too, some day. Maybe even this summer. What I'm saying Apple isn't forced to update them.

 

[madrobby]

Well, not right now. Because if you want more bling bling, you get a PowerBook. You don't really need CoreImage for text editing and surfing the web..

Some CoreImage stuff is already at least in Keynote 2 (not all effects available, depending on your card), and iPhoto (Slideshows). iPhoto and iMovie are ideal candidates for CoreImage support (iLife '06?).

So, maybe Mobility X700/X800 in PowerBook HD/G5 (or dual core G4, but I doubt that) and Mobility Radeon 9600 or 9800 in a new iBook (and Mac mini) model.

 

[ASP272]

Does this mean FCP 5 will be able to take advantage of 64 bit processing as well, or would the program have to be completely rewritten?

 

[madrobby]

Does this mean FCP 5 will be able to take advantage of 64 bit processing as well, or would the program have to be completely rewritten?

I think it will be optimized toward the G5, but will continue to run on G4 processors; and some parts will definitely take advantage of 64 bit processing. But the real difference is CoreImage, which depends on the graphics processor. Also, the interface will be updated to look like the other current Pro Applications (like DVD Studio Pro). So, maybe they did a complete rewrite. I wonder if old plugins will be compatible.

 

[~Shard~]

Good to see another FCP update, but I wonder how the people feel who have to pay for upgrades to this software every few months it seems. 😉 Ah well, that's the price for progress and keeping current! Can't wait to see what kind of goodies this one will have in it...