Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Tried FCPX, what do you recommend?

photogpab

photogpab

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 21, 2010
491
8
So after using FCP7 for many years I finally gave FCPX a try. I had to watch a few hours worth of tutorials to learn how to use it, but I thought the software was pretty good. Mind you, I dont really do alot of intense video editing, so maybe FCPX is basic enough for me... but Im curious... what video editing software do you all recommend?

i want to try and get into video editing more seriously. video effects, more intense color correcting, etc... make more "pro" videos.

recommendations?

i just got a new quad-core iMac. I know FCPX utilizes all cores... does anyone else?
 
Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere (the "e" is left out a lot), but video effects are more done via Adobe After Effects or some other serious compositing applications like Nuke, Smoke and Fusion, just to name a few.
Colour correcting can be done via an editing application or a compositing application, but there are also dedicated applications for it.

And the a more "pro" video does not need to contain a lot of effects and such, unless the term "pro" doesn't mean "professional" but more like "poppy recognisable ornaments" or something similar. But I guess in the today's age, videos need more pop and effects to stand even more out, though simple is often better, if the editing is done because you want to tell a story.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere (the "e" is left out a lot), but video effects are more done via Adobe After Effects or some other serious compositing applications like Nuke, Smoke and Fusion, just to name a few.
Colour correcting can be done via an editing application or a compositing application, but there are also dedicated applications for it.

And the a more "pro" video does not need to contain a lot of effects and such, unless the term "pro" doesn't mean "professional" but more like "poppy recognisable ornaments" or something similar. But I guess in the today's age, videos need more pop and effects to stand even more out, though simple is often better, if the editing is done because you want to tell a story.
Click to expand...

by "pro" i meant that i don't know much about color correction, etc... so i tend to produce videos that are very simple and basic. i'm not a film maker so its ok for me. if i take a vacation or go somewhere to film some video, im not expecting it to look like the latest martin scorcese film.

but i would like to be more knowledgeable about video editing. i would like to learn more about color correcting and making things more cinematic looking.

i really liked the magnetic timeline and ease of FCPX. I was just disappointed software like Magic Bullet Looks and Colorista are not available for it.

does Adobe Premiere use quad core?
 
simsaladimbamba said:
As far as I know, yes.

And also have a look at www.lynda.com or VideoCoPilot or AEtuts+ and its network for tutorials.
Click to expand...

since i dont really know what Adobe After Effects is... is it a software you use for effects and color correction, AFTER you've created your film?

so could i create a project in FCPX and then import into AAE for video / color editing?
 
photogpab said:
so could i create a project in FCPX and then import into AAE for video / color editing?
Click to expand...

Pretty much. AE is where you would create your effects/motion graphics. You then import your rendered footage (with effects) back into your editor.
 
Motion instead of AE

I'd keep going with FCPX. I am liking it more and more. By Spring it should be pretty close to having all the essentials and for non-broadcast it's got a lot going for it. (I've used AVD and FCP for a long time.) It has a lot of built-in and 3rd party effects palettes available and I would guess Red Bullet will eventually make their products compatible. You could try Resolve Lite for color correction -it's a free version of the state-of-the-art color tool. Not sure of the workflow but there is one.

AE is expensive and complicated to learn but Apple Motion does maybe 90% of what AE does and is $50. You could get One-on-One training for $99. with your recent iMac purchase if you are near an Apple Store and learn it that way. I just had my 5th lesson today.
 
If you aren't into heavy duty filmmaking, then FCP X does a better job than AVID and Premiere. The latter too are simply too clumsy compared to FCP X. They might have more "features" for broadcasters and multi-user editing, but you won't really need them. Then there's cost for these apps.
The learning curve for After effects is very steep, and the interface is that complicated that you have to use it on a daily base to not forget everything again.

FCP X color correction tools are pretty powerful, once you get used to them. They are lacking a bit on the secondary level (masking is vey basic, and no automatic tracking like in Color), but you still can do a lot. For heavy duty grading you can use Resolve Lite. The workflow is pretty similar to Color, with the difference that you use XML for import and export, which I prefer over the use of After Effects for grading. It is simpler, faster and you can't mess up your project that easily.
 
hsilver said:
I'd keep going with FCPX. I am liking it more and more. By Spring it should be pretty close to having all the essentials and for non-broadcast it's got a lot going for it. (I've used AVD and FCP for a long time.) It has a lot of built-in and 3rd party effects palettes available and I would guess Red Bullet will eventually make their products compatible. You could try Resolve Lite for color correction -it's a free version of the state-of-the-art color tool. Not sure of the workflow but there is one.

AE is expensive and complicated to learn but Apple Motion does maybe 90% of what AE does and is $50. You could get One-on-One training for $99. with your recent iMac purchase if you are near an Apple Store and learn it that way. I just had my 5th lesson today.
Click to expand...

can you point me in the right direction to some good plugins for FCPX?

I dont really like the color correction. I "analyzed" and "balanced" a few clips and it made my video look crazy!

i was also disappointed in the stabilization. it warped my video and made it look really weird :(

but i like the simplicity of FCPX. Its like using iMovie on steroids.

----------
cgbier said:
If you aren't into heavy duty filmmaking, then FCP X does a better job than AVID and Premiere. The latter too are simply too clumsy compared to FCP X. They might have more "features" for broadcasters and multi-user editing, but you won't really need them. Then there's cost for these apps.
The learning curve for After effects is very steep, and the interface is that complicated that you have to use it on a daily base to not forget everything again.

FCP X color correction tools are pretty powerful, once you get used to them. They are lacking a bit on the secondary level (masking is vey basic, and no automatic tracking like in Color), but you still can do a lot. For heavy duty grading you can use Resolve Lite. The workflow is pretty similar to Color, with the difference that you use XML for import and export, which I prefer over the use of After Effects for grading. It is simpler, faster and you can't mess up your project that easily.
Click to expand...

i was disappointed with the "color balancing" feature in FCPX. It made my videos look strange. I really do hope that Magic Bullet comes to FCPX soon.
 
Noise Industries were the first ones to come out with FX - nearly the same time FCP X was released, while the others still were whining. Rippletraining is giving away FX on a weekly base. fcp.co is building a repository of free effects...
...or you can roll your own in Motion. It's pretty simple.

If you really need to stabilize your footage, use Motion. Much better, but a bit more work. Do you try to stabilize panned scenes or zoomed footage? That doesn't really work.
Color balancing works pretty well, but you need to have your stuff well lit and exposed. I use it to balance between my Sony and Canon cams. It works to ~90%

Magic Bullet never impressed me much.
 
cgbier said:
Noise Industries were the first ones to come out with FX - nearly the same time FCP X was released, while the others still were whining. Rippletraining is giving away FX on a weekly base. fcp.co is building a repository of free effects...
...or you can roll your own in Motion. It's pretty simple.

If you really need to stabilize your footage, use Motion. Much better, but a bit more work. Do you try to stabilize panned scenes or zoomed footage? That doesn't really work.
Color balancing works pretty well, but you need to have your stuff well lit and exposed. I use it to balance between my Sony and Canon cams. It works to ~90%

Magic Bullet never impressed me much.
Click to expand...

i dont even know what Motion is... haha
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back