August 2012
www.tvbeurope.com
Among broadcast editors, especially, the initial reaction was one of dismay
whether they are mounted or not, particularly if you want to avoid a project being seen by an unauthorised client. There are also a huge number
of plug-in filters and effects packages available for X, from the likes of CoreMelt, Digital Heaven, GenArts, Noise Industries and Red Giant. The large number of third-
party applications and plug-ins is a good sign that FCP is still the most widely supported of editing systems. Like the programme itself, they tend to be good value — there is even a lot of freeware available, such as from the editor Alex Gollner, whose site (
http://alex4d.wordpress.com/) has lots of useful effects, fixes and transitions.
Multicam Editing One of the major complaints when FCP X launched was that it couldn’t do multicam editing — although you actually could using a fairly easy workaround. However, Apple has since added a multicam editor that is better than FCP 7. It offers 64 camera angles, using mixed video formats and frame rates, and a selection of synchronisation methods. Besides timecode and markers, it will also sync automatically by matching audio waveforms. Then, to cut between the cameras, there is an Angle Viewer, with a bank of up to 16 angles (you can switch between banks for more cameras), and you cut using a number key. Broadcast monitoring has also
been added back into X, so long as you use third-party PCIe cards or Thunderbolt devices from the likes of AJA, Blackmagic Design and Matrox (although this can mean it isn’t as well integrated as it was previously). Roberts is happy that “Apple seems to be keeping to its promise of regular updates….” He is doing less FCP 7 training now, quite a lot of FCP X and taking enquiries all the time. “For my editing I’m still largely on FCP 7 because my clients haven’t moved yet, but we’re now looking at how FCP X can be used for their workflows. “I’ve done a few little
corporate projects in FCP X now and I have to say I’m really impressed with how quickly I can put an edit together and, more to the point, how quickly I can make changes.”
www.apple.com/finalcutpro www.chrisroberts.info www.digital-heaven.co.uk www.genarts.com www.intelligentassistance.com www.noiseindustries.com www.redgiantsoftware.com
TVBEurope 27 The Workflow ‘It’s rare to find a TV show that averages 40 DFX per episode’ FCP X finds Leverage By David Fox
SOME MAJOR broadcast productions have moved to FCP X, with excellent results. Electric Entertainment has been making the crime drama series Leverage using Final Cut Pro since 2008, and has moved completely to FCP X for the current Season 5, which it is shooting in 4K on two to nine Red Epic cameras per take. “We think that Final Cut
Pro X shows how simply and inexpensively a powerful file-based workflow can be implemented,” says Executive Producer/Director, Dean Devlin. “We’ve been able to do things on Leverage that no other cable show does simply because we can afford to do it using our all-digital workflow. It’s very rare to see a television show that averages 40 digital effects per episode. Or has four- or five-day sound mixing sessions. “We’re able to do it and still
produce a show for basically $1.8 million an episode. Not only does it change the price, but it actually changes creatively
the way we work. We don’t have to wait to lock pictures to start our digital effects shop.” Daily rushes are sent on hard
drives from Portland to Los Angeles, where the Red .r3d files (about 200 per day of the seven-day shoots per episode) are converted to ProRes Proxy using Red
efficiently with the waveforms, mostly putting dialogue in and cutting a lot of sound.” Once the network approves the cut, the finished XML files are sent to DaVinci Resolve (where it reconnects to the original Red .r3d files, which are colour graded and rendered out as ProRes 4444 files), and through
for the latest season, edited on FCP X. According to Editor Knut Hake, using X allowed him to work faster than with any previous editing tool. “We have a very tight editing schedule, as the season’s first episodes were already airing as we were cutting. The editing speed with Final Cut Pro X was fantastic. Trimming
“We’re able to do it and still produce a show for basically $1.8 million an episode… It actually changes creatively the way we work”
Rocket cards at faster than realtime, and picture and sound are synched as a batch using Intelligent Assistance’s Sync-N-Link X. One of Leverage’s three
editors, Brian Gonosey particularly likes the Magnetic Timeline on FCP X. “I do a lot of cutting in the timeline, and I never even think about losing sync. And the new trim tool makes quick work of whatever I need to use it for. It lets me edit a lot more
Marquis X2Pro Audio Convert to Pro Tools for sound mixing. “Final Cut Pro X started out
by completely redefining our approach to editing,” says Devlin. “But the giant improvement since it was originally released is that now it interfaces with a professional workflow in a way that Final Cut Pro never could before.” Award winning German
comedy Danni Lowinski, which is made for SAT.1 by Phoenix Film, is shot on a Red One and,
Dean Devlin
especially was very fast, and a lot of it can be done without ever leaving the arrow tool.” Editing at home on his iMac
in Berlin, Hake particularly likes the Magnetic Timeline “because it lets me focus on the storytelling. I know other methods of trimming in Final Cut Pro 7 and in Avid, but I’m glad I don’t have to deal with them in Final Cut Pro X. Because all I care about is how I trim — the rest is done for me. I really like that.”
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