Sep 2011
Mikael Lubtchansky making FCPX to AE Script
Check out his plug in at Foolcolor. For $89 it will move your FCP X project into After Effects. He is also working on one to export audio to FCP 7 so you can export an OMF and to export FCP 7 Sequences to FCP X and FCP 7 Projects to FCP X.
Pretty awesome that he is doing this, especially with Automatic Duck possibly out of the picture!
Pretty awesome that he is doing this, especially with Automatic Duck possibly out of the picture!
Comments
FCP.CO on Roles in FCP X
FCP.CO has a video by Micha Schmidt on using Roles, and getting out the audio to do a mix.
It is worth checking out, and makes it seem pretty useless as the exports using ROLES for audio tracks, only gives you complete mixdowns of each track that has been assigned Roles, but they are mixdowns, and not at all OMF tracks with individual audio tracks. So not all that useful. Sure you could make versions with audio on different tracks like this (if you have another program to make tapes).
My question do Roles export with Automatic Duck Pro Export 5.0 so that the clips show up in tracks? If that works, then it makes Pro Export more useful, but if not, Roles are pretty useless.
It is worth checking out, and makes it seem pretty useless as the exports using ROLES for audio tracks, only gives you complete mixdowns of each track that has been assigned Roles, but they are mixdowns, and not at all OMF tracks with individual audio tracks. So not all that useful. Sure you could make versions with audio on different tracks like this (if you have another program to make tapes).
My question do Roles export with Automatic Duck Pro Export 5.0 so that the clips show up in tracks? If that works, then it makes Pro Export more useful, but if not, Roles are pretty useless.
MacStories shows off RestoreMeNot Preference Pane
Macstories has an article on an interesting new preference Pane for OS X Lion RestoreMeNot, which is free and allows you to individually disable OS X Lion Restore Restore for Each Application of your choice.
Personally I think this should have been built into OS X as I have had some issues with Restore and certain apps (Rapidweaver will open two instances of my site, and crash if I try and save, and the Core OS X service keeps trying to open the last installer that was opened instead of the one I am trying to open) so this is a very useful little tool.
Personally I think this should have been built into OS X as I have had some issues with Restore and certain apps (Rapidweaver will open two instances of my site, and crash if I try and save, and the Core OS X service keeps trying to open the last installer that was opened instead of the one I am trying to open) so this is a very useful little tool.
Great article at Biscardi Creative on FCP X 10.0.1
Check out this article on FCP X, and why it should have been a professional app when it was released, and not a partial app that will slowly have new features, which is commenting an article at Post Magazine. Which I totally agree with and have bee saying all along. Adobe did it just fine in bringing their apps to 64 bit, why did Apple have to not have feature parity or even compatibility with their old app?
And the fact that FCP X now has XML, but it is still not, and will never be compatible with FXP 7 is a joke. If Premiere Pro can do, Apple could do it, but they won’t.
I like this part:
So true so true. Apple made FCP X on purpose, they knew they were giving up on the pro community completely and all the businesses that make a living making plug-ins and hardware for final cut pro, but they figured they would make more money by making a consumer application and banking on the name of Final Cut Pro which has come to mean something in the industry. Now they realize they may have screwed up, but it is too late. These new features could have been add ons to a true 64 bit Final Cut Pro and it would have been awesome, but this weird prosumer app they have made with some pro features and the rest decidedly consumer will never be used by Pros, and shouldn’t even have Pro in the name.
iMovie is not called a pro app because it is not, and adding some pro features to it, when it forces you to work in it’s limited way does not make it pro, and never will. And nothing Apple does will ever make this app right for professionals, Apple has ceded this market, and Adobe and AVID are going to be really happy to fill the gap.
And the fact that FCP X now has XML, but it is still not, and will never be compatible with FXP 7 is a joke. If Premiere Pro can do, Apple could do it, but they won’t.
I like this part:
At one point in the article Townhill notes that Apple is responding to feedback and changing the application quickly to meet the demands of the Post community. The strange thing to me is that Apple was given much of the same feedback during the beta testing and it was roundly ignored. Pages upon pages of information was fed to Apple with pretty much everything that has been said publicly since the application was released. In all cases, Apple ignored the suggestions moving ahead with the product as they developed it. NOW that there’s a tremendous outcry, NOW Apple is “responding to the Post Production community.” Maybe if they had responded to the people who were testing the product, they could have avoided this entire fiasco.
So it looks to me like Apple’s original plan was to just release FCP X as a prosumer product that really didn’t need the full fledged Post Production community blessing because there are millions of consumers out there and only a couple hundred thousand Post Pros. If it was truly aimed at the pros, then Apple would have listened to the pros during beta testing about all the things that were badly missing from the app.
But with all the subsequent negative press on the product, Apple is desperately trying to backtrack and figure out how to add the extremely basic functions that it left out by “skating where the puck is going.” (read the article to understand)
If Apple was truly dedicated to the professional editing community they would have taken the two to three years to deliver something that built upon their 11 year legacy. I just see what they’re doing now as creating a whole box of band-aids to make the product cobble along and sort of kind of do what the product has done for the past 4 years at least. Apple is admittedly leaning heavily on third party vendors to fill in what they call gaps, what I call chasms in the software.
So true so true. Apple made FCP X on purpose, they knew they were giving up on the pro community completely and all the businesses that make a living making plug-ins and hardware for final cut pro, but they figured they would make more money by making a consumer application and banking on the name of Final Cut Pro which has come to mean something in the industry. Now they realize they may have screwed up, but it is too late. These new features could have been add ons to a true 64 bit Final Cut Pro and it would have been awesome, but this weird prosumer app they have made with some pro features and the rest decidedly consumer will never be used by Pros, and shouldn’t even have Pro in the name.
iMovie is not called a pro app because it is not, and adding some pro features to it, when it forces you to work in it’s limited way does not make it pro, and never will. And nothing Apple does will ever make this app right for professionals, Apple has ceded this market, and Adobe and AVID are going to be really happy to fill the gap.
Apple ProApps Quicktime Codecs Released
22/09/11 09:46 Filed in: Apple
Apple has released their quicktime Codecs as a download, this is version 1.0.1.
Apple Updates FCP X to 10.0.1 Adds XML Support and Free Trial
20/09/11 09:06 Filed in: Apple
Macworld has an article dealing with Apple’s 10.0.1 Update to FCP X which will be released today (so far I only see an update to Compressor). Anyway for features they have done 3 major things for editors, the first is to release XML in and out of both project and event information (though likely no FCP 7 integration), added XSAN integration, and allowed intelligent stem export for audio and video using tagging in a feature called Roles.
I was wondering if Apple cared at all about this software to take a solid 3 months for an update, but at least they have updated.
And now you can have tracks be made out of sound for Audio export by tagging content, and it will smart export the tracks to the proper tracks, though I still think track support would be better an easier at least their is now a solution.
Amazingly Apple is also listening and is offering a free 30 day Trial, so you can try it out before you buy it. And they will also be releasing a free PDF Booklet entitled Final Cut Pro X for Final Cut Pro 7 users, which will be available from the Final Cut Pro X website soon. This should have come out with the application, but it is a start.
The article also talks about the release of Multicam and support for video monitoring, which will not be released until 2012, and they don’t say when, making this software not at all a professional app.
I am glad they are adding in features, but to me, they should have waited to release any app called Pro until all these features were integrated, unless they were going to continue to update and support final cut pro 7 during the period!
On the Netflix Split
19/09/11 11:42 Filed in: Netflix
So not only has Netflix doubled it’s prices, but it is now splitting off the DVD division to become a new company called Qwikster, and the subscriptions are now completely separate. And I say WTF!
They are obviously giving up on DVD all together, and I have given up on Netflix Streaming. Already Netflix streaming does not have nearly a good enough selection to possibly replace new discs (nor the quality of new discs), plus I don’t think steaming is going to work in the current environment when most broadband providers have instigated data caps, and look at the deal with STARZ. STARZ refused 10 times the money of the old deal to do streaming, so no one is going to do streaming of their newer films or shows!
Personally I have given up on Netflix streaming, and picked up a ROKU 2 to do Amazon Prime Instant Streaming. We already pay for it, since it gives the 2nd day shipping on any item from Amazon, and the streaming is included.
Sure the streaming is not as good, the selection is smaller, and it is hard to figure out what is available, and at least Star Trek has some interlacing issues when seen on an HDTV, but it is still good enough.
They are obviously giving up on DVD all together, and I have given up on Netflix Streaming. Already Netflix streaming does not have nearly a good enough selection to possibly replace new discs (nor the quality of new discs), plus I don’t think steaming is going to work in the current environment when most broadband providers have instigated data caps, and look at the deal with STARZ. STARZ refused 10 times the money of the old deal to do streaming, so no one is going to do streaming of their newer films or shows!
Personally I have given up on Netflix streaming, and picked up a ROKU 2 to do Amazon Prime Instant Streaming. We already pay for it, since it gives the 2nd day shipping on any item from Amazon, and the streaming is included.
Sure the streaming is not as good, the selection is smaller, and it is hard to figure out what is available, and at least Star Trek has some interlacing issues when seen on an HDTV, but it is still good enough.
Tax Credits for Hollywood
19/09/11 11:37 Filed in: Article
KCET.org has a negative article on Tax Credits for Hollywood, for which the current money is running out.
People are arguing that the measly $500 million tax breaks are too much, when in fact California is losing work to other states with tax incentives. Without a tax credit this state is going to keep losing work, and more people like me are going to be out of work.
Right now I can only be thankful for infomercials, as they are keeping my wife and I alive.
People are arguing that the measly $500 million tax breaks are too much, when in fact California is losing work to other states with tax incentives. Without a tax credit this state is going to keep losing work, and more people like me are going to be out of work.
Right now I can only be thankful for infomercials, as they are keeping my wife and I alive.
FCP X Color Isolation tutorial
FCP.co has an article leading to some interesting tutorials from Paulus the Woodgnone.
Pretty cool if you are using FCP X.
Canon Event November 3rd
19/09/11 11:31 Filed in: Canon
Petapixel is reporting that Canon has a Pro Event on November 3rd, 2011 in Hollywood.
It is my bet that Canon is releasing a video camera based on their DSLR technology, and I bet they will release one that works with Canon S or at least EF lenses and one that is a PL mount. They usually take longer when it comes to releasing their video cameras, but they are always top of the line, and a true video camera Canon lenses would be awesome, and would give the new Sony and Panasonic cameras a run for their money, especially being able to use existing lenses.
Premiere Pro 5.5.1 not working with CUDA in Lion 10.7.1: FIXED
19/09/11 11:27 Filed in: Adobe
So I hadn’t tried the updated Premiere Pro, 5.5.1, which I was hoping had fixed my CUDA issues, but instead it has made them worse. I had to update my CUDA driver to 4.0.50 with Lion GPU Driver 7.4.10 2.70.05.05f01, and that allowed Premiere Pro to boot, and the program runs, but unfortunately without CUDA support. My Geforce GTX 285 is supported, but does not work with CUDA Support.
I have reported this to Adobe and to NVIDIA, but have not heard anything back as of yet.
I did a complete Adobe uninstall and re-installed and I have CUDA support back. So something just wasn’t happy. Have to check on my plug ins now, but at least it is working correctly.
I have reported this to Adobe and to NVIDIA, but have not heard anything back as of yet.
I did a complete Adobe uninstall and re-installed and I have CUDA support back. So something just wasn’t happy. Have to check on my plug ins now, but at least it is working correctly.
More FCP Feedback
14/09/11 10:13 Filed in: Apple
Well with all the rumors that Tim Cook is actually listening to customers I decided to leave Final Cut Pro feedback with Apple once again. I asked them to rename FCP X into iMovie Pro and release a true 64 bit FCP 8 (along with a new Color and Soundtrack Pro) with all it’s previous functionality and some of the added features of FCP X. They can even put the magnetic Timeline in, as long as it can be turned off!
I doubt it will make any difference, but it sure would be nice to have FCP 8 truly 64 bit with all it’s functionality, bug fixes and new features that make it the premiere editing system out there. And Tim Cook could make that change, even if he in all likelihood wont.
I doubt it will make any difference, but it sure would be nice to have FCP 8 truly 64 bit with all it’s functionality, bug fixes and new features that make it the premiere editing system out there. And Tim Cook could make that change, even if he in all likelihood wont.
Could some MobileMe Features return?
14/09/11 09:58 Filed in: Apple
TUAW is reporting that Tim Cook may in fact be open to returning some MobileMe features which are going away with iCloud.
You can leave feedback on MobileMe Here. I have already requested a return of iDisk as I use it all the time, and while I also have SugarSync and DropBox I still like the functionality of my iDisk, which I often use to share files with clients.
I hate having Apple take away functionality, but it seems to be becoming their MO. I mean look at FCP X!
You can leave feedback on MobileMe Here. I have already requested a return of iDisk as I use it all the time, and while I also have SugarSync and DropBox I still like the functionality of my iDisk, which I often use to share files with clients.
I hate having Apple take away functionality, but it seems to be becoming their MO. I mean look at FCP X!
PVC After Effects Script of Week, Change Render Locations
Pro Video Coalitions After Effects Script of the Week, will let you change the Render Location for multiple items in your render queue. Very cool, but there is currently no link to it, so hopefully he will add it later.
PVC on the CycLight for Greenscreen
14/09/11 09:07 Filed in: Article | Greenscreen
Pro Video Coalition has an article on this really cool new light to evenly light a green screen with just one light!
It can light an even 2 meter by 3 meter greenscreen with 3 40 watt LED lights and it goes just 120mm from the wall!
Check out FloLight’s web site. No word on price yet, but this is very cool, and will make Green Screen so much easier to do. What a great idea!
It can light an even 2 meter by 3 meter greenscreen with 3 40 watt LED lights and it goes just 120mm from the wall!
Check out FloLight’s web site. No word on price yet, but this is very cool, and will make Green Screen so much easier to do. What a great idea!
Premiere Pro 5.5.1 Released
14/09/11 08:58 Filed in: Adobe
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5.1 has been released.
Here are the bug fixes:
No word on the 64 Bit Kernel Issue.
You can download the Mac Version here, or the Windows Version Here.
Here are the bug fixes:
- Improved playback/scrubbing performance of footage from DSLR cameras.
- Media from Avid Unity QuickTime reference files was not imported.
- XML project files created by Premiere Pro did not work with DaVinci Resolve.
- On Mac OSX v10.7 (Lion), the Universal Counting Leader was missing countdown numbers.
- On Mac OSX v10.7 (Lion), Premiere Pro would crash when quitting.
- On Mac OSX v10.7 (Lion), closed caption overlays did not appear in Program Monitor.
- Preview in the Capture panel was not functioning properly for HDV footage.
- Image sequences lost their frame rates.
- Edges of a clip were highlighted during transitions/dissolves when using CUDA processing.
- Projects created by importing Final Cut Pro XML projects that contain multiple mono clips would lose some audio when the project was closed and reopened.
- Exporting to a QuickTime movie using DVCPRO HD settings would not complete under some circumstances, including if an image, graphic, or synthetic element was in the sequence.
- Using CUDA-accelerated Invert effect would reposition the clip.
- Premiere Pro could not find files after changing the location of the project.
- If an After Effects composition with a background color other than black was included in a sequence and Mercury Playback GPU Acceleration was enabled, the alpha channel transparency of the composition was ignored.
- MXF files created by Premiere Pro were not readable by Sony XDCAM HD decks, Final Cut Pro, or Avid Media Composer.
- ProRes files created by an ATOMOS device with four tracks of audio were not imported correctly.
- MCC closed caption files exported from MacCaption failed to appear in the Premiere Pro Program Monitor under some conditions.
- Incorrect data was being written to XML files for AVC Intra exports.
- Opacity effects were being ignored after a second transition when CUDA processing (Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration) was enabled.
- Premiere Pro would hang or crash when loading a merged clip with disabled audio channels.
- various other crashes
No word on the 64 Bit Kernel Issue.
You can download the Mac Version here, or the Windows Version Here.
Netflix Streaming VS. Amazon Prime and Roku 2
With my upcoming open heart surgery we are trying no to spend so much money.
As most people will know as of September 19th, Netflix is basically doubling it’s prices, and are losing STARZ in it’s streaming. Well I have used Amazon Prime shipping for years, to get 2nd day shipping from Amazon for $79 a year, and they added streaming service with most of the same shows as Netflix earlier this year, but we didn’t have anything to receive the signal, but at $7.99 a month to add streaming to Netflix, that is $95.88 a year. Well a new Roku 2 XS (with Ethernet) is $98, so we got one and are going to use the Amazon Prime Instant Streaming instead. In a year we will start saving money, and still get to stream most our shows.
Of course the interface on the Roku is not quite Netflix. No queue, and getting to your shows can be a chore without having a queue and at least Star Trek Voyager has some weird interlacing issues going on, but since we are already paying for Amazon Prime, why not use the free streaming.
I kind of hope Tivo adds Amazon Prime Instant Streaming though.
As most people will know as of September 19th, Netflix is basically doubling it’s prices, and are losing STARZ in it’s streaming. Well I have used Amazon Prime shipping for years, to get 2nd day shipping from Amazon for $79 a year, and they added streaming service with most of the same shows as Netflix earlier this year, but we didn’t have anything to receive the signal, but at $7.99 a month to add streaming to Netflix, that is $95.88 a year. Well a new Roku 2 XS (with Ethernet) is $98, so we got one and are going to use the Amazon Prime Instant Streaming instead. In a year we will start saving money, and still get to stream most our shows.
Of course the interface on the Roku is not quite Netflix. No queue, and getting to your shows can be a chore without having a queue and at least Star Trek Voyager has some weird interlacing issues going on, but since we are already paying for Amazon Prime, why not use the free streaming.
I kind of hope Tivo adds Amazon Prime Instant Streaming though.
FCP.co on Matox's Thunderbolt Adapter
FCP.co has an article on Matrox’s Thunderbolt solution, which is an adapter to work with any of their existing MXO products for $199 or $100 if you by an MXO as well.
Of course that means only one Thunderbolt port, so this has to go at the end of your chain, but still pretty cool to get your old product with Thunderbolt, now if only someone releases a PCI thunderbolt card!
Of course that means only one Thunderbolt port, so this has to go at the end of your chain, but still pretty cool to get your old product with Thunderbolt, now if only someone releases a PCI thunderbolt card!
Adobe has a 45% gain after Apple releases FCPX!
Hardmac has an article on an official statement from Adobe about them having a 45% growth in OS X after the release of FCP X. Good job Apple! You could not have done more for Adobe, or in all likelihood AVID than crippling FCP X as you did!
And if you cared, you would have released an update to FCP X by now, but obviously you have not, so your claims to caring are shown to be hollow!
And if you cared, you would have released an update to FCP X by now, but obviously you have not, so your claims to caring are shown to be hollow!
PVC on BLackmagic $299 Thunderbolt Intensity Extreme
10/09/11 09:05 Filed in: Article | Blackmagic
Pro Video Coalition has an article on the new $299 Thunderbolt IO device the Intensity Extreme, which has only HDMI in and out and RCA in and out but is Bus Powered and inexpensive and perfect for laptops.
FCP.co on Customizing colors in Miotion 4's Templates for FCPX
FCP.Co has a video from Mark Spencer on customizing colors in Motion Templates. Worth checking out if you are using FCP X.
FCP.Co on the AJA Io XT thunderbolt
FCP.Co has a report on the new Thunderbolt equipped AJA Io XT with HD-SDI dual link support and HDMI input and output. Now if only someone could come out with a Thunderbolt PCI card for older MacPro’s (I know they say it is not possible). And I love that new cards are working with Media Composer.
FCP.CO shows off DVcreators new FCP 7 Plug ins
FCP.co is showing off DVcreators 3 new film looks FXScript plug ins for Final Cut Pro 7 created by the great Graeme Nattress. The effects look great and are only $35 dollars, which is good as they don’t work with FCP X or anything besides FCP 7, which is EOL.
Check out the filter FilmStyles at DVcreators.
Inexpensive enough that people may still get them for FCP 7, but they had better add Premiere Pro support soon!
Check out the filter FilmStyles at DVcreators.
Inexpensive enough that people may still get them for FCP 7, but they had better add Premiere Pro support soon!
Colored Sidebar in Lion Finder
09/09/11 05:15 Filed in: Article
OS X Daily has this article on a free Japanese SIMBL Plug-In to Make you Lion Finder Sidebar color once again! Yipee! This should be a feature you can activate in Lion automatically, not something that you have to hack the system to do, but I have hacked mine, as this is a far superior configuration!
Instantly my old finder is back and looking much better. It is so much easier to find what you are looking for with Color icons! Nice!
FCP X to After Effects Applescript
FCP.CO has an article on the beta of a new app called Foolcut AE to export video from FCP X to After Effects for $89. Impressive considering I paid $500 for the same functionality from Automatic Duck from FCP 7 to AE, though the same functionality is free from Premiere Pro to AE.
onOne Releases Perfect Photo Suite 6
07/09/11 19:27 Filed in: onOne Software
onOne Software has released Perfect Photo Suite 6 for Photoshop. This has long been one of my favorite Photoshop plug in suits, and they have added new plug ins, Perfect Effects 3 replaces PhotoTools, they have added Perfect Portrait and Perfect Mask replaces Mask Pro 4. I am always using Photoframe and the rest of the suite is well worth it. Also love that when I owned the earlier version they gave a free 64 bit upgrade. This company totally rocks.
Digital Rebelion on 18 Features Premiere needs to borrow from FCP 7
Digital Rebellion has an excellent article on 18 features that Premiere Pro must lift from Final Cut Pro, some of which I have covered extensively (like showing clip duplication in the timeline) and others I had not even realized, but all I agree with are necessary for Premiere Pro to really replace Final Cut Pro.
Though I doubt you will ever be able to open multiple projects as you can’t in After Effects either (only import projects into each other). Still it would be nice!
Though I doubt you will ever be able to open multiple projects as you can’t in After Effects either (only import projects into each other). Still it would be nice!
FilmRiot is Premiere better than FCP
Film Riot has a a good video podcast on is Premiere Pro better than Final Cut Pro, and basically it comes down to that yes it is. It can open Final Cut Pro projects, and is really damn fast. And one of my favorites, is the After Effects integration, which really is incredible. Check out this video below.
Biscardi Creative on Premiere and AVID with Davinci Resolve
01/09/11 18:18 Filed in: Article
Biscardi Creative has an interesting article on workarounds to use Adobe Premiere Pro and AVID Media Composer with Davinci Resolve which is currently made to work with Final Cut Pro 7.
It looks like there is no easy solution right now, as Resolve reads Premiere’s XML, but not all of it’s media is compatible, and you need a $500 plug in to make it work with AVID. Otherwise you basically need to export a quicktime and use scene detection to make a grade (so no dissolves).
Not an ideal solution for sure.
It looks like there is no easy solution right now, as Resolve reads Premiere’s XML, but not all of it’s media is compatible, and you need a $500 plug in to make it work with AVID. Otherwise you basically need to export a quicktime and use scene detection to make a grade (so no dissolves).
Not an ideal solution for sure.
EF Mount Canon Video Camera?
01/09/11 18:15 Filed in: Article
CanonRumors has a report that Canon may be releasing 2 exciting new cameras in October. Both with an APS-C Sensor, but one with an EF Mount and one with a PL mount. The EF is exciting for me as I could use my existing lenses and have a real video camera and not just a DSLR with video functionality. Hopefully this will compete with Sony’s F3 and the Panasonic AF100, though the PL Mount on the F3 makes it superior, the EF might be more exciting for me, just because I own so many lenses already.
FCP Studio 3 Back for Sale
MacRumors is reporting that Apple has quietly put Final Cut Pro Studio 3 back for sale, though they are not making it easy.
You have to call 800-MY-APPLE and ask for part number MB642Z/A for $999, not through the physical stores or the internet, but at least, if true you no longer have to pay outrageous prices on E-Bay for a copy.
Took them long enough. And it should never have stopped being for sale, but this is arrogant apple so…
The Pico Dolly
01/09/11 17:57 Filed in: Article
PetaPixel has an article on an amazing new miniature dolly the Pico Flex Dolly from CheesyCam. For $90 this thing looks amazing!
This is so cool, I totally want one for my 60D.
This is so cool, I totally want one for my 60D.