Final Cut Pro X Success Story
With all of the discussion the past few weeks over the release of Final Cut Pro X, I wanted to share a brief success story. A good buddy, and fellow shooter, Chris Seivard send me his thoughts on FCPX after he had to download the software in a pinch.
First, a little background. Chris is a great guy. We just spent two weeks shooting together in Athens, Greece for the Special Olympics World Summer Games. He's mainly a DP, who has years of experience shooting programs for television, film and documentary projects. His main camera workflow right now is DSLR. Final Cut Pro X came out the day before we left for Greece. I downloaded a copy so I could check it out while I was on the road. I used FCP X to check out some of the DSLR footage Chris was shooting while in Athens. I was surprised with how quickly and easily I could bring in the files, without transcoding, and begin working with them. I also didn't mind the interface. Long story short, I told Chris about my experience and recommended he check it out. We had both discussed some of the software's shortcomings, but definitely identified some of it's positive features as well.
Fast forward to this past weekend. Chris was in Arkansas on a shoot and the producer asked him for a quick turnaround on some of the footage. Here's what he told me about his experience with FCP X.
"I am now a believer. I downloaded FCP X Saturday morning, when it became clear the client need clips to be sent out that day. I have at best a cursory knowledge of Express, and even less of iMovie. I imported files from my DSLR, picked a few clips and crossed my fingers.
At the shoot the client chose a few trims on the clips I picked. I managed to put them together with black between and output Apple ProRes 422 onto a thumbdive and hand it over. Done! I like it a ton."
I know many will say, but these are only simple edits. That's not the point. The point is that FCP X does serve a purpose and for some shooters the workflow is perfect. I am the first to say FCP X is lacking some key features we need before we fully implement the software, but in certain circumstances, it's a good option.
-Written by Creative Liquid founder Ryan Pratzel
