Are we there yet?

The promised 'upgrade' for FCP X made a stealthy appearance, as promised for early 2012, in the App Store yesterday (UK).   There's also an upgrade for Motion - both are free,  (or rather, included in the price you've already paid for them) and both are hefty upgrades, weighing in at well over 1GB each.  So don't try this on a limited broadband tariff!
Promised features include FCP X 10.0.3 are multicam editing and, in beta form only, video output for monitoring - using one of several interface cards/boxes (AJA, Matrox).  The multicam looks promising - the FCP description page has links to a couple of videos, here.  If camera toys are your thing, then you'll enjoy the 'Multicam Demo Video' - I did.
I like the look of the multicam tool, especially the manual choice of sync mechanism (marker, timecode, audio etc).   Too early for me to have tried it, but it promises to be a distinct improvement over the previous method for syncing multiple tracks of audio.  (Which I found unintuitive and disappointing on a project this month).
Two caveats about the video monitoring output:  it'll only work when the manufacturer of the interface box has finalised their driver (currently no statement from Matrox for instance) and it'll be OS X Lion only.   This will delay my adoption for several weeks, while I finish off the current batches of work.  And do remember these are flagged as beta product.
Also in the mix is a rework of the XML that FCP X uses - we are promised a richer set of descriptions, which will make it possible to export a project to DaVinci Resolve for colour grading - and who knows, to Soundtrack Pro (or whatever next) for audio dubbing?   They haven't promised that, though.
This change to the XML means that existing FCP X projects (and I believe events) will have to be updated when opened in the new app - this will be a one-way trip of course.  Echoes of previous FCP version changes, of course.
And the upgraded XML means there's now a convertor app, 7toX, for importing FCP 7 projects (or at least their XML) into FCP X.   The app is available at the app store, it's from Philip Hodgett's company Intelligent Assistance and is a very reasonable £6.99 download.   It won't answer all your prayers, and may lead to a lot of time spent chasing and relinking media - but fills a vital need for just about everyone, I'd think.  Thanks to Nick btw, who was the first to spot the appearance of this app.
So the work continues to bring FCP X up to speed.   More chat and personal reviews no doubt at our next meet, Monday next (6th Feb) 13th Feb*, if you can make it through the streets of Bristol, currently twinned with Omsk, as far as the weather is concerned.

*We've had to postpone a week because of illness.

Piece by piece the good news arrives (FCP X)

Or, given the context, maybe that should be tile by tile (colour joke).
We've mentioned the unbelievably free colour correction software Da Vinci Resolve frequently at the wefcpug, with a promise of a run-down/review soon.   Which is to say, once I've read my way through the 300+ pages of the manual and conquered the usual fear-of-unknown-interface problems.

As of today, there's more reason to do this - and to rejoice.   Following the update of FCP X, adding XML import/export to the app (admittedly its own very special dialect of FCP X), there's now an update to da Vinci Resolve (yes, including the free version) that speaks this dialect.  So FCP X'ers are liberated from the underwhelming colour correction interface in 'X' and can turn to Resolve.
It's a very welcome development - according to Blackmagic:

The new Resolve 8.1 software update includes support for Apple Final Cut Pro X XML round trip, new layer node composite effects, ACES colorspace support, compatibility with Avid AAF for round trip with Avid Media Composer™, Final Cut Pro 7 clip size and position support, new copy commands for grades, upgraded EDL features, support for UltraStudio 3D for Thunderbolt™ and compatibility with the 2011 MacBook Pro 15” computer.

With this new update, DaVinci Resolve can now import and export Final Cut Pro X timelines using the new Final Cut Pro rich XML file format. When working in Final Cut Pro X, customers will get full timeline round trip where projects can be moved between Final Cut Pro X and DaVinci Resolve,retaining the multi track timeline with frame accurate cuts, dissolves and even speed changes. DaVinci Resolve will also use rich XML from Final Cut Pro X to link to original camera footage. DaVinci Resolve supports full media management for Final Cut Pro X projects including additional source clip folders and alternate image source when conforming edits in Resolve.

Because DaVinci Resolve supports grading of high resolution and bit depth files, edits can be exported out of Final Cut Pro for finishing in the highest quality. An alternative workflow is to use DaVinci Resolve 8.1 to manage extremely high resolution raw image formats such as RED, ARRI, CinemaDNG and DNxHD and then to grade and render to ProRes or uncompressed media for Final Cut Pro X.

Read all about it here 

Download the software (and the hefty manual) by registering here

This is big news for FCP - not just for colour graders but (fingers crossed) someone somewhere might be creating linkages for the rest of the post-production work that's done.  Soundtrack Pro (or better) - it's you we're talking about.

Meeting next week - Monday 9th May

What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn; 

(Antonio's opening speech, 'Merchant of Venice', Wm Shakespeare) 

Admittedly, the Bard probably didn't have Final Cut Pro X in mind when he put quill to parchment, but the sentiments fit. Antonio goes on to say  

And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself. 

But we'll have no sadness at the wefcpug meeting next Monday, 9th May, usual place (BBC Bristol), time (assemble from 630pm). Rather we'll echo 'two-headed Janus' (Merchant again) and look back to NAB, forward to the aforesaid FCP and how to prepare.

The webscape is full of (mostly) uninformed speculation, guesswork, uncertainty and doubt, or as Bill S put it: an infinite deal of nothing.   We'll be doing a bit better than that, I hope, with a rundown on this year's new hardware and how it's going to change the way we work.   Let's talk cameras, storage, graphics and yes, tech stuff too!    (Note, the presentations will NOT be in verse, nor in iambic pentameter.   Unless you insist).
 

I pray you, have in mind where we must meet.

Podcast resumes

I've just put up the latest and newest 'Out of Vision' podcast. If you're already subscribing through iTunes, it's there already when you hit 'refresh'. If you aren't so doing, visit wefcpod.podbus.com and follow the easy links.

'A day at the races' is the account of my day's visit to the ITV4 Tour de France production company, V Squared TV, for Sunset&Vine. Hear all about 4 FCP suites all on a fibre network, turning round a daily 1 hour show, airing some 90 minutes after the race finishes in France.

How do they do it? Producer James Venner and chief editor Peter Wiggins (one of last year's notable visiting speakers at the wefcpug) explain all.

F C Studio 2 Manuals online

If you're the sort who likes reading manuals, especially before the software is delivered, then http://www.apple.com/support/manuals/
is your sort of web page.

Manuals for FCP6, Color, Compressor 3 etc all available for free download to whet your appetites.

Next meeting - you won't want to miss

At last, we can confirm the date of the June meeting.

It's a different day - TUESDAY 5th June

It's a different place - the 'Clifton Pavilion' at Bristol Zoo

It's the same time - 7pm

And it's going to be big.

With thanks to Ken Bell at Quad Logic, it's your chance to get your hands on Final Cut Studio 2. In captivity. Live.
And with even more thanks to Ken, if you're there and you place an order for the upgrade, there's an unrepeatable 5% discount.

And wait, there's more - further instalments of the fantastic wefpug FREE raffle. Details of prizes when we feel less faint from excitement.

So mark up your diaries!!

Coming Real Soon Now

Episode 3 of the wefcpod is recorded and assembled on my G5. As I sip from my cup of Earl Grey, all that awaits is the mix and the mpegging and it'll be in your iTunes library before you know it. Matters have not been helped by my ISP choosing last week to upgrade the ADSL connections hereabout, but circuits were found around the globe to correspondents across 3 continents.
There's a look back to Video Forum, a look forward to NAB, and a look sideways at rumours and gadgets just launched. Plus a contribution from a brave crew pioneering the use of P2 and - it's that word again - metadata.