FCPX Grill – the new Final Cut Pro X podcast
When I’m away from my desk I listen to a wide variety of podcasts – including a few post production podcasts such as Going Postal, Go Creative Show, That Post Show and digitalCINEMAcafe.
Last week Chris Fenwick of digitalCINEMAcafe and formerly of The Digital Convergence Podcast invited me to take part in an episode of his new podcast: FCPX Grill.
Chris started this podcast because he wants to capture the kind of conversations he regularly has with editors about happy and comfortable they are with Final Cut Pro X. Instead of talking in the context of a general post show FCPX Grill is a place where Final Cut Pro X can be discussed, explained and complained without needing to provide the kind of balance that placates Autodesk, Avid, Adobe, Sony, Quantel and Foundry users.
Each episode is a conversation between host Fenwick and a guest who talks about what they use Final Cut for, when they first approached it, what they thought initially, what was the breakthough moment that made them fully sign up as a Final Cut Pro X fan and any handy tips and tools they want to share.
Why is it called the FCPX Grill? It’s a spin-off of Chris’ digitalCINEMAcafe podcast.
Listen in, there’s no need to be shy about standing up and saying that Final Cut Pro X is a great editing application.
Episode 1: Welcome to the Grill – featuring Carl Olsen
Chris’ first guest is Carl Olsen, his former co-host from the The Digital Convergence Podcast.
(0:00) What is FCPX Grill?
(3:30) Carl Olsen introduction
(7:15) ‘What kind of productions do you use Final Cut to edit?’
(13:30) ‘Why didn’t you use Final Cut Pro X when it was launched’
(16:00) ‘When changing from Final Cut Pro 7, why didn’t you choose Adobe or Avid?’
(19:30) ‘What are the advantages of connecting clips?’
(21:00) Avoiding the ‘background music going out of sync problem’
(22:00) Tip: Changing the connection point between clips
(23:15) ‘What was your biggest Final Cut Pro X stumbling block?’
(24:45) Apple’s no. 1 Final Cut Pro support issue
(26:15) ‘Do you need to use media from older projects?’
(27:30) ‘What kind of drive do you edit off of – which brand?’
(29:00) ‘What was the moment when you realised that Final Cut Pro X was the right choice?’
(31:00) ‘How did learn Final Cut Pro X – who did you turn to’
(32:45) Staying in sync with clients and colleagues when it comes to choosing editing software
(33:30) How Chris and Carl bashed Final Cut Pro X when it came out
(34:00) Final Cut Pro X supports fast editing
(35:30) ‘What is your Final Cut setup?’
(36:45) The advantages of X over 7
(38:00) Color Panel presets
(40:00) Tip: Auto-assigning keywords to multiple clips
(41:15) Chris’ Final Cut Pro X ‘A-ha’ moment
(47:00) Auto-enhancing clip audio
(49:00) Carl’s next frontier
(50:00) Appreciating today’s tools
(51:30) Wrap-up
Episode 2: 4K RED workflow – featuring Sam Mestman
Guest Sam Mestman is a LA-based post production supremo from the We Make Movies film collective.
(0:30) Sam Mestman introduction
(3:00) Los Angeles is behind the rest of the world when it comes to Final Cut Pro X
(4:00) ‘What kind of work do you do with Final Cut Pro X?’
(4:45) Coming soon FCP Works: A professional solutions business for Final Cut Pro
(5:45) Being in a ‘pro’ post production minority
(7:00) Notes from a post-production workflow lab – LumaForge
(9:00) ‘How do you work out which tools work well in pro workflows?’
(10:45) Final Cut Pro X’s learning curve is different from other NLEs
(12:00) Comparing how easy it is to learn Avid and Final Cut Pro X for new editors
(13:45) Apple’s reboot blues may affect Adobe and Avid next
(15:00) Sam on Premiere Pro
(16:30) ‘When you first tried Final Cut Pro X, what was your impression?’
(18:15) ‘What made you take X more seriously?’
(19:30-38:00) Final Cut Pro X’s RED and 4K workflow – featuring metadata and proxies
(30:30) Sam on what editing’s all about
(31:45) RED ROCKET on a Thunderbolt expansion chassis
(32:15) ‘Is using a RED ROCKET card mandatory?’
(34:00) Sam on on-set rushes tools
(36:30) ‘Where do I modify color? In RED or Final Cut’
(37:15) Editing clips while someone else grades them
(39:15) Sam going all in on Final Cut Pro X
(40:00) ‘What needs to be improved in Final Cut?’
(44:00) Make sure you run Final Cut Pro X on the right hardware
(45:00) ‘Tell us more about your film collective We Make Movies’
(48:00) Wrap-up
Subscribe now!
If only to make sure your podcast software downloads my FCPX Grill episode, which became available less than an hour after I posted this note!