You have all the options for exporting your videos when you send the edit to compressor. I'm convinced you find all options inside you want to change. You also can create your own custom settins and use those inside FCP.
1. You missed a lot of color grading options. Where it says "Color Board 1" there is a drop down arrow right next to it that has better options for color grading. 2.When it comes to moving clips around you can just copy and paste the video from one part of the timeline to another. Maybe that would help. 3. There is an export button on the top right corner of the screen. It's the square with the arrow coming out of it. 4. For you to work on multiple timelines and pick and choose certain sequences from one and dropping it into another, this can be done by opening multiple projects and toggle back and forth between them by clicking the arrows "< >" on the side of the tittle right underneath the play button in the middle of the screen (the lighter gray section). For you to be able to do this with your B roll, you need to start another project, open it (which is a brand new timeline), and then make sure you also open your main project/timeline for you to be able to go back and forth between them with the arrows. Both projects have to be opened once when starting the program for you to do it. 5. For whenever you do want to drag and drop or copy and paste videos from one part of the timeline to the next without losing your spot, I personally drop a marker in the video so i don't lose my place. You can do this by pressing "M" on the keyboard and it'll leave a little marker on the video that the cursor was on. Hopefully this helps (:
I was going to suggest your number 5 or see if you can color-code a clip to find where you left off. I don't use those apps but even the basic editing apps should have these options.
@@pictureeyecandy you can color code the clips you drop into the timeline by right clicking. It’ll give you an option for assigning roles. But I just find the marker to be faster for me personally 😄
Where do I begin... First, I admire you for trying Final Cut. Where you might be hanging up, and I've seen this in every person I've taught, is that you are trying to edit as track-based in Final Cut. Everyone who tries to convert falls into this trap. It's muscle-memory because every other NLE is track-based. Final Cut is a new paradigm with it's magnetic timeline and, yes, it hurts the brain to understand it initially, but once you 'get it', you'll never go back to a track-based editor. You can open multiple timelines but they aren't stacked one on top of another. For example, I will open other projects that have elements I want to steal. Then, you'll see angle brackets on one or both sides of the project title along the top of the timeline frame. You can click on an angle (back or forward) to pop to the timeline of your choice, or to be fast like I do, right thumb on the command key and tap the left or right square bracket keys. Copy the element you want, thumb-tap back to your current project to paste. Or, if you have a few projects open, press and hold the angle bracket and a drop-down list will appear so that you can quickly choose which project you want. Final Cut has color correction much more powerful than what you are showing. The old Color Board is at the top, but below the Color Board choice on the color corrections list, more choices will appear. Choose Wheels, Curves, and Hue/Saturation Curves much like you'll find in DaVinci Resolve. You show the Ken Burns effect (built-in) for easily zooming in on a picture. There's a LOT of power in that effect. I've done videos where I have only an organizational chart. Start full, move in on an employee, pause, move to the next employee, pause, move again and widen out to frame two employees, pause, and I do it all with just the org chart and one Ken Burns effect. Wait, the narrator re-cut the audio and you have to change the timing of the moves? You can adjust the timing fast so that the moves sync with the audio tracks. You don't have to start over. But, it's the Magnetic Timeline (the initial timeline in the darker strip) where the magic happens. Too much to explain here, but RippleTraining.com (I have no affiliation) has the best tutorials and many free short how-to videos to guide you. Give me the same project you're doing in Premiere and I'll finish two to three times faster. Their many free tutorials are on their TH-cam channel at th-cam.com/users/rippleguysvideos Last time I checked, the multicam editor in Premiere was limited to two video tracks. Final Cut has the best, most amazing MultiCam editor I've seen. I've done a number of MultiCams for Texas Instruments involving three lock-down cameras and a roaming camera that would start and stop. The three video tracks plus two or three audio tracks. Piece of cake! I would do the MultiCams quickly in Final Cut Pro. No outside programs used. The export options are just a starter kit. You get Motion and Compressor with Final Cut for $50/ea. Get Final Cut and Motion and Compressor for a grand total of $400 and use those apps on every computer you own that's logged into the Apple ID you used when you bought them. I paid the $400 back in 2011 when FCPX was introduced and have used the apps on any computer of mine and never have I been charged for the many upgrades since then. In Compressor, you have MANY exporting options, and, from Final Cut, you can add any of those export options. In Compressor, you can design your own video export. Copy the one that comes closest to what you want and modify the copy any way you want, then add the effect to the list of exports in Final Cut. The Timeline Index. Wow. Such power. Instantly change a misspelled word in many text objects in an instant! And, there are many other things you can do in that Index. Look for tutorial. On the second page of my portfolio at DonSmith.TV you'll see two videos I did for Texas Instruments that are done entirely in Motion and only using .jpg and .png pictures. I have a couple of tutorials in Motion on rigging and, I forget, something else on my TH-cam channel at TexasTwoLane.com. There's so much more to Final Cut Pro X. Once you get the full scope, you'll be as excited to use Final Cut and Motion as I am.
Well clearly you are an expert in FCP, it seems the reviewer still needs to learn all those tricks, to be able to do an assessment between FCP and Pr, but if FCP is that much better it can drastically change the quality of life of the reviewer, just saying.
been doing a trial on FCP since it is soooo much cheaper than premier. the biggest thing i use in premier that im not figuring out is adjustment layers. i dont see that capability in FCP. not without a paid plugin? i dont know, i stopped using FCP at 7 when i was in film school. switched over to photography then got back into video about 6 years ago and just used premier. if i can get adjustment layers in FCP im sold on moving over.
For color grading you want to select anything other than the color board. It’s pretty robust. For exporting you need compressor. It has all those options you’re looking for. As for stacking timelines unfortunately you can’t. You can jump between timelines though. There are arrow buttons in the middle of the interface.
I just switched from Premiere to Final Cut last year, I switched my editing style from basically exactly what you said to sorting through by marking favorites exclusively, and then filtering the results in your view to your favorite clips only once I've gone through the clips. Helps my ADD for sure. I was so tired of Premiere being buggy and laggy, and paying them thousands for such a poor experience.
Yeup! Apple splits it's Pro suite up into a couple apps but that just means they let each app focus on its niche rather than cramming it into one overly complex and buggy mess. Definitely a different approach to other companies but once you adjust it makes sense.
@@Pawnlust I'd say it's close to on par. FC is probably snappier, because of it's specific optimization but... of course it doesn't have as much going on. Resolve is amazing, even on lower end machines with minimum requirements it's smooth and very rarely crashes. I haven't looked back.
I’m getting my Mac in a couple of weeks and switching from a Pc with Vegas pro to Mac with FCP and your videos have been such a great help already. It’s great to see the real world frustrations that you’re going through, because this is what it’s really like. Also it’s amazing to have so many people in the comments able to help. Please keep doing more videos like this!
You have to use Compressor (separate program) to get the detailed output options. It works extremely well and can output several different resolutions and bitrates for different platforms all at the same time. You can save your settings as droplets and export the droplets as well to make it quick and easy to export in all the forms you need.
I’m an fcpx user and share the zoom in-zoom out of the timeline frustration. My fix (and it’s worked amazingly well) was to set up an elgato streamdeck and use three keys, 1 zoom out 2 zoom in and 3 fit to timeline. I pick my clip, fit to timeline, move ver an then zoom in and place clip. In addition to other repetitive operations. This has saved me probably 30% of my edit time.
Thanks for lovely video - there is a way around FCPX's magnetic timeline - insert empty (gap) clip (Option + W) on main timeline, stretch it as far as you need. Then you drop clips or move them around without messing with position of any other ones.
I’m sure it’s already mentioned but, your points are all valid. I think it’s more doing it differently. For example, using keywords on sections of clips is really powerful and is done after import before editing. You then just drag from the browser into the timeline only the best or pertinent bits from word collections or favourites. There are much more colour options (wheels, curves, custom and camera luts etc) and, exporting is done much more on presets- but you have to make the presets first yourself. Bonus- buy compressor, it’s amazing for transcoding eg. Export a master file in 4444 and then transcode to loads of different formats with that file.
I second this. Resolve really is a happy medium of most of the good parts of PPro and FCPX. Not 100%, but pretty close. It's a great cross platform option.
A 5th vote, I’ve used all three… I just had to switch to resolve, it is optimized for Mac and PC, I see no difference between Fcp and Resolve on my M1 Mac, the two are superfast… I regret paying $300 to Apple for Fcp
The key frustration you're experiencing with needing multiple sequences open and not being able to do it in FC is because you haven't gone through the selection of shots before getting them into the timeline. In FC, you don't drag all the footage in and slice and delete from there. You have multiple In and Out points per clip, mark them as favourites and only take those into the timeline. This makes it a lot different than the 'pancake' style of editing you use in Premiere. I think FC's process is best, because you can be very selective of your shots, and you start your sequence with winners.
Totally agree! And if you combine favorites with keywords and comments, it’s incredibly powerful and clean. People generally totally understate Fcp because they try to work using the same workflow as premiere or resolve when it’s actually a completely other way of working. In my opinion fcp allows you focus more on creativity when you Edit.
It’s perfectly valid to use this style in PP (you use the source window to select your in and out points then turn them into subclips), just that PP allows you to edit however you like (even having multiple timelines open in different windows).
@@CovetedConsultant I would in general recommend @Matthew O'Brien channel and more specifically this tutorial on how to edit interviews in fcp: th-cam.com/video/nLJ1Rw7YpM4/w-d-xo.html&t Although its focused on interviews it totally demonstrate the power of making selections in the media browser, and you will see how multiple In and Outs combined with Keywords, and Notes unleashes superpowers..
When you were frustrated zooming out to find you b-roll and then bring it back to where you left off, try this: Before you leave that 3 second (or any) clip, select (click) on it, and press "M"... This places a MARK on that clip at the PLAY HEAD. You can then navigate forward and back through all your marks with CTL-; and CTL-' (see MARK pull-down menu for a reminder and other controls). Also, double-click on any MARK and you can change a mark to a Chapter marker or TO DO item and type in a description or reminder what the MARK was there for in the first place. I am also a FORMER Premier user but began working in a TV studio where the only platform available is FCPX. It still frustrates the hell out of me at times but there is always a way to get where you want to go. THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO.
Been watching the series and the thing that bothers me the most is… are googling answers to a question not a thing anymore? I get that being intuitive is important when it comes to apps/design in general, but trying to understand a power-user’s app or even a whole OS blindly might not be the smartest way to go. I guess the engagement a creator gets when people comment solutions are a good thing.
in terms of exporting, want you want to do is "send to compressor" (which is under share option you showed in the video). Compressor is basically apples version of adobe media encoder. Btw good for you Lee for being open to trying new things. It fault here definitely lies with Adobe and their inadequacy in optimizing for the news m1 chips (even though they say premier is now optimized for m1-it clearly isnt). Davinci Resolve is another editor that takes advantage of the new chips and you can also get a fast and seamless editing experience. Adobe really needs to step up their game, i say that as someone that's been mainly using premier the past 9 years too.
For your problem with multiple timelines, click on the arrow where your project name is, click dublicate project, erase all the clips you dont need and you have your seconde timeline, also you can dublicate it again and again
When you have the new Project open or "timeline" just use the arrows right above the timeline to go back to the previous open Project. That's how I grab stuff from another edit very quickly.
Agreed 100%. I edited the exact same way with premier using b roll footage, and having the ability to add many sequences was key for me. The zooming in and out in final cut pro is a real pain in the ass, especially like you said, when you have 3 sec clips. I just recently switched over to FCX about 2 years ago and I’m still learning too. The thing I did find out (and I fought it every step of the way), I had to completely change the way I edit. But by doing so, I’ve learned a lot of new ways to edit that I couldn’t do in premiere. Good video!
For me I went from FC to Premiere, and I really thought the application was broken since scrubbing didn't work and that it took for ages to export. Those functions are just sooo basic things to have in order to get a acceptable work experience for any project. You'll need an absurd amount of coffee to be able to bear Premiere's waiting times...
Love that you’re challenging yourself to try other NLEs! There’s so much I could show you about the power of Final Cut! The Magnetic Timeline, the organization in the Browser, etc. You basically have to stop doing everything you’ve done as an editor in Premiere … and take a whole new approach with FCP. You must unlearn what you have learned. A lot of tutorials on my channel, and you guys even featured a video of mine on your blog a while back. Final Cut Pro rules!!!
I love your channel Matthew!! I’ve been editing in Premiere Pro for 20 years and recently decided to give FCPX a try. It’s been a bit of a challenge, but I’m really starting to embrace the differences… especially the magnetic timeline😜
Fun fact: if you get the FCPX trial, after it expires you can just do the good ol’ “change the Mac’s date back to when it was valid” trick and it’ll keep working 🤣 I did that for years, until I switched to Davinci Resolve
For working with color, click on the little drop down next to where it says "color board" and you can select anything else (wheels, curves, HSL curves), for LUTS you have the custom lut effect, or you can put your transform out on the clip itself in the general settings. Effects are processed in the order that they're placed in the inspector. Also, consider scrubbing/culling through your clips in the event browser, and setting favorites and/or adding keywords, rather than dropping everything on the timeline and chopping it up. It'll make things a heck of a lot faster. "I" "O" and "F" will be your best friends. "E" will drop it to the end of the timeline. "P" changes the main tool to a position tool, and you can move a clip anywhere (be careful if you don't want to cover anything up). Command + or Command - to zoom in and out incrementally. By culling through in the browser, you can honestly put together a basic cut of your edit, before ever putting anything on your timeline, or at least knowing for sure where your best stuff is. Helps viewing it in the filmstrip view, rather than list view. You've barely even scratched the surface of what FCP can do.
Lee, I just got feed up with Premiere and the lagging. I have made the switch to Davinci Resolve and have been happy with the results. Less lag and less crashing. Only probably I have with Resolve is the audio ducking. Definitely not as good as Premiere. Color grading is so much better in Resolve! Hands down Resolve makes my image look amazing.
I've started (and have been) using FCP exclusively lately. It's very good... and it just takes a while to get used to it. The M1 Max on my 16" is INSANE with FCP though.. the exports are stupid fast, the timeline is absolutely perfect, and it really makes working with video a joy.
PS… you can put in multiple timelines in Resolve and drag from one timeline to another. And it works even better than it does in premiere pro. I was a premier pro user for about 9 years… And then I moved on and never looked back. Yes there is a learning curve to resolve… But once you pass that point… You will be thrilled. And listening to your video you sound like the perfect candidate for doing this
9:45 I use Davinci for color grading and then export back to FCPX, definitely worth it. (And there is a free version, I use the studio version but 90% of the features I use are available in the free version.)
Lee, Premiere hasn't always had this, but those templates that you liked in Final Cut are equivalent to Motion Graphics Templates(.mogrt's) in Premiere now. The functionality it similar where you can just drag and drop and change the text/pictures/videos all from the "Essential Graphics" panel.
I've been using Premiere for about 6 years. I work with a MAM at my job, and our editing team has to use Pr to be able to share projects. I think the multiple timeline workflow is commonly called a "pancake" timeline if I'm not mistaken. And, I use it all the time. I usually edit my interviews or talking heads in separate timelines first. I just find it easier to color grade and mix audio with each speaker separately. Then, I put my story together by dragging in my selects to my "main timeline" and then add broll and gfx to finish up. So yes, not having that would be a show stopper for me. But, I do agree that playback on Pr is very terrible and I sometimes do envy our FCPX friends. Thank you for the video!
This method of editing is completely unnecessary in Final Cut Pro. I used to pancake edit in FCP7 but FCPX nuked all that with the power of the Browser. The Browser is your timeline full of selects. It’s hard to explain in a comment but it makes going through your footage, logging it, making selects soooooo much better than the pancaked timelines approach. And this has me certain I need to make a video on my channel about the pancake approach vs. FCP’s way of doing things.
The limited export functions are actually good. Every time I read from someone that his videos don’t look good after export, it’s edited with Premiere. On Final Cut you just select either 4K Apple Devices or ProRes and it looks great. No need to mess around with bitrates or so. That’s Apple style, simple but it works. If you need more options, you can have them tough, either via manual presets or Compressor. Great comparison overall. It’s hard to get everything right as it takes some time to get used to a new editor and adjust workflows.
As much as I like having many options and settings, I have to admit you are right. To actually understand what all of Premiere options do, you need to have a very good understanding of how video codecs work and compression, most of the tutorials out there are just guessing and making mistakes. It took me a long time to figure out everything and I would have loved a simple export option like that when starting out. Also, Premiere (and Media Encoder) is actually pretty shitty at making smaller files, as it's giving priority to performance and not quality, which is very important for small file sizes and low bitrate, so with all the options they missed the important one. If you need a destination format, low bitrate, you need to use handbrake anyway and choose a very slow speed which will give you decent quality and small file size.
Oh man, I can't agree more... I've seen so many crappy export from Premiere.. If you really need super small file size, What I recommend really is to export first from FCP, then use Handbrake for like those time when you need ultra compressed files for a webpage header or something.
Bro, you missed the color wheels! (Also you have options for Color Finale, or Magic Bullet!) RE: your multi timelines. Copy/Paste. Or change your process: If you start editing B-Roll inside the browser (set ins, set outs, hit Q, W, or E to place it in the timeline. B-Roll editing this way is insanely fast. Lee. Do it. RE granular control of export, you need to buy COMPRESSOR. It's all in there.
Use a marker to set your spot you need to move a clip from “far in the future” then you can use the index tab to find the markers you need. It’s a nice work around from using multiple project/sequence.
For moving clips around, one little thing that might help is to disable the transition/effects window right next to the timeline to make it linger and make your timeline take up the entire bottom half of your screen. You do this by clicking the effects or transition button depending on that window you have open.
I found this; Using Option key to move files In Finder, you can copy a file by either right-clicking or using CMD + C. But what if you wanted to move the file instead of making a copy. Instead of bashing CMD+ V to paste, you can move the files using the option key with it (i.e. CMD + OPT + V). Very handy!
Hello, Lee. To make for multiple timelines, and perhaps that was conceptually thought out by the Apple FCP team as a substitute, to jump to different segments you use roles, markers, keywords and rating that can be opened in the Timeline Index which is a list view with the filmstrip above. The roles of "Video", "Audio", "Subtitles" are created by FCP automatically upon import and performing media analysis as are some keywords, you can add your own keywords and sub-roles (those can be made hierarchic) in the process. You actually can create Keyword Collections, Folders and Smart Folders that collect any clips and their ranges based on multiple criteria. As for color correction, FCP lets you work with vectorscopes, histograms and waveforms, color channels, luma, chroma etc. You open those from any of FCP viewers (Events Viewer or Project Viewer). Click on the pop-up in the far right corner at the top.
The hardest thing about FinalCut pro is wrapping you head around the magnetic timeline and all it’s features. This particular difficult when coming from an NLE like Premiere Pro. Once you “get it” you’ll find you can do quick rough edits in almost no time and certainly in a fraction of time it would take in Premiere. More interesting is Motion. Sadly also something that has its quirks when coming from AfterEffects but unlike After Effects Apple Motion for almost everything in real time.
Oh yeah, and as far as customizing the export settings, that's what Compressor is for. Personally, what I like about Compressor is that I can go into Compressor and customize the export setting to my own personal preference, save that as a preset in Compressor, and then make that preset available as an export/Share option from within FCP. Then I don't even have to think about it in FCP. I've already created the preset, so I know I'm exporting it exactly the way I want it encoded. And other than the initial setup, I never again have to leave FCP to make this happen. All the same options you showed us in Premiere are available in Compressor.
you can do all the same colour effects in FCPX that you can do in Primier Pro. you just have to hit that colorbord1 button and then click what other options you want. Such as hue and saturation, color wheels, etc.
Exporting. The options under the Share are the default settings. If you want more, or different custom settings go File > Share > Add Destination, from there you can add custom settings etc, and name them whatever you want - ie ‘Low res proof’ They will then appear under the Share menu option.
I've always been jealous of final cuts playback. why haven't all other editors prioritized this? Its been probably over a decade and most are still a laggy mess.
It makes more sense if you take into account the performance of Premiere depends on a bunch of giant tech companies (Adobe: Software, Microsoft: OS, CPU: Intel/AMD, GPU: Nvidia/AMD) whereas Apple just does everything I mentioned above in house.
With your issue regarding the timeline and jumping there’s two things you could try. There’s compound clips (which might work well for B roll vs A roll combo) as well as editing everything on top of a gap clip (under edit-generators). Hope that helps!
The closest thing to having multiple timelines open in FCP is having multiple timeline TABS in the Timeline Window. To the left and right of the Project Name, you'll see a left and right arrow. This allows you to navigate between different timelines you have opened. COMMAND + left/right BRACKET does the same thing. You can select a clip or lasso a group of clips from one timeline, press COMMAND + C to copy them, navigate to another timeline, and paste them in. COMMAND + V edits the selection into the main storyline wherever you have your playhead or skimmer positioned, and OPTION + V will place the selection above the main storyline, so you can build up layers of video.
This is really helpful! I am contemplating a switch from PP to FCP, and the inability to have multiple timelines might have kept me with PP. Tabs sound very similar -- maybe you can't have multiple tabs open at once and on top of each other so you can see them simultaneously, but at least you can save them separately and cut and paste between them. I use a system like this when I need to show someone two different versions of the same scene and I dont' want them on the same timeline.
Frustrates me sometimes when creators do this kind of comparison. Each program has its merits and it’s faults and if you try to edit on another platform then your judgement will always be coloured by whatever you use primarily. FCP does have robust colour grading with HSL Colour Curves and Wheels. It’s not Lumetri but works the same way. Although you can’t have multiple timelines open it will allow you to create compound clips which lets you effectively edit a different timeline which then reflects in your main storylines. Motion VFX do make some amazing plug ins but there are folk out there making perfectly decent animated titles for Premiere. Ultimately stick with what you know, experiment of course, but both programs do amazing jobs at professional post production and each one also has its quirks.
I totally understand about the difficulty switching. I am trying to learn resolve because it came with my black magic camera, and I fully accept that it is far more powerful in tons of ways compared to Final Cut but I’ve just grown accustomed to editing a certain way in final cut, and I (usually) enjoy how the workflow is designed. So as much as I want the better features in resolve, it’s just the way things are designed in final cut that makes me stay. If your workflow involves stacked timelines, that’s a totally valid reason to stay with your program because that’s the way you work.
Thanks for this content. I've been hedging back and forth on which app to start my TH-cam journey with. Your spoiler answered my question. More importantly, your examples helped me understand why you arrived at the conclusion you did.
Exporting options in Final Cut are limited if you're not using the companion app Compressor. It's like Media Encoder but the FCP version, super fast and an easy way to customise settings, just like you'd get in the Premiere export window.
what about DaVinci Resolve? Because the colour Editing Area is much better than Premiere and Final Cut, It's faster on Mac and the UI looks really similar to final cut.
Color grading there are many options just look at the drop down arrow. About multi timeline, do look at compound clips. That was way better at least for me. If you want more export options get compressor app.
So, I'm gonna try and explain a fix for each of your points (if there is any fix): 1. The select tool you mention on 3:13, you can use the "position" tool instead. Shortcut "P" on keyboard, this will act as premier's select tool. (shortcut "A" is select tool). 2. Color grading you mention on 9:38, like many comments said, right were it says color board you can click that arrow for a drop down menu to add more color boards or color wheels, even on top of each other. 3. For opening multiple timelines: this is just a workaround not a fix. You can put the b-roll on top of the a-roll. This is the tip for making this a better option, use the shortcut "V" on the keyboard and this will "enable" or "disable" the clip. I would edit the a-roll first, then drop the b-roll clips on top of them (shortcut "Q") and edit them. This for sure is just creating a different workflow of the one you already have. 4. The export button, 17:34, is the right top corner... always. 5. For video encoders and all that... yeah FCPX is very lacking, just play with the "format" option and you can see how big file is going to be right above the "next" button. 6. FCPX export time: Final cut usually has background rendering on by default. I don't know how much it slows the new M1 macs, but we usually turn it off since we still haven't jump to the M1 macs yet. (waiting for a desktop M1).
Kudos to you for giving FCPX a go. Most of your questions have been answered one way or another but I get what you are saying about having a second time line open. You're right, you can't have two timelines open at the same time. WHat you can do is have any number of projects going at once and flick from one to another using the arrow buttons either side of the title of the project in the menu bar of the timeline. You may not have noticed them before. using this method you can copy paste from one project (timeline) to another. Granted, copy/paste isn't as convenient as dragging from one time line to another. Secondly, this jumping thing you mention when dragging say a clip from the end to the beginning of the timeline. My work around is to right click on the clip you want to move, put your cursor in the move to position and hit 'w'. that copies the clip but not any effects you might have applied into the new position. The copy/paste method is better if you want to keep effects applied. One more thing, learning some keyboard shortcuts greatly speeds up editing when used in place of drag and drop in many situations. You can do many more things with many less clicks. Keep experimenting. 😀👍🏽
Can totally relate to this, I was blown away by the difference in performance between FCP and premiere when I made the switch about 5 years ago. I had a really old Mac and had always just assumed them lack of speed was due to that. The difference in performance was enough for me to ignore some of the features which where either dumbed down or missing from FCP. Then last year I got an M1 Mac and could finally run DaVinci Resolve and the game changed again, all the in-depth features you could possibly want in a modern interface that is as fast as FCP, and it’s free! Unbelievable. Would recommend giving it a try.
For your timeline issue, instead of dragging a clip, you can just cut or copy and then paste it wherever you want to move it to on the timeline. This way things don't jump around on the screen.
Yeah, the hyper-scroll is quite annoying. I've learned to either zoom out to where you can see both locations for smaller moves, or cut-paste for larger ones.
I always thought one of the biggest advantages of Premiere was the Adobe creative suite. The interoperability between premiere and after effects or premiere and audition was really really convenient.
Personally I edit with everything. Depending on what the project is, is what software I will use. For a complex project, it’s adobe & da vinci. If it’s a smaller and simple project, is final cut. And if it’s a “professional” project for a fogie, it’s avid.
Hey Lee! I also use stacked/pancake timeline editing in Premiere. I have an M1 Macbook Air and I'd love to try FCP someday... but for now I'm still pretty happy with Premiere Pro on my Windows desktop. 😎
You need a mackbook with a Touch Bar!!! It gives you a zoomed out view of the timeline that you can navigate while using the zoomed in timeline. AAAAND!!! if you use the iPad as an external monitor with sidecart you can actually have the Touch Bar digitally on the iPad screen.
FCPX is very fast from a hardware and performance perspective, but there is another area that actually speeds things up dramatically and possibly the fastest, footage organization. If you commit fully to favorites, keywords and really just proper library organization, you will not need to use nested/twin sequences because it will be a far more inferior methodology. You DO NOT need to use multiple timelines in most cases if you commit to the FCPX model of organization.
Premiere pro user here. Its all about program performance. What you are seeing is a preview of the moving images instead of the actual video file. The reason is to save on GFX, cache, thumbnail & process speed. I always do multiple llaybacks to make sure everything was hit. The final always comes out percise from PP.
More colour grading tools… Click the down arrow next to Colour Board, and you get the option for Wheels, curves, hue and saturation as well. Also, Slightly up and left is View. Click the down arrow to get video scopes for histograms etc.
Loved getting your experience with this. As someone who has switched from a traditional NLE (fcp6) in the last year to Final Cut Pro X, I feel your pain. The magnetic timeline is a love/hate relationship. I struggled with it early on. I can now see the advantages with quick in timeline editing. you are right, zooming is an issue.
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Very nice video. Like some other pointed out you missed a lot of options in FCP for color grading in the dropdown. Apple has two other companion programs. Compressor to export to all kind of formats, parallel batch jobs, FCP does not have to be opened..., and Motion that is the Apple's approach to After effects to make effects, filters, and titles. In Adobe's defense, FCP is Apple and only Apple. They just not tweak the program to use things like metal... they tweak the OS to accomodate Apple's pro tools since they do not have to be compatible with anyone else apart for being able to read standards for plugins in FCP and Logic.
Just open the project you want clips from, hit copy, open youre current project again and hit paste where you want the clips. Almost no lag between project switch.
Exporting. This is done by clicking the SHARE icon (it's in the upper right corner of the interface...looks like a rectangle with an up-pointing arrow). Click that and it'll reveal many of the Share options. I forget which ones are there by default, as I've changed mine around through the years. But the "Master File" option gives you a lot of flexibility. By default, it's set to export a Pro Res 422 file. But you can change it to export an h.264 file if you prefer. Although I think there are better ways to do that. I know some people who always export a Pro Res 422 file just so they can bring that file into Handbrake (a third-party software) to encode it to smaller size. Personally, I prefer doing that in Apple's own Compressor, as it has more than enough options for me. YMMV. Some of the options here are "Apple Devices." If you select one of those, by default it will export to an .m4v file, which is an Apple wrapper of an .mp4 file. You can go into "Settings" on that export option and change it to .mp4 by simply changing "Format" from "Apple Devices" to "Computer." That'll give you an .mp4 file. it also gives you several options for Video Codec from which you can choose. I'm tellin' ya, I think you've only scratched the surface of how FCP could make your life a whole lot easier if you'd just give it a chance.
Just a quick tip. Instead of grabbing the play head in Premiere, grab the numbers that tell you where you are in the timeline. Scrubbing from there is smooth and seamless.
Here's my thing: I learned editing on iMovie when I was first starting out, and Final Cut Pro was just the natural progression for me. The learning curve from FCPX to Premiere is a lot easier than the curve from Premiere to FCPX, in my experience. Final Cut is super simple on the surface, and it's really easy for a beginner or novice, but also features most of the things you need for professional editing. And the price point is especially enticing. I'm using the Adobe suite under the student plan, but I plan on switching back to Final Cut once I'm inelgible for that discount.
i’ve never used final cut pro but did imovie before. but i’m not a graphic designer so i was really surprised about that ken burns effect he mentioned in final cut. lol brought back memories my mac right now is still a 2012 mac air lol
Just what Lee needed. A lot more anger in his life! Really good review and comparison. Yeah, you are missing some stuff. As for zooming and moving things around in the timeline, the answer is learning how to use the trackpad. The trackpad is amazing for Final Cut. What you are saying about having multiple timelines open sounds really cool. I don't think you can completely replicate that in Final Cut, but do wonder of a secondary timeline might be a help? Look into it maybe. Compressor is needed to fully tweak your renders.
Just cut the clip then move to the new point and paste. Done. Make sure the insert line turns yellow to make sure you are right between the clips before pasting....
17:00 - So to your point here, I understand that yes that's pretty rough to do. I edit like you do where I have super long sequences that I edit but then clip them in a master sequence. You do have "layers" to move footage in - You aren't restricted to the single channel of footage. "Lifting" the footage form the main timeline is something I'm constantly doing and that makes it easier for me to grab footage I want to use. I use grouping liberally to group up specific sequences of B-roll I like and then pull it to the front of my timeline. Takes seconds to do and I avoid the dragging and dropping frustrations you mentioned. Unsung heroes of my editing in FCP are the blank space and making sure I know where my footage or groups are attached to. When I delete a piece of footage (not ripple/backspace) it's really easy to create this grey block that I can use for so many things. Sometimes as a marker for time or as a way to segment out my editing into intentional blocks I need to focus on. Then properly learning how and when to pin other layers of footage is a huge help too.
In FCP, when you can’t do stuff that you usually do in a particular way in Adobe… it’s probably because of a workflow situation. In the case about moving little clip from one end to some other (far) place on the timeline you should consider using « favorites » and key word or (maybe) cut & paste instead of drag’s drop. To export, look in the upper right corner… then choose file, then the file type… you should get a zillions of more predefined options. If that’s not enough you can get compressor for about 40$us (I think). Have fun!
Just try cmd + x / cmd + v for dragging and dropping clips from one part of the timeline to another. When pasting the clip, just select the clip before which you want to paste the other clip then press cmd + v. I think it’s the most straightforward way to solve this problem. I use it all the time when need to throw a clip to another end of an edit.
In FCP, press COMMAND + COMMA to bring up the Preferences Window. In the GENERAL TAB, where it says COLOR CORRECTION, you can select from the pop-up menu which color tool you'd like to see as your default tool in the inspector. Bye-bye Color Board, hello Color Wheels! Also, if you press CONTROL + COMMAND + 4, the inspector will stretch to the bottom of the screen, so you'll have more room to see all the color controls.
I use Avid and Premiere for work, and Final Cut for all my personal projects. When I tell other editors that, they think I'm crazy. I've always wanted to sit down for a couple hours with another editor and just show them how Final Cut works. It's different, and it's not great for projects that multiple editors have to work on simultaneously, but for the actual craft of editing, it can't be beat.
For encoding options: FCPX is supposed to be used in pair with Compressor where you can set up multiple exports for the same project with tons of different settings, actually more detailed than in Premiere. About timeline: FCPX works kinda like editing old school celluloid: you cut pieces out and attach them somewhere else. Everything is driven by shot order. Premiere (and any other video editor) on the other hand follows an audio editor paradigm: everything is driven by tracks, so by moving a shot around is only affecting the track it is on, and you need to manually link pieces on different tracks if they belong together. (For me the FCPX logic is much closer to a storytelling mindset.) What I truly love about FCPX is that it is very easy to handle large amount of footage extremely fast. You just scrub through the camera rolls, select multiple shots and organize them with tags. No need to collect them into a timeline because they can be organized with filters and folders by the tags. Then you just throw them on a timeline roughly and keep reordering, trimming, etc. until your cut is finished. You can create alternative edits and switch between them to see which one fits better, and you can keep these alternatives at the very end. This alone would be a nightmare to do in Premiere if the different versions have different lengths.
I think the main thing I've learned from trying out lots of different platforms for Audio Editing and Video Editing, all of the different tools are fantastic, and it really comes down to which layout you prefer. Each program will have highlights and lowlights, and it just comes down to figuring out which tradeoffs you can live without and which layout you enjoy the most. It also comes down to what program you first learn on. With Audio I first learned on Pro Tools, and I still absolutely prefer Pro Tools even though lately I've been doing projects in Studio One and Logic Pro, and those programs both have many things I absolutely love about them, but after ten years of using Pro Tools it's very hard to switch away from it.
for peeps who gotten used to using a certain software/app vs trying a new one. In the end, You still in favor in "The app you got used to" even if it's slow.
VFX Plugins: www.motionvfx.com/
Learn how I edit in Premiere: th-cam.com/video/bzeAo4yUu8w/w-d-xo.html
are you using the new M1 mac in this video?
@@Renaldo868
Yes. That's what he's been using on his *Windows user uses Mac videos*
@@Shalomrutere do you have an idea how many GBs or RAM his has?
You have all the options for exporting your videos when you send the edit to compressor. I'm convinced you find all options inside you want to change. You also can create your own custom settins and use those inside FCP.
For the color grading, just click on the arrow close to the colorwheel name and there are a lot more options
this comment
why did you skip the color wheels and curves that are built into FCPX????
Also you can buy color finale 2 which is pretty awesome
This. There are color board and wheels and curve; lots of great grading options in fcpx.
You could also set one of them as default! :)
1. You missed a lot of color grading options. Where it says "Color Board 1" there is a drop down arrow right next to it that has better options for color grading.
2.When it comes to moving clips around you can just copy and paste the video from one part of the timeline to another. Maybe that would help.
3. There is an export button on the top right corner of the screen. It's the square with the arrow coming out of it.
4. For you to work on multiple timelines and pick and choose certain sequences from one and dropping it into another, this can be done by opening multiple projects and toggle back and forth between them by clicking the arrows "< >" on the side of the tittle right underneath the play button in the middle of the screen (the lighter gray section). For you to be able to do this with your B roll, you need to start another project, open it (which is a brand new timeline), and then make sure you also open your main project/timeline for you to be able to go back and forth between them with the arrows. Both projects have to be opened once when starting the program for you to do it.
5. For whenever you do want to drag and drop or copy and paste videos from one part of the timeline to the next without losing your spot, I personally drop a marker in the video so i don't lose my place. You can do this by pressing "M" on the keyboard and it'll leave a little marker on the video that the cursor was on.
Hopefully this helps (:
I was going to suggest your number 5 or see if you can color-code a clip to find where you left off.
I don't use those apps but even the basic editing apps should have these options.
@@pictureeyecandy you can color code the clips you drop into the timeline by right clicking. It’ll give you an option for assigning roles. But I just find the marker to be faster for me personally 😄
Yes. I was also going to suggest copy/paste instead of dragging. Gives you a bit more control.
Too scared to switch over to fcp. Don't want that learning process again 🤣. When is adobe going to release a native m1 mac version 😫
came here to say this!!!
Where do I begin... First, I admire you for trying Final Cut. Where you might be hanging up, and I've seen this in every person I've taught, is that you are trying to edit as track-based in Final Cut. Everyone who tries to convert falls into this trap. It's muscle-memory because every other NLE is track-based. Final Cut is a new paradigm with it's magnetic timeline and, yes, it hurts the brain to understand it initially, but once you 'get it', you'll never go back to a track-based editor.
You can open multiple timelines but they aren't stacked one on top of another. For example, I will open other projects that have elements I want to steal. Then, you'll see angle brackets on one or both sides of the project title along the top of the timeline frame. You can click on an angle (back or forward) to pop to the timeline of your choice, or to be fast like I do, right thumb on the command key and tap the left or right square bracket keys. Copy the element you want, thumb-tap back to your current project to paste. Or, if you have a few projects open, press and hold the angle bracket and a drop-down list will appear so that you can quickly choose which project you want.
Final Cut has color correction much more powerful than what you are showing. The old Color Board is at the top, but below the Color Board choice on the color corrections list, more choices will appear. Choose Wheels, Curves, and Hue/Saturation Curves much like you'll find in DaVinci Resolve.
You show the Ken Burns effect (built-in) for easily zooming in on a picture. There's a LOT of power in that effect. I've done videos where I have only an organizational chart. Start full, move in on an employee, pause, move to the next employee, pause, move again and widen out to frame two employees, pause, and I do it all with just the org chart and one Ken Burns effect. Wait, the narrator re-cut the audio and you have to change the timing of the moves? You can adjust the timing fast so that the moves sync with the audio tracks. You don't have to start over.
But, it's the Magnetic Timeline (the initial timeline in the darker strip) where the magic happens. Too much to explain here, but RippleTraining.com (I have no affiliation) has the best tutorials and many free short how-to videos to guide you. Give me the same project you're doing in Premiere and I'll finish two to three times faster. Their many free tutorials are on their TH-cam channel at th-cam.com/users/rippleguysvideos
Last time I checked, the multicam editor in Premiere was limited to two video tracks. Final Cut has the best, most amazing MultiCam editor I've seen. I've done a number of MultiCams for Texas Instruments involving three lock-down cameras and a roaming camera that would start and stop. The three video tracks plus two or three audio tracks. Piece of cake! I would do the MultiCams quickly in Final Cut Pro. No outside programs used.
The export options are just a starter kit. You get Motion and Compressor with Final Cut for $50/ea. Get Final Cut and Motion and Compressor for a grand total of $400 and use those apps on every computer you own that's logged into the Apple ID you used when you bought them. I paid the $400 back in 2011 when FCPX was introduced and have used the apps on any computer of mine and never have I been charged for the many upgrades since then.
In Compressor, you have MANY exporting options, and, from Final Cut, you can add any of those export options. In Compressor, you can design your own video export. Copy the one that comes closest to what you want and modify the copy any way you want, then add the effect to the list of exports in Final Cut.
The Timeline Index. Wow. Such power. Instantly change a misspelled word in many text objects in an instant! And, there are many other things you can do in that Index. Look for tutorial.
On the second page of my portfolio at DonSmith.TV you'll see two videos I did for Texas Instruments that are done entirely in Motion and only using .jpg and .png pictures.
I have a couple of tutorials in Motion on rigging and, I forget, something else on my TH-cam channel at TexasTwoLane.com.
There's so much more to Final Cut Pro X. Once you get the full scope, you'll be as excited to use Final Cut and Motion as I am.
Well clearly you are an expert in FCP, it seems the reviewer still needs to learn all those tricks, to be able to do an assessment between FCP and Pr, but if FCP is that much better it can drastically change the quality of life of the reviewer, just saying.
You can edit up to nine tracks in a multi track edit. I do multitrack edits in Premier all the time
Yeessss. Great thoughts.
been doing a trial on FCP since it is soooo much cheaper than premier. the biggest thing i use in premier that im not figuring out is adjustment layers. i dont see that capability in FCP. not without a paid plugin? i dont know, i stopped using FCP at 7 when i was in film school. switched over to photography then got back into video about 6 years ago and just used premier. if i can get adjustment layers in FCP im sold on moving over.
Make your own adjustment layer in motion in about a minute. Create a new title, delete the text box, and save it with the name ‘Adjustment Layer’.
7 years in Final Cut. Changed the game for me. Also, no crashing. FCPX + new Apple CPUs is Heaven.
@@clareherriot M1 (and beyond) Apple silicon processors
Ah yes fcpx love those
as a youtube editor, speed is *everything*, and fcp is just sooo fast and efficient for my workflow!
For color grading you want to select anything other than the color board. It’s pretty robust. For exporting you need compressor. It has all those options you’re looking for. As for stacking timelines unfortunately you can’t. You can jump between timelines though. There are arrow buttons in the middle of the interface.
Or you can always use browser on FCP. Its clean and efficient to edit two time lines simultaneously.
I just switched from Premiere to Final Cut last year, I switched my editing style from basically exactly what you said to sorting through by marking favorites exclusively, and then filtering the results in your view to your favorite clips only once I've gone through the clips. Helps my ADD for sure. I was so tired of Premiere being buggy and laggy, and paying them thousands for such a poor experience.
Adobe is practically begging people to try other video editing software. LOL
@@1MinuteFlipDoc what he is saying is exactly why im watching now this video to understand if its worth it and im thinking it is
For exporting with more options you just need Compressor it has all the options you would ever want.
Final cut pro does have color wheels, and other was to edit color. Plugins really bring fcpx to life. And for more output options, use compresser
Yeup! Apple splits it's Pro suite up into a couple apps but that just means they let each app focus on its niche rather than cramming it into one overly complex and buggy mess. Definitely a different approach to other companies but once you adjust it makes sense.
I'm really liking Resolve for the most part, it has it's quirks but I would say it's pretty close to the best of both Premiere and Final Cut.
How is its speed compared to FCP?
@@Pawnlust I'd say it's close to on par. FC is probably snappier, because of it's specific optimization but... of course it doesn't have as much going on. Resolve is amazing, even on lower end machines with minimum requirements it's smooth and very rarely crashes. I haven't looked back.
I’m getting my Mac in a couple of weeks and switching from a Pc with Vegas pro to Mac with FCP and your videos have been such a great help already.
It’s great to see the real world frustrations that you’re going through, because this is what it’s really like. Also it’s amazing to have so many people in the comments able to help.
Please keep doing more videos like this!
You have to use Compressor (separate program) to get the detailed output options. It works extremely well and can output several different resolutions and bitrates for different platforms all at the same time. You can save your settings as droplets and export the droplets as well to make it quick and easy to export in all the forms you need.
I’m an fcpx user and share the zoom in-zoom out of the timeline frustration. My fix (and it’s worked amazingly well) was to set up an elgato streamdeck and use three keys, 1 zoom out 2 zoom in and 3 fit to timeline. I pick my clip, fit to timeline, move ver an then zoom in and place clip. In addition to other repetitive operations. This has saved me probably 30% of my edit time.
Thanks for lovely video - there is a way around FCPX's magnetic timeline - insert empty (gap) clip (Option + W) on main timeline, stretch it as far as you need. Then you drop clips or move them around without messing with position of any other ones.
I’m sure it’s already mentioned but, your points are all valid. I think it’s more doing it differently. For example, using keywords on sections of clips is really powerful and is done after import before editing. You then just drag from the browser into the timeline only the best or pertinent bits from word collections or favourites. There are much more colour options (wheels, curves, custom and camera luts etc) and, exporting is done much more on presets- but you have to make the presets first yourself. Bonus- buy compressor, it’s amazing for transcoding eg. Export a master file in 4444 and then transcode to loads of different formats with that file.
I absolutely love the magnetic timeline. It saves me sooooo much time. If you take the time to learn it, it’s great
I've used all three coming from a Premiere start then going to Final Cut and now use Resolve and it's the best of both with incredible colour control.
I second this. Resolve really is a happy medium of most of the good parts of PPro and FCPX. Not 100%, but pretty close. It's a great cross platform option.
A third vote for Resolve which really is a great editor, easy to use but also super powerful if you dig into it.
I vote fourth! Best of both worlds with Davinci (and also no stupid subscription like Adobe products have)
A 5th vote, I’ve used all three… I just had to switch to resolve, it is optimized for Mac and PC, I see no difference between Fcp and Resolve on my M1 Mac, the two are superfast… I regret paying $300 to Apple for Fcp
Yes I moved to resolve recently, I preferred the traditional timline and it just works well. I'm still learning, but its just awesome and underrated.
The key frustration you're experiencing with needing multiple sequences open and not being able to do it in FC is because you haven't gone through the selection of shots before getting them into the timeline. In FC, you don't drag all the footage in and slice and delete from there. You have multiple In and Out points per clip, mark them as favourites and only take those into the timeline. This makes it a lot different than the 'pancake' style of editing you use in Premiere. I think FC's process is best, because you can be very selective of your shots, and you start your sequence with winners.
Totally agree! And if you combine favorites with keywords and comments, it’s incredibly powerful and clean. People generally totally understate Fcp because they try to work using the same workflow as premiere or resolve when it’s actually a completely other way of working. In my opinion fcp allows you focus more on creativity when you Edit.
I concur, In FCPx you need to comply to this workflow otherwise you’ll get mad.
It’s perfectly valid to use this style in PP (you use the source window to select your in and out points then turn them into subclips), just that PP allows you to edit however you like (even having multiple timelines open in different windows).
This is really good insight @Wouter du Toit. Is there a training course available that explains how to edit in FC the way you just described?
@@CovetedConsultant I would in general recommend @Matthew O'Brien channel and more specifically this tutorial on how to edit interviews in fcp: th-cam.com/video/nLJ1Rw7YpM4/w-d-xo.html&t Although its focused on interviews it totally demonstrate the power of making selections in the media browser, and you will see how multiple In and Outs combined with Keywords, and Notes unleashes superpowers..
When you were frustrated zooming out to find you b-roll and then bring it back to where you left off, try this: Before you leave that 3 second (or any) clip, select (click) on it, and press "M"... This places a MARK on that clip at the PLAY HEAD. You can then navigate forward and back through all your marks with CTL-; and CTL-' (see MARK pull-down menu for a reminder and other controls).
Also, double-click on any MARK and you can change a mark to a Chapter marker or TO DO item and type in a description or reminder what the MARK was there for in the first place.
I am also a FORMER Premier user but began working in a TV studio where the only platform available is FCPX. It still frustrates the hell out of me at times but there is always a way to get where you want to go. THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO.
Been watching the series and the thing that bothers me the most is… are googling answers to a question not a thing anymore? I get that being intuitive is important when it comes to apps/design in general, but trying to understand a power-user’s app or even a whole OS blindly might not be the smartest way to go. I guess the engagement a creator gets when people comment solutions are a good thing.
in terms of exporting, want you want to do is "send to compressor" (which is under share option you showed in the video). Compressor is basically apples version of adobe media encoder. Btw good for you Lee for being open to trying new things. It fault here definitely lies with Adobe and their inadequacy in optimizing for the news m1 chips (even though they say premier is now optimized for m1-it clearly isnt). Davinci Resolve is another editor that takes advantage of the new chips and you can also get a fast and seamless editing experience. Adobe really needs to step up their game, i say that as someone that's been mainly using premier the past 9 years too.
For your problem with multiple timelines, click on the arrow where your project name is, click dublicate project, erase all the clips you dont need and you have your seconde timeline, also you can dublicate it again and again
When you have the new Project open or "timeline" just use the arrows right above the timeline to go back to the previous open Project. That's how I grab stuff from another edit very quickly.
Agreed 100%. I edited the exact same way with premier using b roll footage, and having the ability to add many sequences was key for me. The zooming in and out in final cut pro is a real pain in the ass, especially like you said, when you have 3 sec clips. I just recently switched over to FCX about 2 years ago and I’m still learning too. The thing I did find out (and I fought it every step of the way), I had to completely change the way I edit. But by doing so, I’ve learned a lot of new ways to edit that I couldn’t do in premiere. Good video!
For me I went from FC to Premiere, and I really thought the application was broken since scrubbing didn't work and that it took for ages to export. Those functions are just sooo basic things to have in order to get a acceptable work experience for any project. You'll need an absurd amount of coffee to be able to bear Premiere's waiting times...
Love that you’re challenging yourself to try other NLEs! There’s so much I could show you about the power of Final Cut! The Magnetic Timeline, the organization in the Browser, etc.
You basically have to stop doing everything you’ve done as an editor in Premiere … and take a whole new approach with FCP.
You must unlearn what you have learned. A lot of tutorials on my channel, and you guys even featured a video of mine on your blog a while back. Final Cut Pro rules!!!
I hope he reads your comment.
I love your channel Matthew!! I’ve been editing in Premiere Pro for 20 years and recently decided to give FCPX a try. It’s been a bit of a challenge, but I’m really starting to embrace the differences… especially the magnetic timeline😜
@@suzannerichard2991 So great to hear that, Suzanne! The Magnetic Timeline is 🙌🏻
Fun fact: if you get the FCPX trial, after it expires you can just do the good ol’ “change the Mac’s date back to when it was valid” trick and it’ll keep working 🤣 I did that for years, until I switched to Davinci Resolve
For working with color, click on the little drop down next to where it says "color board" and you can select anything else (wheels, curves, HSL curves), for LUTS you have the custom lut effect, or you can put your transform out on the clip itself in the general settings. Effects are processed in the order that they're placed in the inspector. Also, consider scrubbing/culling through your clips in the event browser, and setting favorites and/or adding keywords, rather than dropping everything on the timeline and chopping it up. It'll make things a heck of a lot faster. "I" "O" and "F" will be your best friends. "E" will drop it to the end of the timeline. "P" changes the main tool to a position tool, and you can move a clip anywhere (be careful if you don't want to cover anything up). Command + or Command - to zoom in and out incrementally. By culling through in the browser, you can honestly put together a basic cut of your edit, before ever putting anything on your timeline, or at least knowing for sure where your best stuff is. Helps viewing it in the filmstrip view, rather than list view. You've barely even scratched the surface of what FCP can do.
Lee, I just got feed up with Premiere and the lagging. I have made the switch to Davinci Resolve and have been happy with the results. Less lag and less crashing. Only probably I have with Resolve is the audio ducking. Definitely not as good as Premiere. Color grading is so much better in Resolve! Hands down Resolve makes my image look amazing.
I've started (and have been) using FCP exclusively lately. It's very good... and it just takes a while to get used to it. The M1 Max on my 16" is INSANE with FCP though.. the exports are stupid fast, the timeline is absolutely perfect, and it really makes working with video a joy.
PS… you can put in multiple timelines in Resolve and drag from one timeline to another. And it works even better than it does in premiere pro. I was a premier pro user for about 9 years… And then I moved on and never looked back. Yes there is a learning curve to resolve… But once you pass that point… You will be thrilled. And listening to your video you sound like the perfect candidate for doing this
9:45 I use Davinci for color grading and then export back to FCPX, definitely worth it. (And there is a free version, I use the studio version but 90% of the features I use are available in the free version.)
Lee, Premiere hasn't always had this, but those templates that you liked in Final Cut are equivalent to Motion Graphics Templates(.mogrt's) in Premiere now. The functionality it similar where you can just drag and drop and change the text/pictures/videos all from the "Essential Graphics" panel.
I've been using Premiere for about 6 years. I work with a MAM at my job, and our editing team has to use Pr to be able to share projects. I think the multiple timeline workflow is commonly called a "pancake" timeline if I'm not mistaken. And, I use it all the time. I usually edit my interviews or talking heads in separate timelines first. I just find it easier to color grade and mix audio with each speaker separately. Then, I put my story together by dragging in my selects to my "main timeline" and then add broll and gfx to finish up. So yes, not having that would be a show stopper for me. But, I do agree that playback on Pr is very terrible and I sometimes do envy our FCPX friends. Thank you for the video!
This method of editing is completely unnecessary in Final Cut Pro. I used to pancake edit in FCP7 but FCPX nuked all that with the power of the Browser. The Browser is your timeline full of selects. It’s hard to explain in a comment but it makes going through your footage, logging it, making selects soooooo much better than the pancaked timelines approach.
And this has me certain I need to make a video on my channel about the pancake approach vs. FCP’s way of doing things.
The limited export functions are actually good. Every time I read from someone that his videos don’t look good after export, it’s edited with Premiere. On Final Cut you just select either 4K Apple Devices or ProRes and it looks great. No need to mess around with bitrates or so. That’s Apple style, simple but it works. If you need more options, you can have them tough, either via manual presets or Compressor.
Great comparison overall. It’s hard to get everything right as it takes some time to get used to a new editor and adjust workflows.
As much as I like having many options and settings, I have to admit you are right. To actually understand what all of Premiere options do, you need to have a very good understanding of how video codecs work and compression, most of the tutorials out there are just guessing and making mistakes. It took me a long time to figure out everything and I would have loved a simple export option like that when starting out. Also, Premiere (and Media Encoder) is actually pretty shitty at making smaller files, as it's giving priority to performance and not quality, which is very important for small file sizes and low bitrate, so with all the options they missed the important one. If you need a destination format, low bitrate, you need to use handbrake anyway and choose a very slow speed which will give you decent quality and small file size.
Oh man, I can't agree more... I've seen so many crappy export from Premiere.. If you really need super small file size, What I recommend really is to export first from FCP, then use Handbrake for like those time when you need ultra compressed files for a webpage header or something.
@@Superjeanmarc Exactly! This is what I've been doing for years. I'm a web dev as well so I need those super compressed versions.
Bro, you missed the color wheels! (Also you have options for Color Finale, or Magic Bullet!) RE: your multi timelines. Copy/Paste. Or change your process: If you start editing B-Roll inside the browser (set ins, set outs, hit Q, W, or E to place it in the timeline. B-Roll editing this way is insanely fast. Lee. Do it. RE granular control of export, you need to buy COMPRESSOR. It's all in there.
Use a marker to set your spot you need to move a clip from “far in the future” then you can use the index tab to find the markers you need. It’s a nice work around from using multiple project/sequence.
For moving clips around, one little thing that might help is to disable the transition/effects window right next to the timeline to make it linger and make your timeline take up the entire bottom half of your screen. You do this by clicking the effects or transition button depending on that window you have open.
I personally moved off Premier several years ago but appreciate your reservations and apprehensions.
So ... next test Davinci Resolve? :) (You can't have drag and drop timelines, but you can have timelines open and copy and paste)
I found this;
Using Option key to move files
In Finder, you can copy a file by either right-clicking or using CMD + C. But what if you wanted to move the file instead of making a copy. Instead of bashing CMD+ V to paste, you can move the files using the option key with it (i.e. CMD + OPT + V). Very handy!
You need Apple compressor for the extended export settings.
Hello, Lee. To make for multiple timelines, and perhaps that was conceptually thought out by the Apple FCP team as a substitute, to jump to different segments you use roles, markers, keywords and rating that can be opened in the Timeline Index which is a list view with the filmstrip above. The roles of "Video", "Audio", "Subtitles" are created by FCP automatically upon import and performing media analysis as are some keywords, you can add your own keywords and sub-roles (those can be made hierarchic) in the process. You actually can create Keyword Collections, Folders and Smart Folders that collect any clips and their ranges based on multiple criteria.
As for color correction, FCP lets you work with vectorscopes, histograms and waveforms, color channels, luma, chroma etc. You open those from any of FCP viewers (Events Viewer or Project Viewer). Click on the pop-up in the far right corner at the top.
The hardest thing about FinalCut pro is wrapping you head around the magnetic timeline and all it’s features. This particular difficult when coming from an NLE like Premiere Pro. Once you “get it” you’ll find you can do quick rough edits in almost no time and certainly in a fraction of time it would take in Premiere.
More interesting is Motion. Sadly also something that has its quirks when coming from AfterEffects but unlike After Effects Apple Motion for almost everything in real time.
In the first case it is smooth because there are no dots on timeline above clips so it means that Fcpx has rendered the playback in the background
Oh yeah, and as far as customizing the export settings, that's what Compressor is for. Personally, what I like about Compressor is that I can go into Compressor and customize the export setting to my own personal preference, save that as a preset in Compressor, and then make that preset available as an export/Share option from within FCP. Then I don't even have to think about it in FCP. I've already created the preset, so I know I'm exporting it exactly the way I want it encoded. And other than the initial setup, I never again have to leave FCP to make this happen. All the same options you showed us in Premiere are available in Compressor.
you can do all the same colour effects in FCPX that you can do in Primier Pro. you just have to hit that colorbord1 button and then click what other options you want. Such as hue and saturation, color wheels, etc.
Exporting.
The options under the Share are the default settings.
If you want more, or different custom settings go File > Share > Add Destination, from there you can add custom settings etc, and name them whatever you want - ie ‘Low res proof’
They will then appear under the Share menu option.
I've always been jealous of final cuts playback. why haven't all other editors prioritized this? Its been probably over a decade and most are still a laggy mess.
It makes more sense if you take into account the performance of Premiere depends on a bunch of giant tech companies (Adobe: Software, Microsoft: OS, CPU: Intel/AMD, GPU: Nvidia/AMD) whereas Apple just does everything I mentioned above in house.
With your issue regarding the timeline and jumping there’s two things you could try. There’s compound clips (which might work well for B roll vs A roll combo) as well as editing everything on top of a gap clip (under edit-generators). Hope that helps!
I was waiting for this video for a long time. I have been searching TH-cam for months. Finally it's here. I'm Thankful.
Stacking timelines is a must for me. I even sometimes use a separate monitor to stack three timelines 🤷🏻♂️
16:49 Correct. The skill of the editor is where the majority of the speed is generated.
The closest thing to having multiple timelines open in FCP is having multiple timeline TABS in the Timeline Window. To the left and right of the Project Name, you'll see a left and right arrow. This allows you to navigate between different timelines you have opened. COMMAND + left/right BRACKET does the same thing. You can select a clip or lasso a group of clips from one timeline, press COMMAND + C to copy them, navigate to another timeline, and paste them in. COMMAND + V edits the selection into the main storyline wherever you have your playhead or skimmer positioned, and OPTION + V will place the selection above the main storyline, so you can build up layers of video.
This is really helpful! I am contemplating a switch from PP to FCP, and the inability to have multiple timelines might have kept me with PP. Tabs sound very similar -- maybe you can't have multiple tabs open at once and on top of each other so you can see them simultaneously, but at least you can save them separately and cut and paste between them. I use a system like this when I need to show someone two different versions of the same scene and I dont' want them on the same timeline.
Frustrates me sometimes when creators do this kind of comparison. Each program has its merits and it’s faults and if you try to edit on another platform then your judgement will always be coloured by whatever you use primarily.
FCP does have robust colour grading with HSL Colour Curves and Wheels. It’s not Lumetri but works the same way. Although you can’t have multiple timelines open it will allow you to create compound clips which lets you effectively edit a different timeline which then reflects in your main storylines.
Motion VFX do make some amazing plug ins but there are folk out there making perfectly decent animated titles for Premiere.
Ultimately stick with what you know, experiment of course, but both programs do amazing jobs at professional post production and each one also has its quirks.
I totally understand about the difficulty switching. I am trying to learn resolve because it came with my black magic camera, and I fully accept that it is far more powerful in tons of ways compared to Final Cut but I’ve just grown accustomed to editing a certain way in final cut, and I (usually) enjoy how the workflow is designed. So as much as I want the better features in resolve, it’s just the way things are designed in final cut that makes me stay. If your workflow involves stacked timelines, that’s a totally valid reason to stay with your program because that’s the way you work.
Thanks for this content. I've been hedging back and forth on which app to start my TH-cam journey with. Your spoiler answered my question. More importantly, your examples helped me understand why you arrived at the conclusion you did.
Exporting options in Final Cut are limited if you're not using the companion app Compressor. It's like Media Encoder but the FCP version, super fast and an easy way to customise settings, just like you'd get in the Premiere export window.
For the export settings, if you want as as many as Premiere, you can use Apple Compressor.
what about DaVinci Resolve? Because the colour Editing Area is much better than Premiere and Final Cut, It's faster on Mac and the UI looks really similar to final cut.
Color grading there are many options just look at the drop down arrow.
About multi timeline, do look at compound clips. That was way better at least for me.
If you want more export options get compressor app.
You can select color wheels, color board, or color levels and apply many of them to the same clip. The coloring options are really nice.
The export options you have to add it using compressor. FCP + Compressor and Motion learn all 3 and youll see they are unbeatable
Also use the timeline index.You can use the to go directly to the place in the timeline you need.
So, I'm gonna try and explain a fix for each of your points (if there is any fix):
1. The select tool you mention on 3:13, you can use the "position" tool instead. Shortcut "P" on keyboard, this will act as premier's select tool. (shortcut "A" is select tool).
2. Color grading you mention on 9:38, like many comments said, right were it says color board you can click that arrow for a drop down menu to add more color boards or color wheels, even on top of each other.
3. For opening multiple timelines: this is just a workaround not a fix. You can put the b-roll on top of the a-roll. This is the tip for making this a better option, use the shortcut "V" on the keyboard and this will "enable" or "disable" the clip. I would edit the a-roll first, then drop the b-roll clips on top of them (shortcut "Q") and edit them. This for sure is just creating a different workflow of the one you already have.
4. The export button, 17:34, is the right top corner... always.
5. For video encoders and all that... yeah FCPX is very lacking, just play with the "format" option and you can see how big file is going to be right above the "next" button.
6. FCPX export time: Final cut usually has background rendering on by default. I don't know how much it slows the new M1 macs, but we usually turn it off since we still haven't jump to the M1 macs yet. (waiting for a desktop M1).
PS: on point #3, use shortcut “V” the b-roll clips when on top of the timeline/a-roll.
14:00 for your B Roll workflow, you could use compound clips
I'm on the verge to switch over to FCP.
Thanks for this video.
By the way, my compliments for the image quality, which is out of this world!
Kudos to you for giving FCPX a go. Most of your questions have been answered one way or another but I get what you are saying about having a second time line open. You're right, you can't have two timelines open at the same time. WHat you can do is have any number of projects going at once and flick from one to another using the arrow buttons either side of the title of the project in the menu bar of the timeline. You may not have noticed them before. using this method you can copy paste from one project (timeline) to another. Granted, copy/paste isn't as convenient as dragging from one time line to another. Secondly, this jumping thing you mention when dragging say a clip from the end to the beginning of the timeline. My work around is to right click on the clip you want to move, put your cursor in the move to position and hit 'w'. that copies the clip but not any effects you might have applied into the new position. The copy/paste method is better if you want to keep effects applied. One more thing, learning some keyboard shortcuts greatly speeds up editing when used in place of drag and drop in many situations. You can do many more things with many less clicks. Keep experimenting. 😀👍🏽
Can totally relate to this, I was blown away by the difference in performance between FCP and premiere when I made the switch about 5 years ago. I had a really old Mac and had always just assumed them lack of speed was due to that. The difference in performance was enough for me to ignore some of the features which where either dumbed down or missing from FCP. Then last year I got an M1 Mac and could finally run DaVinci Resolve and the game changed again, all the in-depth features you could possibly want in a modern interface that is as fast as FCP, and it’s free! Unbelievable. Would recommend giving it a try.
For your timeline issue, instead of dragging a clip, you can just cut or copy and then paste it wherever you want to move it to on the timeline. This way things don't jump around on the screen.
Can you cut & paste clips on the timeline rather than drag and drop? That might solve the annoying sweeping effect where you loose your place.
Yes you actually can (:
Yeah, the hyper-scroll is quite annoying. I've learned to either zoom out to where you can see both locations for smaller moves, or cut-paste for larger ones.
I have to admit I'm getting really tired of Premiere and the lag, even with proxies. New MacBook is coming in March, I might give Final Cut a chance.
I always thought one of the biggest advantages of Premiere was the Adobe creative suite. The interoperability between premiere and after effects or premiere and audition was really really convenient.
Personally I edit with everything. Depending on what the project is, is what software I will use. For a complex project, it’s adobe & da vinci. If it’s a smaller and simple project, is final cut. And if it’s a “professional” project for a fogie, it’s avid.
Hey Lee! I also use stacked/pancake timeline editing in Premiere. I have an M1 Macbook Air and I'd love to try FCP someday... but for now I'm still pretty happy with Premiere Pro on my Windows desktop. 😎
You need a mackbook with a Touch Bar!!! It gives you a zoomed out view of the timeline that you can navigate while using the zoomed in timeline.
AAAAND!!! if you use the iPad as an external monitor with sidecart you can actually have the Touch Bar digitally on the iPad screen.
Omg how??? :o
@@destyniiskywalker see th-cam.com/video/A0mU7uUEluw/w-d-xo.html at 2:15
I use Davinci Resolve and Final Cut, I would also use Premiere if I would see any benefits in using it. Only Adobe product I have is Lightroom
I jumped ship to apple and fcp a year ago, best move I ever made.
FCPX is very fast from a hardware and performance perspective, but there is another area that actually speeds things up dramatically and possibly the fastest, footage organization. If you commit fully to favorites, keywords and really just proper library organization, you will not need to use nested/twin sequences because it will be a far more inferior methodology. You DO NOT need to use multiple timelines in most cases if you commit to the FCPX model of organization.
Premiere pro user here.
Its all about program performance. What you are seeing is a preview of the moving images instead of the actual video file.
The reason is to save on GFX, cache, thumbnail & process speed. I always do multiple llaybacks to make sure everything was hit. The final always comes out percise from PP.
More colour grading tools…
Click the down arrow next to Colour Board, and you get the option for Wheels, curves, hue and saturation as well.
Also,
Slightly up and left is View. Click the down arrow to get video scopes for histograms etc.
Loved getting your experience with this. As someone who has switched from a traditional NLE (fcp6) in the last year to Final Cut Pro X, I feel your pain. The magnetic timeline is a love/hate relationship. I struggled with it early on. I can now see the advantages with quick in timeline editing. you are right, zooming is an issue.
Very nice video. Like some other pointed out you missed a lot of options in FCP for color grading in the dropdown. Apple has two other companion programs. Compressor to export to all kind of formats, parallel batch jobs, FCP does not have to be opened..., and Motion that is the Apple's approach to After effects to make effects, filters, and titles. In Adobe's defense, FCP is Apple and only Apple. They just not tweak the program to use things like metal... they tweak the OS to accomodate Apple's pro tools since they do not have to be compatible with anyone else apart for being able to read standards for plugins in FCP and Logic.
Just open the project you want clips from, hit copy, open youre current project again and hit paste where you want the clips. Almost no lag between project switch.
Very thoughtful and fair presentation. I've been using FCP for years and I'm still learning new things.
Exporting. This is done by clicking the SHARE icon (it's in the upper right corner of the interface...looks like a rectangle with an up-pointing arrow). Click that and it'll reveal many of the Share options. I forget which ones are there by default, as I've changed mine around through the years. But the "Master File" option gives you a lot of flexibility. By default, it's set to export a Pro Res 422 file. But you can change it to export an h.264 file if you prefer. Although I think there are better ways to do that. I know some people who always export a Pro Res 422 file just so they can bring that file into Handbrake (a third-party software) to encode it to smaller size. Personally, I prefer doing that in Apple's own Compressor, as it has more than enough options for me. YMMV. Some of the options here are "Apple Devices." If you select one of those, by default it will export to an .m4v file, which is an Apple wrapper of an .mp4 file. You can go into "Settings" on that export option and change it to .mp4 by simply changing "Format" from "Apple Devices" to "Computer." That'll give you an .mp4 file. it also gives you several options for Video Codec from which you can choose. I'm tellin' ya, I think you've only scratched the surface of how FCP could make your life a whole lot easier if you'd just give it a chance.
Just a quick tip. Instead of grabbing the play head in Premiere, grab the numbers that tell you where you are in the timeline. Scrubbing from there is smooth and seamless.
Here's my thing: I learned editing on iMovie when I was first starting out, and Final Cut Pro was just the natural progression for me. The learning curve from FCPX to Premiere is a lot easier than the curve from Premiere to FCPX, in my experience. Final Cut is super simple on the surface, and it's really easy for a beginner or novice, but also features most of the things you need for professional editing. And the price point is especially enticing. I'm using the Adobe suite under the student plan, but I plan on switching back to Final Cut once I'm inelgible for that discount.
i’ve never used final cut pro but did imovie before. but i’m not a graphic designer so i was really surprised about that ken burns effect he mentioned in final cut. lol brought back memories
my mac right now is still a 2012 mac air lol
Just what Lee needed. A lot more anger in his life!
Really good review and comparison. Yeah, you are missing some stuff. As for zooming and moving things around in the timeline, the answer is learning how to use the trackpad. The trackpad is amazing for Final Cut. What you are saying about having multiple timelines open sounds really cool. I don't think you can completely replicate that in Final Cut, but do wonder of a secondary timeline might be a help? Look into it maybe. Compressor is needed to fully tweak your renders.
Just cut the clip then move to the new point and paste. Done. Make sure the insert line turns yellow to make sure you are right between the clips before pasting....
17:00 - So to your point here, I understand that yes that's pretty rough to do. I edit like you do where I have super long sequences that I edit but then clip them in a master sequence. You do have "layers" to move footage in - You aren't restricted to the single channel of footage. "Lifting" the footage form the main timeline is something I'm constantly doing and that makes it easier for me to grab footage I want to use. I use grouping liberally to group up specific sequences of B-roll I like and then pull it to the front of my timeline. Takes seconds to do and I avoid the dragging and dropping frustrations you mentioned.
Unsung heroes of my editing in FCP are the blank space and making sure I know where my footage or groups are attached to. When I delete a piece of footage (not ripple/backspace) it's really easy to create this grey block that I can use for so many things. Sometimes as a marker for time or as a way to segment out my editing into intentional blocks I need to focus on. Then properly learning how and when to pin other layers of footage is a huge help too.
In FCP, when you can’t do stuff that you usually do in a particular way in Adobe… it’s probably because of a workflow situation.
In the case about moving little clip from one end to some other (far) place on the timeline you should consider using « favorites » and key word or (maybe) cut & paste instead of drag’s drop.
To export, look in the upper right corner… then choose file, then the file type… you should get a zillions of more predefined options.
If that’s not enough you can get compressor for about 40$us (I think).
Have fun!
Copy and paste and delete the copy? Cut and paste can lose clip.
Lee you should try davinci resolve, i think is the best of both worlds
Just try cmd + x / cmd + v for dragging and dropping clips from one part of the timeline to another.
When pasting the clip, just select the clip before which you want to paste the other clip then press cmd + v.
I think it’s the most straightforward way to solve this problem. I use it all the time when need to throw a clip to another end of an edit.
In FCP, press COMMAND + COMMA to bring up the Preferences Window. In the GENERAL TAB, where it says COLOR CORRECTION, you can select from the pop-up menu which color tool you'd like to see as your default tool in the inspector. Bye-bye Color Board, hello Color Wheels! Also, if you press CONTROL + COMMAND + 4, the inspector will stretch to the bottom of the screen, so you'll have more room to see all the color controls.
I use Avid and Premiere for work, and Final Cut for all my personal projects. When I tell other editors that, they think I'm crazy. I've always wanted to sit down for a couple hours with another editor and just show them how Final Cut works. It's different, and it's not great for projects that multiple editors have to work on simultaneously, but for the actual craft of editing, it can't be beat.
For encoding options: FCPX is supposed to be used in pair with Compressor where you can set up multiple exports for the same project with tons of different settings, actually more detailed than in Premiere.
About timeline: FCPX works kinda like editing old school celluloid: you cut pieces out and attach them somewhere else. Everything is driven by shot order. Premiere (and any other video editor) on the other hand follows an audio editor paradigm: everything is driven by tracks, so by moving a shot around is only affecting the track it is on, and you need to manually link pieces on different tracks if they belong together. (For me the FCPX logic is much closer to a storytelling mindset.)
What I truly love about FCPX is that it is very easy to handle large amount of footage extremely fast. You just scrub through the camera rolls, select multiple shots and organize them with tags. No need to collect them into a timeline because they can be organized with filters and folders by the tags. Then you just throw them on a timeline roughly and keep reordering, trimming, etc. until your cut is finished. You can create alternative edits and switch between them to see which one fits better, and you can keep these alternatives at the very end. This alone would be a nightmare to do in Premiere if the different versions have different lengths.
I think the main thing I've learned from trying out lots of different platforms for Audio Editing and Video Editing, all of the different tools are fantastic, and it really comes down to which layout you prefer. Each program will have highlights and lowlights, and it just comes down to figuring out which tradeoffs you can live without and which layout you enjoy the most. It also comes down to what program you first learn on. With Audio I first learned on Pro Tools, and I still absolutely prefer Pro Tools even though lately I've been doing projects in Studio One and Logic Pro, and those programs both have many things I absolutely love about them, but after ten years of using Pro Tools it's very hard to switch away from it.
seems like you are getting along fine with your macbook. Been waiting for a follow-up video on your transition from windows
for peeps who gotten used to using a certain software/app vs trying a new one. In the end, You still in favor in "The app you got used to" even if it's slow.