There was another big Final Cut Pro update on Tuesday. I won’t go trough details as there are many posts that just repeat what was already stated in the release notes.
New major update
I like that they are continue with the development of the app. I don’t have any multicam project in the works to test it’s new abilities. What was most interesting for me is ability to convert Final Cut Pro 7 projects to Final Cut Pro X with new application 7toX for Final Cut Pro. I won’t go into strangeness that a third party developer made this possible and lack of interest from Apple to implement this ability on their own. I guess they have other priorities.
I immediately downloaded the app from the AppStore. It promises translation of the project in three easy steps. It wasn’t so easy for me. That is because I thought that the app would behave differently. I had some projects at work (reportage from the Gorenjka chocolate factory) where we only have Final Cut Pro 7. I wanted to move the XML file and use a footage that I captured myself at home with Final Cut Pro X and hoping it would reconnect the files automatically. But the problem arrived at the moment of the translation. If the media file was not present at the same location as in older project it translated the clip to Generator file and as that impossible to reconnect. Help pages said that you need to have all the files online throughoutthe process. I thought that you only need them where you export the XML file, but you actually need them where you translate the XML file to FCPXML file. As soon as I found out what could be the problem (I tried lots of different exports of XML file, capturing the files locally, renaming them, renaming the path in the XML file and other stuff) I waited for the next day, moved the footage with Media Manager to an external disk drive and as I tried the same thing today everything worked the same as promised. Three easy steps.
Old timeline
New timeline
Project is now in the Final Cut Pro X timeline. It needs some polishing with the organisation of the files on the timeline as their was some audio files that were not linked to the video and there was some messy stuff going on. But everything was quickly solved with Revealing the clip in the Event Browser and than replacing it with the same one plus the audio. Of course I need to colour grade the footage again. But that is all.
Search...
… and replace
I would just like to add that I use a Frank Glencairn’s G-log picture profile for a Sony FS100 as you can see from the lower two frame grabs. The first is without the picture profile and you can see that there is a lot of blown highlights coming from the outside but there is hardly any information in the mixing machine where the chocolate is mixed. After I set the camera to the G-log there is much less blown highlights but there is still the same amount of detail in the blacks. I would consider this shoot saved by the G-log. Thanks, Frank. I will try to write more about the Picture Profile with some tests at some later time, but don’t hold me to it.
No picture profile
Frank Glencairn's G-log picture profile
Here is the video (Final Cut Pro 7 version):
Update: I am late to this, but after I closed the Final Cut Pro X I could never again opened it without crashing the app. It is all due to some error in the imported project, because when I take it from the Final Cut Projects folder the app runs smoothly as before. Only if the project is there the app crashes as soon as I open it. I hope that Apple or Assisted Editing fix the bug as soon as possible. But I guess the project is lost for me and I would have to make all the changes again.