For now, we’ll stick to Apple. What is this gross offense that has been perpetrated that has the editing community buzzing? Not only has Apple not been keeping up to date with industry trends- no major upgrades for a couple of years-which is an eternity in the ever changing video business-but when they finally DID release an ‘upgrade,’ it left us in the dark, out to dry, under the bus, etc. While I can’t speak with 100-percent authority, I don’t believe that Avid (or even Premiere) have ever turned their backs on their user base like Apple has done with Final Cut Pro (please correct me if I’m wrong).

So what do I mean when I say Apple has forsaken its user base? The short answer is that they didn’t ‘upgrade’ at all. They just made a completely different product, and slapped the same name on it. They made a product that has zero compatibility with any of its previous versions. This means that all of us Final Cut Pro editors couldn’t simply upgrade to the new version, learn the exciting new aspects, and implement it into our existing workflow. Even though it’s never a good idea to upgrade your software while in the middle of a project, up until this release you were at least able to do so when needed. You’d just open an old project, save a copy with the new software version, proceed as usual with all the cool new perks of the upgrade, and viola! Not possible with Final Cut Pro X. You might as well try to open an old Final Cut project within Adobe Premiere (oh wait I forgot, even Adobe Premiere lets you open up old FCP projects)! Even more insulting to the professional user is that while we are unable to open up our legacy FCP projects, it DOES allow the opening of iMovie projects! It has been no secret that Apple has been aggressively expanding their consumer product line while keeping the pro market on the back burner, but this move to make the new PRO line of software compatible with the CONSUMER level of software and incompatible with the last pro version seems to be just another sign that Apple doesn’t have any interest in their pro users. And who’s to blame them really? You can’t blame a company for pursuing the road to higher profit. But to abandon the product that has become one of the major industry standards? That just hurts.

Just to play devil’s advocate, let’s pretend that it’s just another platform that we have to learn from the ground up. If you approach it that way, which has been challenging for me, there are some pretty cool things about it. Here’s what I do like.

Their new ‘magnetic timeline’ is actually pretty cool if you have the patience to learn it. I hated it at first, but it is pretty slick. Not sure if I prefer it over a traditional timeline, but it’s still pretty neat. The new audio waveforms are really gorgeous, and audio scrubbing is way more precise than in FCP 7. It’s also pretty cool that you don’t have to go through the process of importing every single little thing into your project, since you’ve got a dedicated little browser built into the interface. There’s also no need to convert many of the new video and audio codecs into something else in order to work with them (although I should note that even though Apple makes this claim, they still recommend converting to a Final Cut Pro-friendly codec for ‘optimal performance’). Regardless, it is a time saver.

But some of the other features that FCP boasts about don’t really work for me. Firstly, as I’ve said before, the lack of support for legacy FCP projects is downright silly. Then there is the emphasis on fancy bells and whistles that don’t really work. For example, the auto-analysis feature that can be applied when importing footage has yet to impress me. FCP X is supposed to be able to auto-color balance your footage based on daylight/interior white balance mishaps. But so far I have yet to take their suggestions. I’ve found that it overcompensates, and therefore I have to redo it anyway. What good is this feature if it doesn’t actually work that well? I don’t believe they are doing any favors to editor’s skill levels by attempting to remove the need for knowledge of a properly balanced shot. The audio analysis is the same way. A practical application of their hum removal for instance, often results in tinny distorted vocals. Again, why market this feature when it doesn’t really work for real-world applications. Then there is almost the complete lack of audio mixing support. One of the best features of the FCP X predecessors was the extraordinary audio mixing tool. Mixing your project’s soundtrack with the former’s multi-track audio mixing tool was a perfectly suitable alternative to mixing with a professional audio utility such as Pro Tools (I know audio editors will disagree, but it at least allowed us video editors to do our best). Well, that tool is completely absent in this version, and the method for audio mixing is cumbersome and severely limiting. Then there are the more logistical items such as project management, playback control, and final output settings. Like imovie and iphoto, Final Cut Pro X is now an ‘Event’ based platform where all events are visible all the time for each particular drive. This may be fine when you only have a project or two going at a time, but I don’t know a single editor who wants their workspace cluttered up with every single project they’ve ever worked on when all but one are irrelevant. In fact, file management in general is a nightmare. The software tries to be too smart, and accept too much responsibility by not allowing you to manually reconnect media should it become offline. Then there is the inability to monitor your project with an external video monitor. I’m sorry, but why would a pro application not allow you to monitor your project for broadcast with an external source. That’s kind of a big deal.

I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point about Apple’s slap in the face with FCP X. I’ll put it this way, I honestly think that if this product didn’t have the ‘Final Cut Pro’ name attached to it, people wouldn’t have been so upset. It would have just been another attempt at a professional editing application that would have been swallowed in the sea. But here’s the thing. I don’t hate it. I don’t! I won’t implement it into my workflow unless a project comes my way that has been started with it, but I’m also not going to ignore it. A good editor is a well-informed editor, and to ignore this product altogether would put me at a disadvantage. I’ll still study it, and I’ll still hope for it’s development, but Final Cut Pro X is most certainly not the Final Cut Pro I know and love, and it is most certainly not ready for prime time.

I had no intentions of using Final Cut Pro X any time soon, but recently a project came along that had been started elsewhere in Final Cut Pro X, so I either had to be stubborn and rebuild the project shot by shot in Final Cut Pro 7, or I could be adventurous and dive in to the ‘uncharted territory’ headfirst. This wouldn’t be the first time I had to jump in knowing nothing. Throughout my career in post-production, the editing platform I use has changed based on what has been available to me. I first worked on a $99 program called Avid Cinema. At the time it was awesome! I was in high school, and I had never even seen a non-linear editing solution before. It was perfect for what I was doing, but I knew it had its faults and that there was surely something better out there. Then after graduating high school, I got a job at a little place called Action Video Productions where I worked on a Newtek Video Toaster. That was an entirely different experience with a vastly different learning curve and approach, but an entirely better one at that. Newtek had literally thought of everything! And then a couple of years later, my world changed again at Oklahoma City Community college where I discovered the magnificent wonder that was the professional end of the Avid family of products with Avid Express DV and Avid Express. Meanwhile, at home I had been able to get my hands on a copy of Adobe Premiere and tool around with that! So within the time frame of about two years, I had edited video on at least four completely different platforms. They were all Greek to each other, but each carried the basic editing principles through in one way or another. At this time I hadn’t even TOUCHED an apple computer. In fact, I used to tease the girl that lived across the hall from me in college for having a silly looking, trendy, superficial iMac G3.

But then in 2004-2005, it changed again for me when I got my first ‘real job’ making training videos for a cellular provider. They didn’t have a PC. They didn’t have Avid or Premiere. They had a PowerMac G5 and a copy of Final Cut Pro HD. Man, was that dumb. How the heck am I supposed to do anything with this? I had ZERO mac experience, and certainly none with Final Cut Pro! I could see hints of Avid, and perhaps even premiere in there somewhere, but it was different. Some things were cool, and some things were duuuuumb. But just like I had done time and time again when exposed to a new system, I adapted. Before I knew it, I had made the switch from PC to Mac at my own home, and I had the entire Final Cut Studio suite installed. I had fallen in love (though there were and still are things I like better about Avid). And though I still work that rare freelance gig on an Avid system, I have comfortably called Final Cut Pro my home for the past six or so years.

I suppose my point is what I’m sure many professional editors would agree upon: The platform on which editing is performed is sometimes the least important tool in the box. In my opinion, a good editor survives by doing three things: Understanding stories and trends, understanding technology, and adapting. And I don’t necessarily mean adapting from one to the next to the next in a progression, but rather a coexistent circle where you can bounce back and forth from one platform to another. If you have the means to do that, and can stay updated on each platform’s evolutions, you’re in business!

But the software developers need to hold up their end of the bargain, too! In the next post, I’ll get into more of the specifics of how and why Apple and Final Cut Pro may have turned their back on us.

Epic dorkery will ensue.

The Final Cut Pro user community had known that FCP X was going to be a complete re-launch, and I was looking forward to re-learning this piece of software from the ground up. Of course I wasn’t planning on implementing it into my workflow right away, as that would kill my productivity. But I was going to spend the next several months learning the software frontward and backward, and implement it slowly over time. Well, when FCP X was finally released, my plan of attack disintegrated.

This release was so poorly executed, and received such horrible feedback, that it made national news. Conan O’Brien even made fun of it on his show! It was that bad. And then to add insult to injury, David Pogue of the New York Times (not a video editor) wrote an article about how the editing community was completely overreacting to the release, and that we needed to step back and take a deep breath. I usually enjoy Pogue’s articles, but this one was just plain out of line. Apparently I wasn’t the only editor who thought that way, as David immediately issued a followup due to the unprecedented amount of negative feedback he received. After reading the followup, and the comments associated with it, I decided I’d hold off on the upgrade until Apple sorted themselves out. I figured that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and kept using Final Cut Pro 7 (yes, the version before FCP X(ten) was version 7. Apparently they decided versions 8 and 9 were worth skipping) or that I’d migrate over to Adobe Premiere. That worked fine, but as often happens with software and various forms of workflow, FCP X forced its way into my life. More on that in future posts.

Over the holidays, I plan on updating this site with recent works and status reports of current projects. In the meantime, browse if you wish, or head over to www.JarofGrasshoppers.com to see what we’ve been working on over there.

See you soon.

My wife Stefanie was commissioned by the Sierra Club to create a film about the town of Bokoshe, OK and how for the past several years they have fallen prey to “shady business practices” by the nearby coal burning facility and a local disposal facility. Fly ash is the byproduct of burning coal. It contains many heavy metals and toxic chemicals. The residents of Boksohe, as well as residents of many poor communities throughout the world are suffering from adverse health effects allegedly due to the prolonged exposure to fly ash contamination. This is happening all over the world, under the radar.

Working on this project really opened our eyes on the true cost of cheap energy. We went to the town of Bokoshe, we met the people, we saw the effects first hand. Like all the others who went out there with us, we seriously think about the consequences of flicking a light switch.

Please watch the film, and let us know what you think. And feel free to get involved with the cause.

2010′s winning entry for the annual 24 hour video race sponsored by the Philbrook Museum, Living Arts Gallery and IAO of Oklahoma City. These are always so much fun to do, and our team that year, Team Tennessee Bladder Milk, somehow managed to pull it together for a victory. I recommend for anyone interested in making films to start with a 24 Hour Video Race.

2010′s Required Elements:
Theme: The Year We Make Contact
Prop: 8 Ball
Line of Dialogue: Pleasure of the Evening

Team Members:
Mike Waugh, Darren Dunn, Alan Novey, Derek Duty, Ben Pendleton, Stefanie Leland, Beau Leland

I’ve had art on the mind lately, and the creative process. A year or so ago I had the privilege of being hired to shoot and edit for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition on Oklahoma artists and the creative process. Under the direction of brilliant minds Melissa Scaramucci and Cacky Poarch, we created two pieces entitled “Art 365.” We first created a short version of the film following six Oklahoma artists who each received a large grant, and were given one year to create a body of work. Three weeks after the short film was completed, we had to have a feature version edited. This in itself was an intensive creative endeavor. We worked day after day finding the story within the hours and hours of footage of each artist creating their works. This is when I realized how much I enjoyed editing documentary film; literally searching for the story as we combed through footage. There was no script. There was no real plot…at first. We built it from the ground up into what I believe are two very insightful looks into the creative process and its challenges.

This project was Okie all the way. Funded by an Oklahoma organization which also funded these six Oklahoma Artists, a small Okie film crew directed by two Okie directors, and music composed by two Okie musicians. It’s almost sickening how much Oklahoma is in these films. For more information on Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, visit OVAC

The shoot was an overall success, but we had to work for it. Every last soundbite. For all you sound guys out there, my undying love and gratitude grew exponentially that weekend. And here’s why…

1) The entire town of Eastland resides along the intersection of two major state highways…highways with major construction traffic.
2) Upon being locked out of our scheduled location, we were relocated to the courthouse…which was under construction.
3) Once we were able to postpone the interview until the construction crew’s lunch break, the plumbers showed up.
4) When we realized the plumbers were actually quite quiet, we were able to shoot…until child custody battles erupted from the floor below
5) It finally quieted down, and we were able to shoot…accompanied by the constant, intermittent buzzing sound of the metal detectors…and traffic.

A special thanks goes out to our sound man, Royce Sharp, for being able to handle such circumstances. Sound recording takes a special breed of person, and no crew, no matter how small, should be without a proper location sound mixer.

Next week we return to Eastland (this time for B-Roll of the festival…MOS).

This is a ridiculous little video by my friend over at NoveyCo, Alan Novey. This is the result of being bored, having access to a Red One camera, and the need for a shave.

The man featured is Mr. Novey himself, camera by Mr. George Salisbury, with the occasional frame shot by yours truly.

Things are changing in the entertainment industry.  The internet is providing almost unlimited access to just about anything, and as a result of this audiences are expecting more and more access for less and less commitment on their part.  This translates to “We want the same content, but we want it for free.”

The film industry is learning this from the music industry, and while it can be very depressing for those of us who have chosen this career path, it’s also somewhat exciting to be on the forefront of change.  What’s going to happen next, and how can we make it work.  Perhaps this is a sign that art shouldn’t cost anything.  You make it to make it, and give it to the people is like paying it forward.  Yet, like Karma, making your art available for free may have it’s benefits.

Lance Weiler of workbookproject.com is a prime example of this mantra.  Every day he shares his knowledge with those of us willing to listen (which I’m trying to be more disciplined in doing so), and this video is no different.  From his DIY Days conference, here’s a video of the Tribeca Film Institute’s Brian Newman on “Free (plus fee).”