Boston SuperMeet 2011

Last night the Boston Final Cut Pro User Group hosted the 2nd annual Boston SuperMeet at the Stuart Street Playhouse in downtown Boston.  It was a dark and stormy night, with the threat of the first snow of the winter, so it was a great night to be indoors with a bunch of other video production nerds.  My coworker, Kevin McGowan, and I arrived about an hour and a half before the show so we could walk around the exhibit floor and visit some of the vendor booths.  I don't have any hard numbers, but it seems like there were more vendors this year than last year.  It's a great opportunity to talk to some company reps and get some hands-on demos of gear and software.

Michael Horton and Daniel Berube hosted the evening

Around 7pm we all headed into the theater to start the show.  Hosts Daniel Berube and Michael Horton put together a great lineup for the Masters of Light and Illusion theme.  I'm sure there will be video from the evening posted on the FCPUG SuperMeet YouTube channel, so I'll just post some pics and highlights from the evening.

Alexis Van Hurkman and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve

First up was Alexis Van Hurkman with a DaVinci Resolve demo.  I'm always reminded of how little I know about advanced color correction when I watch demos from pros like Alexis.  I think I'm finally motivated to download the free DaVinci Resolve Lite and try my hand at more advanced color correction.

Jem Schofield talking about the Canon EOS 1DX

A couple of weeks ago Canon announced their latest flagship DSLR, the EOS 1DX, and Jem Schofield was at the SuperMeet to talk about using that camera for video production.  Wonderful looking specs on that camera, but unfortunately I don't have $6500 to drop on a body.  My real takeaway from Jem's talk is that I'm now turned onto his great website/blog, theC47.  Some interesting tutorials on there.  He said he has achieved his goal of posting five video tutorials per week!  Jem closed by hinting that we should all pay attention on November 3rd for an important announcement by Canon.  A 4K video camera, or a 5D refresh?  We'll see.

Marc-André Ferguson with Autodesk Smoke

Our next demo was an Autodesk Smoke demo from Marc-André Ferguson.  This must be the seventh Smoke demo I've seen, and my opinion is still the same:  it looks like a very powerful program, but just too much for what I'm doing.  For those working in high end video/film production, I think this is a great program packed with features they will use.  As always, I'm still baffled about the choices Autodesk made for the user interface on Smoke.  Maybe once you use it regularly it starts to make more sense, but I just see it as a pretty uninviting interface to work with.

Corey Tedrow giving an Avid Media Composer 5.5 demo

With so many video production pros giving up on Apple because of the Final Cut X mess, Avid seems to be welcoming all Final Cut converts with open arms.  Our next demo was an Avid Media Composer 5.5 demo from Corey Tedrow.  Avid always does a great job of pointing out all the Media Composer features that people were wishing for in the new Final Cut X.  The statement that got the biggest reaction from the crowd was the announcement that you can now export ProRes files directly from the Media Composer timeline.  With a handful of discounts being offered by Avid, I'm sure many Final Cut users will find themselves trying out the free 30 day trial version of Media Composer.

Film editor Andrew Weisblum

The next presenter was an Avid sponsored talk from film editor Andrew Weisblum (Black Swan, The Wrestler, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Darjeeling Limited).  Andrew showed us the nightclub/drug scene from Black Swan and described how Avid products helped him collaborate with others in finishing that scene.

Walter Murch

Our final presenter of the evening was Walter Murch.  His resume is loaded with plenty of well known films, but some of the biggies he's edited are: Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Jarhead, and Ghost.  I was really pleased to hear that he edited what I believe to be the only acceptable 3D film: Captain EO.  I wasn't a film major, so this was the first time I had attended a talk from a major Hollywood film editor.  I was surprised at how grounded Walter is.  With all the major films he's worked on, and all the awards he's won, he could have easily turned into another Hollywood type with a major ego.  Instead I got the total opposite impression from him.  There was a kind of complex simplicity about Walter.  I started to forget that I was listening to a three time Oscar winner when he began telling us that it's important to put one foot on a stool while editing to reduce lower back pain.

Walter Murch and his latest Final Cut timeline from the HBO film Hemingway & Gellhorn, consisting of 22 video tracks and 50 audio tracks

I also liked the fact that Walter obviously has a wonderfully creative mind, but he's also very in touch with the technical aspects of editing.  He really enjoyed telling us about the Arri Alexa that they used on his latest film, Hemingway & Gellhorn.  I was very impressed with a picture of his Final Cut 7 timeline from that film (pictured above).  22 video tracks and 50 audio tracks is a project that I just can't wrap my head around.

Walter Murch and his famous standing editing station

Walter also showed us a photo of one of his famous standing editing stations.  He really attested to the idea that standing opens him up for a more creative workflow, rather than losing creative energy sitting at a desk.

Walter concluded his talk with mention of the new Final Cut X.  He described it as a child that doesn't play well with others.  He said that in June he sent Apple a letter outlining why he wouldn't be able to use Final Cut X on his projects.  Walter's biggest complaints were the restructuring (aka lack of) audio tracks, no external monitoring and no SAN support.  He admits that they're slowly resolving those issues, but he was also concerned that Apple essentially killed off Final Cut 7.  If you would like to read a more detailed blog post about Walter's SuperMeet talk, Chris Portal wrote a nice post. 

The evening concluded with the famous SuperMeet raffle with over $50,000 in prizes.  Unfortunately, just like at the Vegas NAB SuperMeet, my coworker and left empty handed.

Once again, Daniel Berube put together an enjoyable Boston Final Cut Pro User Group meeting and SuperMeet.  If you live in the Boston area and you're into video production, you should really attend the monthly BOSFCPUG meetings.

Boston Final Cut Pro User Group meeting recap: 7/21/11

The EP Levine store and location of this month's BOSFCPUG meeting

Last night's Boston Final Cut Pro User Group meeting was an enjoyable evening of guest speakers, product demos, and on a 95 degree day, robust air conditioning.  The event was held at EP Levine in Waltham.  EP Levine is a camera store with many goodies for still photographers and those that shoot video with DSLRs.  The also have a nice studio space, where the BOSFCPUG event was held.  My coworkers, Kevin and Geoff, enjoyed digging through the cases of used lenses.  Geoff couldn't pull the trigger on a tilt shift lens he was eyeing, but Kevin ended up making a purchase.  As he mentioned, EP Levine's prices were comparable to what he found online for the same lens, and he has the piece of mind of buying from a local retailer.

One piece of news jumped out at me:  Daniel Berube mentioned that the Boston SuperMeet is tentatively scheduled for October 20th, but the date may change to accommodate the schedule of a "special guest."  Who could it be?  Maybe Larry Jordan, or Kevin Smith (who was bumped from the Vegas SuperMeet), or maybe Apple executives begging us to stick with FCP X.  We shall see.  Last year's Boston SuperMeet was a very fun evening, as was this year's SuperMeet at NAB.

As usual, Daniel Berube worked very hard to put together another action packed evening for all of us.  The evening's speakers started with Jay Ignaszewski from AJA, then Charles Roberts from Fitchburg State University, followed by Gary Oberbrunner from GenArts, and Steve Martin wrapped up the speaking portion of the event.  The evening ended with a screening of DSLR shorts, and a raffle.  Unfortunately, my coworkers and I needed to duck out after Steve Martin's talk, so I have no details about the screening or raffle for you. 

Jay Ignaszewski started the evening with information about AJA's products interacting with Final Cut Pro X.  There was a good deal of concern from the other BOSFCPUG members about external monitoring and exporting out to tape.  This AJA document does a much better job than I can do of summing up what Jay talked about.

The next speaker was Charles Roberts, a faculty member at Fitchburg State University that teaches video production.  I found Charles to be a very engaging speaker, with lots of enthusiasm for teaching.  One comment that stuck with me is something that he stresses to his students:  don't lose out on jobs because you only know one piece of NLE software, or because you're fiercely loyal to using only one NLE.  Expand your knowledge so you're ready to step into any job and use any piece of video production software that they throw at you.  As he said, there's many ways to get the same job done, and most times you don't get to choose what tools you have to use.  The meat of Charles' talk focused on using FCP 7 to inject DSLR footage, send it to Avid Media Composer for edit, send it to Apple Color (with the help of an EDL) for grading, then complete the roundtrip back into FCP 7 for final export.  I personally couldn't imagine me having the need to do this, but it was interesting to see the process.  All in all, I hope to hear more from Charles at future BOSFCPUG meetings.

Next up was Gary Oberbrunner from GenArts demoing their Sapphire Edge effects package.  GenArts is located right down the road from me in Cambridge, MA.  They make some very impressive effects packages used by major film and video productions.  Gary focused on the Sapphire Edge plug-in package, which, as he described, is 15 transitions and 4 filters.  Even though that seems kind of limited, each transition and filter has numerous presets and settings that can be changed, giving you hundreds of pre-built looks.  I was very impressed with the effects Gary showed us.  Gary focused on using these Sapphire Edge plug-ins in FCP 7, because, as he showed us, they're still working out the kinks of integrating these plug-ins into FCP X.  He showed us how FCP X unexpectedly quits when some of the plug-ins are used, so it's still very much in the beta testing stage.  The Sapphire Edge package is $299 and includes a one year subscription to their FX Central website.

A crummy cell phone pic of Steve Martin presenting to all of us

The final speaker of the evening was the keynote speaker, Steve Martin.  Steve is an Apple Certified trainer, founder of Ripple Training, and was one of the first to get their hands on FCP X.  In addition to speaking this evening, he is also teaching an eight hour FCP X workshop on 7/22.  Sorry to say, if you're reading this recap, it's too late...you missed it.  Since my employer doesn't have plans to switch to FCP X anytime soon, I opted to not attend the workshop.  Steve is an excellent trainer, so I'm sure that those attending the workshop are finding it valuable.  I was first introduced to Steve when I took Post Production World classes at the NAB Show this year.  I didn't take a full course from Steve, but he did pop into a couple of the classes I took to contribute.  He really knows his stuff and knows how to teach it, so if you have the chance to catch a talk or class from Steve, don't miss it.  I would love to see him back at a BOSFCPUG meeting very soon.

Steve's talk focused on common myths surrounding FCP X, but really just turned into a very helpful collection of tips and tricks to get us acclimated to the new interface and features.  Since I have yet to install and use FCP X, this was a nice way for me to get motivated to start using it.  I'll summarize some of the key points that stood out to me, but keep your eye on the BOSFCPUG webpage, since Daniel arranged to have Steve's entire talk recorded.  I'm sure they're editing the video and will post it ASAP.

• FCP X and DSLR footage:  Steve showed us the process of transcoding DSLR footage to ProRes in the background as you work.  The "create optimized media" check box in the import window is your friend, if this is what you're looking to do.
• Turn a stereo audio clip into two mono tracks:  control click on the stereo audio track and select "break apart clip items" to split into two mono tracks
• Steve showed us FCP X's ability to edit sub frame audio
• As goofy as the labeling is, Steve's demo of the "Ken Burns" button looks like a painless way to pan and zoom still images.  Just a more user friendly method than doing it with keyframes.
• Steve showed us that when you paste effects in FCP X ("paste attributes" in FCP 7), you can't pick and choose which effects/attributes you do and don't want to paste.  That was a nice feature of older FCP versions that has been eliminated from FCP X.  You now just have to paste all the copied effects and turn off those you don't want in the inspector window.
• During the Q&A portion of the evening, someone asked Steve about preserving Photoshop layers when you import into FCP X.  Unfortunately, the answer is that it won't do it.   You can do it in Motion, just not directly in FCP X.
• Someone asked Steve about FCP X's multicam editing support, and he confirmed that even though it doesn't currently have that feature, it's something that Apple will integrate into a future update.  No word on when, though.  This is one of many reasons why we can't currently use FCP X for our projects.
• Steve ended his talk by presenting the idea of using the AirDisplay app on your iPad to wirelessly create a second monitor with your iPad.  He said that there's a very slight, but hardly noticeable bit of lag on the iPad.

Since Steve's livelihood relies on people wanting to be trained on Apple software, he made sure to throw a few "don't give up on Final Cut" promos in his talk.  I don't think anyone denies the fact that FCP X has a bunch of great new or redesigned features.  It's just lacking features in some really key areas, and video professionals can't wait around for future updates to address those issues.  With Avid and Adobe offering discounts on Media Composer and Premiere, it'll be very interesting to see how all of this plays out.

As I mentioned, we weren't able to stick around for the screening and raffle at the end of the evening.  All in all, it was another informative and motivating BOSFCPUG meeting.  As usual, I look forward to next month's meeting!

Boston Final Cut Pro User Group meeting recap: 6/14/11

View of Boston harbor from this month's BOSFCPUG meeting on the 33rd floor

Another Boston Final Cut Pro User Group meeting is in the books, and as usual, it was an enjoyable evening.  This month's meeting took place at the University of Massachusetts Club in Boston's financial district.  I think Daniel Berube had to schedule this month's meeting a week early since he'll be in the U.K. next week for the London SuperMeet.  Unfortunately, there wasn't any news about a Final Cut Pro X release, since there wasn't an announcement made at Apple's June 6th WWDC.  This month's meeting featured Ken LaRue discussing Autodesk Smoke for Mac 2012, the always entertaining Bob Russo talking about Avid's Media Composer 5.5, , and Jay Ignaszewski talking about AJA's tapeless workflow solutions.  As usual, the evening concluded with the Big Dig Raffle, which featured an AJA KiPro Mini.

I was especially interested in Bob's Media Composer presentation, since I use Premiere and Final Cut, and haven't had much exposure to Media Composer.  I was also looking forward to hearing from Jay, since I enjoy keeping up with tapeless workflow solutions.

Ken LaRue talking Autodesk Smoke

Ken LaRue started off the evening with an Autodesk Smoke demo.  Ken is a great speaker, and ran a very nice demo.  I have never used this program before, but this is the second demo I've seen of it.  Ken kept pushing the fact that we all use multiple programs to get the job done (Final Cut, Photoshop, After Effects, etc.) and Smoke combines the power of those programs into one package.  Smoke really provides some powerful tools for editing, motion graphics, 3D effects, titling, keying, color correction, motion tracking and Photoshop type painting tools.  Here are some of the highlights from Ken's demo, along with some opinions from me:

• At first glance, the Smoke GUI is very cluttered and utilitarian.  Ken stressed that as you use the program, you start to get more comfortable with the layout.  Looking at it for the first time, you just see a screen cluttered with many buttons in no apparent logical order.  Ken was using what looked to be a Wacom tablet and pen to navigate.
• Smoke offers very impressive tracking tools.  Ken showed us some tracking demos, and Smoke handled multiple tracking points very quickly.
• There's lots of rendering to be done after you apply all of Smoke's various tools.  Ken rendered everything, rather than show it in real time unrendered playback.  He was using a nice Mac Pro with a powerful Nvidia graphics card (I forget what model he mentioned), so the renders were pretty fast.
• Obviously, Smoke integrates well with other Autodesk programs like 3D Studio Max and Maya.  Ken was importing 3D objects created in 3D Studio Max and had the ability to manipulate them in Smoke.
• Smoke has node based aspects to it as you start to apply the available tools, so that node window can get very cluttered and hard to read.  Ken flew around the node window very quickly, so I'm sure it's something that comes with using the program.
• The retail price for Smoke is $15,000, so their target market isn't the low end video production pro.  Their demo video featured many high end post production houses using Smoke for feature films and national commercials. 

Bob Russo discussing Avid Media Composer 5.5

The next speaker was Bob Russo talking about Avid Media Composer 5.5.  The last time I heard Bob speak was at the November 2010 BOSFCPUG meeting at WGBH.  I have never used any of Avid's products, so I was interested in getting an introduction to MC 5.5.  Here are some highlights from Bob's talk, along with my opinions.  Remember, I'm new to MC 5.5, so you might think "duh, they've had that for years" to some of my observations:

• MC 5.5 now supports the AJA IO Express to capture footage.  To end a debate I had with a couple coworkers over a few beers one night, Bob pronounced it "A.J.A." (the letters), not "Ahh-Jaa" (phonetically).
• Bob started with a demo of combining multiple formats and varying frame rates on the same timeline.
• Bob continued on to show us a multicam edit.  The process and interface looked very similar to multicam edits in Final Cut and Premiere.
• ScriptSync is Avid's tool for linking your media to a text file containing your script.  Bob had footage shot for a very cheesy small budget film, along with the script.  ScriptSync was able to process the text in the script and sync it with the same text spoken in the footage.
• Bob's next demo showed us how to manipulate clips in the timeline using the tools we're familiar with in FCP and Premiere:  ripple, roll, etc.  Bob also showed us that it's easy to simply click on a transition in the timeline to adjust duration.
• Bob threw in a little sales pitch for some control surfaces that will integrate well with MC 5.5.  Avid purchased Euphonix a year ago, so those were the control surfaces featured.
• PhraseFind is a feature in MC 5.5 that will scan the audio in your media and catalog it to make a searchable database.  It phonetically catalogs the dialogue, so Bob mentioned that you also need to think and type phonetically when you're searching.  I imagine it has the same issues as text to speech conversion, but just in reverse.

(L to R) Bob, Ken and Jay Ignaszewski from AJA

The last speaker of the evening was Jay Ignaszewski from AJA.  Here are the highlights from Jay's presentation:

• Talking about the Ki Pro, Jay said "right now it's just ProRes".  Does that mean that AJA is working on offering multiple codecs, like the Cinedeck Extreme that can record to ProRes, Avid's DNxHD and Cineform?  Or it means nothing and I'm digging too much into his comment.
• Only a few compact flash card manufacturers are approved by AJA for use in the Ki Pro Mini.  Obviously they've had issues with cheap cards not being able to keep up with the bandwidth required to capture ProRes 422 HQ (which is 220 Mbps).
• It's easiest to connect the Ki Pro Mini to a laptop via ethernet and make settings adjustments with the software interface.  The screen on the unit looks pretty small.

As is customary at BOSFCPUG meetings, the evening concluded with the Big Dig Raffle.  Daniel had the usual assortment of Focal Press books, FCP plug-in packages, Adobe Production Premium CS5.5, and an AJA Ki Pro Mini.  I've been unlucky for the past few BOSFCPUG raffles, as well as the huge raffle at the NAB Vegas SuperMeet, but tonight my luck turned around.  I won this little beauty:

Big Dig Raffle prize winner!

Now, I fully appreciate the fact that I was a winner this time, but even Daniel essentially admitted that this was a re-gifter.  I haven't tried it out yet, but I can't imagine this is a rig that Zucuto will be selling anytime soon.  I especially like how it has no brand name.  This generic baby is straight out of a Lillian Vernon catalog!  The best part is the creepy mustache that the model on the box is sporting:

Creepy

I was thinking of asking the winner of the Ki Pro Mini to trade with me, but he left before I could hunt him down.

Next month's Boston Final Cut Pro User Group meeting will focus on the newly released (hopefully on Tuesday) FCP X and will feature Steve Martin (the FCP trainer, not the comedian).  Steve is a great trainer and I look forward to seeing him.  My coworker, Kevin McGowan, took a couple Post Production World classes taught by Steve this year at NAB and really enjoyed them.

I'm a big fan of the BOSFCPUG, so if you live in the Boston area, keep an eye on their website for news about the July meeting.  I hope to see you there!

Boston Final Cut Pro User Group meeting recap: 5/25/11

My coworker, Kevin, and I attended the Boston Final Cut Pro Users Group meeting on May 25th, so I figured I would post a quick recap for all of you.  The venue was Rule Boston Camera Rental, and as usual, Daniel Berube put together a fun and informative event.  The featured speakers were Philip Hodgetts speaking about the new Final Cut Pro X and Yan Shvalb speaking about some new features in Adobe After Effects CS5.5.  The evening ended with a few screenings of shorts made with DSLR cameras, and of course, a nice little raffle.

Crummy cell phone pic of Philip Hodgetts presenting at the 5/25 BOSFCPUG meeting

Philip Hodgetts was invited to talk about the new features in FCP X, but since Apple's released no new news since the SuperMeet at NAB in April, Philip made it very clear that he would be talking about features talked about at SuperMeet, educated guesses he has, and complete speculation.  He mentioned that he doesn't have a copy of the program to show, and even if he did, he would be bound by non-disclosure agreements from Apple.  Since I was lucky enough to attend SuperMeet in Vegas, and I've read many articles and blog posts about FCP X, I really thought he would just be rehashing news that I already knew, but that turned out to not be the case.  Philip's really examined all the FCP X news out there with a fine tooth comb, even going so far as transcribing the SuperMeet presentation and reviewing high def footage shot at SuperMeet to really explore every screenshot.  Philip's not only a video production pro, but he also is a software programmer, so he really likes speculating on the new programming architecture of FCP X.

Again, much of this is simply educated guesses from Philip, but here's a quick list of his points that I found interesting:

• FCP X will work on any Intel based Mac.  He heard from a beta tester that he was having good luck using it on a Mac Book Air.
• As you can see in this screenshot, there's an AJA KiPro listed using the H.264 codec, rather than the ProRes codec it actually records to.  I'm sure it was just a mock up screenshot released by Apple and was a simple typo, but still funny.
• Even though many people are calling it iMovie Pro, FCP X doesn't share any code with iMovie.  iMovie is QuickTime based, and FCP X isn't.
• FCP X is very metadata heavy.  It relies on source (camera created) metadata, as well as derived (user created or auto created by FCP features like face detection) metadata.  As you can see on his blog, Philip is very into metadata.
• You will be able to disable the footage auto correction features at ingest (audio correction, color correction, etc.)
• Rolling shutter correction will be included in the program
• Using keywording features in FCP X is essentially like creating a subclip.  You will be able to tag a portion of your footage, creating a searchable subclip.
• In the motion options for a clip, there's actually a button labeled "Ken Burns effect", to add zoom and pan motion to stills.  I guess that phrase is now a generally used term, like Kleenex.
• Philip thinks FCP X will be easier to use than previous versions of FCP, unfortunately resulting in less work for his friends that are FCP trainers.
• He heard (from an informed source) that there's still a way to create fixed audio tracks, so you can have set tracks for V.O, music, SFX, etc.  Handy for those that have to output to something like ProTools for a final mix.
• Changing the speed of a clip will be much easier than in previous versions of FCP.  No more clumsy speed changing graph.
• Philip did mention that some of his software programs that he's created will become obsolute because of new features in FCP X.
• He believes that the new program will incorporate gesture support via an external touch pad.

Crummy cell phone pic of Yan Shvalb presenting at the 5/25 BOSFCPUG meeting

The second presenter of the evening was Yan Shvalb, telling us about some new features in Adobe After Effects CS5.5.  He started by showing us a great wedding video that he created for a couple that had a destination wedding in the Bahamas.  He shot the video using Canon 5D Mark II DSLR cameras.  It was a very nice looking piece.  Yan used a close up shot of the wedding rings on a twig to show us all AE's new Warp Stabilizer effect.  I won't rehash all the features on here, but I will say that it's very impressive.  Yan even used it to stabilize some shaky iPhone footage, and used the effect's rolling shutter correction to fix some iPhone jello.

Yan also showed us the new Camera Lens Blur effect in AE CS5.5.  Rather than simply blurring your image like other blur effects, Camera Lens Blur will create a more realistic looking blur, as if it was created by an out of focus camera lens.  Lights in your image will be blurred simulating the iris blades in a lens.  Yan also used a ramp matte to control the location of the Camera Lens Blur effect, and give his image some great, simulated depth of field.  You can animate that to give the effect of pulling focus.  Yan is a very creative and knowledgable guy, and I look forward to hearing him speak again in the future.

The next portion of the evening was three screenings of shorts shot using DSLR cameras.  The first screening was a trailer for The Visualmakers, which is a short film being produced and directed by Paul Antico.  This short film will look at the creative video professionals that have embraced DSLR cameras to shoot video.  It features interviews with many creative video pros, including Philip Bloom and Vincent Laforet, and was shot during the 2011 NAB convention in Vegas.  I look forward to seeing this film, which has a target release in July and will be free on Paul's Vimeo page. 

The next short was edited by Colin (sorry, didn't get his last name) and was a new video from The Super Secret Project.  This comedy group produces some pretty funny videos that go viral, and they're based out of Boston.  This screening was a Law & Order based music video that was very funny.  Keep an eye on their YouTube page for it.

The final screening was a pretty moving short from Rick Macomber titled One Day on Earth 10-10-10 Salem.  It was a great piece about a homeless man in Salem, Mass, that's dealing with overcoming alcoholism.  Rick shot it using his Canon T2i.

The evening ended as BOSFCPUG meetings usually do, with a nice raffle.  Unfortunately, I went home empty handed.  The large prizes were a copy of DiVinci Resolve, and a copy of Adobe Production Premium CS5.5.

Daniel mentioned that future BOSFCPUG meetings will feature Adobe and Avid presentations, and the July meeting will be dedicated to FCP X, which will have (hopefully) been released in June.  If you live in the Boston area and you're involved with video production, you should really attend the BOSFCPUG meetings.  Don't let the name scare you, there's plenty of Avid and Adobe users there too.  It's always an informative and inspiring evening.

Philip Hodgetts speaking at the Boston FCP User Group meeting on 5/25/11

I'm glad to hear that Philip Hodgetts will be speaking at the Boston FCP User Group meeting on May 25th at Rule Boston Camera.  If you aren't familiar with Philip Hodgetts, this will be a great way to get to know him.  I had the pleasure of taking a class taught by Philip at NAB's Post Production World Conference in April.  It was a class about growing your post production business, and I found Philip to be a very motivating speaker.  Actually, he was the motivation behind me starting this blog.
Philip writes a very interesting blog and also hosts an informative and entertaining podcast called the Terence and Philip Show with Terry Curren.  He knows his stuff about Final Cut, but also brings a wide breadth of knowledge about the video production industry as a whole.  Hopefully Apple has released more details about FCPX by May 25th, so we have some discussion topics.

Looks like there will also be another guest speaker at this BOSFCPUG event, as well as a raffle with prizes from "GenArts, Noise Industries, Blackmagic Design, Digieffects, ArtBeats, Boris Fx and more."  I might sound like a big BOSFCPUG cheerleader, but I'm not affiliated with the group other than being a big fan.  I'll make sure to post a recap of the event here on my blog.

Click here to purchase tickets (only $6) for this event:
http://fcpxmay25.eventbrite.com/

Apple's getting what they wanted from the Final Cut Pro X preview

As Larry Jordan stresses in his great blog post, Apple's goal of last week's Final Cut Pro X preview at SuperMeet was to get a feel for how this new version will be received, and wasn't an official software release.  Their goal was to not only to get people's reactions on specific features, but to to test the waters and see if they're going to be alienating a large group of pro users with this new version.  With Adobe adding more useful features to the Production Premium suite, and Avid offering a MC5.5 discount to current Final Cut users, this has to be in the back of Apple's mind.  Even though Apple showed a graph (photo courtesy of Eric Reagan's post) depicting their dominance over Avid and Adobe, they must be slightly concerned that a poorly received FCP X will make that white line start to decline.

Related to that, those of you that are yelling about how Apple is now trying to market Final Cut to the consumer market (only $299, iMovie ripoff, etc.), rather than the pro market, can calm down a bit.  Why would Apple waste their time presenting to a room full of professional users if that won't be one of their target demographics?

Looks like they're getting exactly what they wanted: plenty of reactions from pro users, with piles of opinions coming in from every direction.  I'm guessing that some Apple interns and assistants are feverishly compiling blog posts, tweets, and other opinions splattered about the interwebs concerning the FCP X preview. 

As annoying as it all is, even all the crazy speculation that everyone's throwing out there is helpful input to Apple, since that's the wish list and hate list for most people.  If it's too late to change some of the features that everyone's complaining about or asking for, Apple could at least change the focus of their marketing by paying attention to the features that everyone's most excited about.  I guess we'll just have to wait until June to see how it all plays out.

NAB 2011: SuperMeet and the Final Cut Pro X announcement

I was one of the lucky people to attend the 2011 Final Cut Pro User Group SuperMeet event on the Tuesday of the NAB Show.  We were expecting to hear Kevin Smith and a handful of other video production professionals speak, but a week before the event, it was announced that a "special guest" had bumped all the speakers with a "special announcement."  It was obvious that it would be Apple making an announcement about the new Final Cut Pro X.  The event sold out, they had to add more seats, and all of a sudden this was the hottest ticket to have at NAB.

As we were entering the Bally's Event Center, there were even people in the hallway asking if anyone had extra tickets to sell.  You would think it was a Justin Beiber concert.  After getting our lanyards and badges, we milled around the SuperMeet exhibit floor for about an hour.  Quite a few vendors had booths set up and it was easier to speak to them here rather on the noisy, crowded NAB exhibit floor.  We bought $10 of extra raffle tickets, hopped on line (it was more a large mob of people) and waited for the theater to open.

Right around 7pm the lights dimmed, the Apple logo appeared on the projection screen, and all of us video nerds cheered.

Apple's Peter Steinauer and Randy Ubillos walked us through a Keynote presentation listing all the new features, and a decent demo of the software.  It was all just a preview the left many unanswered questions, but it really looks like an exciting piece of software.  For those that are calling it iMovie Pro, I disagree.  Wait until you use it, rather than judge it on appearance alone.  I won't list all of the new features, since others like Gary Adcock have already done a good job of reporting that news.  Some of the obvious improvements are the new 64-bit architecture, improved AVCHD and DSLR footage support, improved media organization, and time saving color correction and audio cleanup features.  The new interface looks very nice, and will take a little time to get used to.  Video and audio tracks are handled differently in this new version.  I'm sure after getting acclimated, these improvements will really speed up the editing process.

Many subjects were not addressed in the Keynote presentation or the demo:  what changes are being made to other Final Cut Studio programs, how will the new track system affect exports to other programs, will old FCP plug-ins still work, etc.  The Apple portion of the event wrapped with the announcement of a June delivery date, and $299 price tag.  Makes Adobe's $400 upgrade price for Production Premium CS5.5 seem a bit excessive, considering it's not even a "full" upgrade.  I love CS5, but I'll save my money for FCP X.

After Apple's presentation and demo, FCP User Group LA and Boston leaders Michael Horton and Daniel Bérubé introduced many of the leaders of the FCP User Groups in the US and around the world.  Many more chapters than I knew about.  It's always inspiring to be around so many enthusiastic media professionals, especially from all over the globe.

The evening ended with SuperMeet's world famous raffle, but unfortunately my coworker and I left empty handed.  Michael, Daniel, Abba Shapiro and Jeff Greenberg hosted and thousands of dollars in prizes were handed out.  We were really hoping for the hour sit down with PPW instructors Abba Shapiro and Jeff Greenberg, but no luck.  One lucky woman left that night with a $30,000 DiVinci Resolve control surface.

All that being said, the evening was a blast.  I'm looking forward to the Boston SuperMeet in October and I can't wait to get my hands on the new Final Cut Pro X.