Final Cut Pro X Babbling

As you all know by now, FCP X 10.4.7 is out. It’s a huge, mostly under the hood update resulting in a big performance boost on Mojave, and an insane performance boost on Catalina. Really great update, you can read all about it in the usual places 😉

I did, however, run into a little issue that I wanted to share. Ya know, in case I’m not the only one… NOTE: this is a Mojave OS issue/conflict with some apps, including FCP 10.4.7 and VLC, Not an FCP X bug! 

Anyhoo, if you install 10.4.7, and your OS menus completely freak out system wide when you launch FCP, here’s the fix… (from this VLAN Thread)

Open System Preferences -> Accessibility. Select displays, and make sure “Reduce transparency” is NOT selected. (note that selecting “increase contrast” will also select the transparancy box, so ya can’t have that on either.

I imagine not many people had this selected as I did, but if FCP X freaks out, this is the fix. Enjoy the update, it screams! 🙂

Maybe I’m the last person to discover this but… if you quit FCP X using OPTION-COMMAND-Q, the next time you open it, you’ll be right where you left off.  Am I late to the party? In any case, happy I found this one. 😀

EDIT: Turns out FCP X may not restore windows by default based on your OS “General” settings. Specifically this setting... HT Marc Bach FWIW, in most apps I like the setting to *not* restore windows, so glad to discover a way to override it when needed. This shortcut also works in all apps that respect the system settings. (Pixelmator and others)

You may have heard about Off The Tracks, a documentary about FCP X that came out a year or so ago. It’s a a great story about the launch -and subsequent blowback against- what should be everyone’s favorite NLE. 😉

A free, abridged version was just released, and you really should check it out. It’s well balanced, and though the POV is that FCP X is a very good NLE choice. it’s not a “fanboy” take at all. Worth the 45 min or so to watch it, and the full length version can be found via Google.

Let’s talk about dissolves… Yeah, I know, boring right?  Well, today I was working in Premiere  – doing some fancy multiple dissolving shot sequences – and I realized how much better the Dissolves in FCP X are. In Premiere, it’s a pain to get a decent ‘look’. Changing blend modes on the shots and stacking them, or keyframing opacity… basically fiddling around endlessly to try to get a nice, smooth, soft effect. It’s do-able of course, but annoying AF.

You also have the option of “starting” your dissolve on the cut, or “ending” on the cut, or trimming one side or the other of the effect to get an “asymmetrical” dissolve. But all that actually does is move the midpoint of the dissolve without you needing to move the cut point. With one exception (see below) there is no such thing as an assymetrical dissolve in any NLE. Don’t believe me? Wade through this discussion for the explanation.

In FCP X, you just put the dissolve on the cut, pick the “Look” (blend mode) tweak the amount (mix) and adjust away. Much easier to get a nice, smooth look. Here’s the infographic!

If you want “real” assymetrical dissolves, the only way to do it is to get Super Dissolve for FCP X. 🙂

Hey, a post! 🙂 Just wanted to let folks know that a really great loudness measuring/adjusting/mixing plugin, Klangfreund Multimeter, is out. Those of you who’ve used LUFS Meter (which has also been updated to V.2) will recognize the interface, with a lot of additional features.

I’ve used LUFS Meter for ages, and the new Multimeter is a great addition to the toolset. The website has all the details, but the cliff notes are:

All the Loudness Measuring functionality of LUFS Meter Plus:

Additional Automatic adjustment functions (true peak, S-Max, M-Max)
Standalone app and plugin for… everything. Major NLE’s and DAW’s and Multiple OS’s
A/V File measurement.
Surround support (up to 64 channels)
A nifty “experimental” DAW Automation feature. 🙂

Lists, Test reports, and much much more. Again, check out The Website for the full feature list.

It also has a preset for pretty much any standard you can imagine.

Multimeter is $59, LUFS Meter is $39, and the discounted (no commercial use and a few less feature) LUFS Meter is still available for $19

There are a number of Loudness plugins out there, But the stuff from Klangfruend is, in my experience, the best priced and easiest to use. Also it works amazingly well. I have no skin in the game here, I just really like great tools like this. I use it exclusively to legalize my mixes from FCP X, but I haven’t even scratched the surface of what the plugins can do. Check ’em out. 🙂

If you wondered which NLE’s gracefully handle source files on disk being renamed, the answer is all of ’em. Well… all except for one.

FCP X vs. PR CC v.s Avid vs. Resolve vs. Lightworks. Apparently I had too much time on my hands today…  Here ya go.

EDIT: Actually, I tested again and Resolve wasn’t very happy either, so I’ll update the video…

For some reason (boredom) I was looking at my oldest App Store purchases. For what it’s worth, “Let’s Golf!2” is the first. 😉  And then, of course, there’s this:

As of right now, it’s cost me $42.86 a year. Pretty good deal huh? I’d say probably the best deal of any NLE.**

To be fair, let’s add in Logic Pro X, Compressor and Motion 5. That get’s me to $7 a month, and decreasing every day.

**Resolve isn’t really free. It’s 300 bucks, same as FCP. But… it has tracks, which considerably detracts from its value. 😉