If you happen to’ve been studying the weblog for some time, you may need observed that I’ve labored on a bunch of different tasks lately. From production-focused YouTube collection, to documentary tv, and even characteristic movies, I’ve touched most each sort of workflow.
However whatever the style, Remaining Reduce Professional has at all times been (and nonetheless is) my enhancing software program of alternative.
That is partly as a result of it’s what I’m most conversant in, however primarily as a result of it adapts shortly to vary. And let’s face it, adaptability might be a very powerful attribute for every little thing lately.
Supported by Apple, we not too long ago printed a white paper titled Final Cut Pro Shared & Remote Solutions 2021, authored by Alex Snelling.
At 66 pages, there’s quite a bit to unpack right here, however I assumed I’d begin with how Remaining Reduce Professional integrations are going to assist the post-production neighborhood push ahead in these attention-grabbing instances.
Better flexibility for proxies
The push to uncooked codecs with higher-resolutions has created a corresponding surge in file sizes. So most of us have in all probability turned to a proxy workflow to take among the stress off our workstations in some unspecified time in the future.
Remaining Reduce Professional already had a proxy solution that permits you to create extra manageable video recordsdata and, as of FCP 10.4.9, play again a mixture of proxies and authentic media in the identical edit. In addition to permitting you to decide on between ProRes or H.264 for these light-weight proxy recordsdata, FCP 10.4.9 launched the choice to generate them utilizing customized resolutions, with choices for 12.5, 25, 50, and 100% of the unique, or particular body sizes primarily based on the ratio of the unique media.
Because the white paper factors out, this may take a 5.5GB 8K REDCODE RAW file and scale back it to a tiny 6.4MB when compressed to a quarter-res, H.264 file. So you may create an extremely light-weight model of your library.
Typically the issue isn’t space for storing, however somewhat sheer efficiency. If you happen to’re unconstrained by storage capability and bandwidth, FCP also can generate optimized variations that use much less compression. This makes media fast to play again and render, but in addition approach bigger.
One of many largest limitations to FCP’s proxy workflow was that it may solely playback proxy recordsdata that it had generated. This constraint has now been eliminated, permitting you to make use of proxy recordsdata that had been created exterior of the applying (which has huge significance for each third-party integrations and do-it-yourself render farm aficionados).
If you happen to’re linking to exterior proxies, they normally have to be both ProRes or H.264, and have the identical framerate, timecode, and audio channel configuration. However in the event you’re utilizing Compressor, you may modify the present proxy presets to encode recordsdata as HEVC, which is nice in the event you’re working in HDR and need light-weight recordsdata that retain that full excessive dynamic vary.
You may as well now batch import each Originals and Proxies with a single FCPXML, and replica simply the proxies to transportable drives in the event you’re taking a undertaking on the highway.
Distant enhancing with Body.io
If you happen to’re already utilizing Body.io with FCP you then’ll already know simply how helpful it’s.
Alex notes that he makes use of it virtually day by day, and loves our best-in-class add speeds. (Thanks Alex!)
Utilizing the Body.io panel, you may browse on-line content material and import it instantly into your undertaking in Remaining Reduce Professional. FCP will obtain your media within the background, with progress seen within the Background Duties window, and you’ll cancel or re-download at any time when vital. In case your obtain is interrupted, you may re-download the distant Body.io media utilizing the Redownload Distant Media command.
Imported video recordsdata will default to the unique file that was uploaded to Body.io, together with a proxy (which Body.io creates as a part of the add course of). Or in the event you’re on a slower web connection, you may simply import both a high- or low-res proxy file with out the unique. However hey, if you need each the unique and a proxy anyway, you are able to do that, too.
When you’re finished, you may share your FCP timeline for evaluate, which robotically renders the undertaking, uploads it to Body.io, and robotically shares it with the collaborators in your Body.io undertaking. You may as well ship particular person hyperlinks to folks exterior of the undertaking group, with passwords, expiry dates, and even custom individualized watermarking.
Feedback are instantly seen within the FCP Body.io panel. Shoppers, colleagues, and stakeholders can then preview your add in a regular internet browser (cellular or desktop) and make notes, present suggestions, or approve. All of those feedback and notes are instantly seen within the FCP Body.io panel.
Clicking the remark strikes your playhead to the corresponding place on the timeline, permitting you to make the required change, mark it as full, and transfer on. And since Body.io handles model stacking for you, you’ll by no means want to make use of filenames like project_final_v5_update_draft2_final-final_this-one.fcpx once more. You possibly can even use side-by-side views to check variations.
Library collaboration with Postlab
If you happen to’re searching for a method to synchronize FCP libraries in order that a number of editors can work on the identical undertaking, take a look at Postlab, which can also be featured within the white paper.
I ought to level out that this doesn’t imply that editors can work on the identical Remaining Reduce Professional library concurrently. Whereas the grasp library is saved within the Postlab cloud, the FCP library you’re engaged on is downloaded regionally.
Postlab then tracks adjustments, information notes, updates the grasp, and makes positive the library is locked to different members of the crew. Consider it like Avid’s bin-locking, however solely on the library degree.
When a brand new editor picks up the job, their native copy is up to date to replicate any adjustments made to the grasp, and former variations are saved in an effort to return to them if one thing goes egregiously flawed.
It’s a good way to create a slick, collaborative workflow when your crew may be scattered all over the world. In actual fact, I used the mix of Remaining Reduce Professional, Body.io, and PostLab on a characteristic movie in 2019. Subsequently, I shared this workflow with my pal, iJustine. She then began utilizing it to collaborate together with her sister, Jenna, and editor, Tyler, as a part of their lockdown workflow.
Just the start…
There’s a lot extra useful info within the white paper, and that is solely the start. If you happen to love Remaining Reduce Professional, and are working remotely together with your crew, you need to positively test it out. You possibly can download the white paper here.
After all, that is simply what’s attainable proper now. 2020 created a groundswell of change that can drive our business towards innovation, development, and enchancment lengthy into the long run. We actually do reside in attention-grabbing instances, and there are extra methods than ever to carry distant groups nearer collectively.
Bought an instance of how your workflow has modified within the transfer to distant working? Tell us within the feedback!
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