Final Cut X is the editing system of choice for SVG

(June 14, 2012) – In the editing world, the reception of Apple’s latest version of its nonlinear system, Final Cut X, has been anything but warm.  In fact, it has been downright nasty and left many angry users ditching the system entirely. 

But can you blame them? For editors who work with the software on a daily basis, changing the interface and completely revamping the way it works has to be an enormous halt to their workflow. It’s as if they are starting anew, learning entirely new software.

Apple has redesigned the system to work more like their iOS interface and iLife products, like iMovie.

This overhaul was surely going to be met with some hostility and could not have been much of a surprise to Apple, which appears to have used this opportunity to beta-test this product.

With these drastic changes, it’s easy to overlook the great improvements made to the software.  Skillman Video Group has used these upgrades to their advantage, and editing has become easier than ever before with the new Final Cut X.

One of the biggest concerns and challenges in the digital video world is uploading, encoding, and storing a multitude of files.

The Sony NXCAM we use for all of our projects utilizes the highly compressed AVCHD format for its files.

To be compatible with the previous version of Final Cut, these files first had to be converted to the compatible Apple Pro Res format, which, while very uncompressed, is also a huge file that takes up tons of space on the hard drive.

With Final Cut X, we just import the files into the program, and without logging and transferring, the files are there unaltered and ready to edit.

Some new features within Final Cut X are immediately employed when importing the files, such as multi-camera syncing and color correction, both of which are extremely helpful for our editing sessions.

In addition to the Sony camera, on most shoots, we use the Canon 7D for maximum coverage.  This automatic syncing feature lets us move faster in the editing process and gives us more time to focus on chiseling the footage down into the finished product.

Overall, SVG’s projects have been finished in an efficient and more timely manner with the switch over to Final Cut X.

For all its frustrating differences and acclamation to a new interface, the new features make it worth the effort.