Digital Editing (esp Final Cut Pro): self-teach or take a class?

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I'm working on putting together a documentary short and would like to do it myself as much as possible. Is Final Cut Pro something one can master oneself with an investment of time, or is a class worthwhile?

I have hacked around with iMovie and stuff for run, but have no real digital editing experience.

― chris, Friday, 13 April 2007 19:22 (nineteen years ago)

Actually having your own project is a great motivator and you could perhaps invest in a good book rather than take a class, unless you want to do any fancy effects or titles or mixing. You can do it, I'm sure. Good luck!

― admrl, Friday, 13 April 2007 19:28 (nineteen years ago)

that's very encouraging, thanks!

― chris, Friday, 13 April 2007 19:34 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, a book would probably be enough to figure out how to accomplish specific things for a project, especially if you give yourself ample time to mess around. Having a friend who knows the program well would almost definitely eliminate any need for a course if you're just interested in using FCP for a one-off project.

― C0L1N B..., Friday, 13 April 2007 19:46 (nineteen years ago)

It also helps if you've done any manual editing as much of the terminology in FCP is formed from flatbed analogies.

― C0L1N B..., Friday, 13 April 2007 19:48 (nineteen years ago)

Never used Final Copy but I can recommend Ulead Videostudio 10 as a very easy-to-master editing program that wouldn't take you long to suss out.

― NI, Saturday, 14 April 2007 13:54 (nineteen years ago)

this book is what you need:

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0321350251.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_AA240_.jpg

that (well, an earlier edition), plus a specific project, is what i learned FCP on. now i make a big chunk of my living using it. never took a class. you can do it!

(not to rule out taking classes, they're probably helpful. but that's what i did)

also there's a mega-ton of helpful websites. for questions and problems and stuff check the forums at lafcpug.org--soooooo useful

― s1ocki, Saturday, 14 April 2007 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

haha that's funny that adam and i both gave the "you can do it!" speech. i just noticed that.

― s1ocki, Saturday, 14 April 2007 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

Self-teach with a helpful book, absolutely. I'm taking a class that involves mostly digital editing (Avid, but y'know, same basic principle but much, much less intuitive), and that's essentially what you do anyway.

― en i see kay, Saturday, 14 April 2007 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

I actually might be doing something like this in a work related sense -- maybe -- later in the year, so knowing all you need is a book works for me (I kinda hate slow computer classes).

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 14 April 2007 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

i mean, ymmv obviously, and it'll depend on how much prior editing knowledge you bring to the table. but that's what worked for me, and those visual guides are pretty darn helpful.

― s1ocki, Saturday, 14 April 2007 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

six months pass...

Does anyone have much experience with FCP5 and anamorphic DV? This stuff is driving me crazy.

So I have anamorphic quicktime files and I was fairly sure I just import and export them as is and FCP will do all the work, but I'm not getting the end product I want. Even with this conversion, do I still need to set my sequence to 16:9? Also, what if I add titles - do they get stretched or does FCP compensate for them?

I'm also having trouble outputting this standard dv to an HDV camera. Is this fixedin FCP 6?

― admrl, Thursday, 8 November 2007 19:13 (eighteen years ago)

― remy bean, Thursday, 8 November 2007 19:14 (eighteen years ago)

halp

― admrl, Thursday, 8 November 2007 19:14 (eighteen years ago)

HALP

― admrl, Thursday, 8 November 2007 22:21 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

F!Y! FCP

― admrl, Thursday, 11 June 2009 16:55 (sixteen years ago)

one month passes...

i was gonna ask if final cut pro was a fine software to re-edit a movie on but...

― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 23 July 2009 18:42 (sixteen years ago)

ten months pass...

...but what?

― admrl, Tuesday, 22 June 2010 00:28 (fifteen years ago)

I just looked and saw the last 3 posts were halp, HALP! and F!Y! FCP and thought maybe this is not the software for me to get.

― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 22 June 2010 01:10 (fifteen years ago)

haha

― admrl, Tuesday, 22 June 2010 01:23 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

I have been training on Premiere now, I think I like it! Not springing for FCP X

― Jung Danjah (admrl), Friday, 19 August 2011 01:25 (fourteen years ago)

especially since FCP X is supposed to be the New Coke of editing software. We're still using FCP 7 at my work and I think it's gonna stay that way for awhile

― Cosmo Vitelli, Friday, 19 August 2011 02:17 (fourteen years ago)

Where do you work? I am good at FCP7 and I need a job

― Jung Danjah (admrl), Friday, 19 August 2011 02:43 (fourteen years ago)

hah. what is different in premiere (in last 5 years?0

― a long time ago i used to be snush (remy bean), Friday, 19 August 2011 02:48 (fourteen years ago)

I don't know, this is the first time I've really used it. I like the way it deals with files and the sound stuff is better than FCP. I mean, it's more or less the same thing in many ways.

― Jung Danjah (admrl), Friday, 19 August 2011 03:17 (fourteen years ago)

FCP7 is the way to go.

Premiere, meh, it's ok. It was the first program I edited on, but tbh I like both the timeline and effects in FCP better. If you are editing on a Mac, there is no reason not to use FCP.

The worst is trying to get a project from Premiere to FCP/FCP to Premiere, using EDL or some other workaround. DOES NOT WORK.

FCP X I don't think anyone will seriously have to worry about for a couple years. The lack of backwards compatibility kind of ensures that.

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 19 August 2011 03:24 (fourteen years ago)

What about interfacing with all the other CS software? That seems like a plus. I like FCP7 and always prefer to use that, as I shoot film and kind of rely on Cinema Tools, but it is interesting to consider the alternatives, particularly with a view to the near future. I also teach sometimes and have to entertain the possibility that some people who want to learn to be "pros" might be switching to Premiere (or Avid, of course).

― Jung Danjah (admrl), Friday, 19 August 2011 03:34 (fourteen years ago)

"The worst is trying to get a project from Premiere to FCP/FCP to Premiere, using EDL or some other workaround. DOES NOT WORK."

Have you tried doing this in CS5?

― Pizzataco Five (admrl), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 19:50 (fourteen years ago)

one year passes...

Is Apple Abandoning the Pro Video Market?

(well reasoned, not *too* much FUD, high-end application market based entirely on whether the Mac Pro gets updated)

― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 12 October 2012 03:11 (thirteen years ago)

two years pass...

I've switched to Premiere after using FCP for years and am finding it FAR easier to use and edit with. The main thing is that you can play your sequence and make cuts/edit things/etc. WHILE IT IS PLAYING, which is a super insignificant-seeming feature that speeds up workflow and probably ends up saving tons of time in the long run. Also rendering/export times seem to be far shorter than they were on FCP.

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