Walter Murch on Final Cut Pro X: 'I Can't Use This.' What Should Students Learn?

I use and love Sony Vegas Pro, and some people like to mock that. Some friends try to convince me that Final Cut is what you need to learn, but, honestly, nothing in it has given me any inclination to switch. In fact, I’ve looked at some of it’s methods and thought I can do that much easier in Vegas. Eventually, I’ll buy a Mac, and learn the basics, but, right now, I’m very happy with Vegas and will stick with it until a project forces me elsewhere.

Why are people always so concerned about backwards compatibility? Sometimes to make real progress, you have to drop old formats. Finish your projects on FCP7, then upgrade and move on.

I have used the trial version of FCP X for a month now and have actually been very happy. I see how people could be prejudice against it because it looks similar to iMovie; however, It has all the cutting features of the old FCP as well as many new ones in a really powerful new trackless timeline. Once you become familiar with the new techniques, you will question how some edits took so long to sequence in FCP7. Oh and one more thing: BACKGROUND RENDERING!

I would say the only thing which really needs work is the compatibility with other pro software such as exporting OMF for ProTools and sending clips back and forth to After Effects or 3rd party colour grading apps.

I couldnt agree more with Mitch, i’v been using FCP for the past 5+ years on complex movie projects including features shot on Red, i switched from another famous editor to FCP and couldnt have been happier.
Though i have not used FCP X personally, i’v been usinh iMovie on my both iPad & the iPhone. Its amazing.
When i eventually do the transition to FCP X i’ll make sure i’v finished up on all of my ‘old’ projects.
I do my own colorgrading too, so i’ll wait till X comes up with a patch for my Tangent wave device..
Oh and i cant wait to have my ha ds on a 24inch iPad to control the time line on the X just i can do with on my iMove on the iPad ;-p

I am simply too hooked with the whole Apple system and their whole integration with all the iDevices and the Apple TV2.

Apple, please fix X soon..

I never used iMovie, always FCP6 or 7. Now I use FCPX. I like it because it’s different and interesting. The non-tracks are flexible to place clips anywhere I want, yet use magnetic when needed (wow!). With the free Pro Export from AD, I do (as I’ve always done) my audio processing in Pro Tools. Media management is great! ‘Don’t know if Compressor 4 is better, but presumably it is (ver 3 always got bad reviews).

The app is somewhat buggy at times, but there’s a lot of potential in FCPX. It runs better on my old MBP than FCS, but I plan to get a new MBP in 2012. That’ll really ignite. Overall, I think FCPX is geared for future editors. Current and veteran “pro” editors shouldn’t touch this software. Just do what you do and let others enjoy FCPX, aka get outta here with your discouragement.

I think it’s important for students to keep up to date with every application that’s relevant. FCP was very relevant in the past, and perhaps may become more relevant in the future, but right now, is seems like Avid & Adobe Premier have become more relevant. (can we count how many times I use the word relevant.) You can’t just learn 1 application anymore. When I was in college, everyone said you had to learn Avid. And I did. A few years later, FCP became the hot application to use, and then I was a bit upset that I was sold so heavily on only learning Avid. Currently I use both, and they both have their pros and cons. But I know in the professional environment, I have an edge because I know both. So to answer the question, students should learn whatever’s relevant, knowing that it will change in the future, but if your committed to the craft, you will keep learning and adapting if you want to relevant. Cheers.

The problems with re-positioning or blowing up have never been about professionalism, itself. The problem has always been a technical mismatch. Since the beginning of film as an industry, there has been a frame larger then what is screened that has given some margin for re-faming.

Blowing up beyond 5% would reveal a change in film grain. That has been the limitation. In any case it is at the director’s discretion, which overrides the editor respecting that which the D.P. has delivered. Photography has always included cropping as part of the process.

I rather like FCPX and so does everyone else in the office (about 30 editors working with a lot of stunt footage and CGI). But that said, we got it over the summer knowing that it was very different than FCS3 and with zero intention of doing anything more than perhaps cutting a couple of trailers or BTS stuff on it for the next year. This is our learning time and Apple’s real world debugging time.

Back in April we already knew that we might need 10 more seats for an upcoming project and since we had the money we spent it. So we are good on FCS3 for the meantime.

Others we know hate FCPX and switched. Whatever. in the end it’s not what you use but what you create that really matters. So if you can do the job in Avid etc, go for it.

Trying to figure out which application will garner the most job prospects is really tough. What is marketable today might not be so in the future. FCP had a 10-year prime, but who knows what app will have its prime. Students do not have it good right now. A lot of you suggest learning all three, and maybe throw in Vegas too. Ultimately I find that a person who knows or claims to know several high-end applications isn’t very good at any of them beyond the basics. It’s a watered down approach to editing. Take a chance and become immersed in one? Yeah, risks and predictions could make you poor or rich, and a lot of students might not be ready to work for a few years, and they’ll need a reel to show their application-specific skills.

Also, given the filmmaking industry is in turmoil, it might not matter what anybody knows if there are no films to edit. With students graduating with debts as high as $120k, that’s something else to ponder. Will there be jobs available? Probably not. There will be fierce competition for few gigs. Veteran editors will retire and not be replaced.

For students: 1) What software? and 2) Should you even pursue this discipline? Good luck!

I think the last thing any student should be worried about is which particular editing program to “master” in college. Learn as many as you can get your hands on. You are only limited by your access to software and at $300, FCP X is very accessible. But also sit down in front of Avid, Premiere and Vegas if you get the chance. Remember, these are just tools and film school is about learning technique (or at least it used to be). You will have plenty of time AFTER college to perfect your skills with your tool of choice. Be ready to tackle whatever platform becomes the industry standard for the NEXT decade.

When Walter Murch was learning editing there was only one choice: cutting on film! When I was in film school we had 2 choices: cut on film or linear edit with 3/4″ tape. (Mostly it was tape, because the old film gear kept breaking and the University refused to replace it.) Even though Walter Murch and I don’t edit the same type of media, we do have one thing in common. We both have made our living the past 10 years with a tool that DIDN”T EVEN EXIST when we were college aged. But we are both still working.

If you choose to go to a film school, go to learn TECHNIQUE, not tools. And there is no better time in your life than college to learn and develop editing technique. Take advantage of it.

FCPX is the worst tool for students to learn on. It just hides the complexities behind tools that make decisions for you and hide information about where everything really is.