PluralEyes 3

The concept of synchronizing clips by sound seems so obvious in retrospect, but when Bruce Sharpe showed his first version of PluralEyes at a small NAB booth, it struck many as nothing short of magic. The first version was designed to sync multiple consumer and prosumer video cameras by aligning their sound tracks in the absence of recorded timecode. With the unanticipated popularity of the HDSLR cameras, like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II in late 2009, PluralEyes gained a big boost. It became the easiest way to sync 5D clips with double-system audio recorded using low-cost devices, such as the Zoom H4n handheld digital audio recorder. PluralEyes expanded from a plug-in for Final Cut Pro to add the standalone DualEyes, used to sync double-system sound projects. In a very short time period, PluralEyes went from an unknown to a brand name synonymous with a product or process, much like Coke or Kleenex.

Now that Sharpe’s Singular Software products are part of the Red Giant Software family, PluralEyes is available as the new and improved, standalone PluralEyes 3 (currently in version 3.1). It encompasses all of the features of both the original PluralEyes and of DualEyes. This means that PluralEyes 3 supports two basic processes: a) synchronizing camera files with external audio, and b) synchronizing multiple cameras to each other or to a common sound track. This is all done by comparing the audio tracks against each other without the use of timecode, clapsticks or other common reference points.

PluralEyes 3 analyzes and matches audio waveform shapes to accomplish this, so without belaboring the obvious, all camera files have to include an audio track recorded in the same general environment. Since PluralEyes uses very good audio analysis tools and audio normalization to aid the process, the camera audio does not have to be pristine. The most common scenario is a high-quality audio recording as a separate digital audio file and camera audio that was recorded solely with the onboard mic. Naturally the cleaner this onboard recording is, the more likely that synchronization will be successful.

The new features of PluralEyes 3 include a brand new user interface, faster synchronization, NLE round-tripping support (Apple Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro) and direct exporting of new, synchronized media files. To synchronize double-system projects, simply drag your camera files into the interface’s camera section and the audio tracks into the audio section. PluralEyes 3 lets you create multiple bins as tabs across the top of the interface for use in organizing your files. For instance, you might want a separate bin for each camera or shoot date or location.

As you add the camera and audio clips to these sections, they will be lined up in ascending order within the lower timeline window. Once the timeline is filled, click “synchronize” and watch PluralEyes 3 do its magic. If the audio recording is low, you can opt to level the audio (normalization) during this process. That will make it easier for successful matching, but it’s an extra step, so the total synchronizing process will take a little longer. Part of PluralEyes 3’s new interface is a 2-up view, which makes it possible to see how the audio tracks align. This view will aid you in adjusting sync if needed.

When synchronization is complete, PluralEyes 3 offers several export options. If you are sending these files to Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Pro X, simply export the appropriate XML version. You can choose to replace the camera audio tracks with the audio file’s track as part of this step. Then import that XML into the NLE you selected. When I ran this test with FCP X, the export options let me send two new Events (synchronized clips plus synchronized clips with replaced audio) and a new sequence (Project) representing the PluralEyes timeline. This timeline had both sets of audio channels turned on, so you’ll have to mute the camera tracks first if you intend to use this timeline.

A new feature is the ability to export new media files. For instance, if you want new clips where the high-quality audio has replaced the camera’s reference track, PluralEyes 3 will export these and write new media files. The advantage is that this approach is independent of your NLE choice, making the self-contained, synchronized files easy to migrate between systems.

PluralEyes 3 can also sync multiple cameras for a multi-camera edit session. First, start in the NLE by building a timeline with the clips for each camera placed on a separate video track. Video 1 = camera 1, video 2 = camera 2 and so on. Multiple broken clips from the same camera angle should be placed back-to-back on the same track. In the case of FCP X, group multiple clips from the same camera into a single secondary storyline, before proceeding to the next camera. Once you are done, export an XML file for that sequence. For Avid Media Composer projects, export an AAF file with the media linked and not embedded.

The XML or AAF file is then imported into PluralEyes 3. You’ll end up with a timeline that is populated with the different camera angles corresponding to your NLE sequence. Next, click “synchronize” and watch as PluralEyes realigns the camera clips by referencing the sound tracks against each other. The 2-up view is handy to compare two cameras (as well as their audio tracks) against each other, in case you have any question regarding their synchronization. Once this process is done, export a new XML or AAF from PluralEyes. Import that file into the NLE and you will have a timeline with camera clips rearranged in sync. This would represent what editors typically call a “sync map”. In the case of FCP X, the PluralEyes 3 export settings offer the option of exporting new events, as well as multicam clips. These can be used in FCP X’s standard multicam editing workflow. Open the FCP X angle viewer for access to editing between camera angles.

Red Giant’s PluralEyes 3 is a major advance over the original concept. It’s no longer tied to a single NLE, but is useful both in standalone and NLE-specific workflows. As editors deal with an ever-increasing, diverse spectrum of media sources, a tool like PluralEyes is an essential part of the kit. It was a no-brainer on day one, but even more so in this new and improved version.

Originally written for DV magazine / Creative Planet Network

©2013 Oliver Peters

Zero Dark Thirty

Few films have the potential to be as politically charged as Zero Dark Thirty. Director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, K-19: The Widowmaker) and producer/writer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, In the Valley of Elah) have evaded those minefields by focusing on the relentless CIA detective work that led to the finding and killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs. Shot and edited in a cinema verite style, Zero Dark Thirty is more of a suspenseful thriller, than an action-adventure movie. It seeks to tell a raw, powerful story that’s faithful to the facts without politicizing the events.

The original concept started before the raid on bin Laden’s compound occurred. It was to be about the hunt, but not finding him, after a decade of searching. The SEAL raid changed the direction of the film; but, Bigelow and Boal still felt that the story to be told was in the work done on the ground by intelligence operatives that led to the raid. Zero Dark Thirty is based on the perspective of CIA operative Maya (Jessica Chastain), whose job it is to find terrorists. The Maya character is based on a real person.

Zero Dark Thirty was filmed digitally, using ARRI Alexa cameras. This aided Kathryn Bigelow’s style of shooting by eliminating the limitation of the length of film mags. Most scenes were shot with four cameras and some as many as six or seven at once. The equivalent of 1.8 million feet of film (about 320 hours) was recorded. The production ramped up in India with veteran film editor Dylan Tichenor (Lawless, There Will Be Blood) on board from the beginning.

According to Tichenor, “I was originally going to be on location for a short time with Kathryn and Mark and then return to the States to cut. We were getting about seven hours of footage a day and I like to watch everything. When they asked me to stay on for the entire India shoot, we set up a cutting room in Chandigarh, added assistants and Avids to stay up to camera while I was there. Then I rejoined my team in the States when the production moved to Jordan. A parallel cutting room had been set up in Los Angeles, where the same footage was loaded. There, the assistants could also help pull selects from my notes, to make going through the footage and preparing to cut more manageable.”

William Goldenberg (Argo, Transformers: Dark of the Moon) joined the team as the second editor in June, after wrapping up Argo. Goldenberg continued, “This film had a short post schedule and there was a lot of footage, so they asked me to help out. I started right after they filmed the Osama bin Laden raid scene, which was one of the last locations to be shot and the first part of the film that I edited. The assembled film without the raid was about three hours long. There was forty hours of material just for the raid and this took about three weeks to a month to cut. After I finished that, Dylan and I divided up the workload to refine and hone scenes, with each making adjustments on the other’s cuts. It’s very helpful to have a second pair of eyes in this situation, bouncing ideas back and forth.”

As an Alexa-based production, the team in India, Jordan and London included a three-man digital lab. Tichenor explained, “This film was recorded using ARRIRAW. With digital features in the past, my editorial team has been tasked to handle the digital dailies workload, too. This means the editors are also responsible for dealing with the color space workflow issues and that would have been too much to deal with on this film. So, the production set up a three-person team with a Codex Digilab and Colorfront software in another hotel room to process the ARRIRAW files. These were turned into color-corrected Avid DNxHD media for us and a duplicate set of files for the assistants in LA.” Director of photography Greig Fraser (Snow White and the Huntsman, Killing Them Softly) was able to check in on the digilab team and tweak the one-light color correction, as well as get Tichenor’s input for additional shots and coverage he might need to help tell the story.

Tichenor continued, “Kathryn likes to set up scenes and then capture the action with numerous cameras – almost like it’s a documentary. Then she’ll repeat that process several times for each scene. Four to seven camera keep rolling all day, so there’s a lot of footage. Plus the camera operators are very good about picking up extra shots and b-roll, even though they aren’t an official second unit team. There are a lot of ways to tell the story and Kathryn gave us – the editors – a lot of freedom to build these scenes. The objective is to have a feeling of ‘you are there’ and I think that comes across in this film. Kathryn picks people she trusts and then lets them do their job. That’s great for an editor, but you really feel the responsibility, because it’s your decisions that will end up on the screen.”

Music for the film was also handled in an unusual manner. According to Goldenberg, “On most films a composer is contracted, you turn the locked picture over to him and he scores to that cut. Zero Dark Thirty didn’t start with a decision on a composer. Like most films, Dylan and I tried different pieces of temp music under some of the scenes that needed music. Of all the music we tried, the work of Alexandre Desplat (Argo, Moonrise Kingdom) fit the best. Kathryn and Mark showed Alexandre a cut to see if he might be interested. He loved it and found time in his schedule to score the film. Right away he wrote seven pieces that he felt were right. We cut those in to fit the scene lengths, which he then used as a template for his final score. It was a very collaborative process.”

Company 3 handled the digital intermediate mastering. Goldenberg explained, “The nighttime raid scene has a very unique look. It was very dark, as shot. In fact, we had to turn off all the lights in the cutting room to even see an image on the Avid monitors. Company 3 got involved early on by color timing about ten minutes of that footage, because we were eager and excited to see what the sequence could look like when it was color timed. When it came to the final DI, the film really took on another layer of richness. We’d been looking at the one-light images so long that it actually took a few screenings to enjoy the image that we’d been missing until then.”

Both Tichenor and Goldenberg have been cutting on Avid Media Composers for years, but this film didn’t tax the capabilities of the system. Tichenor said, “This isn’t an effects-heavy film. Some parts of the stealth helicopters are CG, but in the Avid, we mainly used effects for some monitor inserts, stabilization and split screens.” Goldenberg added, “One thing we both do is build our audio tracks as LCR [left, center, right channel] instead of the usual stereo. It takes a bit more work to build a dedicated center channel, but screenings sound much better.”

Avid has very good multicamera routines, so I questioned whether these were of value with the number of cameras being used. Tichenor replied, “We grouped clips, of course, but not actual multicam. You can switch cameras easily with a grouped clip. I actually did try for one second on a scene to see if I could use the multicam split screen camera display for watching dailies, but no, there was too much going on.” Goldenberg added, “There are some scenes that – although they were using multiple cameras – the operators would be shooting completely different things. For instance, actors in a car with one camera and other cameras grabbing local flavor and street life. So multicam or group clips were less useful in those cases.”

The film’s post schedule took about four months from the first full assembly until the final mix. Goldenberg said, “I don’t think you can say the cut was ever completely locked until the final mix, since we made minor adjustments even up to the end; but, there was a point at one of the internal screenings where we all knew the structure was in place. That was a big milestone, because from there, it was just a matter of tightening and honing. The story felt right.” Tichenor explained, “This movie actually came together surprisingly well in the time frame we had. Given the amount of footage, it’s the sort of film that could easily have been in post for two years. Fortunately with this script and team, it all came together. The scenes balanced out nicely and it has a good structure.”

For addition stories:

DV’s coverage of Zero Dark Thirty’s cinematography

An interview with William Goldenberg about Argo

FXGuide talks about the visual effects created for the film.

New York Times articles (here and here) about Zero Dark Thirty

Originally written for DV magazine / Creative Planet Network

©2012, 2013 Oliver Peters

Offline to online with 4K

The 4K buzz  seems to be steam-rolling the industry just like stereo3D before it. It’s too early to tell whether it will be an immediate issue for editors or not, since 4K delivery requirements are few and far between. Nevertheless, camera and TV-set manufacturers  are building important parts of the pipeline. RED Digital Cinema is leading the way with a post workflow that’s both proven and relatively accessible on any budget. A number of NLEs support editing and effects in 4K, including Avid DS, Autodesk Smoke, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro X, Grass Valley EDIUS and Sony Vegas Pro.

Although many of these support native cutting with RED 4K media, I’m still a strong believer in the traditional offline-to-online editing workflow. In this post I will briefly outline how to use Avid Media Composer and Apple FCP X for a cost-effective 4K post pipeline. One can certainly start and finish a RED-originated project in FCP X or Premiere Pro for that matter, but Media Composer is still the preferred creative  tool for many editing pros. Likewise, FCP X is a viable finishing tool. I realize that statement will raise a few eyebrows, but hear me out. Video passing through Final Cut is very pristine, it supports the various flavors of 2K and 4K formats and there’s a huge and developing ecosystem of highly-inventive effects and transitions. This combination is a great opportunity to think outside of the box.

Offline editing with Avid Media Composer

Avid has supported native RED files for several versions, but Media Composer is not resolution independent. This means RED’s 4K (or 5K) images are downsampled to 1080p and reformatted (cropped or letterboxed) to fit into the 16:9 frame. When you shoot with a RED camera, you should ideally record in one of their 4K 16:9 sizes. The native .r3d files can be brought into Media Composer using the “Link to AMA File(s)” function. Although you can edit directly with AMA-linked files, the preferred method is to use this as a “first step”. That means, you should use AMA to cull your footage down to the selected takes and then transcode the remainder when you start to fine tune your cut.

Avid’s media creation settings are the place to adjust the RED debayer parameters. Media Composer supports the RED Rocket card for accelerated rendering, but without it, Media Composer can still provide reasonable speed in software-only transcoding. Set the debayer quality to 1/4 or 1/8, and transcoding 4K clips to Avid DNxHD36 for offline editing will be closer to real-time on a fast machine, like an 8-core Mac Pro. This resolution is adequate for making your creative decisions.

When the cut is locked, export an AAF file for the edited sequence. Media should be linked (not embedded) and the AAF Edit Protocol setting should be enabled. In this workflow, I will assume that audio post is being handled by an audio editor/mixer running a DAW, such as Pro Tools, so I’ll skip any discussion of audio. That would be exported using standard AAF or OMF workflows for audio post. Note that all effects should be removed from your sequence before generating the AAF file, since they won’t be translated in the next steps. This includes any nested clips, collapsed tracks and speed ramps, which are notorious culprits in any timeline translation.

Color grading with DaVinci Resolve

Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 9 is our next step. You’ll need the full, paid version (software-only) for bigger-than-HD output. After launching Resolve, import the Avid AAF file from Resolve’s conform tab. Make sure you check “link to camera files” so that Resolve connects to the original .r3d media and not the Avid DNxHD transcodes. Resolve will import the sequence, connect to the media and generate a new timeline that matches the sequence exported from Media Composer. Make sure the project is set for the desired 4K format.

Next, open the Resolve project settings and adjust the camera raw values to the proper RED settings. Then make sure the individual clips are set to “project” in their camera settings tab. You can either use the original camera metadata or adjust all clips to a new value in the project settings pane. Once this is done, you are ready to grade the timeline as with any other production. Resolve uses a very good scaling algorithm, so if the RED files were framed with the intent of resizing and repositioning (for example, 5K files that are to be cropped for the ideal framing within a 4K timeline), then it’s best to make that adjustment within the Resolve timeline.

Once you’ve completed the grade, set up the render. Choose the FCP XML easy set-up and alter the output frame size to the 4K format you are using. Start the render job. Resolve 9 renders quite quickly, so even without a RED Rocket card, I found that 4K ProRes HQ or 4444 rendering, using full-resolution debayering, was completed in about a 6:1 ratio to running time on my Mac Pro. When the renders are done, export the FCP XML (for FCP X) from the conform tab. I found I had to use an older version of this new XML format, even though I was running FCP X 10.0.7. It was unable to read the newest version that Resolve had exported.

Online with Apple Final Cut Pro X

The last step is finishing. Import the Resolve-generated XML file, which will in turn create the necessary FCP Event (media linked to the 4K ProRes files rendered from Resolve) and a timeline for the edited sequence. Make sure the sequence (Project) settings match your desired 4K format. Import and sync the stereo or surround audio mix (generated by the audio editor/mixer) and rebuild any effects, titles, transitions and fast/slo-mo speed effects. Once everything is completed, use FCP X’s share menu to export your deliverables.

©2013 Oliver Peters

Cloud Atlas

Every once in a while a film comes along that requires a bit of reflection to get the full meaning. Often you need several screenings to find all the clues and story details that you might have missed the first time. Cloud Atlas is such a film. It’s based on the multi-threaded, best-selling novel by David Mitchell and becomes the latest theatrical release by writer/directors Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy). The Wachowskis are joined by co-writer/co-director Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run) for a unique three-director production endeavor.

Cloud Atlas was originally thought to be un-adaptable as a film, but thanks to a script that earned the blessing of Mitchell, the three were able to make that a reality. The film is broken into six eras and locations (1849, 1936, 1973, 2012, 2144 and 2346). It features an ensemble cast whose members each play a variety of different characters within different parts of the story. The locations range from the South Pacific to the United States and Europe to a futuristic version of Seoul and finally a post-apocalyptic Hawaii. Instead of telling this as a series of sequential short stories, the different time frames are continually intercut. The audience is following six narrative episodes at once, yet taken together, the flow and story arc really become a single story. It’s as if the film proceeds by weaving in and out of six parallel universes.

Connections

In broad strokes, Cloud Atlas is about freedom, love, karma and the connective fabric of the universe. Each person has elements of good and evil and talents that they use, which come out in different ways. The actors portray different characters throughout the film who may be heroes in one era, but villains in another. The yearning for freedom or love by a character that starts in one part might manifest itself in another character at a different time and place. Cloud Atlas is partially a reincarnation story. It plays on the sense of déjà vu, except that in this story, the experience that the character thinks has happened (like meeting someone) actually happens in a future life.

The scene structure of Cloud Atlas is crafted so that what would otherwise be single scenes in a standard drama are actually split among several different eras. Action that starts in 1849, for example, might be continued in a smash cut to 1936. Although the audience didn’t see the complete linear progression of what transpired in either, the result is that there’s both a carry-over and a residual effect, making it easy to mentally fill in the blanks for each. To help the audience connect the dots, there are several plot points and clues tying one era to another – sometimes in very obvious ways and at other times only as a reference or shot in a montage.

The task to pull this all together fell to veteran German film editor Alexander Berner (Resident Evil, The Baader Meinhoff Complex, The Debt, The Three Musketeers). Berner is a partner in the Munich-based editorial facility Digital Editors, which he helped start twenty years ago as the first all-digital facility in Germany. He had cut Tom Tywker’s film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, but had never worked with Andy and Lana Wachowski before. They hit it off well and Berner was tapped to cut Cloud Atlas.

The film was shot in sixty days at various European locations with the three directors splitting up into two production units. The Wachowskis covered the 1849 ocean voyage, the 2144 rebellion in Neo Seoul and the events “after the fall” in the 24^th century. Tykwer captured the stories of composer Frobisher (1936), journalist Ray (1973) and London publisher Cavendish (2012). For Berner, this meant double the amount of footage compared to a “normal” film, but without any more time to deliver a first cut. With the help of assistant editor Claus Wehlisch, Berner was able to keep up with camera and deliver his first assembly – complete with temp sound effects and score – two days after the shooting wrapped.

Crafting the mosaic

Alexander Berner explained the experience to me, “Andy and Lana had never worked with me before, so they didn’t really know what to expect. I think they may have had some initial concerns, since they hadn’t really seen anything cut up to that point. I had only sent a couple of assembled action scenes to them while they were filming. During the entire first assembly, it was all left up to Claus, a fabulous editorial team and me. We took a Christmas break and then started to do the fine cut in January.  I like to present a first assembly that’s a very watchable movie. I had assumed we’d sit down and review the whole film and then start making changes. When Andy, Lana and Tom saw the first reel they were all relieved at how good it looked and played, so we decided to dive right in at that point.”

The first assembly ran nearly three-and-a-half hours and it only took Berner about ten weeks to lock the picture at its final 172 minute length. Berner continued, “The first cut really followed the script, but the final film is a lot different in actual structure. The script is faithful to the book, but only about fifty percent is the same, as we had to cut out portions and extra characters that would have simply made this film too long. That was all with David Mitchell’s collaboration. I view the script as the ‘color palette’ and the edit is where you ‘mix the paint’. The footage from production came in a very scrambled fashion, so the only way to build the first cut was to follow the script. Once the three directors came in, then we had a chance to re-arrange scene elements or change line readings made necessary by the restructuring. Our main focus was to make sure we maintained the right emotional bow within a scene, even though we might start the action in one era and carry it forward into another. It was important to be able to tell these six stories as one big movie with one big emotional thought.”

According to Berner, every scene that was shot for the film is in the final cut, although sometimes the essence of it only survived as a shot within a montage or as a single, short scene. Just enough for the audience to follow the story or see a connection. I asked Berner his take on working with three directors. He responded, “At first I thought ‘What is this going to be like?’ Maybe each director would concentrate on only their scenes. In fact, it was a collaboration with everyone contributing and really a very harmonious and productive experience. We’d usually watch a scene and if it was OK or only needed a few minutes of tweaking, then we’d proceed to ‘mangle’ it into the bigger picture.”

The musical thread

One unusual aspect to Cloud Atlas is that co-director Tom Tykwer was also co-composer with Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek. A key element is The Cloud Atlas Sextet, the life’s work of the 1936 composer in the Frobisher narrative. This melody becomes a re-occurring piece throughout the film that helps bind eras together. For example, it’s part of the 1936 storyline, but then re-appears on a vinyl LP found by journalist Luisa Rey in a 1973 San Francisco record shop. The music itself becomes the score under these scenes, which binds the emotion together. You linger on the memory of the era you just left, while continuing into the next.

Some editors like to cut to temp scores, but that’s not Berner’s style. He explained, “I don’t like to cut a scene to music. Often this forces a pace that becomes gimmicky. I like to cut based on my internal sense of rhythm and then, with the right music, it all magically works. I try to avoid temp music, because it often doesn’t work well. If I know who the composer will be ahead of time, I’ll often lay in music from his previous scores to get a good feel for how the film will work. With Cloud Atlas, Tom gave us versions of many of the tracks ahead of time. This enabled me to cut in music that was far more representative of the final score than is usually possible.”

Editorial balance

Watching the film for myself with an editor’s eye, it felt that the six narratives were reasonably balanced in their screen time. Berner told me there was no conscious effort to do that though. He continued, “It’s great that it felt balanced to you, but we were just trying to follow the emotion. If you actually measured the time, they aren’t equal. I do use Walter Murch’s trick of posting scene cards on the wall, which helped us greatly. Andy, Lana and Tom liked to re-arrange these to get an idea of the flow and it also helped to see which scenes had been deleted. At the end of the day, we’d always update the positions of the cards on the wall to reflect the current cut at that point.”

Alexander Berner cut the film on a Unity-connected Avid Media Composer system. He initially started on version 6.0 software, but ended up reverting to 5.5, because of reliability issues with Unity. Berner said, “I’ve been cutting on Avids for about twenty years and I generally love the software. In this case, version 6 dropped some color correction features that I needed, so I when back to the previous version. In narrative post, you don’t need a lot of fancy features, so the earlier software version was just fine. I’ve tried ScriptSync a few times, but never really ended up using it. In fact, I drive my assistants crazy setting up for it and then in the end, it just doesn’t fit my style.”

Thirteen visual effects companies tackled the 1,000-plus shots. Although this wasn’t overtly an effects-driven feature, the make-up prosthetics ended up getting a lot of digital love. Frank Griebe and John Toll were the two directors of photography for Cloud Atlas. It was shot on film and ARRI in Munich handled the lab work and the DI finishing, providing a seamless integration of these disparate elements.

Cloud Atlas represented a very unique challenge for Alexander Berner. “Every film has the usual challenges – working with a new director or cutting the film down to time. In this case, I’m probably the very first editor who’s ever worked with three directors on the same film. What’s truly unique, though, is that this film has several different genres and each has to be represented at its best. There’s action, comedy, a love story, intelligent dialogue, period drama and a thriller. Each one has to work as well in this film as if it were a single-genre film. As an editor, that was quite fun and maybe a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I realize though, that young people really respond to this approach, so maybe we’ll see a lot more of this style of film in the coming years.” Alexander Berner’s next film is another collaboration with Andy and Lana Wachowski – Jupiter Ascending – currently in pre-production.

(Additional coverage by Post magazine may be found here.)

Originally written for Digital Video magazine / Creative Planet Networks

©2012 Oliver Peters

Apple expands Final Cut Pro X

On the same day Apple launched the iPad mini, the fourth generation iPad, a refresh of the iMac line and the addition of a 13” MacBook Pro with Retina display, Apple also quietly released the 10.0.6 version of Final Cut Pro X. By the end of the day, the App Store lit up and the various online forums were buzzing. The Pro Apps engineers made good on the bullet points that were pre-announced at NAB – dual viewers, multichannel audio editing, MXF plug-in support and RED camera support. Plus, there were a number of feature and interface changes to round it out – many of which appear to be in direct response to user feedback.

The four bullet points

Dual viewers. The Unified Viewer was a huge shock when FCP X was first released. As you move between a source clip in the Event Browser and the project’s edited timeline, the Viewer display toggles between these two images. You now have the option to change this behavior by opening a second Event Viewer window. Source clips show in the Event Viewer while the main Viewer only displays the project timeline image. You cannot skim or scrub with the mouse directly from within this window. In a two-monitor configuration, you have to skim the thumbnail or filmstrip of the event clip on one display, but watch the viewer on the other screen. It’s a bit disconcerting for muscle memory and some editors, who initially clamored for it, have found it less useful than they’d hope. There is also no way to gang source clips and timelines together. Having this second viewer does add some cool new features, like the ability to have scopes with each viewer. These can be displayed in a horizontal or vertical arrangement. The good news is that you have the choice between single and dual viewers depending on your task.

Multi-channel audio editing. To prevent audio from slipping out-of-sync due to user error – and to reduce timeline clutter – FCP X keeps clips as combined a/v sources. Until this release, if you shot an interview and used two audio channels for individual microphones, you could not separately edit or mix levels on them, unless you broke the audio out as separate clips. Then you risked the possibility of accidentally slipping them out-of-sync. With this update, audio channels still stay attached to their source clips, but you can expand the clip in the timeline or inspector to reveal multiple audio channels. This enables renaming, editing, volume and pan control for each individual audio channel. Unfortunately, there’s still no global audio mixer panel as many had hoped for.

RED camera support. The RED user community has been very vocal about wanting native edit support for their REDCODE camera raw, compressed media format. Until now, Adobe offered one of the few native editing solutions. With 10.0.6, Apple has more than met that challenge. There’s native file support at up to 5K sizes, plus you can transcode to an optimized ProRes4444 or ProRes Proxy format for a more fluid editing experience. With FCP X’s unique architecture, transcoding happens in the background, so you can start with the native files, which in turn are automatically replaced by the optimized or proxy files when ready. Edit with proxies for a lightweight load on your system (like laptop editing) and then switch to the optimized or native files for the final output. Or simply stay with the native files throughout, if that’s your preference.

The RED Rocket card is supported for accelerated playback, transcoding and rendering with full resolution debayering. Software-based renders, exports and generating optimized media will also be at full resolution, but much slower. In order to enable RED support, you’ll need to install the latest RED plug-in. The RED Rocket card also requires a firmware update. Both may be downloaded for free from RED’s website.

The best part is that you now have direct access to the RED camera raw color settings from within FCP X. Click “Modify RED RAW Settings” in the Inspector window and a floating heads up display (HUD) pops up with adjustment sliders. Select one clip or a group of clips in the event browser and change the settings for a single clip or for all by adjusting one HUD panel. Native .r3d files in a 4K project played well on my Mac Pro, thanks to multicore playback. Performance seemed comparable to what I see with Premiere Pro on the same computer. Given Apple’s optimized/proxy media workflow and the ease of adjusting raw settings, I feel that now FCP X offers the best option for cutting a RED-originated production.

MXF plug-in support. Final Cut Pro X has now added native support for MXF camera files, like Panasonic P2, Sony XDCAM and other MXF formats. Previous FCP X versions rewrapped these files into QuickTime movie containers upon import. As with FCP “legacy” versions, the 10.0.6 update now lets you use plug-ins offered by Hamburg Pro Audio and Calibrated Software for direct access. This enables native use of MXF files and facilitates end-to-end MXF workflows, such as the DPP digital delivery standard in the UK, when Hamburg Pro Media ships their AS-11 Import and Export product.

A few surprises

There are a lot of other changes throughout the application. The engineers added more metadata (like a whole slew of ARRI ALEXA and RED camera metadata), changed a number of interface functions, updated the XML format and added 42 new effects, transitions, titles and generators, including a drop shadow filter and a one-step freeze frame.

Several of these changes are big for users. We now gain back the ability to copy and paste clip attributes. You may paste specific effects, individual filters, transforms and audio parameters to one or multiple clips on the timeline. There’s a new range selection function. Many editors had asked for “persistent in and out points” – basically that a source clip holds the last in/out marks made by the user. Instead, Apple opted to place multiple marked ranges in a fashion similar to range-based Favorites, which may take some getting used to. For instance, if you mark two ranges within a single event clip and then decide to reject the clip (with the event browser set to “Hide Rejected”) you are now left with three clips instead of one. Those three clips represent the leftover, unmarked sections of the one original clip. In order to prevent this, you first have to mark the whole clip (the X key) and then reject it (the delete key).

Connected clips have been a learning experience for many. The benefit is that you can move a group of linked clips simply by moving the one main clip on the primary storyline. Sometimes you don’t want this, such as, when you want to move a sound bite clip without moving the attached B-roll cutaway shots. Holding down the grave/tilde key as you move, slip or slide a primary storyline clip keeps any connected clips in their original place and prevents their movement.

Previously, the process for importing media files was different than the import module for camera media. This has been combined into a single-window interface. Media can be previewed in a filmstrip view from this window, regardless of whether it’s from a camera card or a file on your hard drive. If the file comes from a camera card or a mounted volume (such as a disc image made of a camera card), then you additionally have the ability to select ranges within the file for import. Once imports have started, the window may be closed, allowing you to continue editing, while the import happens in the background. Commonly used areas, like a shared folder, may be dragged to a Favorites area of the window.

Lastly, the Share menu has been moved and streamlined. This is where you export media. It may be used for master files, as well as batch processes, like DVD creation or Vimeo uploads. You may use the existing presets or set up your own, but now there’s also a Bundle function. This is a folder of presets designed as a job batch. For example, if you always need to create three versions for your client – a master file, an iPhone review copy and a YouTube upload – set up a bundle with these presets and you are ready to go. There are other enhancements to Compound Clips, Markers and Multicam, as well as faster rendering performance that I won’t go into. Suffice it to say that this update has a lot in it, so it’s well worth diving in to explore.

Things to know before you update

Final Cut Pro requires OS 10.6.8, 10.7.5 or 10.8.2. I was already on 10.7.4, so the bump to 10.7.5 was easy through Apple’s software update. If you opt to go with 10.8.2, then it’s an App Store purchase if you’re using an earlier OS or an App Store update if you are on an earlier version of Mountain Lion (10.8 or 10.8.1). Running this OS X update also enables an update of Safari and Aperture (if applicable). Once you are on either of these OS versions, then the App Store will let you update FCP X, Motion and Compressor, from earlier installations. These are free updates if you already own the applications and, like all App Store purchases, are valid for up to five personal computers on a single Apple ID.

I’m running a three-year-old Mac Pro and five-year-old MacBook Pro and FCP X works fine on either. Obviously performance is better on the tower, but as most folks have noted, the newest MacBook Pro and iMac models are best overall, thanks to their i5 and i7 processors. On my Mac Pro, I tested two GPU cards – my own ATI 5870 and a Quadro 4000 on loan from NVIDIA for reviews. FCP X runs best with the ATI card, thanks to OpenCL support. I built a six-layer 1080p timeline with color correction and five 2D picture-in-picture transform effects. The timeline played in real-time (high quality) without dropping frames using the ATI 5870, but choked when I tried the Quadro 4000. It turns out that card is not on Apple’s compatibility list (the older FX4800 is), even though it’s the only NVIDIA card sold at Apple’s online store. That’s a shame, because the Quadro 4000 is the better card for DaVinci Resolve or the Adobe CS6 applications. In fact, Resolve 9 is unusable under Lion with an ATI card (but supposedly fixed with Mountain Lion), as it puts glitches into the highlights of the picture. For FCP X, the Quadro is fine, but the ATI is better.

Final Cut Pro X 10.0.6 seems to be a relatively benign update in how it interrelates with other hardware and software. Most of the AJA and Blackmagic Design products work well with it. The exception at launch is any of the Matrox MXO2 units. Expect driver updates from all of these companies. I’ve tested the update with a Decklink HD Extreme 3D card in a Mac Pro and an AJA T-Tap on a Thunderbolt-enabled iMac and MacBook Pro and they each worked well. This update also bumps up the XML version to 1.2 and exposes a lot more metadata. If your workflows use one of the XML utilities like Xto7 and 7toX or relies on a roundtrip to DaVinci Resolve, then make sure you have updated those applications. Resolve 9.0.3 supports the new XML format and FCP X 10.0.6.

Be aware that this update has changed a lot of under-the-hood items, most notably project audio channel configurations. When you first launch FCP X after the update, existing projects and events will be updated. Usually this will be fine, but it’s not without occasional anomalies, some of which affect performance. For example, I’ve found that the audio changes in one of my project timelines caused the response time to be slower between hitting the space bar to play and having it actually start. A brand new project was fine. I have one project where levels and panning change through copy-and-pasting. Very frustrating!

In addition, a number of fresh bugs have cropped up. Some users, myself included, have experienced render problems. In my case, I have seen several projects that randomly render or export with a number of corrupt frames. When I repeat the rendering, the place of corruption is often in a different location each time. To be safe, wait for a lull in your workload before updating. Also to be fair, users on the newest iMacs running 10.8.2 seem to be happiest and report the least issues.

Final Cut Pro X 10.0.6 is generally a solid upgrade that may be the turning point for many professionals. I’ve been editing most of my broadcast and corporate projects for months in FCP X. For the most part this has been a successful endeavor – these newest issues not withstanding. Yes, it’s different, but it’s also growing and evolving. Apple is addressing issues and concerns, so make sure you use their software feedback site. Changes in this version are a direct answer to the needs of professional editors. No software is perfect – and this update is not without its flaws – but it checks off many items that may have been objections before. At least now, folks who’ve been sitting on the fence can judge Apple’s commitment by the progress made in FCP X to date.

Originally written for Digital Video magazine / Creative Planet Networks

©2012 Oliver Peters