FCP updated. Now more Avid-like (but not much) UPDATED
By S Simmons. Filed in Editing |
The Apple pro applications all received some updates the other day. With Final Cut Pro in particular, there’s really a lot to like. Besides all the natural evolutionary changes like support for XDCAM EX, hard drive based HDV cameras and DVCPRO HD 720p50 among others there are a number of basic editing interface changes and enhancements that have me most excited. First off there are a couple of things to make the interaction with the app a bit more Avid like (UPDATE: but not much). First there’s:
Zoom In on Playhead in Timeline: Keeps the Timeline playhead centered while zooming in (regardless of the selection in the Timeline).
Zoom Out on Playhead in Timeline: Keeps the Timeline playhead centered while zooming out (regardless of the selection in the Timeline).
My original though is that it would mimic the Avid focus key. 
The Avid focus key will automatically take you to a zoomed in magnification of the playhead no matter where you are in the timeline. FCP has always annoyed me in that when you zoomed in on the timeline it would automatically zoom into any selected elements in the timeline before zooming into the playhead. 9 times out of 10 I would want to zoom to the playhead. If I have intentionally selected something in the timeline then chances are I have my playhead located near the selection.
UPDATE: It actually just does what it says, zooms to the playhead instead of what might be selected in the timeline. I have replaced the normal zoom in function with this new one. You can find it in the Button List or the Keyboard Layout:
As you can see in the capture above just type “playhead in timeline” to access. I’ve mapped then to F11 and F12 on my keyboard layout.
They also added:
Scroll to Playhead: Horizontally scrolls the Timeline so that the playhead is centered in the window.
This is a much requested option that Avid has had for a while:
I don’t always leave the option check in my Avid application as it takes a bit of processor overhead to make it work and it can result in the occasional underrun error. I can’t wait to see FCP’s implementation and if it results in any dropped frames when trying to scroll a complex timeline. This option is very useful when watching an edit down with clients and making quick fixes.
UPDATE: The new “scroll to playhead” can be found in the Button List or under Keyboard Layout. 
 It’s really nothing like the Avid Scroll While Playing function. If for some reason you have scrolled the timeline where the playhead is off the screen you can push this key and it will jump back. This doesn’t happen to me very often as it seems when it does my next move is to do some action in the timeline that brings it back anyway so it’s never really bother me. What would be most useful would be if you could push the “scroll to playhead” key while the timeline is playing back and it would center the playhead and leave the timeline playing but instead it stops playback. So much for wishful thinking!
We also get:
Hiding Clip Names in the Timeline
You can now hide sequence clip names to make it easier to see content such as audio waveforms.
 UPDATE: It’s located in the Timeline Layout Pop in the bottom left corner of the timeline:
This is welcome as well because my ultimate goal in any editing application is total timeline control by the user. While this still doesn’t give as many options as are available when viewing clips in an Avid timeline:
it is another step in the right direction. The more information that the editor can control and display the better.
One thing they didn’t “fix” is this:
Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 Compatibility with Final Cut Pro 6.0.1
Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 projects are not backward compatible with Final Cut Pro 6.0.1.
Sigh…. I guess we will never get any kind of backwards compatibility with even the smallest incremental upgrades. You can always try the multiple version hack but as always beware when updating those projects to v. 6.0.2 because you can’t go back (that is without an XML export and import) and open an updated project in an older version and neither can your client, or another editor, or an audio guy, or the effects artist, or the director, or the agency, or the producer, or …
Thursday, November 15th 2007 at 4:56 pm
OK, but WHERE EXACTLY are these centering options in FCP? I have been looking and lookng and cannot find them.
Thursday, November 15th 2007 at 9:18 pm
which options do you mean Shane? Like the center duration? I’d love to have that one in FCP too.
Thursday, November 15th 2007 at 10:25 pm
Zoom In on Playhead in Timeline – This ROCKS. I always loved that Premiere Pro did this – VERY handy. Going to check this out in FCP tonight!
Thursday, November 15th 2007 at 11:41 pm
Well it appears that the center function only works if you use the zoom control just to the left of the scroll/zoom bar below the timeline. Ctrl+/- do not activate it -
Friday, November 16th 2007 at 3:59 am
Like you Scott, I got all excited and thought we’d got timeline scrolling but unfortunately we didn’t. The new Scroll to Playhead command literally scrolls the timeline so the playhead is in the centre. Doesn’t work during playback so it’s a bit of a weird one.
However the other two new timeline zoom commands are definitely worth having. It’s basically the same as the zoom slider at the bottom of the Timeline window which has always kept the playhead in the centre. I’ve remapped my Option-Plus/Minus keys to the new zoom functions. Now I just got to get myself out of the habit of deselecting clips before zooming in!
Shane – do a search for “playhead” in the button or keyboard list and you’ll see the new commands.
Friday, November 16th 2007 at 7:53 am
Well that’s kinda sad to hear Martin. From the description of the ’scroll to playhead’ it would seem it would work the same. I was going to update this morning but it seems it requires 10.4.11 as my software update won’t see it. Since I have a client on the way I’ll keep the stable system until after this job is done!
Saturday, November 17th 2007 at 12:24 am
Hmmm… seems like a lot of folk read a lot into the new scroll to playhead function, assuming that it was a dynamic timeline scrolling feature a la Avid rather than the stated function in the release notes. Now, i never liked the scrolling timeline thing so i’m not too distressed that it turned out to be only what the docs decsribed (rather than what folks really wanted it to be) … then again, just because its not my particular cup of tea, having options is never bad, and as Scott also noted, the function as is is essentially the same thing anyway, just a restricted implementation. Perhaps it will come in a later update.
Personally, I prefer the page right/left implementation for dynamic timeline display, where the timeline refreshes to display the next ‘page’ of content when the playhead reaches the extent of the displayed page, rather than the playhead just disappearing off into the unknown.
I think the most interesting and significant thing about this supposed minor point release upgrade is the very fact that it contains interface enhancements at all. It would be wonderful if this turned out to be the start of a new drive by Apple to begin implementing some of those many “little things” that have languished for so long.
Fingers crossed
Saturday, November 17th 2007 at 9:27 am
Ok WOW what a disappointment in the “scroll to playhead” function now that I’ve installed the update. I guess it was as Andy said that we read more into it but when reading the description in the release notes it sure did feel like it would be some kind of a more dynamic scrolling function. The way it currently operates it seems almost useless (unless there is something I am missing). The I would work is that if I lost the playhead the a quick one frame step or a fit to window of the timeline would get it back. This new feature is only one keystroke and that’s good I guess. What is REALLY DISAPPOINTING is that when you press the key while playback it stops the playback. It would be really useful if it would keep playing back. Then it would be like Andy’s idea of a “page right/left implementation for dynamic timeline display” that you have to implement yourself. That is probably better than an Avid dynamic scroll anyway!
Saturday, November 17th 2007 at 10:32 pm
Found one interesting thing. I opened a 6.0.1 project in 6.0.2 and I upgraded the project and things seemed okay until I tried to render all. Then I got a General Error. I ended up having to export out XML of the project then creating a new project which did the trick, but of course I had to re-render everything after that. I tried the upgrade with another project and I didn’t get the General Error on that sequence. I wonder what the issue could be.
Saturday, November 17th 2007 at 10:37 pm
There’s another fix which you might like. I think you blogged about the fact that FCP doesn’t have drop frame for 59.94 sequences – unlike Avid. I noticed that this version has drop frame for 59.94 now. You can view the timecode in 59.94 df and also 60@ 30.
Sunday, November 18th 2007 at 9:55 pm
Scott,
I’m thinking about putting together a blog post that lists different tools/resources that could be helpful for our Editor Network over at StudioNow. Right now we have over 500 editors signed up, and I didn’t know if you might be concerned with overload or whether you would have any objections to that?
Our blog is only linked from our editor pages (approval required). If you want to check the blog out before giving us the go ahead, however, you can visit it directly at http://blog.studionow.com
Let me know. Thanks.
Sunday, November 18th 2007 at 9:59 pm
Sorry… meant to ask if you would have objections to your blog being mentioned as a possible resource in our blog post. I left that out of the earlier post.
Saturday, December 1st 2007 at 7:20 am
A real scroll to playhead feature is one that has been missing in FCP for years. The one Apple has instituted is really a toy-like feature and stops playback when you use it. What we need is real Timeline scrolling around a stationary Playhead.
I use Digital Performer and Logic Pro and both have had a true scrolling Playhead for years. In DP, you can even place the Playhead anywhere along the Timeline and it will stay put and the Timeline will still scroll behind it.
Come on Apple. This has been a top 10 feature request for years.
Take care of your customers.
Richard