UPDATE – Sept. 16, 2010

Yesterday, Apple updated Final Cut Pro to 7.0.3 which, among other things, fixes this problem. You can get the latest version via Software Update. If you are running an earlier version of Final Cut Pro, please read on.

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Andreas Kiel, of Spherico, brought this to my attention yesterday.

There’s a problem with the XML Export function in Final Cut Pro 7.0.2. As Andreas writes:

Over the last few weeks I got more and more mails from people who complained about missing line breaks in XML metadata text entries — and they asked for a workaround.

The issue is very simple and probably won’t affect too many of your readers, but I got more than hundred mails about that issue.

So it’s simple. Enter a text with line breaks into any metadata field which allows that — like with text generators, markers or comments.
They could look like this in FCP:
line 1
line 2
line 3

The XML exported will give you a value:

line 1 line 2 line 3

with any app which tries to interpret the XML — this includes FCP itself.

This is a real disaster, if you working with subtitles which are are sent forth and back between systems using XML. I got a customer who had a documentation with 7 languages each about more than 2000 subtitles which were fine tuned within FCP — all in all there were around 15,000 subtitles screwed up for release on DVD, film, YouTube etc.

It was solved by the workaround described below – the customer was more than happy. Imagine, if you need about 1 minute to control each title, it would take about 250 hours to fix this one movie.

Andreas went on to detail the solution:

This is a known bug of FCP 7.0.2 and will affect all XML exports and there is no workaround within FCP. This is more than annoying if you work with subtitles, but it can/will be the same little disaster if you want to ‘downgrade’ to a lower version of FCP or collaborate using XML as interchange format.

So if you already updated to 7.0.2 here a tip how you can create ‘clean’ XMLs.

1. Move your ‘Final Cut Pro.app’ from the Applications folder to the Desktop
2. Insert your FCP installation DVD and install FCP 7.0 only
3. After installation is done, rename the freshly installed ‘Final Cut Pro.app’ to ‘Final Cut Pro 7.app’ – this way it won’t be touched by any automatic updates
4. Ctrl-click the ‘Final Cut Pro 7.app’ and select “Show Package Contents”
5. Navigate to Contents/MacOS/Final Cut Pro
6. Create an Alias of the ‘Final Cut Pro’ either on the Desktop or in the Dock.
7. Close the Folder
8. Move your current ‘Final Cut Pro.app’ back to the Applications folder

Procedure:
If you want to export an XML from your current FCP 7.0.2 then
1. Save your project
2. Double-Click your Alias ‘Final Cut Pro.app’ executable which you have created earlier. ‘Terminal.app’ will start and maybe give some error messages which might be interesting, but can be ignored.
3. An instance of FCP 7 will launch beside your FCP 7.0.2
4. Open your current project with FCP 7
5. Export XML without saving the project
6. Close the project or keep it open when you know you have to export more changed XMLs from that project — use the “Revert” menu to update from your 7.0.2 project
7. Never save the second instance of your project

Notes
1. If you know that you have to do a lot of XML exports, keep the FCP 7 instance open – it will share all the settings with the FCP 7.0.2
2. To quit the FCP 7 instance, close the ‘Terminal.app’ window related to your FCP 7 instance – this is cleaner than quitting the FCP 7 instance
3. Once you have created the FCP 7 version on one machine, you can copy it to other machines where you need it without using the Installer, you only have to create or fix the Alias

Larry adds: As you can probably tell, this workaround is not for the new user. But for those people that have experienced the problem, now you have a solution.

Thanks,

Larry

In less than 48 hours, the Digital Production Buzz will start broadcasting from the floor of the 2010 NAB Show. (Currently, I’m surrounded in boxes, cables, and packing crates as we get our gear packed up and loaded it. You wouldn’t think we’d need this much stuff!)

We will be originating eight one-hour Special Reports every night, starting Saturday and close to 40 five-minute News Briefs starting Monday.

(I’ll have more on our gear and booth setup on Saturday after we get everything assembled and hooked up.)

But there are a couple of pieces of new technology that we are working with that have me very excited.

First, our final signal path – out to the streaming server – is now fully digital using fiber-optic TOSlink cable. What I just learned is that every Mac has a built-in fiber-optic port (both in and out) on it – you plug in via the headset or microphone adapter.

This is very cool! So the audio out of our mixing console goes into an Aphex Compellor then out as an AES/EBU digital signal to a TOSlink converter from Hosa, then into the Mac. We are premiering the new sound on tonight’s show — then using it for all our NAB News Briefs.

Second, thru an arrangement with Vericorder, we are using their new iPhone app that turns an iPhone into a professional grade audio and video portable recording device. We split our reporters into two teams, half are using Marantz digital recorders, and the other half are working with iPhones. Getting the media into our network from the iPhone is a bit tricky and I’ll report more on that after we work out the system on Sunday.

Still, there’s nothing like working with new gear under live broadcast conditions to see if it lives up to its promise. I’ll have more for you later during NAB.

For all the latest NAB coverage, visit: www.nabshowbuzz.com.

To post the Digital Production Buzz to your website, visit: www.digitalproductionbuzz.com/syndicate.

To learn more about the Aphex Compeller, visit: www.aphex.com.

To learn more about Vericorder, visit: www.vericorder.com.

Thanks!

Larry

These thoughts have been bubbling around my head for the last few months, but developed into an article as I was trying to learn Mocha from Imagineer Systems. They were also the philosophy behind my recent book for Focal Press: Adobe CS Production Premium for Final Cut Studio Editors.

As always, let me know what you think.

The folks at Imagineer Systems sent me a demo copy of Mocha, which is used for motion tracking. After installing the software, which proved very easy, I launched it only to discover an opening screen intimidating enough to scare most adults.

Hmm… time for some training myself.

It just so happened that Imagineer was holding a training workshop locally in LA, so I signed up. I spent a couple of hours at the session, did my tracking and thought: “Wow! Piece of cake.”

Then, I came home. Work intervened. Time passed. I didn’t open it again for a couple of months. But I was feeling guilty and realized I needed to write my review. So, during a recent video shoot I recorded a short clip of me moving a white card around. I decided to create a motion track of this in Mocha as a way to learn the software.

My experiences in trying to get that card tracked was the inspiration for this editorial — because Imagineer has made it really difficult for new users to figure out how to use their software.

I am not a motion graphics designer. I am in awe of the talents of folks like Mark Spencer, Damian Allen, Tom Meegan, and many other wizards who make magic happen with a couple of quirky shapes, a dark background, and two or three blend modes.

Suddenly… poof, Poof, POOF! They have the opening to Monday Night Football.

All I want to do is replace the graphic on a card my talent is holding because he grabbed the wrong prop and no one noticed it during production. Or the logo on the stupid cap worn by the stupid talent has the wrong stupid logo on it.

You know, the stuff that drives you nuts.

So, I open the Imagineer manual and start reading. I get about six pages in and I’m feeling lost. So, I go to Imagineer’s website and watch their intro tutorial. Not only do I get lost, I start getting angry.

After reading the first chapter in the manual, and watching the entire “Learning to Use Mocha” tutorial it was impossible for me to figure out how to use the software. The narrator of the tutorial kept describing Mocha as “intuitive.” If you already understand motion tracking and have used a variety of other high-end tools, he may be correct.

But it isn’t intuitive to a new user.

NOTE: After some searching, I found a demo on Imagineer’s website of Mocha for Final Cut Pro by Ross Shain which is really very good. As a suggestion, if Ross isn’t doing the tutorial, don’t bother wasting your time watching it.

After years of doing training myself, I know that the hardest person to teach is the new user. It is so easy for them to get lost and so hard to get back on track.

That’s what makes video training on the web so great. You can watch the same video over and over until you understand. Provided the person doing the training realizes the difference between a demo and training. And that is where Imagineer got lost.

A demo is what you do to show how spiffy your new product is. Demos are all speed, polish, fancy tricks and glitter. You hide the hard stuff with fancy footwork and glib patter. Demos get people excited. Apple has turned the demo into an art form. A demo is created to impress.

Training is what you do when you want people to learn a product. It explains where to click and why. It creates a solid foundation then builds from there. It takes longer and moves slower. Training creates understanding.

Imagineer’s tutorials and manuals lost sight of that.

Because my reactions were so strongly negative to what I was reading and watching I came up with some simple rules that folks that do training need to follow, most of which Imagineer forgot.

• Give us an overview of the steps before plunging into the process.
• Always explain exactly how to create a new project.
• Always show exactly where to click – show, not describe.
• Show something simple before showing something complex.
• Always show exactly how to save and export project data, and whether what you choose makes a difference.
• Always show exactly how to get your information back into the application that needs it.
• If the default settings don’t yield the best results be VERY clear what needs to be changed.

Here are some specifics:

1. Most Macintosh applications create a new project when they are first opened. But not Mocha. It displays a work screen, which isn’t the same as a project. You need to select File > New Project before you can do anything.
2. The Learning Mocha tutorial runs about 12 minutes. Never ONCE did the narrator say “Click here” and show us where to click. Instead his mouse would fly so quickly across the screen the compression software would lose sight of it. He referred to the location of where to click in the jargon of the application; for example, “Click in the View tab.” However, the only thing displayed on the screen was the View menu – which is not the same thing.
3. Yes, Mocha is a sophisticated program. Yes, it does a lot. But we need to be successful doing something simple before we can move on to the complex. If I can’t successfully do the easy stuff, there’s no incentive for me to waste my time figuring out the hard stuff.
4. In training you are not trying to convince me how wonderful the software is. You need to convince me that I’m smart enough to be able to use it. Start simply. Build slowly. Lead me by the hand to the complex stuff. If at the end I lean back and say, “Wow, that trainer is smart,” you’ve failed. If, on the other hand, I lean back and say, “Wow! I never knew I could do that!”, you’ve succeeded.
5. Like Soundtrack Pro or Final Cut Pro, saving a Mocha project saves the instructions on how to motion track, it doesn’t actually save the track data in a form that Final Cut can use. Exporting does. Exporting is essential as it is the only way you can get motion data into Final Cut. However, there are two types of exports Mocha provides for Final Cut – the default setting, which doesn’t handle perspective changes (which is why you bought Mocha in the first place), and a second export option which should be the default, but isn’t. It would be nice if they made that clear.
6. If the default settings don’t yield the best results, and there are two instances where the default settings lead you severely astray, take extra time to show what needs to be changed and why.
7. Once you learn a piece of software, creating new files, importing media, exporting data and saving your work is easy. UNTIL you learn that software, not knowing one of those four steps makes it completely impossible to use. The on-line tutorial forgot this point.
8. Getting motion tracking data back into Final Cut Pro is not simple. It takes a minimum of four steps, two of which are not obvious. The manual discussed this, the on-line tutorial did not. (This was remedied in the Ross Shane tutorial, but that is not the featured tutorial on their website.)

Training is not easy. Yet without it, a company loses the ability to gain new users, improve its market share, or continue to grow the skills of their existing users. Inadequate training frustrates new users and creates the impression that products from that company are not worth the money they cost, as they are too hard to use.

None of us benefit from training that doesn’t teach.

I got a note today from Gabe Cheifetz, head crumble at CrumblePop, about a new Final Cut filter that they’ve just released. Their press releases reads:

CrumplePop today announced the availability of CrumplePop Reflector, a set of high quality reflection effects that can be dropped directly onto the Final Cut Pro timeline.

CrumplePop Reflector lets you easily apply reflections to any clip or image — the same effect made popular by Apple’s iPhone and iPod ads — by simply dragging and dropping. Reflections can be applied to full-motion video or still photos, against any background color or video layer.

It’s fun seeing a new company create something different and I wanted to share the news with you. You can learn more by visiting their website: www.crumblepop.com.

Larry

If persistence counts for anything, Michael Cinquin should get an award.

By day, Michael is a free-lance editor and colorist. However, by night, he likes writing Final Cut utilities. Over the last couple of months he’s written me several times about these new Final Cut utilities that he’s created.

These tools, freely available on his website, include:

• Timecode and keycode calculator
• XML file review tool
• Transfer a FCP timeline to RedCine
• A complete subtitle toolset
• EDL repair utility
• Tools to Improve Cinema Tools
• Color utilities

Take a couple of minutes to explore Michael’s website – www.michaelcinquin.com/tools – because nothing beats having the right tool for the job.

Gabe, over at CrumplePop sent me the following note today:

We’re launching a product today that might be interesting to the Final Cut Pro audience. The product is called CrumplePop, and it’s a suite of FCP Master Templates that make it easy(er) for busy editors to drop high-quality hand-drawn elements directly into the FCP timeline.

So, I wandered over and discovered a wild collection of hand-drawn fonts and images. If you are looking for something different, take a look at this: www.crumplepop.com

I’ve been a fan of Tom Meegan’s work for a long time — especially when he wrote about it for Edit Well. He principally works at the high-end of broadcast television.

Anyway, after my review of Telestream’s Pipeline in the current edition of my monthly Final Cut newsletter, Tom sent me the following, which I thought you might also be interested in.

NOTE: EVS is a high-end, real-time, random-access video playback system that is principally used in live sports events.

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Just read your review of the Pipeline with great interest. Excellent!

Here is a heads up about what EVS is up to with FCP integration. They have the FCP playback while recording feature dialed in pretty well using ProRes for HD and IMX 50 for SD. We did this over a gigabit network using a Dell managed switch, and some expertise and advise from Small Tree Communications. We had five FCP stations (three mac pros and two laptops) on the network with the EVS all working on ProRes files and it worked very well.

I provided the FCP Mac Pro systems and Martijn Swart with EVS provided the expertise to get the EVS (DOS and Windows based) playing nicely with our Apple gear. Basically we had one share point that everyone joined as SMB rather than AFP, and we were good to go. One laptop was owned by one of our editors who used it to do file based captures while he continued to edit on the Mac Pro, and the other laptop was owned by our Director, who would help out with editing tasks as well as produced daily internet features for FIBT.com.

We used the streaming feature (ability to edit in FCP while recording) to turn around up to seven one hour packaged shows for NBC/Universal while producing almost ten hours of live multi-camera content each weekend.

The editor would string the shows out based on a format during the live broadcast, so when the producer came into edit after the international feed went off the air, the bulk of the show was done. All that was left was to add finishing touches. Once we started live shows, one of the Mac Pros was dedicated to turning these shows around and spitting them out to Digital Beta so we could uplink the shows, and have a hard copy back-up.

I’m pretty sure this is working on the Avid side as well. I was at XGames working FCP, but we were a bit Balkanized compared to the Avid station where most of the craft editing was happening. FCP stations were being used to stream line last minute edits in the live trucks.

Both the FCP integration with EVS and the fact that we had five FCP station working on ProRes at once over gigabit ethernet were were pretty cool. I know you have a lot of things to cover at NAB, but a visit to Small Tree Communications to talk to them about how they are making this work over gigabit ethernet, and EVS to talk about how they are making things so easy with FCP, might be worth your while.

I’m not under any kind of contract with either of these companies, I’m just a happy customer of Small Tree, and a very happy operator of EVS products since 1998.

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Last week, on the Digital Production BuZZ, we spoke with visual effects wizard Chris Zapara about how he creates his incredible effects – including winning two Emmy’s along the way.

First, if you haven’t seen his work, check out these links. They are AMAZING!

Kate Voegelle: Only Fooling Myself

Low vs Diamond: Heart Attack

Vanessa Carlton: Nolita Fairytale

Serj Tankian: Empty Walls

Seether: Breakdown

BattleStar Gallactica season 2 highlights

Second, during our conversation, we asked him what software he uses on a regular basis. While most of his answer was clear, his phone broke-up as he was telling us what tracking software he uses for materials created in 3D space.

So, I asked him again.

“The tracking software I use for 3d is Synth Eyes. It has a great bang for the buck.” Chris replied.

Click here to listen to the interview.

Just thought you’d like to know.