Appendix 1

The Filmmaker’s Guide to Final Cut Pro Workfl ow
Then, in the late nineties, I decided I needed my own editing system. Much of the work I was doing
at the time was my own work and this was becoming a problem at work. I had also bought a home
out in the desert and wanted to edit right there, in the middle of nowhere, amid the scorpions and
jackrabbits. What I wanted was a simple Avid capable of capturing DV from fi rewire-component
video and serial digital interface (SDI) with serial deck control. I needed to be able to edit fi lm and
video and I wanted a good Pro Tools 32-channel system with an 8-channel audio interface. I was
also very interested in DVD authoring and burning, and I was hoping to be able to add this as well.
Add high-speed Internet access and I would be all set to edit to my heart’s content right there in the
literal middle of nowhere.
So, like anyone in my situation I headed for NAB. I have long held that both depression and elation
are the result of expectation colliding with reality. There was no Avid that could capture from fi rewire.
You could only confi gure the Avid hardware to capture from SDI or component, but not both. Every
AVR codec for every format cost money. In order to edit fi lm, you needed the Film Composer or the
Film Cutter and the Film Cutter couldn’t edit video. The Avid rep suggested it would be more affordable
if I bought two Avids, one for fi lm and one for video. The Pro Tools interface was a piece of
cake, but it was not compatible with the Avid AVR video codec so I would need an expensive machine
control setup. Total cost, around $150,000, without any video and audio recorders.
I could add DVD authoring and burning for about another $10,000. The good news was I found I
could get high-speed Internet with a wireless UHF setup shooting to a distant mountain in Arizona
for $39.95 per month. This was more in line with by budget.
So this was depression. I now knew why they held the NAB conference in Las Vegas. I fi gured, if I
took the amount I was planning to spend and put it on a roulette number, I’d be editing if it hit.
Fortunately, instead of heading for the casino, I wandered into the Apple booth. I thought this would
cheer me up because I’ve always been an Apple nerd. I bought my fi rst Mac literally right off of the
delivery truck in 1984. I’d heard about Final Cut Pro but had not actually seen it yet. I convinced
one of the Apple reps to let me take a turn at the controls of one of the Final Cut Pro demo machines
and found it easy to understand and rather Avid-like. It did lack some of the cool tools, but it had a
feature I really loved: I could afford it.
I also found that with second-party software called Film Logic, I could edit fi lm. It could capture
DV from FireWire, and SDI and component video boards were available as well. I could confi gure
it to do anything I wanted to do.
So this was elation. I made the switch to Final Cut Pro and never looked back. It’s taken seven years for
technology and prices to catch up with my desires back then, but I now have that dream system. Film
Logic became Cinema Tools, Avid released the Pro Tools LE software able to play Final Cut Pro’s Quick-
Time video as its reference video, and DVD authoring and burning became simple and affordable.
True, in that same time, Avid has become more affordable and fl exible, but Avid still likes to do only
one thing on each hardware confi guration. It’s a great system when your goal is to simply edit in one
format on one system, be it fi lm, HD video, or DV, and still manages to dominate the fi lm industry,
at least for now. But with Final Cut Pro, I was able to work at home amid the scorpions and jackrabbits.
This book is about what I learned, although I have left out the information on keeping
scorpions out of the edit room and how to deal with a fl ash fl ood.
viii