Final Cut Studio On The Spot, 3rd edition
Richard Harrington, Abba Shapiro, Robbie Carman
Focal Press, www.focalpress.com US $29.95

Knowing I was very into the keyboard in Final Cut Pro, author Richard Harrington quizzed me over dinner some time ago, and it was a really arcane key combination, Control-Option-X. That told me the level at which he operates and that he’s no slouch when it comes to Final Cut Pro advanced use. (The answer, by the way, depends on which version of Final Cut Pro you use. In FCP 5.x and up, this key command adds a Controls pane to your Viewer for Boris FX Title3D. In earlier versions, it actually opened Title 3D’s typing stage. In either case, it’s assumed you have installed BorisFX’s free alternate and powerful FCP titling suite, Calligraphy, into your version of FCP, and I recommend you do so.)

Here’s a gemlike collection for Final Cut Pro users of all stripes, aimed explicitly at intermediate to advanced users of the Studio suite. Richard and his guest authors, plus contributing authors like Gary Adcock, Jeff Greenberg, and Philip Hodgetts, are all power users, editors, consultants and trainers. You’re in good hands here. On The Spot brings into focus those buried power tips which really help make your Studio workday more pleasant and productive.

The book is organized by task, not by dry lists of menus or features. This is rare among how-to books, and more sensitive to the user perspective. On The Spot follows editing workflow moving from encounters with the FCP interface, (with a strong recommendation to move your skillset to the keyboard, something I evangelize and all AVID editors have known for years) to working with Photoshop files, ingesting HD, and crystalline timeline editing tips.

Subsequent chapters cover best practices with other components of the Studio suite: audio tips for Soundtrack Pro 2, effects tips in LiveType and Motion 3, and on to finishing in both FCP and Color- where publisher Focal logically invested in color plate printing- and capping it with export strategies including work with Compressor and Toast and for DVD and web delivery. Unlike Peachpit’s Apple-authorized Pro Training books. On The Spot doesn’t shy from warning you about unexpected behavior in FCP, or recommending extra-Studio tools, for example the excellent Episode Pro for more efficient compression. This is valuable candor.

For a reasonable price this is a valuable package of power tips. On The Spot belongs on your reference shelf. Focal Press, which recently acquired CMP Books, another fine publisher of digital video content, has been in the media how-to business for decades, and their hallmark is brevity, topic breakdown into bite-sized chunks of useful data,  and carefully-edited content.  Visit the publisher’s website to see a wide array of media offerings, from FCP and AVID, to After Effects, Cinema4D, Houdini, and many others.

 

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First published in Imagine News. Loren S. Miller is a freelance longform dramatic and documentary editor, developer of KeyGuide™ professional placemats, and teaches advanced editing on Avid and Final Cut Pro at Emerson College.