Steve, I never cease to be amazed at how you can pack so much valuable information into your videos. It is always a pleasure to watch and learn from you and Mark. This video is exceptionally well done. Thank you!!!
Great and informative video. I use Final Cut Pro and the Scene Removal Mask a lot, but I don’t start the shots with myself out of the frame. Here’s what I do: 1 - Import the footage into FCP. 2 - Export out a random frame from the video as PNG. 3 - Import that PNG into Pixelmator. 4 - Use the AI Removal tool to remove myself from the image (it’s just one click) 5 - Export that clean plate out of Pixelmator. 6 - Import it into FCP and place it before the footage. 7 - Make the clean plate 1 frame long. 8 - Select the clean plate and the footage and create a Compound Clip. 9 - Add the Scene Removal Mask effect to that Compound Clip. 10 - Turn that once again into another Compound Clip (so I can cut up the Compound Clip without affecting the reference point of the Scene Removal Mask). It might sound complicated but it literally takes a maximum of 2 minutes to do.
At first I thought the new keying effect was garbage until I learned it’s kind of like the Delta Keyer in Fusion with a clean plate. That’s my Keyer of choice and I always shoot a clean plate when possible to get the most out of it. Kudos to Apple for creating a Keyer that works that way but is much easier and can work across a wide range of backgrounds. This is also very helpful for green screen shoots and not just useful to not use a green screen. Using a screen helps give the effect a nice flat background with enough separation from the subject to work better. By shooting in green one also then has the option to do a key another way just in case this effect doesn’t deliver desired results. Plus you could use this effect on green screen to essentially create a cleaned up green background and then use another Keyer to have more manual controls. Use the new effect to essentially remove wrinkles and uneven lighting. The downside of course is it has to be shot that way and only works with a locked down tripod. Not as capable as the Delta Keyer in Fusion where we can use a motion tracked clean plate for a moving shot. Then again this isn’t meant for VFX. It’s meant for content creators and talking head type stuff.
When FCPX came out, I learned how it was designed to be used and standardised a workflow to take advantage of it. Metadata and Smart Keywords replaced Bins and Selects, and the Magnetic Timeline made the timeline more non-linear and less like playing Jenga. It was a huge advance in video editing. Props to Randy Ubillos who designed FCPX. A few years ago I added 3rd party machine-transcription and full text-to-video editing, which has been equally revolutionary, saving months of work. But Apple hasn't added this essential capability to FCP and doesn't seem like it's going to. Apple dropped the ball in the 8 years since Randy left. No one seems to love the project or know why it's great
You make good points, but it's still great and I can tell you that there are passionate people on the team who do understand why folks love FCP. The future of FCP is bright I can assure you.
@@jmrhq Hi Jonathan - Years ago I started using SpeedScriber to transcribe talking heads; it would add the text to the metadata of the video. This made footage searchable! The transcribed speech was then edited and assembled in a text document. When finished, the document was used to manually search the video for key words to find each segment used in the assembly. Then I switched to SimonSays, which critically also has a browser-based text assembly app, where you drag and drop text chunks from one page and assemble them on a second page. SimonSays was particularly good because it automated the process. No more manually searching footage! Once happy with text edit, you export an XML and when you import it into FCP, the talking heads are already assembled. No searching for footage. No editing. 🙌Just tweaking edit points. The next iteration, which I haven’t really had a chance to fully test is Builder from Lumberjack. It’s part of a suite of filmmaking apps focussed on metadata. It’s like an app version of SimonSays, so it seems much more robust. SimonSays Assemble seemed really limited by the browser. Another app which seems on the cusp of full text-to-video editing is Detail. It brings together metadata and AI and leverages smart phones as wireless cameras/recorders, a switcher, an NLE, and AI driven social media factory. Check the site
@@rippleguys It may be bright for social media content creators but not any longer for professional work. What once made FCPX shine is no longer enough. If they care about FCPX they have a funny way of showing it by screwing users like they just did with 10.6.6. They just told me F%^$# your investment in Third-party plugins. And to make sure they did F$#@& me they did the update behind my back without warning me about losing over $1,000 in plugins. I cannot finish the jobs I had in FCPX. That is how much they care for us and FCPX.
This is helpful. Smart conform for HDR in SDR projects will save a lot of time. Scene removal looks like it wouldn't completely replace a tool like Runway. Still wish Final Cut would allow easing in and out of Transform keyframes.
By far the best video about that topic. Others rushed to get that video out and got very superficial about the background remover tool for instance. Thanks.
Brilliant Steve. Just thought Apple has left developing FCPX on Mac and after seeing the iPad app. All are great too and love the new AI masking. I would like to see auto transcribing like on Premier and DaVinci Resolve, that will make my day!
I'm finding all of my Favorite audio Effects now mute the audio. You need to find a clip where the effect is already applied and re-save the Favorite Effect.
I love the new ProRes raw floating window. Doesn’t add any raw controls we didn’t already have but going into the info tab and digging around for the raw settings per clip was always a bit clunky. Now having a floating window we have access to while color correcting is a really nice help. I realize not everyone is using ProRes Raw but it’s such an amazing raw format. I like it better than BRAW.
I like the general idea of the new keyer (sorry, 'mask' haha), but I feel like the requirement for a frame at the beginning or end will trip up a lot of people. It seems with the Neural Engine on the Mac, the wizards behind imaging on iOS could whip up some AI that works even with clips that aren't prepped for keying (using person detection). Though it goes to show: as with most things in production, an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of editing!
@@rippleguys Ha! That's *exactly* what went through my head as you described it-"I know I'm going to forget that reference frame sometimes." So now I have to determine if it's more efficient for those clips to pull it, try to piece together background reference using clone tools in Photoshop, then merge that frame into the video clip ... or use another AI tool to do the keying when I need it, and pull that footage back to FCP!
Why you think so? My friend just did few checks and seems like in update, mask feature works for other objects like animals and not only people like in Keyper.
@@warzyd86 try it yourself if you have Keyper and you will see for yourself) I don't need masks for animals, for example. I shoot people more and FCPX masks work terribly, especially since they are designed only for static videos.
Thank you so much! I was just thinking about the complexity of working with my HDR footage from my Mavic 3. But then, I see your video and realize that I needed to update FCP. Great work sir!👍🏾
Some people are born teachers. Steve and Mark are those people. Thank you very much for this clear and concise instructions on the new features. Now, if only Apple Inc. also add some Audio-AI features we will start catching up with those other NLE_AI options ... ( insert wink emoji here )
Wow! Thanks for this. So much useful stuff packed in here! Lot’s to learn! Just when I think I’ve got the hang of FCPX, you guys show me how much there is to learn - especially all the keyboard shortcuts! Thanks!
The scene removal mask is perfect for imitating a Zoom call. I can still see lots of "chatter" on your hair in the spare bedroom scene, just like Zoom would do. I'll have to check out the auto-HDR. Previously if I recorded a game in HDR and used the HDR tools in an SDR project, I could NEVER get it to look quite right, even when grading it manually. So I'm not confident that Apple's method of adjusting HDR to SDR is faithful, no matter the source. The SDR to HDR looks pretty cool though. The exporting options might make HDR RU-vid videos a bit easier but there's still the nightmare of dealing with YT's HDR-to-SDR conversion. It will be fun to look back on these days in 20 years.
Excellent explanation of the new features. But, what size display are you screen recording? The elements are all very small. Especially watching on an iOS device.
1) I suppose a faster shutter with less motion blur could help remove the background around hands etc. perhaps add some blur afterwards if one wants that look. 2) like the title behind using the background. I hope to remember it when I need it. :) 3) had the misfortune of had recorded a lot on HDR on my iPhone, having to combine it with 2 non HDR cameras was a pain so it is good to see they have improved that. 4) Horray. Proper brightness in titles. 5) So dont need compressor to export HDR / dolby vision. sweet
@Rippletraining first off I wanna congratulate you guys on achieving your goal of 1000+ subscribers well deserved and I must’ve been living in a cave because I didn’t see there was an update coming for final cut rest assured I rely on you guys to give comprehensive details on the new updates so thank you for all you do!!
Great tutorial, thank you! 🙏😀 You show really interesting ways to use the mask! And wow that Automatic HDR SDR Color conform! Will you use HDR as project setting by default now? And why do you not produce the YT videos in 4K? The video looks a bit outdated in 1080p to me sometimes. 😬
@@jaimeduncan6167 it depends on the use case, no pun intended. In an instance where someone just needs a quick mask, like in the video, it's incredibly useful. This, just like pretty much every tool we use as editors, all depends on how we use it and what the requirements call for. Additionally, there's always room for improvement, so future iterations may in fact allow for adjustments. At any rate, that this even exists is awesome, whether you personally will use it or not.
Scene removal is fun, but too rough to be of professional use. It's an interesting proof of concept additional that demonstrates the power of AI. This kind of stuff will get more refined in future updates.
At this point in time I think it’s better to see this feature as Apple’s response to apps like IG and CapCut that do this as well. By no means are the results professional, but speaking as an editor who does work for social media, having this feature natively on desktop will 100% save me time on round trips between programs.
i just want some good autocaptions apple plzzz, social media is booming and i have to bring my files to capcut to get a good auto captions. (btw i tried captionator, its not nearly as good)
Be aware that FxPlug 3.0 and Rosetta for plugins are all dead now. Be carefully updating. And this all may be new to FCPX, but not other NLEs. I'm not sure how important all this is, but behind other NLEs, yes. Color me not impressed. Let me count how many plugins I rely on that don't work now. You do a great job, Mark, you and Steve both. But man, FCPX is just falling further and further behind. Breaks my heart...
Please like this comment to avoid more victims. I don't understand what is wrong with Apple, they are starting to remember me of IBM before they turned into a shadow.
@@macintush MotionVFX sent out a statement today saying if you wanted to keep using mO2 do NOT update to the new FCPX version. They also said they have tripled the mO2 development team, are working really hard, it's going to blow minds, and be called mO3. So hope for the near future.
@@jaimeduncan6167 IBM is still a huge computer corporation that does some amazing things. They're not a shadow, they just don't make little personal stuff any longer. IBM is a behemoth, so, not accurate.
Thanks for the heads up on mO2. I usually automatically update anything with FCPX but I’ve also invested in motionVFX Plugins. I’ll wait to hear from MotionVFX.
Just downloaded the latest version of Final Cut Pro. Can't wait to use some of these new features. Looks like I didn't need that green screen I got a few months ago. But it's great to know I can cut out backgrounds, which other editing software has included for a while. Thanks for the wealth of info. I'll need to watch this a few times to digest all the info.
So far in my testing of scene removal, the results, even following Apple's recommendations, have been quite mixed and there are plenty of artifacts. Green screen is probably a better bet. Side-by-side, Sheffield Softworks Keyper and even Videoleap, an iPad app, offer better results. I wish there were more controls for fine tuning the scene removal. Perhaps in a future update.
Might try this with our church sermon, to change the background FX, just to try and test. Interested to know how it handles panning with the topic in front of musical instruments, etc and lights.
Scene Removal Mask needs a Marker for the reference frame so it isn't limited to the first or last second. It may need an image well so you can drop a frame in from a separate clip. The problem is on many shoots it's not easy to keep the camera rolling to ensure the first or last second is clean. Imagine talent is already in frame, you record and oops you stop the shot before getting the talent out of the frame. The entire take is blown as a result since it can't be used with Scene Removal. Apparently, this is a different technology than the Keyper plugin which doesn't require a reference frame. Or perhaps Apple needs to allow for AI to determine the best key if a reference fame isn't recorded. Or perhaps work more like Resolve's Magic Mask. In any case, I wish Apple's implementation weren't this awkward. Granted they may improve it in upcoming updates but those have been slow in coming. Yes, a big miss on speech-to-text transcription, captions, and titles. Even free programs like CapCut and ClipChamp are doing that.
I would love to see a tutorial on how to mix 360 video and standard 4K video into a multicam clip. I have tried everything I can think of, and after creating the muticam clip, I cannot edit the 360 orientation in the main timeline.
Much needed options, but now Apple has to push through with bigger updates because they are getting behind other NLEs. I hope there will be more professional audio tools, and Apple really embracing AI. Resolve and Adobe are leading the way there. I would like to automatically cut “uhms” in interviews and see the video interpolate smoothly. I would like a much better and more intelligent 3D motion tracker. I would like automatic subtitle generation. It’s also time for Motion to get a large update. Feels antique.
I agree with your last three. But I don't want a computer deciding what is an "umm" and what isn't. It always sounds so artificial on playback, even when it's just auto-ducking near-silent areas. This very video has a few weird clicks and pops on the audio. I'd rather leave in the noise than have clicks and pops.
"I would like to automatically cut “uhms” in interviews and see the video interpolate smoothly. " A great trick is to duck the audio when they occur and do nothing to the picture edit. You'll see that it then just looks like a breath and their no need to cut them out the picture.
I love the idea of the “AI” keyed but having the requirement of the subject being out of the frame at the beginning is a big limitation. It reminds me of the silly backgrounds they had back in the day with iChat (shoot if you look at the features they had back then, they were WAY ahead of their time, it has more features than today’s FaceTime). It asked you to step out of the frame and click apply and step back in. It feels like an advanced real time difference key than apple’s already present AI powered subject in photo detection in iOS. Why can’t that be used as a video effect?
Excellent tutorial as usual. Although I'm disappointed at Apple's slow adoption of AI tech compared to Adobe & Blackmagic, I have to agree it's better that they're finally getting around to it. Perhaps, they've held back as a number of third parties are producing AI capabilities for FCP. I've been using Keyper which Steve introduced to us a while back. I think it has a bit of an edge compared to scene removal. The color conform feature is terrific.
I love this "convert" function! Well done Apple (and Ripple)! I have heaps of video shots with grandkids on the Great Barrier Reef that I will redo! :0)))
Lacklustre is the word that comes to mind with this latest FCPX update. According to Chris Nicholls and Jordan Drake over on Peta Pixels, FCPX may be moving to a subscription based model. I think for certain components, but I'm not quite sure what they meant. If they do move to a subscription model, that's it for me. Despite me being a FCPX user from when it was released. I'm under more and more pressure from editors and studios to move to PremierePro as my choice of FCPX not only doesn't work with their workflows, but they are also starting to ridicule my choice. Now, that may be unfair, but this is the reality that Apple have created by botching the launch of FCPX and then moving at a glacier pace to bring users what they want.
I have a problem with my workspace. So, my insector window is not showing like yours. And how can i change it? I’d be very happy if you help me. Thanks. Btw i am beginner. I’ll wait for your reply🙏
10.6.6. is a typical major overhaul of library config file Apple crapshoot - In my case it broke literally all my latest projects (they open just to crash immediately upon rendering of the timeline with "ReadOnly portion of Libraries" crash report) and majority of the plugins no longer work. Strongly suggest for everyone still working on 10.6.5 projects to wait this one out, it will wreck your work. For everyone else, 6.6 updates libraries, so make sure you backup all libraries and app otherwise you may spend days puzzling workable solution to recover your work.
Hey, Thanks for your video. I have a problem, I still have to adjust the settings manually. I did what you did and enabled the automatic color conform. But the only difference is now I don't get an information box when I put a clip in the timeline, but the colors are still too bright and I have still to adjust. I have the latest version.
Because for the people who have displays that can resolve HDR, will have a better experience. If they don't, platforms like RU-vid will simply tone map the HDR so that it can be viewed on SDR displays.
Thanks for the great video - has turning off the ease in and ease out on transform/position keyframes been sorted yet? I shoot lots of motion control product video and like to keep the camera movements flowing. I am constantly having to manipulate keyframes before and after my in/out points to avoid the ease in/out if adding masks etc.
I bought FCP 2 years ago and used it 4 times. I got tired of even a few minutes of editing would fill up my hd with files that i had to delete afterward.
Nice job. One Point: "AI" is overused. The new feature is a software tool, capability, etc. Using the term "AI" makes it no different than a coder that detects patterns in the image. AI, typically, is a MORE advanced term such as identifying and acting MORE human-like. For example, a missile 15 years ago that detected its target did not use "AI" terms, just excellent software programming digitizing and identifying its target. Once Final Cut Pro can do all my editing, auto greenscreen, add the music it thinks will work well, etc., I would stick is "Great software feature" and not over-label it "AI." Thank you for the GREAT explanation/tutorial.
