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Direction and Cinematography by Joe G

[one_third]I will admit that as a user of FCP (since 1.2) I was a bit disappointed at the release of FCPX. I was one of those guys bitching and complaining about how Apple sucks and how it would never work for me . The new timeline just didn’t fit into the way I had worked for the past 12 years, I said. I could manage media myself; what was all this automation for? I stayed on 7, all the while looking for alternatives and watching the development of FCPX as it gradually moved up the update ladder.[/one_third]

[one_third_last]Fast forward to update 10.0.6. Seeing the amount of attention the app has gotten from Apple and third parties, and the fact that a lot of functionality, that was once missing, had found its way back in, I decided to take the dive. There are plenty of websites dedicated to going over the new features, and everyone needs to decide themselves if it’s right for their workflow. All I can say is that it’s been able to do 90% of the things I’ve really needed to do, without a hitch. The point of this post is to share some of the hardware and software I find useful as an editor in FCPX. [/one_third_last]

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[one_half_last]Since the new iMac lacks ways to connect firewire and esata devices(no PCIe slots), a must have is the Lacie eSATA hub. This little device hooks up to your thunderbolt connection and provides 2 eSATA connections and an additional Thunderbolt port. If you’re like me, you probably have about 10 years worth of SATA and eSATA devices and drives. I still have about 3 different hard drive cases that connect solely through eSATA. Having this guy ensures you are backwards compatible, because let’s be honest, we’re not ALL rushing out to buy $2000 Thunderbolt drive cases just because they’re out. eSATA is still a very useful connection.

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[one_half_first]Let’s not forget another important piece in the backwards compatible connection chain. You will need a Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter. For many of us, we have a fond and warm appreciation for Firewire; it’s how it all started. A Vx1000 and a firewire port. Firewire has been around and it will be around for a while. We have stacks of old drives that connect this way, and having this little guy ensures you can keep the connection alive.[/one_half_first]

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[one_half_last]For monitoring, especially in an environment where you have a client or a director in the room with you, asking them to look into a tiny window from across the room to get the feel of an edit is just unreasonable. While I could have used my old, first generation, 30″ Cinema Display from my old MacPro, it was not up to the task of accurate color reproduction. After looking at the specs on the Apple monitors and comparing many different displays, I chose to go with the Dell UltraSharp^TM  U2711 27” Monitor with PremierColor. For around $900 plus shipping, I think its a great deal and it comes with a lot of different connections, including DisplayPort (Thunderbolt), HDMI, Component/Composite Video, VGA and DVI-D (x2). A great feature about this display is it’s 4 USB ports and SD card slot, extending the USB connections on your iMac to 7. It’s fully adjustable in height and rotation. It has very accurate color reproduction, which I would recommend as a cheaper alternative to an expensive color calibrated monitor. This is a really great display and it pairs up great with the 27″ iMac.

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[one_half_first]I’ve worked with Wacom tablets for about 10 years now and there is no way of going back. The bottom line is, if you’re going to spend a lot of time editing, they save your wrist from having problems. The Wacom Intuos 5 Touch Small tablet is the perfect size for editing. Both 27″ inch screens map well to its surface and it is fully adjustable. The great thing about this tablet is that it gives you all the multi-touch controls available to you as well as many new ones you can program yourself. Using the touch scroll wheel almost feels like having a control surface for apps like Apple Color. I highly recommend a tablet for anyone working in digital arts. A wireless adapter is available, although I really found no use for it.

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[one_half_last]This is not a new piece of equipment by any means, but one I’ve had for a long time and a really important piece in the setup. The Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro Mixer is great for monitoring sound and hooking up a ton of different sources in your studio. It has more than enough inputs and outputs for the home and small studio. It’s sound quality is top-notch and you can find plenty of them in the used market if you want to save some money. It’s currently in its 3rd generation, the VLZ3, which adds some different routing and monitoring options that the first generation model didn’t have.[/one_half_last]

[one_half_first] These are great speakers for the price. Are they the best? No, but they come really damn close and unless you’re mixing music or have the need for incredibly accurate sound (more than any editor would need) you are perfectly fine with a pair of these, the M-Audio BX5 D2. The best thing is they are still small enough to fit on your desk and really pump the sound when needed. It also doesn’t hurt that you can get a pair of them for less than $300.

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[one_half_last]Ok, time to talk storage. If the computer and CPU is the brains of the operation, the storage really is the backbone. I’m going to do something here I haven’t done and recommend a product I have NOT bought, but currently, this is the storage I would most likely go with. The Pegasus R4/R6 Thunderbolt RAID seems like the ideal storage solution for the iMac/thunderbolt setup. If you have Firewire and eSATA setups that work for you now, you might want to stick to those for a little while until more manufacturers jump  in the game and drive down cost. The great thing about Thunderbolt however is that it is incredibly fast and can really make FCPX fly especially when dealing with large RED and other RAW files.

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[one_half_first]If you’re looking at a more custom storage option, that can also grow with your needs, there are many many different routes to go. Bare eSATA cases range in price, however you really can’t skimp on the quality of hard drive used. While getting a small rack of SSDs would really make your computer fly, realistically, we’re going to be using regular spinning hard drives for a while longer, price per GB just hasn’t gotten low enough. I’ve had great luck using Seagate Constellation ES.3 SATA drives. One could go with cheaper drives, and that might work for you, but if you plan on keeping the hard drives spinning for days, weeks, even months on end, you really want to spend the money on the reliability of Enterprise drives. I like Seagate, some people swear on Hitachi. The latest Seagate Constellation SATA drives come in sizes up to 4 TB.

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[one_half_last]Lastly, we have headphones. There will be a time you need to use headphones and the Sony MDR-7506 headphones are industry standard. While there are dozens of new headphone companies and products out there, these have stood the test of time as some of the best for many applications from studios to field recording to general portable playback. Audio engineers love them. They are punchy and LOUD and come in under $100. Really, you can’t go wrong with these headphones.[/one_half_last]

Well, that is it for now. I am tired of writing. In part 2 I’ll go into all the plugins and additional software I have found really useful to make FCPX a great editing platform for you.

[box_grey]DIRECTOR / EDITOR / CINEMATOGRAPHER[/box_grey]

Shot in Brooklyn, New York.

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Holiday 2011

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Summer 2012

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Fall 2011

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Billabong Europe Summer 2011

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Summer 2009

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Spring 2010

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Director & Cinematographer, Dustin Lynn
Music by Dukes of Chutney

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Direction and Cinematography by Joe Guglielmino

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Music: Small Black ”Camouflage”
Color: Gino Panaro, Rushes, Los Angeles / Phil Vigeant, Pro8mm, Burbank
Location: North Shore Hawaii
Film: Kodak & Pro8mm 7201 & 7207
Cameras: Beaulieu 4008 & Bolex Rx5

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Year Zero Teaser

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Year 0000 Test One: 600 FPS

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Mark Appleyard / Eaze Spot

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Chris Haslam / Odin Spot

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Globe X Thrasher Mag Commercial

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Gallaz Shoes Ruby Rose Collaboration video

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