New FXFactory patch fixes Final Cut Pro P2 import bug

Noise Industries has released FXFactory 2.0.1 to fix the P2 import bug with the new Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 patch, as reported earlier.

The patch also introduces some new features including three new plug-ins for FXFactory Pro.

Apple now has a support document acknowledging the issue, and revealing that it only applies to FXFactory and is not an issue with the overall FXPlug framework.

[via Little Frog in High Def]

Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 P2 import issue solved?

I posted a thread last week about some of the issues being experienced with the new Final Cut Pro patch.

Well, Shane Ross was one of those people experiencing problems. He did a complete reinstall and managed to narrow down the problem (at least on his system) to FX Factory plugins. This is probably not an issue with the plugins themselves but with Apple's FXPlug plugin system.

It is recommended that you temporarily disable all custom FXPlug plugins until a patch is released to fix the issues.

Shane's complete blog post is here.

Steps for disabling the plugins:

1. Click on Effects in the top menu and scroll down to Effect Availability. Select All Effects.
2. Go to the Effects tab in the browser.
3. Scroll sideways to the column marked Effect Class. There you will see the type of effect it is. If this column is not visible, control-click on the column bar and select Show Effect Class.
4. You will then need to go to the Finder and browse to /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins and remove the FXPlug plugins that you identified via the Browser in step 3.
Note: for safety, you are recommended to move them to another folder instead of completely removing them.
5. If you are going to remove them, try checking for an uninstaller program before you do so. Also make sure that you have the necessary installation discs and serial numbers to successfully install them again.
6. If this is too complicated or risky, or you can't do without a particular plugin, just downgrade to 6.0.1 until a fix is issued by Apple. Apparently they are aware of the problem and are fixing the issue.

Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 issues

I personally haven't experienced any issues but some people have reported the following bugs with the latest 6.0.2 patch:

* P2 import function not working
* Significantly increased render times
* Unable to open 6.0.1 projects in 6.0.2

Couple that with a list of 6.0.1 bugs here and there are some serious problems.

The 6.0.2 patch is worth it for the Color fixes alone and the Color patch can in fact be applied independently of the others, but if you like an easy life I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm sure these issues will be fixed in the next patch or two but they are a little annoying in the meantime. It feels like Final Cut Studio 2 was rushed out a little early.

Better bookmark the Final Cut Studio Feedback page. Apple never replies to feedback, but by all accounts they do listen.

Apple software updates

Apple posted a LOT of updates today (or yesterday; I'm a little jetlagged and don't really know what day it is right now). We've got Final Cut Studio updates, plus patches for Leopard AND Tiger.

Mac OS X
Leopard 10.5.1 - The most important fix is the Finder data loss bug, whereby data could be completely lost when moving files from one volume to another.

Tiger 10.4.11 - Safari 3 is no longer in beta - it is now part of the operating system. This may cause issues for some people, as a lot of add-ons are incompatible with the latest version. It also increases compatibility with third party wireless routers and improves reliability when mounting USB hard drives, both of which are very much appreciated by me, having experienced both problems recently.

Final Cut Studio 2
The most important update here is OS X 10.5 Leopard compatibility. I was unaware that it was previously incompatible, having not upgraded yet. It's normally pretty safe to install so-called "point updates" that fix minor issues.

Color 1.0.2 - Better format support, greater roundtrip reliability from Final Cut Pro to Color and back again, better image quality, greater control surface compatibility. All very useful things to have. I have had a LOT of problems with FCP roundtripping (e.g. clips being offline, clips being replaced with the ungraded originals) so I hope this will fix these issues.

Motion 3.0.2 - New format support and improved Master Template performance in FCP. The latter is very welcome for me.

Compressor 3.0.2 - Color space options for certain formats, in addition to the aforementioned Leopard support.

Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 - Sony XDCAM EX support (with a plugin from sony.com), Sony HVR-H1 support, Sony HDV camcorder hard drive support, improved AVCHD support (Full HD and spanned clip support), AVC Intra support (must be transcoded to ProRes and requires a plugin from Panasonic), DVCProHD 720p50 support, new HDV easy setups, 60fps drop-frame support, improved 50p support, Sony BWF metadata support (iXML), and extra interface options.
Please note that Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 projects are not backwards compatible with version 6.0.1.

Soundtrack Pro 2.0.2 - 50 and 60fps support, various effects issues resolved.

DVD Studio Pro 4.2.1 - Native support for extra HDV and H.264 formats for HD discs, improved still image processing.

Cinema Tools 4.0.1 - Pull lists show correct lengths for speed changes, messages included in exported lists, PDF format support for change lists, AL files now match sound timecode, reel and roll names now sort more predictably.

Pro Applications Update 2007-02 - Improved HDV 50 and 60p support, performance improvements for IMX codec, various bug fixes.

Seems like a good set of patches there. Based on the issues reported with Leopard, I'm not planning to upgrade production machines until around 10.5.3 or 10.5.4 which is normally around the time that all of the major issues are resolved and the operating system is finally stable and able to be trusted in a production environment.

If you do have Leopard though, it is advisable to install that patch.

Note: Tiger users must first install OS X 10.4.11 in order to see these updates. I would imagine that Leopard users have to install 10.5.1 in order to see them too.

Apple announces Leopard release date

Apple have just announced the release date of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: October 26th, with it available for pre-order today.

Anxious to show that they delay was for a reason, they have listed every single feature on their site for you to peruse at your leisure.

Worthy of note:
* New Finder (long overdue)
* Updated OpenGL
* Multicore Enhanced
* New Airport Menu (now shows locked networks)
* Self-Tuning TCP (tunes network settings for optimum performance)
* Improved printer support. Support in Tiger was good but had lots of room for improvement.
* Tagged Downloaded Applications. Leopard asks for permission before opening downloaded files. Sounds a bit like a Vista feature, but we'll see how irritating it is once it ships.
* Library Randomization. Hackers often hack a specific memory address to execute a system function but Leopard relocates system libraries to random addresses.
* AutoFS automatically mounts and dismounts network volumes on separate threads. This means that the system no longer hangs for 10 mins (literally) when a network drive is disconnected for whatever reason.
* Improved 64-bit support. Steve showcased it at the Keynote. He opened a 4 GB image file in both Tiger and Leopard side-by-side. The Tiger one took a very long time to open and the Leopard one was near-instant.

This is in addition, of course, to the features already announced. And even without the new features, Apple updates always improve system performance. You'd expect them to get slower with time but they actually get faster.

My upgrade strategy is to try it out on my laptop that I use for general stuff first, and if something happens it's not a major loss. I then upgrade it on my other laptop that runs video editing and visual effects applications (again no major loss if it breaks). Assuming all goes well and it is compatible with the apps I am using, I then upgrade one desktop machine before upgrading the rest. Finally, I upgrade the server (that's always a headache) and all is done. We want to upgrade as soon as possible to make use of the performance improvements Leopard offers. These would increase our productivity a lot (our ultimate goal) without compromising quality and without a major financial investment.

Update: To clarify, when you pre-order you will get it on your doorstep on October 26th with the free delivery option. It is actually being shipped out before the 26th for those that pre-order. With that in mind, ignore the options for faster delivery on the checkout page.

New Final Cut Pro update in the works

There's a post over at HDForIndies (great site, can't recommend it enough) detailing some of the things on display at IBC.

It's worth a read and gives a little info on the Red presentation and some new Sony cameras but the part that caught my eye was also the smallest paragraph:



This is good but it also makes me a little uncomfortable. Yes, you can edit HDCAM 50P directly but you're tied to Apple's proprietary codec which means no sharing between software packages running on other operating systems, and the big thing that has kept me away from ProRes: it's only just come out so are there any issues/shortcomings with it yet to be revealed that will make me regret converting my footage?

But don't get me wrong: supporting it in this way is much better than not supporting it at all. The more formats supported, the better for everyone.