Workflows made easy.
Read on for how these creators use our powerful tools with third-party applications for a seamless post-production experience.
Knut Hake
Blood Red Sky.
A transatlantic Netflix thriller.
How an experienced editing team used Final Cut Pro to deliver a Netflix Original feature film.
Overview
In director Peter Thorwarth’s new Netflix film Blood Red Sky, a woman with a mysterious illness is forced into action when a group of terrorists tries to hijack an overnight flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Veteran feature editor Knut Hake turned to Final Cut Pro to tell this unique story. With its amazing performance and flexibility, Final Cut Pro gave him the freedom to explore many creative options for the film.
Workflow
Award-winning director of photography Yoshi Heimrath’s initial filming took place on a soundstage in Prague, where the digital imaging team created ProRes LT proxy files from ARRI RAW camera footage. These assets and the original audio recordings were uploaded to the Netflix Content Hub and shared with Hake’s editorial team. They used Sync-N-Link X to quickly create audio-synced multicam clips, and LockitScript to add detailed on-set script metadata to Final Cut Pro.
Hake and his assistant, Sam Plümacher, needed to craft an editing workflow that allowed them to collaborate in separate locations — while also accurately tracking the stunning visuals being created by the effects powerhouse Scanline VFX. Dividing the film into four reels, they used the collaboration app Postlab to edit sections of the project simultaneously, and leveraged the powerful roles feature in Final Cut Pro to identify and track visual effects shots. The team exported FCPXML files to automate organized shot lists for Scanline VFX using EDL-X and Producer’s Best Friend.
After picture lock, Hake sent frame-accurate edit lists to the post facility WeFadeToGrey in Cologne, Germany, for final conform and color grade from the camera-original footage. They also used X2Pro to generate files for audio post, and tracked last-minute film shoots with Change List X, keeping the entire finishing team in sync.
Thanks to the flexibility and speed of Final Cut Pro, a robust ecosystem of professional supporting apps, and a lot of hard work, Hake was able to deliver his edit ahead of schedule.
Products Used
Elsa Rhae and Barron Link
Nomadic. Power. Couple.
How two off-the-grid adventurers use Final Cut Pro and Motion to share their inspiring stories on YouTube — powered only by the sun.
Overview
Elsa Rhae, Barron, and their dog Kamp have been calling their 13-foot camper home for four years as they explore the great outdoors and share their adventures with half a million YouTube subscribers. The pair chose Final Cut Pro for its performance and energy efficiency — a critical consideration when the source of power for their MacBook Pro is a portable solar generator.
“Keeping ourselves alive in sub-zero temperatures is adventure enough,” said Barron. “Documenting and sharing our experiences add even more complexity, so we try to keep things simple.”
Workflow
To capture their travels, Elsa Rhae and Barron use Canon DSLRs, a drone, GoPros, and their iPhones. “A few of our most viewed videos were shot exclusively on my iPhone 11 Pro,” said Elsa Rhae. “The camera has incredible dynamic range, which helps us capture clear, beautiful videos even when we’re in snowy mountain environments and the sun is harsh. And the Ultra Wide lens is particularly useful in our little camper.”
After filming, they AirDrop several days of footage to their MacBook Pro and begin organizing and editing. Using Favorites and Smart Collections in Final Cut Pro, Elsa Rhae quickly creates a first assembly, while Barron outlines a script using note-taking app Bear for iPad. They record voiceovers with a Shure MV88 microphone, which plugs directly into any iPhone.
Elsa Rhae then enhances their videos with animated titles and graphics using mTracker 3D from MotionVFX. “It's incredible. With these plugins, I don’t even have to open Motion unless I want to edit my graphics further. And if I do, the entire project is right there to customize,” she said. Elsa Rhae also takes advantage of Final Cut Pro’s color correction tools and support for Camera LUTs to personalize the look and style of their videos, which set Elsa Rhae and Barron apart from other full-time travelers.
Final Cut Pro’s fast export speeds allow them to quickly AirDrop finished videos to their iPad. With the iPad’s amazing battery life, Elsa Rhae and Barron are able to upload their videos to YouTube even when cellular service is sparse.
Products Used
Joel Viertel and Steven Moyer
Banking on Apple TV+’s first film.
The making of The Banker
Overview
The first theatrical release by Apple TV+ features a powerhouse of acting talent: Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Nia Long, and Nicholas Hoult. Based on real events, The Banker tells the story of two African-American entrepreneurs (Jackson and Mackie) and the challenges they face as they launch a real estate empire in 1960s Los Angeles.
For this groundbreaking project, editor Joel Viertel assisted by Steven Moyer needed a unique and innovative editing app. They chose Final Cut Pro for its powerful organization capabilities and timesaving background rendering and exporting. Its unique audio features also allowed the editors to differentiate dialog, sound effects, and music sources, as well as keep the timeline organized without having to patch tracks. During the offline edit, the team worked in surround sound, which gave an added level of polish to the film.
Workflow
The film was shot on 35mm film; low-resolution proxies were made available quickly via a video tap on the on-set camera; and 2K proxies were available later via Kodak and Technicolor. To begin editing immediately, Viertel used the lo-res proxy footage to create a multi-cam clip for each take. When 2K proxies arrived and were ingested, the multicam clips automatically updated and the new higher-resolution footage was available on the timeline — instantly.
Moyer used Shot Notes X to add extensive metadata, including script notes with keyword ranges, “burning in” edge code from the film, and more on-lining data such as gamma, aspect ratio, and color information. He also added dialog keywords from the final script so Viertel could search the notes to easily find the correct takes and scenes for editing. To organize audio elements and visual effects the duo used Roles. And to track the version of VFX clips in the timeline, they generated a spreadsheet from Final Cut’s powerful metadata using Producer’s Best Friend. Using the two utilities meant they could quickly generate a spreadsheet with customizable columns and a wealth of time-based information, which saved hours that would’ve otherwise lost to tracking shots by hand.
For quick turnarounds, Viertel and Moyer used X2Pro Audio Convert to convert Final Cut XML into AAF files with embedded audio to use in Avid Pro Tools. Being able to use Final Cut and Pro Tools seamlessly allowed the editors to map specific audio roles to tracks in order to organize sessions for sound designers. Finally, they completed turnovers for finishing using EDL-X by Rainer Standke to create a traditional Edit Decision List (EDL), a longstanding standard in the film industry for moving edits between systems.
In a surprise ending, Apple decided to leverage the quality of the 35mm film and deliver the project in 4K instead of 2K, as originally planned. Even though they were deep in post-production, the team was able to rely on Final Cut Pro’s incredible proxy workflows, quickly switching out the shots in the project, making adjustments, and, most importantly, delivering the film on time.
Products Used
DailyTekk
All. By. Himself.
How a solo creator uses Final Cut Pro to produce cinematic YouTube content daily
Overview
DailyTekk creates content for more than 250,000 YouTube subscribers looking for their daily dose of technology. “I’m really just a guy who loves making videos about his favorite tech products,” said Chris, the content creator behind the blog-turned-YouTube channel. To keep up with the constant demand for new videos, Chris says he needs to work efficiently and to innovate constantly in order to keep his content fresh. In a single work day, he writes, shoots, and edits a new video. To do this quickly, he uses Final Cut Pro, Compressor, FiLMiC Pro for iOS, and more.
Workflow
Chris starts his day by quickly researching and outlining the topic for his latest video using apps such as Drafts, Instapaper, and MindNode for iPadOS, iOS, and WatchOS — which conveniently sync with iCloud and allow him to see all of his ideas in one place. He then uses his iPad Pro to write his script and as a monitor during his shoot.
To shoot DailyTekk videos, Chris uses the Sony a7S III, a6600 and ZV-1 digital cameras and two iPhones. To get a cinematic “look,” he uses an iPhone 11 Pro with either an ultra wide-angle or a telephoto lens from Moment and FiLMiC Pro. He can shoot 4K with FiLMiC at 60 frames per second, and do stabilization with high quality slow motion in Final Cut to achieve smooth, beautiful shots without using a gimbal. After filming, he uses AirDrop to easily send his footage to his 16” MacBook Pro and import it into Final Cut Pro. The ability to import footage wirelessly saves valuable time, especially when Chris is on deadline.
During the editing process, Chris frequently creates multicam clips in order to access other camera angles. To add a unique look to his videos he uses Final Cut’s Optical Flow feature to slow down clips in a way that simulates footage shot at a high frame rate — and even with all the processing required the clips play back without the need to render. To add high-quality finishes, Chris uses the following: advanced color correction tools from mFilmLook; Better Stabilizer; SplitScreen Pro effects (a favorite filter among YouTube audiences); and Flow Pop’s smooth and seamless transitions and dynamic movement plug-ins.
Finally, Chris encodes his final project using Compressor, and outputs it to HEVC for speedy upload to the DailyTekk YouTube channel.
Products Used
David Tillman
One small step for man. One giant leap for National Geographic.
The making of Apollo: Missions to the Moon
Overview
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission and man’s first steps on the moon, National Geographic commissioned 1895 Films to produce “Apollo: Missions to the Moon”. The documentary weaved together more than 10,000 photos and 1,300 hours of video and audio — including rare behind-the-scenes and never-before-heard mission audio from NASA. Renowned documentary editor and producer David Tillman helped lead the post-production phase of the project, and used Final Cut Pro to edit the film, which went on to win several awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Editing from Cinema Eye Honors and Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures from the Producers Guild of America.
Workflow
The documentary team first sifted through thousands of hours of archival footage, and cataloged and digitized it for use in the documentary. Producers and editors extracted notes taken on more than 100 archival tapes in a word processing document and imported the data into Final Cut.
Here, Final Cut’s organizational features really shined. Editors were able to create a rich catalog of keywords, so they could find footage using search criteria in Smart Collections rather than using a rigid folder structure. To annotate archival interviews, the team used Lumberjack for iPadOS to take notes and capture keywords while a subject was speaking. The notes would then automatically sync with the video to create a searchable database of interview footage — saving hours of replaying and annotating footage by hand. The team also used Roles to organize thousands of hours of audio from NASA’s Mission Control Center, and used Producer’s Best Friend to create lists of footage and audio used to apply for copyright clearances.
As a final step, the team needed to export audio and the final edit in order to finish the documentary in different apps. They exported audio as an organized AAF project to Avid Pro Tools using X2Pro from Marquis Broadcast, and exported video as FCPXML and sent it directly to DaVinci Resolve for final color grade and delivery.