June 23
Focal Point To Post FilmLogic 3.0 Beta
Sneak preview of Final Cut Pro plugin available at Show Biz Expo

by David Nagel
Executive Producer

Focal Point Software says it will post a beta of its FilmLogic plugin for Final Cut Pro "in the near future." It's also giving a preview of the software at the Show Biz Expo in Los Angeles this weekend at its booth. FilmLogic can work with Final Cut Pro to produce film cut lists without the need for EDL match-back. Negative cut lists, optical lists, pull lists and dupe lists can all be exported directly from the Final Cut Pro application with the assistance of FilmLogic.

Earlier this month Focal Point announced version 2.6 and 2.6 LE for the Macintosh. FilmLogic LE is an entry-level version of FilmLogic that cuts out several features of the full version and is priced $900 less. The LE version is intended to be used only for generating film cut lists from EDL match-back, according to Focal Point. With the LE version of FilmLogic, users can match back to an Edit Decision List and generate cut lists, dupe lists, pull lists, scene lists, missing lists, and audio EDLs . The one list that cannot be generated by the LE version is the optical list.

The LE version also does not support manual logging into the database, so film-related data has to exist as a log that can be imported into the database. Users can export batch capture logs and Avid Log Exchange files from the LE version of FilmLogic. The LE version does not support plug-in integration with non-linear editing systems, nor does it support the Reverse Telecine feature for restoring an NTSC captured digital clip to the original 24 frames per second.

FilmLogic works with non-linear editors like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere. The full version can read telecine transfer logs directly into an online database, which doubles as an electronic codebook, or data can be entered manually. It can be used to remove the extra video fields inserted by the 2:3 telecine pulldown and return digitized clips to 24 FPS. It can also link up the database to digitized clips and store a snapshot from each clip in the database. FilmLogic can produce a negative cutlist, optical list, pull list or dupe list. In addition to 24 FPS editing with Premiere, FilmLogic works with 29.97 FPS (NTSC) and 25 FPS (PAL).

FilmLogic 2.6 LE is available for $395. The full version is available for $1,295. For more information or to download a copy, go to http://www.filmlogic.com.