Product Preview: Page (1) of 2 - 10/07/05

email article

print page

More Related Stories

Traffic for Final Cut Pro ($299) by xm|edit is a new stand-alone application that works alongside Final Cut Pro, letting users work in a node-based editing paradigm similar to the workflow of high-end editing and compositing software such as Avid DS Nitris. This versatile toolset allows editors to execute multiple functions at a time, and it also is capable of displaying a string of editorial functions where nodes can be connected to other nodes, rearranging them for completely different effects. Here?s a first look at this hyper-efficient way of taking the tedium out of editing in Final Cut Pro.

Final Cut Pro is renowned for its ease of use, but it still requires video editors to perform numerous operations that require repetitious and time-intensive work. That?s why Forrest Maready, creator of Traffic and founder of xm|edit, developed his new software in the first place. ?They say ?necessity is the mother of invention,? but I would say a pain in the ass is even more of a mother of invention! I was so sick of doing some of this stuff, I just said, ?There?s got to be a better way to do this,?? Maready told Digital Medai Net. He's a long-time editor of a variety of major film and video projects and enjoys the craft of editing, but not the tedium that?s sometimes associated with it. He continued, ?I don?t consider those tedious, repetitious tasks editing?it?s what you wish you had an assistant for.?

Maready carefully considered the way the traditional video editing timeline-oriented approach works, and decided it was time for a departure. He added, ?The traditional timeline approach asks the editor, ?When do you want to do something?? Traffic asks the editor, ?What do you want to do?? Traffic globally allows you to scan the timeline and say, ?Anything with this parameter, I want to do this to it.? It obviously makes the editing process a lot less tedious.?

Traffic works by first dragging and dropping sequences, clips or bins into its interface. Then you choose from a screen full of various nodes (see graphic below), each one with its own function. There?s even a timeline node and time code node to help you visualize your work. In this large full-screen view, you connect the various nodes together that correspond to this shot, sequence, or group of clips, adjusting the duration, and any other attributes. While you?re making these modifications, you can see the results in a Viewer node. What you?re satisfied with the results, it?s easy to save your work and load it back into Final Cut Pro.

(Click for enlargement) Note the variety of nodes from which to choose.

A major strength of Traffic is its ability to make global changes to large groups of files using one action. Each node in Traffic appears in the user interface as an input and output device, where on the left side is the input where you connect that node into other nodes. On the other side of that node is its output, where you send the signal along to the next node. You can connect multiple outputs of one node into multiple inputs of another. This allows for a dazzling number of connections between modes, where you can take the duration of one mode and assign it to another, or the color attributes of one mode and assign them to another, or perform various loop-through functions?the possibilities are nearly infinite.  

A particularly powerful node is called the Clip Trigger, which can instantly instruct Final Cut Pro to perform operations on clips that all have one particular attribute in common, such as a particular clip name or time code location. For example, after running all of your clips through the Clip Sift node, you could then use common attributes of the clips in the Clip Trigger node, quickly lining up a sequence that might not have occurred to you otherwise. Forrest Maready explained, ?You might use Traffic to find every clip that?s over 10 seconds long, and then tell it to generate a color bar beneath each one of those clips on the track below them. In and of itself, Traffic can?t do anything other than trigger an external event. All it does is look for particular things. It uses multiple parameters, where it says, ?Look for anything between this time code and that, with this source tape, modified after this date,? all those kinds of things.?

Another powerful example of Traffic?s global editing tools is the ability to change all of the text titles in a production by connecting each one of the title files to the Generate Text node, where then you can then change the typeface, color, or any other attributes across the entire production. Take a look at this demo of Traffic adding lower-third text titles throughout a production, complete with the ability to change all of the instances with a single action: http://www.xmedit.com/case-studies.

Another positive attribute of Traffic is that it?s written using a programming architecture that encourages other developers to write plug-ins for it. The company announced that it will provide details of this program at a later date. Plug-ins are currently being developed, including a plug-in for Apple?s compositing application, Motion; the ability to link spreadsheets and databases to editing, tools for subtitling, and spotting tools for sound design and film scoring.  

Page: 1 2 Next Page