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Matrox has some pretty cool all-in-one devices with their MXO2 line, which can handle video capture, conversion, broadcast monitoring and much more. I’ve had an MXO2 Mini for a couple of years, and used it regularly to capture BetaSP footage in Final Cut Pro 7, with a 17-inch MacBook Pro with an ExpressCard/34 slot. That Mac went away, and since I didn’t have a Mac Pro (with PCI-Express), I couldn’t use the MXO2 anymore. Until Thunderbolt changed everything, the new Apple and Intel technology that allows for blazing fast 10 Gbps (Gigabits per second) transfer speeds. With the Matrox Thunderbolt adapter, I can now use my Mac Mini with the MXO2 Mini and capture analog footage, and a whole lot more.

Plus, all of Matrox’s new MXO2 devices feature software that’s optimized for the technology, plus takes advantage of Final Cut Pro X‘s broadcast monitoring (see this press release). Be sure to check out my review at Digital Media Net.

I edited on Final Cut Pro versions 1-7 for nearly 12 years when FCP X came out last summer 2011. I was never certified, and I learned from a variety of sources, including training videos, books, friends and colleagues, and more. I never got certified in FCP, even though I could easily have done so. Now that Final Cut Pro X has been out for about eight months now, and as I use some training material, I’m going to work towards getting trained and certified as an FCP X editor.

What made me decide to do this? I’m not fully sure, but stepping into FCP X brought me back to the fall of 1999 and very early 2000, when I was not only learning how to use FCP 1.0, but I was also editing my first feature film Skye Falling. In those wild early days of FCP, there wasn’t much in the way of support, but it was growing. Nowadays, there are many great Final Cut Pro resources, and a lot of great training options (click on that, because it’s extensive), so why not get certified? I consider myself a good editor, and I have a strong feeling folks are coming back to check out FCP X with the great 10.0.3 update, that it’s a great time to be a certified Final Cut Pro X editor.

The Final Cut Pro X Certifications

There are two types of certification that Apple offers, Associate Certification and Pro Applications Certification. The Associate is similar to the Pro Applications level one certification, as you learn the same things and use the recommended FCP 101 and FCP 200 course material. Once you pass the exam — here’s the exam prep guide — you’ll be a Final Cut Pro X Level One Pro Applications certified user, or if you take it at home vs. in an Apple authorized training center, you’ll receive the Associate Certification. From there, you can learn more advanced techniques, use the recommended FCP 300 training material and take the FCP X Level Two exam (prep guide coming soon, according to Apple). For me personally, I am going to do the Pro Applications Certification, Levels One and Two.

Ways to Train

There are several ways to train, either in an Apple authorized training center (see below), or on your own using the Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro Xby the great Diana Weynand (I own the Kindle version,good price and you download the special content), along with the Apple Pro Video Series: Final Cut Pro Xwith Steve Martin (the editor and instructor). There is the new, Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro X Advanced Editingcoming soon, by Michael Wohl and others, along with several other Apple-certified books, like Apple Pro Training Series: Keying and Compositing in Final Cut Pro Xand the Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro X Quick-Reference Guide (Apple Pro Video Series).The books are very important, because that’s how the certification happens. I also recommend using some other training material, including Larry Jordan’s video series on FCP X. There are a ton of great FCP X training options out there!

The other ways to learn FCP X for certification is to visit an Apple authorized training center; you can find a location here on Apple’s site by typing in your zip code or address. These training centers will take you through instruction, working with the software and exams to become a level one and level two certified FCP X user. The ones in Florida that are Apple authorized training centers include Future Media Concepts in Orlando, Go4Cast in Port St. Lucie, InstructUs in Tampa and Florida State College in Jacksonville. Surprisingly, there is nothing in Miami. By the way, I spotlight Florida, because this is where I call home, and I’d like to go to Go4Cast, since it’s closest to me. Future Media Concepts has training centers around the country, which is great! These centers use the Diana Weynand book as part of the curriculum. The only downside is the price, which can push into the thousands of dollars if you’re going for the two levels of certification.

Motion Certification

There is Motion 5 Level One Pro Applications Certification, too, and you can use the Apple Pro Training Series: Motion 5 (here’s the Kindle version, which costs less),the recommended preparation material and study with the exam prep guide, then take the exam at an Apple authorized training center. They also offer training, too, if you wish to go that route.

That’s right, JVC announced the small, handheld professional 4K camera, GY-HMQ10, at CES in January 2012, and it’s going to cost $5,000. It has a 1/2.3-inch backlit CMOS sensor with 8.3 million active pixels shooting in 3840 x 2160, at 60p, 50p and 24p. The HMQ10 uses the Falconbrid picture processing technology to handle 4K acquisition and image processing without needing sn external device for storage. with that workflow, you would need to process the 4K clips in your NLE or other software. It also ships with a fixed, high resolution lens made for 4K resolution, at F2.8, plus the ability to record up to two hours on four 32GB SDHC cards (you need all four SDHC cards to shoot in 4K), full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution (only 1 card needed), a high resolution touchscreen LCD (920,000 pixels) and a quality viewfinder (260,000 pixels). And a whole heckuva lot more. You should check out JVC’s page on the GY-HMQ10, and read the press release here. It should be available in the spring, either March or April 2012.

The 4K sensor powering the JVC GY-HMQ10.

I’m very excited about this affordable 4K camera, and it’s fitting that JVC is introducing the world’s first sub-$20,000 (or so) 4K cinema camera. While 2003′s JVC HD10 wasn’t the greatest camera (I bought one that summer — here’s a film I directed shot on it, featured in a few film festivals), it launched HDV which contributed many of the HD compression techniques we know and use, such as those for Sony, JVC, Panasonic and Canon HD camcorders, along with HDSLRs like the Nikon D5100 or the legendary Canon 5D Mark II. I have a feeling the quality will be excellent, and I’m looking forward to cutting the 4K footage with Final Cut Pro X, which can handle 4K editing without a problem. It captures via MP4/H.264, and JVC includes a software program for Mac to make it easier to import and convert the footage via a single USB cable. Cool!

JVC compares 4K to 1080p

It’s interesting how the 4K video is captured onto the required four 32GB SDHC cards, which JVC explains (and more) on the GY-HMQ10′s technical page. Essentially, it shoots 144 Mbps (Megabits per second), variable bit rate, and the 4K image is actually split into 4 separate pieces, if you will. Each one goes to a different card, as illustrated below:

How the JVC GY-HMQ10 records 4K video to four 32GB SDHC cards.

JVC’s Archive and Merge Utility software that ships with the HMQ10 4K camera (Mac and Windows) will combine the four video images into one for cutting, though JVC promises near real-time 4K playback from the camera via four HDMI ports and cables. With Mac, it will turn it into a single 4K ProRes video clip, of all your 4K camera footage.

JVC's software will merge the four images together into one 4K image.

It’s making me think also about shooting with the JVC in 24p and converting it in FCP X to 48p, or shooting 50p and converting to 48p. The legendary Douglas Trumbull, James Cameron (for Avatar 2 and 3 at 60p), Peter Jackson (The Hobbit is shooting in 48p) and others see higher frame rates as the next evolution in filmmaking. The higher the frame rate, the more ‘realistic’ the image becomes. Of course, digital projectors will need a special upgrade, but a lot of theaters have gone digital, something I’ve been hoping for since the mid-90s and early 2000s.

So basically, we’re getting a 4K camera for $5000, around the price RED said the original Scarlet was going to run, at 3K resolution, back at NAB 2008. This is in no way any sort of disrespect to RED — the Scarlet has become much better than they originally planned, and the current price is right for those changes. By the way, 4K editing with the RED isn’t hard with their Red Rocket with Thunderbolt and a Sonnet Chassis, a MacBook Air, Windows via Bootcamp (or OX Lion) and Premiere Pro CS5.5, as demonstrated by Dave Helmy via Gizmodo. JVC just makes it easier.

Images courtesy JVC.

VLC 2.0 New UI, photo thanks to developer Felix Kühne.

Just read on 9 to 5Mac that VLC 2.0 from VideoLAN was announced, and includes some cool new features, including support for Blu-ray (not burning, apparently), fullscreen in OS X Lion and more. Check out the details and see some videos of the new UI on 9to5Mac.com. It’ll be available for Mac, Windows and Linux at their site, in the very near future.

Look who's making a cameo in the new VLC 2.0! Photo from developer Felix Kühne.

I use VLC a little bit, mostly to see raw XDCAM EX files without having to open up the Sony XDCAM clip browser or Final Cut Pro X.

Final Cut Pro X Adds Multicam Editing

I just got off the phone with Apple’s Richard Townhill, senior director of applications marketing, who took the time to update me on the latest major update to Final Cut Pro X, ver. 10.0.3. Apple is delivering multicam support, broadcast monitoring via third-party cards and boxes (in beta), advanced chroma keying features, XML 1.1, the ability to import layered Photoshop graphics (PSD), and media relinking.

Apple has been listening to us and have introduced their second big FCP X update since the app “shipped” via the Mac App Store in late June 2011. We had the first update in September 2011 (which brought XML, media stems and more), a minor bug fix in November and now another major update for January 2012. I mention this first, because Apple usually released major updates to past versions of FCP every year or so. I believe FCP 7 only got two major updates and a minor one after it shipped in August 2009. So we’ve had just as many in seven months, and everything comes through quickly via the Mac App Store!

The big feature is Multicam, and as usual, Apple doesn’t just add in the feature to FCP X, but they make it better and easier to use. You can mix up to 64 different camera angles and sources, using mixed formats, codecs, frame rates and frame sizes, and also you can mix stills with the video. Syncing has always been tricky with multicamera editing, but FCP X makes it simple with their auto sync feature, which will sync up video and audio based on timecode (all cameras have to have matching timecode) or a time-and-date stamp (again, all cameras must match). You can also sync based on metadata, along with customizing that information. FCP X also goes a step further if you’re using the GoPro, HDSLRs or cameras that don’t match timecode or time-and-date. They use the audio from the cameras and match up the waveform and then sync the footage up that way. That’s pretty incredible! So if you’re shooting a three-camera production of an interview, FCP X will sync according to the audio waveforms of the person talking, or if you’re shooting a live event, like sports, it will find the similar audio waveforms and sync them up!

FCP X Adds In Broadcast Monitoring With Third-Party PCI-e Hardware and Thunderbolt.

In beta right now is Broadcast Monitoring, which uses third-party PCI-e devices and cards, and Thunderbolt, which is still one of my favorite new features on pretty much all new Apple computers. AJA has already updated their drivers, and Matrox and BlackMagic are working on some cool Thunderbolt devices. You can also do on-set, in-the-field monitoring, as well! (By the way, I heard from my sources that Apple was working on 10-bit broadcast monitoring, last July.)

Apple also introduced more robust Chroma Keying controls, so it’s not only easy to do a quick key, you can also tweek it and perfect it, especially if your green- or bluescreen wasn’t lit well. No need to export to Motion or After Effects, plus you can view it in real-time, thanks to FCP X’s 64-bit architecture. Richard also mentioned that Jimmy Fallon and SNL use FCP X’s one-step chroma key feature, which is pretty cool.

Media Relink makes it easy to relink your footage, audio, etc., when you’re exporting or importing items from third-party software, such as color corrected footage, cleaned up audio, etc. It will also find footage that was transcoded, as well, which is great, since many of us prefer to use Apple ProRes and other codecs that are easy to cut with.

Richard told me that they have a tremendous number of third-party developers onboard with FCP X, who are putting out some great stuff for FCP X, including Red Giant Software, Nattress, GenArts’ Sapphire Edge, FxFactory, and many others.

Richard talked a bit about my friend Philip Hodgetts (and his partner Greg’s) 7toX app, which will allow you to bring Final Cut Pro 7 projects into Final Cut Pro X! That’s right, no more using two different FCP NLEs on old and new projects, just use the 7toX app and you’re ready to go. Make sure you read the information on the above link, because things obviously change when going from bins, etc., to FCP X. It’s only $9.99 and is already available on the Mac App Store.

7toX takes advantage of the new XML 1.1 feature, plus the update allows you to export to color correct in DaVinci Resolve and other third-party color correction apps. You can also “import and export audio keyframes and intrinsic effects parameters such as opacity and scale,” according to Apple.

While you could import and work with layered Photoshop graphics in Motion 5, you couldn’t in FCP X. The new 10.0.3 update allows you to do just that, which is a fantastic feature that many of us loved in FCP 7 and earlier.

Full rundown and details of the 10.0.3 update can be found here, plus the 30-day free trial of FCP X includes all the new updates, including those for Motion 5 and Compressor 4.