What is it with multiclip? I have to use it, and have used it for about a year. It's the most glichy application I've ever used. It doesn't matter if I wipe out preferences.

What happens, after I spend a half hour trying to get it to open and actually work on both the viewer and the canvas, is I will successfully cut a section. After hitting the space bar, I hit it again to do another secion. It marks the timeline as if it's working, but when I hit the space bar again, it reveals that it wasn't cutting anything, so somehow my keyboard shortcuts are toggling or SOMETHING!

Do I have to reinstall FCP?

...I'm redoing it and limping along, hitting the spacebar after every 3-4 cuts. Still, I need to be able to put some weight on this thing!

I did a four camera concert shoot on Monday. This will be the first time I've used multiclips. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Do I have to reinstall FCP?I am not sure that that would help, Dana. Multiclip, as exciting and useful as the concept is, is just not very well implemented in the current version of Final Cut. Let's hope Apple takes a good look at it in a future release.

- Martin

I have loved FCP for years and use for both work and personal use, but it wasn't until about a year or so ago that I had to use the multiclip function.

It is such a HORRIBLE attribute of the almighty FCP; it's embarrassingly bad, especially in comparison to what Premiere CS3 has that is comparable.

The problems get worse the longer you use it. Projects that I worked on 6 months ago--forget it. Clips lose links and then are all of a sudden hours different in timecode... its weird stuff going on. With live events and concert footage with 6 cameras, what other choice do you have?

I know people can easily say that if you use all the same cameras and even sync the timecode then it will take care of most of the problems... but that is not always feasible or practical and, seriously this glitchy area needs to be fixed.

I now use Premiere for all multi cam stuff. Ashamed to say it, but its true.

Dana,
It sounds like you are toggling and not cutting. Make sure you are presing Open-Apple and 1 (or whichever angle you want to choose) in order to make a cut. If you made a cut you did not like you would simply press the angle number without the open-apple key to toggle back to your previous clip without having to stop the timeline. Hope this helps.

For what it is worth, I love the multiclip part of FCP. I edit about 20-30 shows a month using it and have gotten to the point where I can pretty much do a straight through edit. I wish I could mix clips of different formats, but hopefully we will see that in an update soon.

Jonathan Schwartz
CA Video Productions

I'm not trying out my first play edited with Multiclip function, and although it was a pain to set everything synchronized (2 HDV cameras that had to switch tape during the event, 1 Sony EX1 for the wide shot, continuisly), it has done everything pretty smoothly until now.

I can imagine problems occuring if you shoot with 10 camera's instead of my 3, and a 4 hour long show instead of a 2 hour one, like me.
But the simplicity of the concept is so nice, and editing goes pretty fast.

So no problems for me thus far. I agree that maybe you are only switching angles, and not cutting them?

Good luck!

I thought when you hit the space bar, all of your "toggles" became edits. Is that not correct?

Joseph,

No. Unless you press the open apple key while pressing your angle number it will not make a cut. What you are doing is toggling between clips so whichever angle you pressed last before pressing the space bar will be the shot for the entire clip. Also make sure tha you have selected multicamera editing from Tools>Keyboard layout >multicamera editing.

Good luck

Jonathan Schwartz
CA Video Productions

But normally if you press the spacebar, and it runs, if you toggle with your mouse between the angles and click, it will make cuts.
(I'm doing this right now).

Johnathan, what do you mean by open apple key? Is that the command key?

David,

Yes, Open apple same as command

It sounds to me that the issue is more user error than it is FCP being buggy. As Jonathan Schwartz has already pointed out, it seems that people are toggling rather than actually cutting. Check your key commands.

As Mathieu said "if you toggle with your mouse between the angles and click, it will make cuts."

I have used multiclip loads of times with no problem at all. There are many ways to select the scene you want and if it is 4 or less cameras I advise you use the mouse click way and leave the keyboard selection alone. Seems that might be your problem, not pressing the correct keys.

I am in the process if editing a 3 camera shoot I did of a conference. So far I have rough-cut about 7 hours of footage using exclusively the multi-clip function. Yes, you do have to hold down the command key while selecting your angles, which I suppose would be more convenient not to have to, but you'll hear no complaints from me! I run an entire session and do my cuts in real-time like a switcher, and then if I need to fine-tune anything I can just roll the cuts.

I absolutely love editing this way and have had NO problems at all using it.

Yes, you do have to hold down the command key while selecting your angles, which I suppose would be more convenient not to have to, but you'll hear no complaints from me! I run an entire session and do my cuts in real-time like a switcher

Remember, you can always create a custom keyboard layout in which you don't have to hold down the Command key!

Custom keyboards and window layouts are very powerful tools to use in mastering your workflow. Mine change -- sometimes drastically -- depending on the phase of a project. It really does increase your productivity.

Don't forget about custom browser columns either!

Mike,

Doi! I completely forgot about the ability to create a custom keyboard layout! I do that in Photoshop all the time, but I guess I've just gotten so used to the FCP layout that I neglected to consider the possibility!

Thanks for an excellent piece of advice!