Below some little utilities which make use of Final Cut Pro's XML features. They all are big time savers, or allow you to get access to data of your Final Cut Pro project that normally are hard to get or to change.
Free Stuff
TitleExchange (OS < Mojave) Is a small donation/freeware which allows to juggle subtitles within several applications
X-Title Importer XTI Is a small donation/freeware which allows an easy import of YouTube SBV, Spruce STL, Subrib SRT and many other subtitle files into Apple's Final Cut Pro X.
X-Title Extractor XTE Is a small donation/freeware which allows an easy export of YouTube SBV, Subrib SRT, WebVTT, Spruce STL, Adobe Encore subtitle and DCP Cinema files from Apple's Final Cut Pro X.
premiereTitles currently is the most advanced and most affordable tool for subtilte import and export from Adobe Premiere Pro. It is a unique tool which allows an easy import of WebVTT and SRT subtitle files to both to and from "Essential Graphics" type titles. Additionally you can easily create YouTube Chapters.
SRT4Translation is a simple and efficient tool to check and prepare SRT files for translation or simply change encoding.
Untimed Caption Tool Working with NLEs and captions using untimed text from a transcript, song text, lyrics, poem etc can be a tedious job. This free helper app lets have you more fun when working with "untimed" text and captions. It combines the little "line wrapping tool" I already created with a "line splitting tool" and some text automatisation. So basic SRT, VTT, AVID and FCP caption files can be created with the snap of a finger.
X-Overlay App for Final Cut Pro X (10.4.9+) allows to create and manage custom overlays with a few simple clicks – this never had been easier. And it's free.
X-Library Check A common thing:
When opening "foreign" or longer unused libraries the problem arises that fonts or templates are missing.
For missing fonts this font/font face will be replaced by the "default font" of the template and some parameters will be reset. The problem may arise that FCP might save this change - which is very annoying.
Unfortunately (for personal reasons) I can not update my old X-FX for Mojave as fast as I would love to do, I have decided to bring a part of it into a small stand-alone app: X-Library Check
This mini-app searches a library (.fcpbundle) for all fonts and external motion templates, lists them and warns if something is missing.
Application usage: Use Menu / Button to open a Library or drag Library to the App's Icon and wait a bit.
The result/report is saved as "Library Name" & "-check.text" at the Finder level of the library. This version is free and is available here.
X-FX Handler (OS < Mojave) Is a small donation/freeware which allows to disable, enable or remove effects in project using XML and cretating reports which will help to sync user and machines. It is not recommend to use this app with versions < 10.1.x of FCP X. But it can used just to list the effects which are needed for a project.
CreateDiskImage This little free tool allows to create disk images -- this can be helpful when working with Apple's FCPX (and other applications as well)
VirtualCamCard VCC creates a sparsebundle with has a folder structure like a standard camera card. Normally movies created on computer, maybe on an HDR etc. can't be imported partially. So you will do your selects inside the FCPX event browser. This can be a good workflow since in most cases you just work with a link to the original files and the size of your event (i.e. Original Media folder) is kept small. In case you want to convert the media the Original Media folder will grow by the full size of the converted file even if you only need a few sections of it. With VCC you can collect the movies you partially want to import on a sparsebundle. FCPX will see this sparse bundle as a camera file. So it will allow to import/convert portions of the movies. To download the manual click here.
psTitles (PhotoShop < CS 6) Is a small freeware applicaion which allows to script Adobe's PhotoShop to create high quality subtitles for probably any NLE based on an Apple Spruce STL the application is also part of the TitleExchange installation.
CopyCards This little free tool allows to copy camera cards in an easy and safe way.
markerTool (FCP < X) Is a small freeware which allows to shuffle around markers in Final Cut Pro sequences
scanCalc ScanCalc is a little helper to calculate image scan resolutions when working with video.
BWF iXML Reader Is a small freeware to analyze the iXML of broadcast wave files.
rotateClips(FCP < X OSX < 10.6) rotateClips is a small helper application for people using the 35mm adapter with their camera. It allows to either "Flop" all clips in a project or rotate them in one single step - more than 2500 clips in a 64 mb XML were changed in about 10 seconds, where loading the XML into memory and writing it back to disk took most of the time. To learn more drop me an email
Free Plugins for Final Cut Pro
Basic Text Is a simple modification of the original 'Lower 3rd' text generator. It has additional controls for horizontal and vertical position of the text, as well as text aligment.
Jiggler: a simple effect which jiggles the position of the frame randomly.
Was shown at LAFCPUG Supermeet at NAB 2009 Syncing the Impossible 5 P2 cameras, 6 wireless microphones, freestyle shooting, a Sound Devices 788T recording 8 tracks of audio, and less than a week from shoot to air. How would you bring this all together into Apple's Final Cut Pro? Jeremy Garchow, Creative Cow Leader, Editor and Post Production Supervisor at Maday Productions, was tasked with the opportunity to organize and edit all of the elements to make a commercial for the Chicago Blackhawks. Totaling over 6 hours of real time shot material to edit down to 60 seconds, Jeremy faced this challenge by having super-fast access to the native P2 media and auto-syncing with external audio, all with free run time code and a clap slate. MXF4mac and sequenceLiner fired it all over to Apple's Final Cut Pro, ready to edit through a workflow never seen before. The presentation recording was published on macvideo.tv
An automated play out setup LA based Crosscreek Entertainment was looking for a workflow to automate clip order/sorting and naming in a timeline for play out to tape and DVD. We go it solved using Final Cut Pro XML and Apple Events.
Cambridge Public Art Project Just another text to Final Cut Pro sequence custom application. It generates normal or split screen sequences just based upon a simple formated text file. Click the link above to learn more.
