ProCutX iPad App

[Andy Wilkinson]

Saw this and thought it might interest some of you FCPX users at $25.

ProCutX for iPad links with Final Cut Pro X, lets you slice and dice footage from afar

[David Knaggs]

I just found out about this app from another website and I've downloaded it. The app asks for your email address so they can send you special software for your Mac to communicate with the app.

I'm still waiting for their email ...

I'm looking at the actual control surface though and these various shortcut buttons look fantastic and might take a great deal of time out of repetitive tasks. I've never used a control surface before but, for only $26, it's a very low-risk way to find out if it will raise editing efficiency!

[Jos Svendsen]

Seems their servers are overloaded. Too bad they do not have a download ling for the FCP X SW, I am also eagerly waiting for a email with the SW.

[William Hohauser]

Looks interesting but I don't have the room for an extra surface on my desk. Would like a demo version to test.

[David Knaggs]

Originally Posted by Jos Svendsen

Seems their servers are overloaded....

You are probably right. My email with the link arrived about 7 1/2 hours later. I'll list a few little "gotchas" which I found during the installation process:

1/ When I tried to open the ProcutX Server.pkg, my OS wouldn't let me open it and said it was from an "unidentified developer". (Yet their iPad app was downloaded from the iTunes Store. Contrary Facts!)
I opened the System Preferences pane and loosened my privacy settings to "allow from anywhere" and the .pkg then opened.

2/ After I got the "Installation Successful" message, their icon did not appear in the System Preferences pane. I couldn't find it anywhere, so I went on their "Live Chat" link. Their Live Chat service is rapid and excellent, by the way. It turned out that the bug was that the System Preference pane (which I'd opened earlier) does not automatically refresh itself, so I had to quit System Preferences and re-open it and there it was! If you were like me (and didn't know that the pane doesn't refresh itself), this tip might save you a Live Chat.

3/ And you also have to go to the Universal Access preference pane and select "Enable access for assistive devices".

4/ To then get your computer connected to your iPad you need to restart the app on your iPad (double-click the home button and press the red X to stop the app, then simply open the app again and your computer will appear, provided both are on the same network).

So far, this app works well and is very responsive. I'll evaluate its use for a couple of weeks before deciding if there's merit for me in using a control surface long-term.

[Dave Partington]

Thanks David. Please keep us posted. I'm holding off buying this until I see a few more reviews about how it's working out.

Control surfaces are nice, but I've had them before and ended up selling them because I didn't use them.

Since learning most of the keyboard shortcuts is relatively easy, it's quick enough via the keyboard, but there are a couple that still elude me, like pressing shift-option-cmd-ctrl, swing round on your chair twice, take a cup of tea then up arrow kind of things. Really long multi key things that I need to change ;)

[Nate Haustein]

This app is free - today at least. Just downloaded to try it out. Link to the App Store below:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/proc...596946635?mt=8

[William Hohauser]

I downloaded it. Seems to be an interesting way to work, some of the shortcuts are great, the color grading shortcuts seemed to cause sound error "bleeps" from the computer when I activated them even though they worked and opened the color grading windows. The search dial works very well but I'll give it a full workout later this week.

[Bill Davis]

This is the same company who generated a huge furor inside the App developer community by ripping off the source code from a competing overseas developer and trying to sell the resuulting plug-in as their own work BUT at a lower price.. When the original coders called them on it, they claimed that the problem was the work of a rogue coder in their shop, (which is certainly conceivable) but from the communication that the original coder posted, the company didn't seem to be particularly responsive to his concerns and claims at the time from what I read.

I think Pixel Film Studios (the publisher) pulled the suspect package eventually, but it makes me feel that perhaps this firm is more a "sales" organization than a true in-house development team. And if so, I'd be pretty worried about an app as complex as this.

Personally, I'm not investing my $25 bucks until I hear that the product works as advertised and that the product will be properly supported.

Entreprenuralism is great. But solid company ethics are important to me as well.

And it's worth nothing that the current ratings on the iTunes Store are mixed to say the least.

I'd sure like to be wrong about all of this and come to learn that it's a legitimate and properly working App, cuz the idea is pretty interesting. But from the description it's also a very complex App - and with all the I/O going on, surely needs some serious App development to be dependable and "work ready."

Those using it here can help clarify things by posting your experiences with both the app and the company - pro and/or con.

Nothing like first hand experience to clarify things!

[Nate Haustein]

Bill - you know that it's still listed as FREE in the App store, right? If you have an iPad, try it out!

That being said, I installed the "server" software on my iMac preference pane today and it seemed to work fine. I did also need to install a custom command set for FCPX. Honestly, I don't think that it's any faster than keyboard and mouse, especially if you've started to learn the shortcuts by heart, like shift-control-option-command-T for open clip in timeline. Finally got that one committed to muscle memory :)

The scrub wheel is pretty neat, but unless they come up with dedicated controls we don't already have though keyboard shortcuts, like a touch-sensitive simulated color interface, I'm not sure how much this one is going to get used. I could be wrong, but after trying out the buttons for about 3 minutes, I realized I needed to get back to work and picked up my trusty keyboard and mouse. Interested to hear what others are thinking.

[Bill Davis]

Naw, I'm holding off.

I use my tools generally for paid work and the idea that I'd download something from a developer that I don't have pretty complete confidence in is a little suspect to me.

Then again, the App store presumably vetted the code, so maybe I'm just beings way overly cautious. Maybe I'll snag it and sequester the install while I wait for the reviews to come in.

Like I said. It's interesting. I just wish the program had a bit less of a checkered pedigree. : )

[Craig Seeman]

Personally I'm not sure of the value of a program that takes my eyes off my monitor. Why would looking at at iPad be faster than keyboard shortcuts? I see a gestures based controller as more productive.

[William Hohauser]

Aside from the scroll wheel the advantages are that some of the buttons represent two keystroke functions, that alone is a plus. How big of a plus I can't say yet. On my old FCP7 system back in OS10.4 days and earlier, I had an X-Keys USB key stick that I programmed for multi-cam and other keystrokes. The benefits, to me at least, to have a single key option for multi-key functions was great. Unfortunately the X-Keys stick stopped working after a system update and Mac support dropped off.