Round-Trip Workflows: Post Workflows From and To Final Cut Pro X

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has become a common method of data interchange between postproduction applications. Standard XML variations are like Romance languages: one version is as different from another as German is from French; thus, translation software is required. Apple's Final Cut Pro X was updated to include XML interchange, but this new version of XML (labeled FCP XML) is completely different from the XML format used in FCP 7. Stretching the language analogy, FCP 7's XML is as different from FCP X's XML as English is from Russian.

	Export your edited project from Final Cut Pro X as an XML file.

The underlying editing structure of Final Cut Pro 7 is based on the relationship of clips against time and tracks. FCP X links one object to another in a trackless parent-child connection, so there is no easy and direct translation of complex projects between the two versions. Some interchange between Final Cut Pro X and 7 has been achieved by Square Box Systems' CatDV, Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve and Assisted Editing's Xto7 for Final Cut Pro. These offer limited migration of edited sequences when you stay within the narrow parameters that FCP XML currently exposes to developers. I'll concentrate on Resolve and Xto7, as these have the most direct application for editors.

Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve offers an exchange in both directions between Resolve and Final Cut Pro 7 or X. (It also allows Avid round-trips using AAF and MXF media.) This is intended as a color-correction round-trip, so you can go from FCP 7 or FCP X to Resolve and back, but you can also go from X to Resolve to 7 and the other way around. For this article, let's stick with Resolve's position as a professional grading tool that can augment FCP X.

1. Start by cutting your project in FCP X. Avoid compound clips and speed ramps and remember that effects are not passed through FCP XML at this time. Highlight the project in the project browser and export an FCP XML file. read more...