bbalser
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Mar 19, 2006, 3:37 PM
Post #5 of 9
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Re: [Unsung] FCP certification?
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Here I am! Been on the road teaching FCP! For real!
FCP end user certification; you REALLY have to know your s*** to pass the test, PERIOD! Apple doesn't make easy tests! I know two Premiere Pro trainers who say Apples tests for end users and trainers are WAY tougher than Adobe's. The trainer test is brutal. The end user test is really good. I'd respect anyone who studies the book and passes the test. It is the "Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Pro 5" book. You have to know that book cover to cover to pass the test.
Now, two issues here. 1- if you pass the test and get certified, you'll be answering a lot of questions on forums. You will know FCP super well, inside and out. If you do level 2 certification (advanced color correction and editing techniques) you'll be an FCP Guru.
2- Will it make you a better editor? Yes and no. Yes, the more you understand the tools in FCP (I am of the opinion due to my travels that most FCP users barely tap into the speed and depth of the tools). When I first did the book cover to cover to be a certified end user in version 4, it cut my editing time literally in HALF. Just because I knew how to handle the tools properly and in depth and more easily. Will it make you better creatively? It could give you more tools to express your creativity, it will make you time editing less and your available time to create more. But, creativity is something you have to develop on your own. Knowing the tools in FCP at the certified end user level will cut your editing time drastically, and will open a whole new world of working and possibilities for you to be more creative with.
Remember, the test is TOUGH!
The advantage of spending the ton of money to take the class is, you learn even more. An instructor can answer your questions right away, unlike the book. Most of all, in my trainings, I find students learn as much from me as they do from each other. I can have editors from Fox News, Discovery Channel, wedding videographers, university distance learning editors, and animators who have to learn to edit all in the same class. Very different applications of the software and it's tools. Everyone benifits from the questions other editors have that you'd personally never think of. That, to me, is well worth the money of the certification class. But, you can do like I did and just study the book and take the test.
You have to take the class for any certification after the Level 1 End User.
Also, be aware there are certification classes that must be held at Apple certified training centers. These are the ones that supply everyone with a Powerbook in the class to follow along with the tutorial material.
Then there are SEMINARS. These are classes we trainers put together outselves, based on Apple's curriculum and course material. These are not certification classes, they do not count towards certification, they're out presonal tutorial seminars. But often cover much, but not all, of the info in the certification classes.
Well, that's about all I have in me for this subject. No, being a certified FCP user won't make you more creative in that sense. But it WILL make you a more powerful, faster, more capable editor, which, if you are already a creative person, gives you more power to be creative. The classes are long, intense, in depth, and very powerful experineces.
Just as an example, here's an email I just got this morning:
"Dear Ben,
Thank you for a wonderful two day FCP seminar. I feel like I learned an enormous amount, and the knowledge that I gained will be crucial in my attempt to do make my ******* ******** documentary a success. Thank you so much, and I look forward to your doing an intermediate / advanced class in a few months time.
KC"
A three day certification class will wear your butt out! And you're brain will be ready to explode! But you'll also walk away a MUCH more powerful editor. And you'll be forever on a quest for more education. It instills that in you. Something to think about.
Oh, one last thing, when I did the end user cert a couple of years ago for FCP-4, I thought, "Well, I've been using FCP since I pre-ordered v.1, so I pretty much know all this." WRONG! Do the book cover to cover no matter how experienced you think you are. I can assure you by the time you close the back cover, you'll be amazed at how much you've learned. And I do mean no matter HOW experienced you think you are. You WILL learn a lot.
Ok, I gotta get set to go and cut the lawn...
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