Today I’m doing a PluralEyes FCP X review because there is now a new version of the popular PluralEyes software for Final Cut Pro X that might help speed up your editing process, especially for DSLR shooters. Singular Software’s popular synching tool for Final Cut Pro 7 is sure to be a hit with video editors using Apple’s new FCP X, but I’ll break down a couple of the reasons why you may or may not want to buy this plugin. Here are a few pros and cons:

Pros:

• PluralEyes FCP X is more reliable than the built-in sync function in FCP X. At times the built-in sync gets confused.
• PluralEyes FCP X can handle tons of clips and sync them with ease. It is basically impossible to sync more than two clips in FCP X without PluralEyes
• PluralEyes FCP X can sync multiple video clips with the same audio clip. This is something crucial for me and other DSLR shooters. We often shoot with continuous audio on a recorder like a Zoom H4n, but we stop and start the video because cameras like the Canon 5D mark II and even the mark III cannot shoot longer than 12 minutes and 30 minutes respectively. So if I film an interview that has two or three video clips of, say, 10 minutes each and an audio track of 30 minutes, I can only sync one of those video clips to the audio in FCP X. Unless I have PluralEyes. Otherwise I have to sync the other two video clips by hand, or I have to cut the audio during the interview into multiple clips, which just makes things even more complicated and is a bad idea.

Cons:

• It does take a few more clicks to sync clips using PluralEyes, whereas with the built-in FCP sync function, you can right click and select “synchronize” and you’re done. PluralEyes takes a minute to process, and to export to PluralEyes from FCP X you have to leave the timeline and view the entire list of projects, which takes a moment as well.
• As usual, I’m going to complain about the price here. If you’re like me and independent, it’s tough to budget for anything more than essential gear. If you are spending $150 on a plugin for use on a piece of software that costs $300 total, then you better get a lot of use out of it. PluralEyes for FCP 7 was a comparable price, but it was a fraction of the total price of FCP 7, and now that FCP X is much, much cheaper, it’s hard to justify spending 50% of the cost of the original software on a plugin.

Thanks for looking and I hope this PluralEyes FCP X review was helpful to you …