Final Cut Pro Certification
Tuesday, December 22 Filed in: digital media
I recently took the Level One Apple Certification
Exam for Final Cut Pro 7. Because of an error on the
part of an intern I actually got to take the test
twice -- once in October and again in December. Many
thanks to Future Media Concepts in Chicago for taking
good care of me throughout the process.
I’m a teacher and by no means a professional video editor, but I found the level one test to be simultaneously challenging and easy -- if that’s even possible. My advice to anyone looking to take the exam is to use the software a lot and use it in a variety of ways. Don’t get stuck in a series of habits and miss out on the depth of the program; or at least a depth of knowledge of the program.
I might even go out on a limb and suggest that its possible to know the answer to every question in the Peachpit book - the “official curriculum” of the training series - and still have trouble passing the certification exam. It’s one thing to know the facts, but it’s another thing to be able to apply the knowledge to the questions on the exam. There will be a couple questions that seem to come out of nowhere, and there are a couple of questions where your brain will say, “I know the answer they’re looking for, but I’m not sure which of these choices will fit the bill.” Sound crazy? Perhaps. I guess it’s just well written test.
All the questions are multiple choice. Some allow you to select more than one answer (careful with some of these!), and many of them use graphics (screenshots from Final Cut). The most interesting questions are those that ask you to click on a graphic to answer a question. This feels a little odd at first. You’re used to getting feedback when you click your mouse on something, but in this case you just place a red “target” icon when you click. You can click again to move your target so if you’re prepared for clicking on a plain graphic it helps.
I’m a teacher and by no means a professional video editor, but I found the level one test to be simultaneously challenging and easy -- if that’s even possible. My advice to anyone looking to take the exam is to use the software a lot and use it in a variety of ways. Don’t get stuck in a series of habits and miss out on the depth of the program; or at least a depth of knowledge of the program.
I might even go out on a limb and suggest that its possible to know the answer to every question in the Peachpit book - the “official curriculum” of the training series - and still have trouble passing the certification exam. It’s one thing to know the facts, but it’s another thing to be able to apply the knowledge to the questions on the exam. There will be a couple questions that seem to come out of nowhere, and there are a couple of questions where your brain will say, “I know the answer they’re looking for, but I’m not sure which of these choices will fit the bill.” Sound crazy? Perhaps. I guess it’s just well written test.
All the questions are multiple choice. Some allow you to select more than one answer (careful with some of these!), and many of them use graphics (screenshots from Final Cut). The most interesting questions are those that ask you to click on a graphic to answer a question. This feels a little odd at first. You’re used to getting feedback when you click your mouse on something, but in this case you just place a red “target” icon when you click. You can click again to move your target so if you’re prepared for clicking on a plain graphic it helps.
Apple.com: Producing Lilly Allen
Saturday, February 14 Filed in: software
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