The Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group will be having it’s either annual meeting this coming Wednesday…June 18th. I remember hearing about this group and thinking that it was some small users group meeting of maybe 10 people…like the Mac User Groups I was used to in the past. When I finally attended a meeting I found out that I was WAY WRONG. They held the meetings in this HUGE theatre on Hollywood Blvd, on the Walk of Fame. Swanky.

I went to a meeting 4 years ago when FCP 4.5 was released. Dubbed FCP HD because you could capture one format of HD to it via firewire…DVCPRO HD. I had to go see this. Panasonic was there to demonstrate the DVCPRO HD workflow…Footage shot with a Varicam was then put into what they called the most affordable HD deck around, the AJ-HD1200. And it was…but at $25,000, I think it was a tad out of the price range of the crowd.

Anyway, this next meeting will be exciting…at least I find it exciting. And I have been to a lot of meetings. Here’s the blurb…

“Join us as we celebrate the eighth anniversary of the lafcpug. Scheduled to appear will be veteran film editor and Associate Professor and Head of the Editing Track at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Norman Hollyn. Plus, the brand new soon to be shipping Video Recorder/D.264 encoder from BlackMagic Design will make it’s LA debut. Plus, the brand new Focus FS-5 Portable DTE Recorder from Focus Enhancements will wow all of you who hate tape. Plus the FCP Tip/Trick of the Month, Stump The Gurus, Show and Tells and, if budget allows, Balloons, Circus Clowns and Pony Rides. And of course, World Famous Raffle. And MORE!.”

I am a fan of Norman’s blog, so it will be really nice to meet him. And I was very excited at NAB when I saw the announcement of that nifty device. And of course the new device by Focus. A whole lotta good stuff.