I recently posted about new software from EditGroove called UserMatic that lets you store an unlimited number of user profiles for various Final Cut Pro settings. I had a chance to try out the software myself and I must say that I was pretty impressed.
What Does It Do?
According to the User Manual:
“Simply put: UserMatic™ stores and recalls “supersets” of any settings that can be customized within Final Cut Pro. That includes items like your User Preferences, System Settings, Audio/Video settings, and choice of Easy Setup … it also encompasses all of your Favorite effects, Keyboard Layout(s), Button Bar(s), Window Layout(s), and more. In short, it saves whatever you’ve customized within FCP … that helps make it your own!”
When you have Final Cut Pro running, you open the program and store your current user profile. Then you can open FCP and make changes to the profile. Once you close FCP, you go back to UM and click store and now you will have another user profile that contains whatever the new settings are that you created.
Another useful feature is trashing FCPs current preferences. This is one of the first things you should do when FCP is acting freaky. This makes it simple to get rid of the current set and bring back your saved settings without having to manually go in an reset everything.
The interface makes it very easy to backup, duplicate, delete and rename a selected user profile. It is just a click of a button. Simple and efficient, I like it.
What Does It Do For Me?
Overall, its a very well thought out and neat application. For anyone that has multiple FCP users on one computer, this is a must buy. Really anyone who has worked with Final Cut long enough to dive into all the little settings and tweak them will love this. You can back up all the profiles you like and easily store them on a jump stick. They are about 536kb a piece.
If you edit on your laptop, like I do, this is an invaluable program. I can set up different preferences for different locations and tasks. For example, when I am at home I have my profile that links to my personal external hard drive, capture settings, etc. Then when I go to work I use a different drive and I am editing in different formats. Instead of manually resetting all of this I just open UserMatic and click a button.
Pros
- store an unlimited number of saved settings
- clean, simple interface
- works over a network
- easy backups
- solves the majority of minor annoyances that occur when using Final Cut with multiple users and/or on multiple machines
Cons
- The one downfall is you cannot change/create profiles while the program is open. You must shut down, load the user profile you want, and then restart FCP
Conclusion
This is great software at a great price ($34.95). If you are a serious Final Cut Pro user, I highly recommend that you give this a try. The more I use it, the more I like it and wonder how I lived without it.
If you purchase it through the Final Cut Professional, you will also receive a 5% discount. Check it out and let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Click Here to Buy EditGroove’s UserMatic!
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