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Is Apple Listening?

By Beth Marchant   /   Jun 28, 2011
First it was the parody on Conan. Then came the forums, anti-FCPX Facebook pages and subsequent YouTube mashups of Der Untergang and Hitler’s reaction to the news. Despite slow but mounting evidence that some are beginning to more fully understand Final Cut Pro X, much of the professional editing community is still seething one week after its launch. Now it seems Apple, never one to react publicly to market pressures, may actually be listening to the furor. A newly redesigned landing page on its main Web site goes deeper into the most misunderstood feature sets and links to a full, detailed list of technical specs. The app itself includes a short manual that users confirm, when read, helps them make quick sense of the initially confusing new workflows. Too little too late? Across Vimeo and YouTube, a number of video tests cut on FCPX confirm that people are indeed getting their hands dirty and yes, folks, having some fun. One commenter on our site who tips his hand at how long he’s been in this business says, “I have been learning FCPX for the last three days and I can confirm no ill health effects and my head has not exploded.” He particularly likes how he can customize his effects, filters and transitions and the fact that it takes him about “80% less clicks to get results.” He also recommends reading the albeit “very brief” manual and admits, “It would be a shame if only new young editors had the balls to try this thing out.” In the words of another who has spent the last week exploring the feature sets and is posting his early tests to Vimeo, “Stay calm and edit on.” For those who have neither the time nor the legroom with clients to teach themselves, clearly there is still room for more intensive, hands-on training. Larry Jordan, among the first to get an early preview of the software back in April, is offering on July 12 what appears to be the very first live Final Cut Pro X training event on the West Coast. Laura Peters, who handles marketing for Jordan’s training business, told me today that Jordan wanted to do a live event so attendees “can get their questions answered, get the facts and cut through the hype.” Several key companies, including AJA, Blackmagic Design and others, will also be on hand to answer questions about how their software and hardware works now with FCPX. Peters added that while the pro market is struggling to understand and use the new release, plenty more have given Jordan positive feedback about how the FCPX training he’s offering for sale on his site has helped them get back in the game.

42 Comments

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  • robertdee

    I’ve been an FCP user since version 1.3, first in a post house in Soho for 5 years, then in an ad agency for 2.5 and for the last 3 through my own business. I downloaded FCPX within first half hour of it being up (as well as motion). When I opened it and saw (what I thought wa0s the lack of preferences etc I though “WTF”. Rather than make a swift judgement and react to internet hearsay, I got Larry’s Tutorials which I’m now halfway through and can’t wait to get my teeth into a (non critical) client job to put it through its paces properly. The file structuring, keywording and metadata are going to speed up my workflow vastly and the single inspector for turning on and off clip filters and options is very useful. I was concerned about the lack of features such as EDL/XML output and OMF output as well as opening FCP7 projects, playing out to a monitor through a card and multicam (as everyone else is) but I expect these features to be reinstated within weeks, not months. It was always going to be bumpy as a 1.0 release (which it is). Regarding the new editing paradigm, yeah it cosmetically looks like iMovie but its not particularly professional to say it IS iMovie without putting in some hours on it and seeing what third parties and apple updates are just round the corner. You can always use FCP7 in the meantime. I’ve seen flame artists doing work on Cillit Bang commercials and I’ve seen videos on youtube shot on camcorders and edited in iMovie that have been enjoyed by millions. Its telling a good story that makes you a pro.

  • http://behemothmedia.com Vincent-louis

    I don’t think anyone is missing the “balls” to try final cut X. It simply isn’t a very good solution for many professional editors, especially in collaborative situations. This software is NOT what we were promised as the next final cut upgrade, it’s basically a more featured version of the imovie way of doing things. Parts of it are absolutely fantastic and I have no doubt much of what’s in here will make it’s way into an editor’s “must have” feature list over time, but it’s missing a lot of important stuff, too much for many people to actually use it for professional projects which, in theory is who is what is was supposedly made for. In brief, they should have called it something else as it’s not aimed at final cut pro users in this current state of development.

  • Stan Winstone

    Gimme a break, Apple. The issue isn’t professionals not ‘misunderstanding’ the so-called pro features of FCP X. They simply do not exist as Apple’s laughable- it’s a 1.0 cut us (the biggest corp in the US next to Exxon) some slack FAQ desperately attempts to convince otherwise. X is a sick joke of an app. Those who believe otherwise are ignorant, amateurs or worse- turncoats trying to profit from X’s continued charade as something pros would actually want to use. I’m looking right at you Larry Jordan, ‘master trainer’.

    Anyways, the fix is real simple. Reinstate FCP 7′s status as a fully supported and for sale application for at least another year or two until X shapes up into something respectable. And offer a massive mea culpa for taking a dump in the faces of the folks who propped up your editing software as the rebel editing solution for the past decade.

    Oh and while you’re at it, please demote Mr. Ubillos to the land of iMovie and iPad apps, his proper calling. He wouldn’t know a professional editor if one lived in his back yard.

  • http://www.studiomonthly.com Beth Marchant

    Apple has also posted answers to FAQs on its updated landing page: http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/faq/

  • http://www.okcfcpug.com Gregory Kuhn

    I haven’t had a test drive yet so I will try to be open minded here. My biggest concern is how Apple is marketing FCP X. They are using terms like “fun” and “sandbox” this seems like code word for a consumer/prosumer market. This is my greatest concern. That FCP X is being built first for the consumer/prosumer market and that the Pro market will now be secondary. I hope that I am wrong and I WILL be buying a copy of FCP X very soon. Just hope they keep the Pro market in the loop…and hopefully we will be their first thought in the future….not second or third…

  • Jerome Wheatly

    The tone of these articles continues to be from the slightly asinine perspective that the grievances against FCPX are simple a matter of people not getting it or not having the massive testicles required to attempt using FCPX. Rather than parsing out a tit-for-tat skewed in favor of the benevolence decreed by Apple, maybe invite some professional editors to try out FCPX and discuss how it may or may not work for them in the scope of their work. I can tell you personally we are looking at how and why to use FCPX but so far, for our clients, FCPX is not ready for primetime.

  • Scott Shucher

    But what about the need to add immediate new seats of FCP to be compatible with FCP7 workflow, today? Very short-sighted move to pull the old version off the shelves at this point, before FCPX is ready for the professional environment.

  • SteveG

    I am anxious to hear what they’ll offer as far as an update and will wait on a decision to purchase. If something isn’t announced fairly soon, then it’s hello Avid or Adobe. I’m sure Apple isn’t worried about a handful of pros jumping ship since they’ve pretty much provided the plank with the release of FCPX.

  • Oscar Bustamante

    I was so excited to download FCP X from the App store. After 4 days of diving in, without question there some fabulous features. But in a professional setting of serious editing, I was beside myself that I could not find a massive, major function…. Muti-cam editing???!!!!!
    Completely gone. Not even mentioned. How is this possible???!!!
    Are you serious? This can not be called professional. So I refunded the program and let Apple know that I will definitely purchase FCP X when it is ready for the professional market. I hope they don’t rush and make more mistakes. I’d rather get it right the first time. I believe Apple will work hard to recoup some lost ground.

    • http://www.studiomonthly.com Beth Marchant

      Apple claims multicam is coming back soon, but why they yanked it without fanfare is indeed mystifying.

  • Bill Pryor

    The deal killer for me is that it won’t accept old FCP projects. Editors using Adobe CS5.5 tell me that they are sending FCP projects to it with no problems. I have too many projects over the past 3 years and have to go back into old ones on a day’s notice. If I’m going to have to learn new software, I’ll stick with those that are more industry standard, like Avid or Adobe. I happen to like bins, and sequences and projects–ie., why change the names?

  • ldtowers

    Apple isn’t listening. They are spinning. Having used FCP X since release I can confirm it will not be terrible useful for larger complicated projects requiring discrete management of tracks. Not being able to toggle quickly between multiple versions is ridiculous
    There are two different issues being conflated here. One which is opening and saving of projects. Apple apologists keeps saying no big deal. Well professionals have projects around for years, and no professional wants to start from scratch. If you really knew FCP you’d know that a project isn’t just the cut, it is the organization of media as well. Whether the source is tape based or not is not relevant. No one wants to reorganize clips and recut from scratch just to remake a directors cut, or alternate cut with different framing or whatever.
    Now the really irritating issue, which is being woefully glossed over is the REASON those old projects won’t ever open up in FCP X. It as nothing to do with the codebase, or advanced features etc or any other vague reason apple states. If FCP 7 info can be exported via xml and opened up in other apps, it should tell you that there isn’t any low level code that needs to be addressed to get a project over. The real reason is that FCP X doesn’t really understand what the hell tracks are and evidently it never will. So information from any track based app has no where to go.
    For further proof, note the only support they even mention for the future is export not import.
    Their solution for exporting audio tracks, by tagging clips is laughable! Guess what? Sometimes a clip is used for more than one purpose! Sometimes cue sound track from one scene gets put into ambience track for another! Different people work different ways. FCP X forces you to work their crippled way and it can never fundamentally change. This is the real problem why FCP X can never be a professional app. Having discrete tracks is absolutely necessary in a professional work environment.
    The irritating thing to professionals is that here was no damned reason at all to get rid of this paradigm. It doesn’t intrinsically improve anything. It wouldn’t affect the implementation of any of the real improvement made by FCP X.
    It was change for the sake of change to make this consumer friendly and to harness the iMovie codebase.

  • http://www.studiomonthly.com Beth Marchant

    More bad news about FCPX is coming in from studios with many FCP seats; we’ll report on their challenges and frustrations soon.

    And Apple should take this petition very seriously: http://bit.ly/lF9ZUF

  • wm

    ldtowers is correct. Apple IS NOT LISTENING. At least not to us. Why? Because their bottom line is not directed by film/video editors but by iPhone, iPod and iPad owners. That’s who they’re listening to. SO the problem for FCPX is how it becomes a transitional “app” to give iPhone, iPod and iPad users a cute little video editing app on their devices. As the Hitler reaction video says, “We can always go back to AVID,” or Adobe Premier … And guess what? Apple won’t care …

  • Jos

    No they are not listening. If they were they wouldn’t have responded the way they did. They no longer care about the professional market. FCPX looks very promising still, but the direction Apple has chosen is clear. And that disappoints all those professionals that helped build the brand by advocating for Apple in the past. On the short term Apple will make loads of money out of FCPX. On the long run, I think this one may backfire at them. But then they already have quatrillionized their billions so they probably care even less.

    Either way, I am disappointed. Even if FCPX delivers what I need from it in a few months, the Apple logo will never smile at me again the way it did. I am definitely no longer advocating for their brand, on the contrary. New players will enter the field someday, and when the big crowd decides Apple is no longer the ‘supercool’ their stock will tumble hard. Rule number one in relationship marketing: never ever let down the people that advocate for you. And Apple did just that.

  • Jeff Beaumont

    I’ve been waiting for someone else to figure this out. Idtowers nailed it:

    “If FCP 7 info can be exported via xml and opened up in other apps, it should tell you that there isn’t any low level code that needs to be addressed to get a project over. The real reason is that FCP X doesn’t really understand what the hell tracks are and evidently it never will. So information from any track based app has no where to go.”

    I would say that the two issues that have been conflated are the interface and the missing features. As a pro editor I am TOTALLY open to learning a new interface and different workflows. I am NOT open to waiting months or years for Apple to reinstate missing features. I’ve waited long enough, thank you very much. (see my comments on Premiere Pro 5.5 below)

    Also, it is BS to say (as robertdees did) that Apple will reinstate missing features in “weeks not months” if that were true they could have waited a couple of weeks and and shipped a more finished product. I think MultiCam is a pretty serious amount of code. From past experience with Apple that would be a full dot release (1.1 , I’ll guess that will be 6 months off), but more likely version 2 (in time for NAB next year? If they dare show up to the SuperMeet again).

    IMO Apple knew how pissed professional editors would be and were willing to take a risk that their ire wouldn’t slow sales to Noobs, iMovie users and pros who don’t need multi-cam, OMF, Import/Export options … the list of missing features is too long to finish here.
    On the bright side FCPX has forced me to take a hard look at Premiere Pro 5.5 and I was shocked to find all the ways it is superior to FCP 7. As a Photoshop and After Effects user I think I was nuts for not switching sooner. One simple example. Native P2 and Red support effectively doubles the capacity of our SAN.
    BTW-I hear FCPX isn’t playing nice with SANs yet. Is that true? If so one more reason not to buy FCPX

  • Somaone

    I’m trying to give FCPX a reasonable chance. Days one and two were spent trying to convince the App Store to allow me to purchase it. At the end of day two, it randomly relented, then downloaded and installed. Side note here: with many ISPs now starting to charge by bandwidth used, I think I’d like the option to purchase a DVD instead of having to use up some of my allotment of GB in the future.
    Anyway, today (day three), I started a nonessential project with file-based media. Almost immediately I learned to hate the unpredictable behavior of the scrubber function when trying to work with my media. A “feature” that causes the playhead to jump around unexpectedly when using keystroke edits isn’t going to win anyone over to this application. I’d also like to know if there’s any explanation as to why it was necessary to swap the keys that perform cut and ripple delete? It seems like that didn’t really require “fixing” if the function of each command still exists. After some time learning to adapt to these impediments, FCPX conveniently crashed. It’s worth noting that I was performing an unusual and intensive task at the time: previewing video.
    At this point, I launched Premiere, cut the piece, and exported it.

  • Matt Uncapher

    Final Cut Pro never really became a viable professional tool until version 3. Anyone who was a professional at that time was editing on Avid’s Media Composer or Media 100. Firewire was the gateway to ingest footage or view on a external monitor. It took awhile for developers to release video cards that would allow you to hook the various array of SD I/O and RS-422 machine control. After third party vendors entered the scene, it finally made sense to switch to Final Cut Pro 3 because of the price. Avid and Media 100 lost significant ground because of it. It almost pushed Media 100 entirely out of the market. Apple continued adding features to make it even more compelling to switch. Not only were people switching editing platforms but entire workstations. With Avid pretty much abandoning the Mac workflows in the 90s it forced people to buy PCs. With FCP3 it forced people to buy a Mac and FCP while still being significantly cheaper than the alternative unless you already were running Media 100.

    So here we are with version 10 or I should say Final Cut X version 1.0. We are starting again from scratch. There is very limited support from third party vendors. There are a lot of new features and features that are missing. Can we do everything that we can do in FCP 7, Avid or Premiere? Absolutely not. Will it take time? Yes. Will people be tempted to jump ship and maybe even hardware platforms? Yes.

    There are many answers yet to be seen. Like how extensive the API’s will be for third party plug-in support. I’m sure Blackmagic and AJA will have true external monitoring. As for opening FCP 7, maybe somebody like Automatic Duck steps up and makes something amazing to opening our old projects. Obviously there will be things lost in translation. Should that be expected with a new version of FCP? The answer is simply no. Will third party developers like CatDV make a way to import your Final Cut Server database into their product and allow the integration in the FCP X? On and on and on we could keep asking questions. We simply will just have to wait. The real question is how long we will have to wait.

  • Tim

    Is Apple Listening? As in I’ll never be able to import legacy projects? Please.

  • Fred

    Unless there are multiple tracks for editing and multi camera, then it is not a professional level program. If I want a one track solution I will use iMovie.

    Or more accurately, I will move back to Avid before degrading my editing experience that much.

  • http://doublesharpe.com Robert Sharpe

    I’ve always appreciated Larry Jordan’s tutorials, but if his FCPX training is anything like his free introduction to the training it has got to be a joke. The free Introduction is nothing more than a powerpoint presentation. Is that what we can expect from the rest of the paid tutorial? If so, it’s as disappointing as the new program he is showing us how to use. If not, give a sample of what the training will actually look like.
    As far as what I’ve read about FCPX, it is missing the most important aspects of a professional editing program: XML export, multicam editing and bluray and DVD support. I realize that Apple thinks everything is going the way of iTunes digital downloads (and maybe in a few years that will be the case), but right now my clients are not even remotely interested in what Apple sees as the future for media exchange – they want Bluray and DVDs – and I have to give my clients what they want. Too bad that Apple doesn’t have the same philosophy.

  • http://southvalleymobiletelevision.com Nick Brown

    iPods, iTunes, iPhones, iPads are Apple profit centers. In comparison, how much profit does FCP generate? Adobe and Avid make the majority of there profits from sales of software for media production.

    Adobe users need competition from Apple and Avid to keep Adobe competitive but it appears Apple might not be motivated to support the pro digital video editing market much longer. I hope I’m wrong.

    On the other hand, Premiere 5.5 has FCP keyboard settings and works on Mac and PC. Adobe has tightly integrated it with After Effects, Encore, Photoshop and Audition. Version CS5.5 is surprisingly stable and a big improvement over CS4. For script to screen productions, It’s hard to beat when looking at the features and price. I have limited experience with Avid, possibly others can share their current knowledge?

    Could it be that Apple has lost it’s momentum and will slowly fade away like Media 100 in the 90′s? Will Media 100 under new owners BorisFX rise from the ashes. Is Apple compiling resources to take advantage of the emerging Thunderbolt transfer speeds?

    Stay tuned for the next episode in this never ending saga coming soon the a screen near you.

  • http://www.accelvideo.com John Markert

    hmmmmm…….49 negative comments to 2 positive comments on these threads. do I detect a trend?

  • Jeff

    I agree with what Vincent-louis said above. Final Cut Pro X is much more like an artificially crippled version of a software package that companies create and then label “Express”. If Apple had named the product something like Final Cut Express X they likely wouldn’t be getting all this back lash. Then another year or two later release Final Cut Pro with most of the features matched to the previous FCP7.

    They may have even seen Pro users experimenting with FCEX and learning the interface before the release of FCPX.

  • Jesenko

    I hope for announcements of FCP 8 and QT Pro 8 to continue the ‘Pro’ line.
    Use the ‘X’ crap for consumers/prosumers.
    If that doesn’t happen soon, “Hello Adobe/Avid” it is.
    What an unbelievable move from Apple… and they had the guts to announce this at NAB/Supermeet??!!!! As an upgrade!?!?!? Wow…

  • http://www.alacritymedia.com Blair S. Paulsen

    The real kick in the balls is the summary axing of FCP7. Perhaps FCPX will mature into a fabulous tool as the 3rd party vendors extend its core functionality and provide needed integration into the post ecosystem – time will tell.
    How much could it cost Apple to keep supporting FCP7 for another year? Its almost like they want us to switch to Adobe or Avid.
    I realize Apple makes far more revenue with other products, but why alienate the production community seemingly on purpose?

  • Ronen Pestes

    So FCP-X cost $299, and the additional 3rd party plug-in’s for xml or OMF support will cost additional $300-$400, add compressor and motion with no real DVD authoring and you get to the price of Avid. well done Apple.

    the only one that seems to make money from this version is all the people that ‘predicted’ how great this version is going to be, and got the go ahead from Apple to ‘educate’ people for money on how to use the software.

  • bryant

    If you are not tied to the mac take a look at grassvalley edius I worked with a client that uses it and I am switching from FCP to it for most of my work. it sucks that there is no mac version but it is a great edit tool.

  • D’Lynn Waldron

    I direct and edit four camera videos of Symphony orchestra concerts and prepare them for all the different uses from DVDs to Facebook clips. In addition my videos contain segments from my FCP archives over the years when they feature a composer’s works, or a theme, or an era in music.

    It is totally impossible for me to work without multi-camera and totally impossible for me to work without access to my archive of FCP files.

    This is nothing but iMovie for people to go on an ego-trip and say “I use FCP like the professionals do”.

    I am with BAFTA (the British Academy) and for years have evangelized FCP, including to my neighbor here in Santa Monica, Joel Coen, when he was still using a Movieola. He and Ethan switched to FCP and began doing ads for Apple that Apple then made subtly misleading- “Oh, Brother Where Art Thou” was edited on their Movieola- only the sound track was done digitally and it wasn’t done in an Apple product.

    The great editor Anne V. Coates (“Lawrence”, etc.) has resisted my evangelizing and still works on an Avid at the studio, but her daughter Emma Hickox edits in FCP.

    What do I tell everyone? “Go back to the Movieola because no idiot at Apple can f that up!

  • Iresong

    Apple needs to remember that not all of us ‘pro’ users only use their ‘pro’ products. They may not care that those of us who have been loyal since the beginning may stop purchasing pro apps, but they should seriously consider the ramifications of many of us souring on the Apple brand entirely.
    It makes me sick to even think of using Windows or giving up my iPhone, but this kind of ‘screw you’ attitude to the legions of pros who stood by Apple when most consumers didn’t know who they were is troubling. I hope they don’t think that it’s been on the strength of some cool commercials alone that has so dramatically increased their success in the consumer market. It is largely due to those of us who have spent years converting our families and friends from PC to MAC… and I for one am now officially on hiatus from MAC-evangelizing until further notice.
    THINK hard Apple…

  • Eric

    “On the bright side FCPX has forced me to take a hard look at Premiere Pro 5.5 and I was shocked to find all the ways it is superior to FCP 7.”

    This is something that many of we Premiere Pro users have known for some time. It’s funny how many editors are finally clicking on that little Pr icon, and finding something they didn’t expect. I really believe that many of them still think Premiere Pro is like the old late ’90s version. It’s come a LONG way.

  • Ron

    When they update the software, I’ll give it another look. Its honestly ridiculous to release a software package that clearly wasn’t ready…then in the same breath tell us to buy third party software (Automatic Duck) to do basic and necessary editing tasks. No thanks. I have my eye on Premiere and CS5.5 until Apple makes the “major update” this software needs to be considered a tool in the “professional” market.

    And yes, FCPX caters to “the future of editing” but last I checked, network specs STILL require OMFs and EDLs as well as TAPE deliverables (Digibeta and HDCAM with DEDICATED audio output tracks!!!) So you really can’t defend this pre-mature release.

  • http://www.kasastudio.com Salvin

    One thing I haven’t noticed yet is when Apple will cut off support for FCP 7? Most of their other products are killed off fairly quickly to make way for the new version. Where will be be if FCP 7 becomes a non-product in 6 months?

  • Lance B

    So I was in Frys tonight getting some stuff and stopped by an iMac to see iMovie since I don’t have the latest version on my tower. Yikes, it FCPX!!! It was instantly apparent that FCPX is truly iMovie Pro, built on the same code, interface and basic feature set. (Of course it has many more features than iMovie) Why didn’t Apple just make it a $99 app and call it iMovie Pro or Express or something? As far as a real FCP upgrade, all they had to do was what Adobe did to PPro and Sony did to Vegas – re-write the code so it was true 64bit but leave the interface and feature set alone! A little speed bump and RAM usage was all we needed – not this!

    What a disaster! Even the Avid Studio at $150 is more robust than FCPX and comes with a custom bundle of Magic Bullet apps for free!

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHtgsBJhgUM Josef Goebbels

    this is amusing and there are some interesting additional points made however the original idea for all the Hitler parodies is pretty much lifted from slackalicefilms from almost two months ago, which actually has a lot more insight considering the time it was made and which doesn’t rely quite so much on expletives and capital letters for its “humour.”

  • http://www.itswrittenproductions.com Carlos Quinones

    WoW….I don’t think will be even trying this “NEW” version of FCP. I don;t want to loose all my effects library privileges. It seems that professionals like us will be loosing more market when we have any body downloading and learning our tools !!!
    I guess I stick to FCP7 for now until I have another option.

  • Sooze

    Has anyone been to an Apple store lately? Pretty obvious from the reaction of the professional community that FCPX wasn’t intended for us. It was created for all those people in line at the store every day. My guess is they could care less about a handful of editors, (relatively,) when they just opened the way for an affordable, “fun” program for a broad base of consumers. Jeff is right, why didn’t they call it an Express program and wait to release an upgraded version of FCP down the road. I guess because money is money and if you can make a lot of it, who cares about loyal customers. Apple certainly doesn’t.

  • http://www.gallaudet.edu Patrick Harris

    If I see one more person take the time to actually type:

    “but I expect these features to be reinstated within weeks, not months. It was always going to be bumpy as a 1.0 release”

    I think I’ll slit my own throat. I have seen this across so many threads on so many sites. The bottom line is that FCP X:

    1) Does not follow an established paradigm of editing conducive to professional (read paid) post production. I’ve edited programs to highly interactive DVDs that are STILL for sale on Amazon/BN/Borders/etc. I can’t even wrap my head around how I could get that done with FCP X.

    2) Does not (natively, unless you want to drop more coin for plugins) allow for collaboration between either editors, colorists, graphic designers and/or sound designers – which makes it useless for anyone except the “island” independents out there. Forget about using it in a multi-seat, shared storage environment such as, gasp, an educational institution! All those up-and-comers will have to learn to play by themselves!

    3) IS not and WAS not ever designed to be an extension of the editing ideals/paradigms put forth by the years of development through every iteration of Final Cut Pro. It’s not a “1.0″ release, please stop saying that. It’s a version release of iMovie “9.02″. Plain and simple.

    I feel lucky in that I have used Avid since ’96 and ProTools since ’93. I’ve used FCP since v1.0, still have the discs. When my FCP 7 becomes useless I’ll switch over to Avid almost exclusively. I like Adobe, although Premiere 4.2 kinda jaded me, but I’ll give it a second look (I have Premiere CS5, I just don’t use it, go figure.)

    So, if the Apple Apologists could please cease and disist, we “professionals” will continue our editing as best we can. I for one will not be buying FCP X any time soon. I HAVE bought Motion 5, which is also lacking in some very important areas, but it costs 50 bucks. Funny, it’ll open my old Motion 4 files…who knew?!

  • http://nathanlawrencegroup.com N Tate

    I have been in the professional television industry since 1975, I come from the era of Ampex quad tape. Started with Premiere when I opened a production company – went to FCP 5 or 6 years ago. Liked the product -it did not interfere with creativity…or the craft of editing a video piece for airing on television, web or DVD. I make my living as a professional editor using FCP7.
    I think FCPX may be a great product…SOMEDAY, but TODAY an editor needs a dependable NLE, not a sandbox. I think it would have been better for Apple to move the post community into FCPX in steps FCP 8, FCP9 etc. instead of pulling the plug and leaving the professional editing community that use FCP in a lurch. I will keep FCP7 but add Premiere or Avid and discontinue FCP7 which has been an excellent tool for me.

  • Timbalionguy

    With OSX Lion about to be released (I’m nuts about anything having to do with lions), and my current PC near the end of its life, I have been giving serious thought to getting a Mac instead of a traditional PC. One of the driving forces behind doing this was the ability to run FCP and start doing some video editing of my own. Well, after seeing this fiasco, Apple just lost a potential customer. No Iphones, Ipads, or Ianything anymore, either.

    As for my work environment, we cannot afford to switch platforms. We will run FCP 7 as long as we can. Maybe we will go back to editing videotape while we figure out how to ‘move beyond Apple’. In any case, this was a really huge blunder on Apple’s part. Or, perhaps it was deliberate. In any case, this is not a way to ‘win friends and influence people’.

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