You've no doubt been reading a lot about what's new, what's missing, what's inspired and what's still mystifying in the radically overhauled and rebuilt Final Cut Pro X. So have we. On Thursday I met with Apple and brought with me the litany of concerns voiced by current FCP 7 users in comments and in posts on our site, on Twitter, and in the great Web beyond. In two hours, I saw the specifics of a platform and environment with tremendous potential in action and got many of my questions answered. Apple's two product specialists also had plenty to say before the demo about the depth (54% of the NLE market in broadcast as Avid and Adobe battle it out for second place) and breadth (2 million paid users to date) of its use. I expected that, and it's all true. Then they rolled out the most recent customer feedback numbers. Ninety-four percent of Final Cut Pro 7 customers are satisfied with the software, the highest the company has ever had for its 12-year-old product.
Somehow I think those numbers would be very different if users were surveyed today.
But just as Apple is acutely aware that many of its pro customers are alarmed by what they can't see inside the new release — and therefore think are irretrievably and intentionally missing — Apple has a bigger story to tell, and in the longer, detailed telling, knows this too shall pass. The criticism is intensifying and the adjustment may take much longer than Apple would like, however. Just last night, Conan O'Brien's editors offered this amusing spot on what the release means to them:
Final Cut Pro X is indeed very different, and different always takes some getting used to. For busy editors, this shift is not well thought out and timed — but if not now, when? Apple's specialists reminded me that most NLEs in use today were built in the 1990s, as Final Cut originally was. Adding updates to an outdated platform, one intrinsically linked to physical media, is the easiest way out. Instead, Apple reckoned, an expanding file-based universe deserved a 64-bit, Cocoa-automated editing tool completely rebuilt for file-based media, no sticky tape strings attached.
I can hear some of you grumbling right now because that last sentence reminded you, if you've been reading up, that FCPX can't capture or output to tape. At install, that's true. File-centric Apple knows tape-based workflows will eventually disappear but I was assured the company wants to accommodate current users who still depend on tape during the transition. That's why Apple developers worked with AJA before the release to discuss the API and create a path. Beta drivers for AJA's KONA card are already out, and Apple says other tape capture and output cards and devices are definitely on the way. The lack of broadcast monitor support is another serious issue for editors like Conan's and all the rest using FCP at CNN, ABC, the BBC, Turner Studios, Walt Disney, and on and on. Again, I'm told that will come from third parties soon.
What you do get are features that go much deeper than you might think. Yes, there are many ideas in FCPX that have been percolating for some time in iMovie, in iPhoto and even in Apple Mail. But in the context of an editorial workflow, each of these new features can leapfrog cumbersome former tasks that you probably won't miss once you understand how much control over every aspect of your projects you still have.
The Magnetic Timeline never fixes anything to your timeline that can't be moved later. And when moving clips, the "dynamic lanes" mean that one set of clips and attached audio knows to move out of the way if another set is heading for it. This prevents you from ever colliding clips or worrying about sync again. It's a punchline in the Conan video above, but the feature was designed to let you connect clips and audio and additional audio effects and move them around without pushing elements out of sync. You can still break your compound clips and audio to see the their full complexity but collapsing them down to minimize the clutter and really see the flow of your edit has got to be an easier way to work.
Rendering, image stabilizing, face tagging, media reading, shot detecting, audio clean up, color matching and balancing and every other process that happens in the background while you work is a result of the new Auto Analysis tools and 64-bit OS. You don't have to fuss with gamma shifts, background noise, shaky footage, among so many other things that used to use up your time. But you also don't have to apply any of those decisions the analysis finds. You still have the option to go in and tweak before applying an automated fix.
Every piece of media from HD to 4K that comes into FCPX is resolution independent, so there's no need to convert files.
Organizing and searching through similar-looking clusters of footage is made simpler by layers of range-based keywords that you apply and makes sense to you. You really don't need to put footage and projects in bins where they can sometimes hide. Again, the bin idea is a concept related to physical media, and file-based means your metadata, like links found in a Google search, can be found as fast as you type in your related keywords. But did you know you could also label just portions of clip and assign any number of keywords to the same clip? You don't have to make copies of clips to do this as you did in the past. Very freeing. On top of all this, there is a constantly updating search filter called Smart Collections that keeps track of every ingredient in your metadata soup. FCPX automatically creates these collections but you can build them out manually as well to put more of your own logic into the mix.
The Inline Precision Editor is worth getting to know well. It lets you skim across clips more fluidly to make better edit decisions.
Auditions, used to preview clips, is also a huge leap, though it may confound those used to stacking their clips on the timeline edges for easy viewing. Apple thinks those cilps don't belong where you could accidentally insert them, so the new Audition feature pulls in any keyword-searched clip in a pop-up window and automatically sizes it and drops it in the timeline where you tell it to go. The rest of your clips ripple through to fill out the timeline without gaps.
The 64-bit Equation
None of these new features would mean much if it wasn't for the tightly optimized OS and computer processing power. The 64-bit engine and OS X-native interface driving this new release are impressive. So much of the rendering and clip analysis in FCPX goes on in the background while you work. Want to retime a clip? Go ahead. If you're working on a newer iMac, you won't have to wait for it to render before you get back to work. Apple rebuilt FCPX to take full advantage of the quad cores, RAM, and GPU performance its latest iMacs have to offer. A new feature called Grand Central Dispatch makes sure all cores get tapped to do the heaviest data crunching. Apple told me it's about simultaneously "optimizing OS X and all that our machines have to offer." (The company would also love to sell you a new computer to give FCPX its best run possible, but isn't that obvious by now?)
You don't, however, need a brand new computer to run FCPX. You do need OS X 10.6.7, the current OS iteration. If you're running an earlier version of Snow Leopard (10.6), a quick software update from the Apple icon drop-down menu will get you there. And what about Lion (10.7), which was just announced? Apple's already thought of that and pre-engineered FCPX to work with Lion, due in July.
Multicam, XML, OMF… MIA?
Aha, you'll add here, but Apple didn't think of everything when it created FCPX from scratch. Multicam editing went away, but so did XML, OMF and AAF support—the means to tag and send individual tracks out to Pro Tools or projects to a higher-end grading system. You also can't open Final Cut Pro 7 projects in Final Cut Pro X, so what's the point of upgrading if you regularly reuse media or are in the middle of a project? While Apple did tell me that "it's not impossible to bring FCP7 media into FCPX," the company understands that people who are still mid-project in the old version may not want to migrate immediately. That is, until their FCP7 projects wrap up.
So is it really impossible in FCPX to tag individual tracks for narration, score and audio effects and send each out to Pro Tools in this new version? While it's true the Magnetic Timeline collapses separate, assigned audio tracks into one movable feast, those tracks can still be accessed with plug-ins. Apple says it never wanted to shut pro editors off from the old way of working, which is why it invited Automatic Duck's founder and chief architect Wes Plate to help solve the AAF/OMF problem early on with a plug-in. Apple knows that Plate writes exceptionally good code and that many use and depend on his plug-ins. Plate was on a short list of pre-release collaborators along with ProRes devotees AJA, FXPlug propagators Noise Industries, and Sony. Right now, FCPX puts a QuickTime wrapper around Sony's XDCAM codec but Sony is apparently updating the codec to 64-bit for full integration. Native camera support is very good but may be stronger out of the gate for the mid-market cameras and not the very high end. Still, Apple has made its API available to many more third parties, who now have tremendous business opportunities to build and profit from those bridges.
The removal of multicam editing — a feature Apple brought with much fanfare to an earlier version — is harder to fathom. It makes more sense when you learn that Apple is building a new multicam feature and didn't want to "shoehorn the old version into the new app." But don't worry: You won't have to wait two years for the next box releases to see multicam again. It's likely coming much sooner than that. A file-based app means no more box releases, ever. More regular updates, from bug fixes to larger point releases, are just a click away through the Mac App Store, which Apple launched in January. Again, you need to upgrade to 10.6.6 to access the Mac App Store on your computer. Other key system recommendations for FCPX include 4GB RAM (2GB is required) and at least the Core 2 Duo processors found in MacBooks and older iMacs.
XML support is also coming, though it will be an "evolved" version of XML as we know it. Apple, again, said it didn't want to force fit something that would become outmoded as FCPX itself evolved.
Compressor 4 and Motion 5 are now separate programs and available for $49 each. Motion 5 takes advantage of the FCPX's dark Cocoa-based interface that lets graphics and images pop better on screen. You can also create Smart Motion Templates and use them immediately in FCPX. These templates let a motion designer publish the stylistic controls, or a limited set of controls, to let the editor grab them more quickly in FCPX. If you favor a "morning mist" style your designer creates, you can grab all of these with a keyword without starting up Motion in FCPX to view them. Compressor 4 similarly lets you share a settings file without opening Compressor itself. You can still send your FCP projects in X out to Compressor, as you've done in the past.
So Now What?
Final Cut Pro X only has a two-and-a-half-star rating in the Mac App Store. Clearly, many are taking a wait-and-see approach. If you aren't ready to abandon Final Cut Pro 7 just yet, don't do it. Keep an eye on updates, as they will be coming much more frequently, and watch to see when your plug-ins of choice make the leap to FCPX. But in the meantime, do take advantage of any serious hands-on FCPX training you can find so you can start letting go of some admirably hard-won habits and discover cleaner, swifter ways of working. Manhattan Edit Workshop today announced what sounds like the first in-person training offered in New York. Trainers and integrators are undoubtedly planning similar sessions in LA, Chicago, London and elsewhere as we speak. We'll post links to info and registration as we learn of them.
Comments (47) for "Should You Upgrade to Final Cut Pro X?"
1.
So... a lot of these issues will be resolved by 3rd party software/hardware. What ever happened to Apple integrating everything? What about their motto "We build the hardware and software - so it just works."? Wasn't that their big argument to switch from Windows? And now with Final Cut we're going to have to spend more money on multiple products from multiple companies to get our system running again? Sounds absurd. If the ability to have these changes are there, why leave it to 3rd party developers? Don't get me wrong - I'm alright with and support having the OPTION to go with 3rd party products, but shouldn't Apple at least have those things built in any way?
Posted by Dan on Friday, June 24, 2011 @ 02:05 PM
2.
"the company understands that people still mid-project in the old version may not want to migrate immediately. That is, until their FCP7 projects wrap up."
But what they DON'T understand it seems, is that sometimes we need to go back into old projects. I certainly have. I've needed to open up an old project to create a small clip (which I understand FCPX doesn't have either - no exporting the stuff between in/out points). Or maybe I need to open it up to export a self contained full version. Now I won't be able too? Sounds like I'll need to spend even more money now setting up a second drive with second operating system so I can keep my old version of Final Cut (unless I can instal FCPX without it overriding FCP 7?)
Posted by Dan on Friday, June 24, 2011 @ 02:11 PM
3.
And what about collaborative workflows? Will we be able to work with shared storage? Will we be able to move projects? And what about using our second display? And a broadcast monitor? Will Apple transform a pretty toy in a pro app?
Posted by grepaol on Saturday, June 25, 2011 @ 02:58 AM
4.
"Final Cut Pro X only has a two-and-a-half-star rating in the Mac App Store. Clearly, many are taking a wait-and-see approach." Um no ... that means clearly the people who've purchased FCPX have determined it to be inadequate for their needs. Who is rating software based on a "wait and see" approach. If I'm waiting, I'm not rating.
Posted by Busby on Saturday, June 25, 2011 @ 03:33 AM
5.
Another misinformed article, both Turner and BBC in recent years abandoned FCP for Adobe...who's growth has been stronger than apples in recent years and has a user base just as large and now probably larger.
Posted by Jason Williams on Saturday, June 25, 2011 @ 12:00 PM
6.
i will not be updating to fcpx - not to interested right now. apple likes to boast that that they have 54% of the professional nle market ? ...really ? i am well beyond sure that figure is skewed.
then they run around and boast that fcpx can import your iMovie project files... really ? .. now what professional NLE editor uses iMovie .. get real ?
i use avid 5.5 and fcp studio and have been editing for a long time ... now who is apple to come along and tell people how to edit ? i think that they should have consulted editors or maybe tried to understand the editing process ? before creating a product that leaves real editors looking at the option they think are helpful and wondering why people just to edit.. sorry magnetic time line ? collapsible time line ? how bout jut learn to edit ....
Posted by joel on Saturday, June 25, 2011 @ 01:53 PM
7.
The high-end professional market just isn't profitable enough for Steve Jobs' vision of Apple. If it was up to him, everyone would be running iOS and buying a million fart apps for some iToy rendered obsolete every 12 months.
The Mac and everything it represented was Steve Wozniak's baby. Woz was the revolutionary who wanted to empower artists. Jobs was always the salesman.
Just as Apple killed Shake and replaced it with a "home" animation program (Motion), they are now killing FCP and replacing it with iMovie. Calling it "FCP X" was just a way to avoid wasting the reputation FCP 7 had.
And just as professional compositors and animators switched from Shake to Nuke, Fusion, Combustion or AFX (leaving Motion for low-end users), so will most professional editors switch over to Avid or Premiere (the latter is virtually identical to FCP 7, but supports 64-bit and native H.264 editing).
By the way, Apple isn't just killing off FCP, it's also killing off Color and DVD Studio Pro.
Posted by Mark on Sunday, June 26, 2011 @ 09:44 PM
8.
I've been in professional/brodcast video for 30+ years now and I have to say - this is the worst move any company has ever made in my industry. i.e. - You can import older iMovie projects, but not older FCP projects. Are you kidding me?! And it is apparently geared entirely toward the consumer market. So people who want to post videos on youtube of "Granny making her pet poodle sing" are their new target. But people who edit professional video for a living are brushed aside. If they continue on this path, Apple will be OUT of the professional video world in less than two years. Imagine if Adobe came out with a new version of Photoshop that would not allow graphic designers to work on older projects - and on top of that, just completely wiped out the older version and the support system for it. Apple needs to spend some time with professional editors before they do something like this.
Posted by ash on Sunday, June 26, 2011 @ 11:55 PM
9.
this isn't an upgrade - an upgrade implies something is a step forward, not back and to the side.
Posted by jack frost on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:00 PM
10.
There is not a single AVID editor who would make the switch today. With Apple's dominating success in all computing and phone, I would love to see Steven admit this was a big Flop and go back to the drawing board for something really good.
Posted by Mark on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:06 PM
11.
Personally I find this article galling. It is clearly a paid advertisement that Apple is using to convince editing professionals to just please go ahead and buy FCPX. There are so many reasons why FCPX is not meant for professionals: inability to export audio tracks for professional mixs; inability to share projects with other users who have the same media; no backward compatibility whatsoever..... the list goes on and on. This "upgrade" is a slap in the face of professional editors in all editing fields, and the best thing that's happened for Avid in a long time.
Posted by Leslie Simmer on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:10 PM
12.
If you are looking for some great (and free training) live training online, check out our Final Cut Pro X Webinar Central at http://fcpx.filmmakingwebinars.com
BTW...what happened to Color and Soundtrack Pro? Are thosedead? They seem to be.
Posted by Marcelo Lewin on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:11 PM
13.
Why would they even consider not having r3d support ????
Posted by alex on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:12 PM
14.
Oh well FCP had a nice run. So did Apple, now they pushed out the professionals to make way for consumers and throw away devices. What a drag
Posted by FCP is Dead on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:13 PM
15.
It's obvious from the marketing of this product that Apple has blown off pro editors. With every release of FCp in the past there were always videos of editors using it to post a movie or a spot. They went into detail about all the new features. I haven't seen that here.
BTW: There's nothing wrong with bins. We work in a visual medium and to be able to see where my footage is and to compartmentalize it works nicely. Sometimes a new way isn't a better way. My biggest beef with FCP or really any NLE that I've used is that editors who work in the real world are rarely consulted. It seems to me as though Apple is getting out of the software business and focusing on hardware and iGadgets.
I have Premiere 4 and will now be exploring it more deeply with an eye to upgrade that based on everything I've been reading about FCP X. There should be NO reason for Apple to release a product like this, drop support for FCP7 and then tell us to wait and hang in there, it'll get better. Can any of us imagine telling that to our clients. "I'll be able to edit it better once the new release of software is out>" It's asinine.
Posted by Alan on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:21 PM
16.
This article proves more than ever that Studio Daily has no editorial independence whatsoever. You just gave Apple space to spin without challenging any of their assertions. Studio Daily is an online advertorial rag, nothing more nothing less. Get objective information elsewhere!
Posted by ldtowers on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:24 PM
17.
Ha, HA! This article is ridiculous. I know Apple is blocking critical comments on their store, but apparently they are also paying people to write complimentary things. FCPX is a joke. Not professional by any means. I DO hope they eventually pull their heads out of their asses and resurrect FC *PRO*. Although after someone tries to sell me snake oil... not super stoked to keep giving them my cash.
Posted by No Way on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:25 PM
18.
Despite the glowing tone of this article, there's nothing to like here. There's so much missing, it simply reeks of the hubris Apple displays these days. FCP was getting long in the tooth for me, but the lack of support for tape and such basic things as chapter stops and the myriad of other missing functionality (not "features") mentioned above make it completely unusable for me. I'll be taking a serious look at Avid once again, having switched to FCP years ago. I almost wish I hadn't, and I've been an Apple zealot for nearly two decades. This is the dumbest move in the history of the company.
Posted by Rich on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:32 PM
19.
I purchased FCPX and tried using it for 2 days. We've edited everything from regional commercials and documentaries to features you'll find on Netflix and television shows. Let me just say that there's NO WAY to maintain the workflow we've grown to develop. The magnetic timeline is a disaster for us. It might be cool to others but you can't slide clips "down the line" for insert later. The fact that you can't set scratch disks and share projects without attending a University are horrible. We collaborate with a lot of other editors around the country. We send a hard drive with everything self contained. I don't want files spewing all over hard drives. It's just a really poorly designed program that didn't take editord into consideration. I don't care if you add all the gimmicks the kids want to play with, just give the professionals the option to turn them off and edit the way they have developed a workflow for.
As for me, I asked for, and was granted, a refund for the software. I would never use it and don't have the time to learn all the toy features. I'm not switching to Adobe or Avid either. I don't have the time to learn that. I will milk FCP7 until it's not supported any longer. At that point I will have a decision to make. If Apple was smart, they would apologize for this mess, dust off the source code for FCP7 and make it 64 bit, add the new audio features, make it DSLR native and allow you to use COLO on a clip by clip basis (not having to round trip. Just look at Magic Bullet Looks. Brilliant design. Why couldn't Apple just add those things and let us do our job? Pretty disappointed but will hope for the best. Until then, don't bother even wasting any time on the version they released unless you're upgrading from iMovie.
Posted by Michael G. Barrett on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:34 PM
20.
Well Beth, I certainly can't call this article "journalism". Just another softball promo for Apple's DOA new version of FCP. I was in the room at NAB for the announcement, and at the time Apple raised more questions than they answered about the new paradigm in post. Much has been written in just the past 6 days about FCPX, so I don't need to re-hash that. While I certainly welcome change--for the better--this version of FCP is unusable in my shop. What's worse is that it shows how badly the Apple really understand's it's user base. A nice iMovie Pro it is. But as a professional app... Well you can just drop the "P" from the title and call it Final Cut X. And "Final" is probably the key word here.
Posted by Scott Shucher on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:37 PM
21.
Somebody here at work asked me if they should get FCPX (which looks pretty, but also pretty useless) and I said, sure, get it. I would never have said that before, preferring to recommend a piece of software capable of precision and higher end craftsmanship. But in my experience everything succumbs to declivity anyway. FCPX, with all it's dumbed-down skill set requirements will become the norm. Computers will take over all the thinking and artistry we had to do as editors and all that will be left will be templates. (Sound like Microsoft Word? It is.)
Posted by lli on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 05:38 PM
22.
Did anyone mention that it won't run unless you have a newer graphics card? Meaning that your I-mac won't run X it unless you recently purchased it?
And did FCP ever really make use of the 8 and 12 core machines Apple sold claiming they were the cat's meow for FCP editors?
Posted by Lenry on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 06:06 PM
23.
I guess for Apple... If it makes dollars, it doesn't have to make sense.
Posted by Grinch on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 06:16 PM
24.
It almost seems prophetic that Premiere chose to import FCP XML files. At least Premiere will still run simple projects from older versions of FCP while the new FCPX won't. Now, instead of taking our precious editing time to learn Apple's new consumer oriented system, we can keep on working in Premiere instead. I've been using both, and found Adobe very accommodating to their user based input. They WANT the pro business.
Posted by David on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 06:21 PM
25.
Three years ago I choose to go the FCP route because everywhere I looked, everyone wanted FCP editors, and after throughly learning FCP, I enjoyed the interface more than Avid (the system I was trained on). After months of thought and reseach, I sank thousands of dollars replacing my PCs with new Macs to build an FCP editing suite, classing, and certifications. And for three years I was quite happy to call myself an FCP gal. Now I feel like a fool and what a waste of time and money, not to mention all of the face rubbing avid users are giving me.
Posted by Frustrated FCP Gal on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 06:26 PM
26.
As a sound editor/mixer, I am shocked that Apple has eliminated the ability to export the audio tracks. So when Cameron wants to cut Avatar II, you can be sure it won't be cut on FCP X.
Posted by Jerry Krepakevich on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 06:26 PM
27.
GenArts' latest visual effects plugin, Sapphire Edge, will support FCP X and will be available for X by August. This is a new GenArts plugin built with busy pro video editors in mind who need to get film-quality looks quickly and easily. Sapphire Edge for FCP 6 & 7 is scheduled for release this week.
The next major release of our main flagship offering, GenArts Sapphire, will support FCP X as well, coming soon!
If you would like to be notified with news and updates on either product you can sign up for our GenArts newsletter here: http://bit.ly/iseLQa.
- Alison
Posted by GenArtsInc on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 06:40 PM
28.
I am appalled at this release. Probably most important is that I cannot open older projects. And I can't believe the overall apparent total lack of understanding of what pros need RIGHT NOW. Not, "This is what we think is much better, work with us, and we will add those features you complain loudest about later." As someone above stated, I expected FCX to be FC7 PLUS 64 bit, some bug fixes, and XYZ. Simply put, I will not upgrade until they do a major upgrade to FCX. This release IS "Vista" (bit of mixed metaphor, but I agree).
Posted by Scot on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 06:57 PM
29.
I'm a professional DP, I've only ever cut my reel and made DVDs with FCP Studio (still running ver 1!). It's been a great a tool for me over the years and I was ready to upgrade to FCPX... man am I glad I read the reviews first. I'm not even an editor and I'm disappointed - offended, actually. Thank goodness for Adobe!
Posted by parker on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 07:17 PM
30.
Just like Apple, the author of this tripe doesn't get it. Apple has purposely left out many KEY features that one could rely on to get work done today. The author says she met with Apple to get clarification as to why, but all she did was come back with an Apple apologist point of view and major questions still gone unanswered. The author is just spewing the same rhetoric and not clarifying the issues. And, I love how that Apple says that solutions are going to be provided by 3rd party developers. Oh gee, really? This crap software is going to wind up costing more than FCS by the time you add in all the upgrades and 3rd party solutions. I'm looking seriously at Adobe now.
Posted by wilson on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 07:59 PM
31.
I especially like the part where Apple understands why studios would want to hold off on switching to FCX because they are probably in the middle of a project. Wow, gee... maybe the real reason they aren't upgrading is that FCX doesn't meet their needs and they are having serious doubts that it ever will. People are understandably upset and the author of this article does nothing to smooth over the discontent. I wonder how much Apple gave them to write this article?
Posted by wilson on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 08:05 PM
32.
Why would I ever try and play a FCP 7 project in FCP X? It's not like FCP 7 was eveil and must never be used again. I would even take the chance of finishing a version 6 project in version 7, it's just not worth the potential headache.
I have begun training with version X yet still work in version 6 (I never did bother with the 7 upgrade). Once I feel comfortable using X and feel that we can work well together I'm sure I will slowly stop using version 6.
I'm already realizing that there are a number of irritations with version 6 that I never realized until I discovered a better way to do it with version X.
Sure there are a lot of things to complain about, especially when you depend on something for work. But if you don't like version X don't use it. Stick with the version you have and transfer to Avid or Premiere later. Remember - Premiere really sucked once too.
Posted by Julian on Monday, June 27, 2011 @ 09:38 PM
33.
It is NOT an upgrade. It's a separate application. The header on this story is incorrect from the start.
Posted by Carl on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 12:55 AM
34.
Just completed a 32 hour accelerated workshop on the Avid Media Composer 5 for Mac and it was awesome! It can do everything that FCP-X has abandoned . . . and more!
The writing was on the wall and I have made the switch!!!
Posted by The Prof. on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 01:49 AM
35.
It's like I always said. FCP was never a pro tool. I have been laughed at for years for saying this, but it's always been a toy (derived from the awful Radius Edit) and now Apple have revealed it to be just that. To make output to OMF and Broadcast Monitoring 3rd party plug-ins? Will producers please let me go back to my Avid now?
Posted by Markus Innocenti on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 04:22 AM
36.
This is mind blowing. I'm a long standing PC editor whos used Adobe suites and Premiere Pro for years. Recently I won a Nvidia card and PP for Mac..so I've been investigating FCP in addition to running PP on Mac. I figure that it's about time to learn FCP but not v.X my first impression is its not the elegant interface that we have grown accustomed to the demo video looks like a blownup iMovie. I will be looking for a pre owned copy of FCP7
Posted by Reggie on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 09:41 AM
37.
This thing is a power house - OK I said it. Take an evening or three and read the very short manual - it makes sense. Very smart. I started editing on a CMX 360 in 1980. New ways of editing are no threat. This tool is capable of some masterful stuff - take a break from freaking out and see what is possible. This is no toy.
Posted by Marc Sterling on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 10:11 AM
38.
I have been learning FCPX for the last three days and I can confirm no ill health effects and my head has not exploded.
Some nice stuff: on the effects, you hover your cursor over it and it is appears on the shot in the timeline - scroll back and forth and it scrolls the shot with the effect live. You can open all effects in Motion and customize them. You can make your own effects, filters and transitions.
The key framing suite is simple, fast and clean.
It is about 80% less clicks to get results. The events database is very smart at delivering your selected clips.
Try reading the very brief manual. It makes sense, is faster and easier. This IS NOT yo momas iMovie.
Now everyone can go back to slinging mud and freaking out.
It would be a shame if only new young editors had the balls to try this thing out - give it a test drive and don't try to drag around the last ten years of working methods. You won't explode or loose your professionally. (And no I don't work for Apple - I'm 62 and not afraid of new ways of doing things - faster, better, easier aint so bad.)
Posted by Marc Sterling on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 12:01 PM
39.
It's frustrating to spend time and money becoming certified for FCP only to have the whole program rebuilt. A problem I've always had with Apple, and many others do I'm sure, is that they believe they know what's right for everyone. Just because they can market products that were invented 10 years prior and pretend it's something new doesn't make them innovators. It's taken them this long to make this 64 bit? They have done this already it's called iMovie.
I've been training myself in Adobe for a while now because of a few pick up projects I've picked up along the way. Time to say farewell to Apple software.
Posted by Evan C. on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 01:08 PM
40.
For people who want to learn the truth about Final Cut Pro X they can visit Larry Jordan's YouTube channel, LarryJordanFCP, or attend his LIVE training in Los Angeles area on July 12th - http://www.larryjordan.biz/powerup-discover-final-cut-pro-x . Stop the rumor and get the facts.
Posted by Laura Peters on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 01:15 PM
41.
Vote with your pocketbooks. For the longest time, Apple needed to make FCP 64 bit. Apparently, it still does. So why not offer two 64 bit versions, 7 and X? Call FCP7 "retro".
Posted by johnny mars on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 @ 06:39 PM
42.
To all FCP editors- Seriously think of switching to Adobe Premiere. In the latest release you will be able to import all of your old FCP projects into premiere. For added effects you import and export your premiere projects without rendering. The workflow from Photoshop to Premiere(Braodcast) to web even HTML 5 is amazing..been using Adobe for 15 years and I have always felt macs though cute and nicely designed leaned towards consumer purchase over professional purchase...that seems to be Apples intent..look what they tried to do with flash. They did nt want flash working on their Ipad and Iphone systems because developers can make games easily in flash and sell them or let them be played online for free Apple doesnt want you t o have the choice but to use their poor software called Itunes and nickle and dime you to death
Posted by bob peterson on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 @ 10:26 AM
43.
"And when I knew all the answers Apple changed all the questions". In time of disorientation:
An objective article by a professional in the business:
I would like to share with this community one of the most profound article I have found about the actual state of disappointment, discomfort and disorientation causes by Apple's release of FCP X and the discontinue of Final Cut Pro 7, Final Cut Server, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and Color. The article deeply describes the actual crisis encounter by professional postproduction studios and editors, no by iMovie's users. Also, it pre-visualizes some future alternative solutions to Apple's products. Indeed, a deep analysis of the crisis. Below is the link to the article.
The article has been written by Dennis Kutchera, "a veteran broadcast editor who has used both Avid Media Composer and Apple Final Cut Pro since the early days of each. Dennis is also a broadcast technology consultant who has worked with international broadcasters. Dennis is also the Creative COW leader responsible for working with Ronald and Kathlyn Lindeboom to expand the original forum line-up and add a wide array of products that Dennis then hosted, including Avid and Autodesk. Dennis lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada".
Posted by Willian Aleman on Thursday, June 30, 2011 @ 05:51 PM
44.
Conan O'Brien's editors video is still available a the link below:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/25/conan-obrien-final-cut-pro-x_n_884636.html
Posted by Willian Aleman on Thursday, June 30, 2011 @ 05:54 PM
45.
Weird. I just googled FCP10 and Microsoft Vista comes up. Even weirder - if you turn the volume up to 10, you can actually hear Steve Wozniak laughing...
Posted by Bruce on Thursday, June 30, 2011 @ 10:26 PM
46.
Starting 7/10, If you order a Happy Meal at McDonalds, instead of a free toy, you get FCP10!!! AWESOME!!!
Posted by Bruce on Thursday, June 30, 2011 @ 10:46 PM
47.
GAME OVER. Adobe has just started offering their Production Premium Suite 50% off.
Apple really screw the pooch on this. For years they fight tooth and nail for professional-market share and then,once they have a significant chunk, essentially tell pros to go f'themselves by releasing iMovie Pro, NO WAIT, not even- iMovie PLUS.
I don't care what apple says (and Studio Daily seems to unquestionably regurgitate), this is not a Pro app. On top of all the other things missing/dumbed-down, the most important flaw is that FCPX doesn't integrate into other professional systems that are now standard in the entertainment industry (DI, sound mixes, etc.).
Such a shame, I've been a big apple supporter for a long time, but this isn't just a simple "mistake" or a "flawed version", this was done diliberately to get the massive amount of casual iMovie users who normally wouldn't buy FCP, to spend a little extra doe on something new and shiny they don't need because, lets face it, the Pro market is small potatoes to the rest of Apple's customer base. So this is it- now that Adobe is offering Production Premium at a ridiculously low price ($850 for the WHOLE suite) it's time to move on.
So long Apple, thanks for the slap in the face.
Posted by Morgan on Friday, July 1, 2011 @ 04:24 PM
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