FCP X: not what I was expecting

[Nicholas Natteau]

I don't know where to begin. First let me say that this is not a personal attack against Apple.

Final Cut Pro was the very reason I switched to Apple and I was always delighted with every new FCP release. But I am extremely disappointed with FCP X.

I've heard it said that FCP X is an entirely new NLE. So why keep the same name? And above all why keep the word "PRO" while eliminating so many crucial PRO features that existed in FCP7. I feel stupid because I was misled by the name and misled by the Apple event that touted FCPX as the second coming.

What I'm seeing now in FCP X is a half-baked NLE missing crucial pro features that now crashes half the time. I would have gladly waited another month (or two or three) and paid double or triple to see FCP X lose none of the pro features of FCP7. Instead, like so many others, I can't help thinking that I ended up with "iMovie Pro X".

I desperately want to believe that Apple will give us some crucially needed FCPX updates/fixes ASAP. And by ASAP I don't mean in 6 months or a year, but hopefully with Lion's release next month.

Like another poster stated, Apple now has to do some major damage control, because 90% of the reviews I'm reading across the boards are extremely negative. And unless Apple comes up with some fixes fast, a lot of pros will lose faith and abandon ship.

As for me, I have no plans to jump ship...yet. Will stick with FCP7 for my pro work, learn FCP X on the side, and pray that Apple is listening and hasn't thrown it's pro user base under the bus. Because with FCP X 1.0 it sure feels like it right now.

[mcgeedigital]

You are absolutely correct.

[Lpowell]

I've heard it said that FCP X is an entirely new NLE. So why keep the same name?
Perhaps Apple figured you'd be unlikely to buy an upgrade named "iMovie Pro X"...

[tom.wong]

I understand that apple will most likely add back in all the pro features and than some as time goes on, and maybe is treating this like the learning curve period before the real fun begins. maybe that's why they allowed it to install along side with fcp 7 rather than needing to uninstall fcp 7 first. but personally I think it's silly. the options will come, but why even bother releasing it? we have workflows right here, right now, that need what FCP X has to offer when it comes to processing power. we have projects NOW that need better color management in the pipeline, and not suffer from awful gamma bugs. the release just feels so premature, and as if they are getting it out there just so the competitors don't feel too far ahead. but all they've really done is shown how far they've stepped backwards in order to move forward.

the very LEAST they could have done was implement proper omf, edl, and xml workflow. and maybe a easy way to up-path your fcp 7 project in to X? these are everyday things professionals need and expect, and is in every proper NLE on the planet. how they dropped the ball on something as simple as edl, xml, and omf boggles the mind.

[dxl]

huh... fcpx have to sell will on the first day... or else... not enough money mean not going to have critical updates...
look like a test run software supported with cult like fans in the trade shows and around the world for that first days sale...

[HVXguy]

huh... fcpx have to sell will on the first day... or else... not enough money mean not going to have critical updates...
look like a test run software supported with cult like fans in the trade shows and around the world for that first days sale...

Apple sits on billions of dollars, It's fortunes's won't ride on the sales on one APP.....
The managers of Final Cut Pro have made a critical error. Let's see if they listen to
customers or plow headlong into fiery doom.

[DChang]

Apple sits on billions of dollars, It's fortunes's won't ride on the sales on one APP.....
The managers of Final Cut Pro have made a critical error. Let's see if they listen to
customers or plow headlong into fiery doom.

I'm sure there is no fiery doom if they are sitting on billions of dollars. And remember where the majority of those billions of dollars came from, not FCP users but ipods, iphones & ipads! All those giddy editors at NAB pale in comparison to all the ifanatics lining up outside Apple stores throwing their money at apple. Those are the people Apple cares about, those are the ones they are marketing to, even if it means sacrificing an industry popular program. Apple's core business is no longer selling computers & software, it was only a matter of time til they started making all their stuff more appealing to the mass customer base.

[blackcat]

I upgraded my system, and I don't want a clunky version of Final Cut 6 on it. I am waiting no longer than month to watch Final Cut X, and I will run Premier for now. If nothing changes, I am moving to avid.

[iTurk]

Will stick with FCP7 for my pro work, learn FCP X on the side

That is exactly what I'm going to do!

[blackcat]

That is exactly what I'm going to do!

That works for now, but FCP7 is aging and losing its support. It won't work for years to come.

[BLahey]

.....plow headlong into fiery doom.

that statement is full of win.

REgarding FCPX, I'm gonna wait a few months before i judge anything. I would actually think of this release as a beta, with Lots of updates coming and vendors scrambling to create drivers, plug ins and all that jive...

[maranfilms]

I'm really pissed about this, as I was waiting on buying a new mac for the sole purpose of this with thunderbolt and 64 bit. Now Im reading (not just here, but lots of forums) that is SUCKS BAD. And is in no way anywhere close to being a pro editing program. Is this just speculation? Maybe, I can say Im not wasting any more time or money to find out, I can tell you that much.

[Darren Levine]

i never quite understood why so many people that have a perfectly good editor and know it in and out would all of a sudden want to switch to a new system for no real reason...

i can understand if it's for some amazing new tools or abilities, but as i understand it, FCPX has less than FCP, and subsequently less than any FCP competitors.

so what might i be missing here? i'm genuinely baffled and curious as to people's reasons. if it's your first NLE i can understand, but what about those of you who already have an NLE?

cheerios,

[Hawk Teflon]

imdjay, I would say that it comes from the fact that support for FCS is now done. And while it may work on Lion, there's no promise it'll work on the next OS (but that's beside the point). FCS is done, so we have to learn SOMETHING from this point out (FCX, Avid, Premiere) so we aren't behind the 8-ball. Either way, we have to learn something else from the ground up. That's how I see it, at least.

[OldCorpse]

I was trying to figure out if Apple is abandoning its pro users. Here's a dark scenario. Pro users give Apple two things: credibility and sales. As far as sales, it's not only the software itself, but the hardware - they are getting many people who would never go Apple, were it not for the pro apps. Well, I'm sad to say, I think that part is dead or dying for the simple reason that it's possible Apple no longer cares about high-end computer hardware. First they stop calling themselves Apple Computer. Then the money they get from computers becomes less and less compared to everything else. And even within the computer segment, they are making less and less from desktops. And even amongst desktops, the Mac Pro is a tiny portion. So it's entirely possible they'll give up on that part - already the Mac Pro seems somewhat overpriced and behind the times. I would not be shocked to hear - no more Mac Pro at some point. Steve Jobs already thinks the PC era is over - we're onto tablets and mobile. So why should he care about the pros - a tiny market - who are buying hardware he's deprecating and may very well eol? Looks to me like the R&D and support for the pro market is no longer justified from their point of view. That's why they are shifting to the prosumer market, and downstream, like editing on tablets and even iPhones, which is never going to be the high end pro. That leaves credibility - and what do they care for that, since they are abandoning the whole pro market - they don't need the public to hear "a movie was edited on Final Cut!" or whatever - that's not what their target audience cares about.

Anyhow, that's the dark scenario. Look, for anything that Apple has done in pro apps there are high-end competitors who blow the socks off of them (maybe except Logic): Avid, Resolve, Photoshop, AE and so on - again, I'm talking high-end. Apple was never at the very high end anyway. Now they are simply moving downstream even more. No more pro, period. Pro-sumer, at best - that's Apple.

That's the dark scenario. Don't know how accurate :)

[mshakeshaft]

i never quite understood why so many people that have a perfectly good editor and know it in and out would all of a sudden want to switch to a new system for no real reason...

i can understand if it's for some amazing new tools or abilities, but as i understand it, FCPX has less than FCP, and subsequently less than any FCP competitors.

so what might i be missing here? i'm genuinely baffled and curious as to people's reasons. if it's your first NLE i can understand, but what about those of you who already have an NLE?

cheerios,

Because time is money for Professionals, so as new hardware advances we need software that will take advantage of it (64 bit). FCP has had very little development in the last 12 months, so for instance in a news situation having to transcode everything takes time. Other editing programes, Premier for instance with the Mercury engine are so much faster..... The other time factor is the time you have invested in learning a package, this can be considerable. So with FCPX people were hoping for an up-to-date program that would be quick and because of their experience easy to use. In reality they got a program that lacks a lot of pro features and also has to be relearnt.... The other factor that I think Apple really got wrong was building up everyones expectations, check out the FCPX introduction at NAB, it talks about the professional market share that FCP has and how the next step is going to be an even bigger improvement! On opening the program you are presented with a screen that allows you to import iMovie projects but not FCP7..... For a professional that isn't going to go down well! The other issue is that there is no clear road map for development, so even if you invest time in learning the new package there is still questions about its future suitability.

Apple marketing has always been excellent, but it has to be said this launch is looking more and more amateur by the day.

[david_p]

I understand that apple will most likely add back in all the pro features and than some as time goes on, and maybe is treating this like the learning curve period before the real fun begins. maybe that's why they allowed it to install along side with fcp 7 rather than needing to uninstall fcp 7 first. but personally I think it's silly. the options will come, but why even bother releasing it? we have workflows right here, right now, that need what FCP X has to offer when it comes to processing power. we have projects NOW that need better color management in the pipeline, and not suffer from awful gamma bugs. the release just feels so premature, and as if they are getting it out there just so the competitors don't feel too far ahead. but all they've really done is shown how far they've stepped backwards in order to move forward.

the very LEAST they could have done was implement proper omf, edl, and xml workflow. and maybe a easy way to up-path your fcp 7 project in to X? these are everyday things professionals need and expect, and is in every proper NLE on the planet. how they dropped the ball on something as simple as edl, xml, and omf boggles the mind.

what makes you think Apple will add all of the pro features in the future? have they stated that?

david

[Barry_Green]

People have been talking about Apple "abandoning" pro users for years and years. Whether they'd sell off the pro apps, whether they'd buy Sony Vegas, whether FCP was "done", Steve Jobs' assertion that the new FCP would be "awesome", and on and on.

The argument can be made that Apple is not all that interested in continuing to devote resources and efforts into supporting the (comparatively) tiny pro user base; Apple's statement that they are now a "mobile products company", the changes to the Mac Pro (insightful article (http://brookwillard.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/the-state-of-apples-professional-line/) from Brook Willard about that), taking out expresscard and fw from the macbook pro, the apparent design direction of FCP X, etc.

The counterargument is that Apple has been actively courting pro users, made demos at major gatherings and user groups, they bought out the entirety of the FCP SuperMeet at NAB to focus solely and entirely on the new FCP X release, and that doesn't sound like abandonment.

How can both of these things be true? Perhaps the truth lies in the definition of who a pro user is. Maybe Apple's definition is not the same as the current (disappointed) user base's definition. Maybe we have a great big case of mismatched expectations. Maybe Apple feels that they've hit the nail on the head as to who the customer they want is, and maybe that's not the customer they've currently got? This is a situation that can likely only be resolved by a clarification statement from Apple as to what they consider the future of FCP X, and what features and changes they consider are missing. If Apple considers FCP X a complete app, and that "it is what it is", then fighting that would seem counterproductive.

In any case, I think an excellent guide to Apple's attitude towards pro users will likely come with the next update to the Mac Pro. Brook Willard's article pointed out severe shortcomings in the last revision. And according to MacRumors, the Mac Pro is overdue for an update; it's been unchanged for 330 days and they say the average time for an update is 259 days. If Apple expands the power and capability of the Mac Pro towards what professional editors need and expect, then that is a good sign that they have listened to the criticisms and are reaching out towards the pro base. If they instead continue to take the Mac Pro further from the needs of the pro video base, then that's a huge indicator that Apple wouldn't be intending to serve the top-end broadcast pro user base.

[Darren Levine]

wow i hadn't kept up with the news that FCP was that far behind on updates and possibly slated for the grave. I do recall awhile back apple alluded to gearing more towards the non-professional market, but thought they had realized how silly that would be given their market share...

[Gary Huff]

If they instead continue to take the Mac Pro further from the needs of the pro video base, then that's a huge indicator that Apple wouldn't be intending to serve the top-end broadcast pro user base.

Or if they drop it all-together, that would be a BIG sign.

[david_p]

I was trying to figure out if Apple is abandoning its pro users. Here's a dark scenario. Pro users give Apple two things: credibility and sales. As far as sales, it's not only the software itself, but the hardware - they are getting many people who would never go Apple, were it not for the pro apps. Well, I'm sad to say, I think that part is dead or dying for the simple reason that it's possible Apple no longer cares about high-end computer hardware. First they stop calling themselves Apple Computer. Then the money they get from computers becomes less and less compared to everything else. And even within the computer segment, they are making less and less from desktops. And even amongst desktops, the Mac Pro is a tiny portion. So it's entirely possible they'll give up on that part - already the Mac Pro seems somewhat overpriced and behind the times. I would not be shocked to hear - no more Mac Pro at some point. Steve Jobs already thinks the PC era is over - we're onto tablets and mobile. So why should he care about the pros - a tiny market - who are buying hardware he's deprecating and may very well eol? Looks to me like the R&D and support for the pro market is no longer justified from their point of view. That's why they are shifting to the prosumer market, and downstream, like editing on tablets and even iPhones, which is never going to be the high end pro. That leaves credibility - and what do they care for that, since they are abandoning the whole pro market - they don't need the public to hear "a movie was edited on Final Cut!" or whatever - that's not what their target audience cares about.

Anyhow, that's the dark scenario. Look, for anything that Apple has done in pro apps there are high-end competitors who blow the socks off of them (maybe except Logic): Avid, Resolve, Photoshop, AE and so on - again, I'm talking high-end. Apple was never at the very high end anyway. Now they are simply moving downstream even more. No more pro, period. Pro-sumer, at best - that's Apple.

That's the dark scenario. Don't know how accurate :)

im of the thought that apple "is" clearly pulling away from the pro market. they now have the mass general consumer market and i think thats were they are happy. iPad, iPhone is the future of apple IMO. Lion is going to be sooooo much like IOS that i expect to see the future of fully functional desktop operating system to be on the downside soon as well.

i think when apple was a small company, it helped to have some heavy weight aspects of your company to give power and crediblity to your image.

macs years ago were always synomous with the best machine for photoshop. when apple came out with FCP they undercut Avid as a viable and cheap option to still do an effective job with editing video. now they have the middle/mass consumer market and i dont think they feel the need to have the flashy claims that they used to have that made the choice of many pros using some of the top programs.

for me an apple user since my first computer and now currently an owner of 2-8cores, 2-27" iMacs, 1 intel laptop & an old G5 i am cringing that if apple does with their upcoming OS's what they have down with their pro app FCP the future is looking very shaky right now. Lion might be still passable but ill bet that the OS after that will be questionable and lacking features to even run other apps like Premiere or Avid.

if apple wants to go their mobile style of products then...ok. i wont like it but i can accept that its their choice and need to do what serves their vision and more importantly their stockholders. what really erks me though is them pawning this very NON pro FCP X off as a very PRO APP. do they think we are stupid? i think no but its more that...they just dont really give a sh$t. having been a very happy apple user since the mid 90's id have to say that this is a dark day. oh well. accept and move on.

david

[Goldmond]

There are tons of people both (professionals and non) that don't like change. Apple could create a new program that litterally printed money and people would complain. What Apple does is take a problem or challenge, and see if they can find a new and better way to solve it. That means doing something different, and that means people will complain about it. I see people complaining that they're disappointed because they 'heard' or 'read' that it wasn't as good which, without specifics, is completely subjective. Far too much generalization going on. And if you bought it on day one expecting not a single hickup... you should know better. No software company in the world can guarantee that.

[Batutta]

My favorite twitter review, pretty much says it all; "So far I'm very impressed. Final Cut Pro X is definitely much faster than iMovie!"

[david_p]

There are tons of people both (professionals and non) that don't like change. Apple could create a new program that litterally printed money and people would complain. What Apple does is take a problem or challenge, and see if they can find a new and better way to solve it. That means doing something different, and that means people will complain about it. I see people complaining that they're disappointed because they 'heard' or 'read' that it wasn't as good which, without specifics, is completely subjective. Far too much generalization going on. And if you bought it on day one expecting not a single hickup... you should know better. No software company in the world can guarantee that.

i think the criticism varies depending on where your coming from. if you think its vague that people are just generalizing then this should spell it out as to it blatant lack of pro use. for casual users that can almost use imovie then they should be happy.

here
http://podcasts.creativecow.net/final-cut-studio-podcast/why-we-cant-use-final-cut-pro-x-at-our-companies

[mcgeedigital]

There are tons of people both (professionals and non) that don't like change. Apple could create a new program that litterally printed money and people would complain. What Apple does is take a problem or challenge, and see if they can find a new and better way to solve it. That means doing something different, and that means people will complain about it. I see people complaining that they're disappointed because they 'heard' or 'read' that it wasn't as good which, without specifics, is completely subjective. Far too much generalization going on. And if you bought it on day one expecting not a single hickup... you should know better. No software company in the world can guarantee that.

You want a detailed review of why FCProX isn't for pro users?

Here you go:

http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/final-cut-pro-x-whats-missing-for-some-pros

[David Saraceno]

Do you have any information that Apple intends to implement missing pro features in FCP X in upcoming updates from any of your sources or associates?

If so, which features and when?

[Garion]

I dont use an Apple but saw this brief article on Dpreview where at the bottom it shows 2 addons for FCP x on the app store.. http://www.dpreview.com/news/1106/11062112finalcutprox.asp

[Goldmond]

I agree, some important pieces are missing and if you know specifically what those pieces are and how they negatively affect your work, that's completely valid. But getting disappointed with only a vauge idea of what you're disappointed about is premature and I don't know that eveyone has researched to find out what FCPX is missing and how that effects them.

[ZazaCast]

What Apple does is take a problem or challenge, and see if they can find a new and better way to solve it. That means doing something different, and that means people will complain about it.
Can't agree on that statement. Apple waits (which is a wise business move) for others to test the waters...then jumps in at the right time with the best marketing possible to make it 'magical'. Mp3 players, tablets, cell phones, video editing, audio editing, cloud computing, etc. Apple was never the first to the party.

You should have seen all this coming...it was obvious back when Apple Computer changed their name to just Apple (2007). Business is business and it's all about the cash. If you want to be a success, you have to go where the masses are and in this case it's the YouTube/Twitter generation. Apple is all about entertainment now. FCPX is a great semi-pro editor and will do very well. People need to get over it...I did when Apple abandoned me & my Power PC G5.

[mcgeedigital]

Do you have any information that Apple intends to implement missing pro features in FCP X in upcoming updates from any of your sources or associates?

If so, which features and when?

I've heard that xml IMPORT (not export) was available via the python programming.

[kgimedia]

I've spent the last 24 hours trying to figure out if I am a "Pro" or not. Am I a prosumer or maybe a semi-pro? I earn a comfortable living working shooting and editing video. I have not had a "regular job" in 5 years. All my regular jobs were editing, shooting, or compressionist. I have over 13,000 clips from my T2i with over 8,000 shutter actuations. I have shot video of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and countless Hip-Hop, Pop, Rock and Movie Stars. I contribute to DVXUser all the time. I have always considered myself a "Pro" as in Professional, as in I get paid to do this.

All that being said in the long list of things Apple "forgot" only 2 have I ever used. Log and Capture and Multiclip. I have not done a tape capture in over a year and Multiclip has always been too behind the beat for me. It always required trimming after the fact. Unless I had 5 or more cameras I have been using the old method of cut away the bad shots then making sure I had the best shots. I have never used XML, AAF, OMF or EDL. I did do EDL's on paper when I learned Avid in 1997, because lab time in school was 4 hours at a time.

Even though I have not touched FCPX yet it seems like a huge leap forward in NLE's that were based on 80 year old film terms like Bins. Most of the old NLE programs had to include things so the old editors would use them. FCPX seems to me to be just what I was asking for in '97. I hope among hopes that Apple does not take a giant step back in order to get better reviews and make a couple thousand people happy. I believe that if the nay sayers went back and tried to cut with Final Cut Pro 1, not Studio 1 but the original, they would see the one they love now is just incremental improvements to a program with a UI and program that is 15 years old. Before HD, before Tapeless, before computer had the power to think beyond Bins, Rendering and Timelines. I mean it came out yesterday. It is a complete rewrite. I firmly believe we are in the middle a new revolution in Production. With DLSR's and powerful new software to allow anyone with vision to create compelling content.

My 2 cents.

[Goldmond]

Apple waits (which is a wise business move) for others to test the waters...then jumps in at the right time with the best marketing possible to make it 'magical'. Mp3 players, tablets, cell phones, video editing, audio editing, cloud computing, etc. Apple was never the first to the party.
.

Nobody is discussing weather apple is first to the table or not, but weather or not they've released a pro product. And finding a new solutions to old problems is absolutely what apple does.

[TheReverend]

I've spent the last 24 hours trying to figure out if I am a "Pro" or not. Am I a prosumer or maybe a semi-pro? I earn a comfortable living working shooting and editing video. I have not had a "regular job" in 5 years. All my regular jobs were editing, shooting, or compressionist. I have over 13,000 clips from my T2i with over 8,000 shutter actuations. I have shot video of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and countless Hip-Hop, Pop, Rock and Movie Stars. I contribute to DVXUser all the time. I have always considered myself a "Pro" as in Professional, as in I get paid to do this.

All that being said in the long list of things Apple "forgot" only 2 have I ever used. Log and Capture and Multiclip. I have not done a tape capture in over a year and Multiclip has always been too behind the beat for me. It always required trimming after the fact. Unless I had 5 or more cameras I have been using the old method of cut away the bad shots then making sure I had the best shots. I have never used XML, AAF, OMF or EDL. I did do EDL's on paper when I learned Avid in 1997, because lab time in school was 4 hours at a time.

Even though I have not touched FCPX yet it seems like a huge leap forward in NLE's that were based on 80 year old film terms like Bins. Most of the old NLE programs had to include things so the old editors would use them. FCPX seems to me to be just what I was asking for in '97. I hope among hopes that Apple does not take a giant step back in order to get better reviews and make a couple thousand people happy. I believe that if the nay sayers went back and tried to cut with Final Cut Pro 1, not Studio 1 but the original, they would see the one they love now is just incremental improvements to a program with a UI and program that is 15 years old. Before HD, before Tapeless, before computer had the power to think beyond Bins, Rendering and Timelines. I mean it came out yesterday. It is a complete rewrite. I firmly believe we are in the middle a new revolution in Production. With DLSR's and powerful new software to allow anyone with vision to create compelling content.

My 2 cents.

This is what I'm looking at too. We shoot multicam, and I've never even used FCPs multi cam...

But we are moving in a direction that requires sharing data among many computers/users. And I gotta make sure this functionality is there. As well as other stuff (export/import options).

[Curtis Mack]

As an interested party planning to make serious films for the first time in a long life, FCPX seems like a strong product. I recently downloaded trial versions of Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas. I'm a sharp guy on software, so I was able to dope things out, but these applications require a strong underlying discipline that must be acquired. If FCPX will allow me to come up to speed faster and make the task easier with the new technology of today, I'm for it. I do think that it's a shame that Apple has no touch-screen product such as the Sony VAIO L series, which would make a lot of operations in any NLE a lot easier. One of the things I really dislike about all graphic applications is the crude mouse-driven interface, even enhanced with a drawing tablet or proprietary appliance. We have touch-screen phones and IPads, why not Mac's? I do understand the frustration of broadcast professionals. Apple has decided (probably correctly) that FCPX fits the need of professionals like kgimedia and new users like me, and that there are a lot more of those than entrenched corporate professionals.

[Goldmond]

Big risk releasing a non-backward compatible product. iMovie lost features when they upgraded too, but they also kept the old one around during that period. Since this is a ground up re-write hopefully it's the foundation for what will become a much better product down the line. And if Apple cares about their pro video editing user base (and I think they have to) they'll do just that.

[iTurk]

That works for now, but FCP7 is aging and losing its support. It won't work for years to come.

You are right! Then, I can switch to another NLE program, like Premiere!

[filmguy123]

It's not so much the BIG features like XML, MultiCam, Tape support, and even 3rd party hardware support - mostly stuff I've never used.

There seems to be a lot of glaring omissions and problems, from simple things like keyframe woes, to lack of control over effect sliders ("amount" 0%-100% instead of proper parameter controls), lack of proper media management (while I appreciate auto-mated autosave, not always - you cannot "save project as"), I lost a media connection to a folder of source files that have already been edited in the timeline and been analyzed and I for the life of me cannot find a way to reconnect media after scouring the menus, manual, and google; the color correcting controls are actually pretty limited and many filters that have been taken for granted before are gone (cannot CC by color channel, can't adjust gamma, even brightness/contrast sliders and curves are missing), can't speed ramp titles or generators, the audio tools are weak (sure they have background noise removal but it's useless, I don't have the tools that Soundtrack Pro had i.e. preserve bass/treble sliders, "noise only" monitor, no waveform editor, etc. and you can't roundtrip between them anymore (they could have at least left that in!), program is 1.0 stable which means i've had a number of crashes and actually sluggish performance on random interface usage even though I have a 12-core MacPro/16GB Ram/512gb SSD/Radeon 5870)... Tons of little oversights, for example you can't feather edges when you crop anymore, so the edges always look rough; there is a crop/feather filter effect but it has very little control, just a "width" and "height" slider so you can't choose which side to crop/trim more... I could go on and on, and this is only within 24 hours of use.

I have ZERO problems with many changes Apple made and learning a new paradigm... that's not the problem. The problem is that this is a consumer+ app. There are pro-ish features, but it does not have the level of detail oriented control one needs and expects from a pro-app and there is just NO way this could replace FCP7 in any kind of broadcast or hollywood house... I don't think it's gonna cut it for me for my weddings/sports highlights or corporate work. I am volunteering to make youth camp videos for a week at youth camp, funny stuff and videos of the day. I will really test drive it then to be sure... but I am very sad that this program has so many good things that I simply won't make use of due to the fact that key interface changes and features have gonna MIA :/ At this point, I would have been thrilled just to see FCP7 have full multi-core/GPU/64-bit/background rendering support built in with no other changes. I could live with that.

[keylight]

Is it true that you can NOT use an external broadcast monitor with FCPX?

[bgundu]

Is it true that you can NOT use an external broadcast monitor with FCPX?

Not at the moment.

[cheezweezl]

I've spent the last 24 hours trying to figure out if I am a "Pro" or not. Am I a prosumer or maybe a semi-pro? I earn a comfortable living working shooting and editing video. I have not had a "regular job" in 5 years. All my regular jobs were editing, shooting, or compressionist. I have over 13,000 clips from my T2i with over 8,000 shutter actuations. I have shot video of Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and countless Hip-Hop, Pop, Rock and Movie Stars. I contribute to DVXUser all the time. I have always considered myself a "Pro" as in Professional, as in I get paid to do this.

All that being said in the long list of things Apple "forgot" only 2 have I ever used. Log and Capture and Multiclip. I have not done a tape capture in over a year and Multiclip has always been too behind the beat for me. It always required trimming after the fact. Unless I had 5 or more cameras I have been using the old method of cut away the bad shots then making sure I had the best shots. I have never used XML, AAF, OMF or EDL. I did do EDL's on paper when I learned Avid in 1997, because lab time in school was 4 hours at a time.

Even though I have not touched FCPX yet it seems like a huge leap forward in NLE's that were based on 80 year old film terms like Bins. Most of the old NLE programs had to include things so the old editors would use them. FCPX seems to me to be just what I was asking for in '97. I hope among hopes that Apple does not take a giant step back in order to get better reviews and make a couple thousand people happy. I believe that if the nay sayers went back and tried to cut with Final Cut Pro 1, not Studio 1 but the original, they would see the one they love now is just incremental improvements to a program with a UI and program that is 15 years old. Before HD, before Tapeless, before computer had the power to think beyond Bins, Rendering and Timelines. I mean it came out yesterday. It is a complete rewrite. I firmly believe we are in the middle a new revolution in Production. With DLSR's and powerful new software to allow anyone with vision to create compelling content.

My 2 cents.

You really should find a way to check out the software. My attitude went from open minded and excited to appalled and insulted the minute I bought and opened it. Forget the features that you don't use. This app is not pro. It's geared for consumers and people who want to dabble but not learn the nuts and bolts. I wouldn't even call this a prosumer app. Maybe a nice transition app from consumer to prosumer. This app is not a revolution. That's the BS that they spewed all over las vegas. This app is a fraud. There is no way you could use it in a high end workflow. Therefore, it should not share the same name with the app that was fully compatible and widely used in this capacity.

BTW, if you are making your living doing this, then you are a professional, as this is your profession. A prosumer to me is just above hobbyist. If you have a day job, then maybe you are a prosumer.

[VMT]

I began editing on a Steenbeck at the beginning of the digital revolution and quickly moved to Digital8 and DV. Premiere was terrible. Avid and even Media 100 were beyond my reach as a young editor, targeted to so-called professionals only, exclusive to a class of editors like members at a country club. you would have to mortgage your house to get it. When FCP 1 came out, I got it, and it changed everything for me. I have not looked back since. Whether you liked it or not, use it or not, of course we all know FCP changed the industry, for the better. There is no denying FCP forced Avid & Premiere to be better. And forced some editors to change. FCP X? I embrace it b/c not only does it allow me to do basic tasks faster and better, but it is also about the future. (Yes Apple is betting on the future, but I wouldn't expect anything less from Apple than to shape the future ala the Mac, FCP, iPhone, iPad,etc.) It's not all there yet, missing key features, but the philosophy behind FCP X is the same as FCP 1. Whether it's "pro" or not is not an issue. Do I feel threatened that more amateurs will use it? No. If I was threatened by that I would be threatened by Youtube. It's my skills, not the software I use. Otherwise I would have spent a fortune on Avid so I could feel better as a pro.

[cyclone]

(CNN) -- The computer giant Apple Inc. agreed Wednesday to remove an application called the "The 3rd Intifada" from its popular App Store for iPads and iPhones.
"We removed this app from the App Store because it violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people," an Apple spokesman said in a statement.

If "being offensive to large groups of people" is Apple's requirement for pulling an app, then trashing FCPX should be no problem.

[kgimedia]

BTW, if you are making your living doing this, then you are a professional, as this is your profession. A prosumer to me is just above hobbyist. If you have a day job, then maybe you are a prosumer.


Well at least one good thing has come from this discussion. I have independent verification that I am a professional. I guess the $70,000 I spent 13 years ago for my 2 year Video degree was worth it. Not paid off yet but worth it because I can call myself a professional.

[blackcat]

That is an expensive degree.

[keylight]

You really should find a way to check out the software. My attitude went from open minded and excited to appalled and insulted the minute I bought and opened it. Forget the features that you don't use. This app is not pro. It's geared for consumers and people who want to dabble but not learn the nuts and bolts. I wouldn't even call this a prosumer app. Maybe a nice transition app from consumer to prosumer. This app is not a revolution. That's the BS that they spewed all over las vegas. This app is a fraud. There is no way you could use it in a high end workflow. Therefore, it should not share the same name with the app that was fully compatible and widely used in this capacity.

BTW, if you are making your living doing this, then you are a professional, as this is your profession. A prosumer to me is just above hobbyist. If you have a day job, then maybe you are a prosumer.

Now, tell us what you really think! :furious3:

[kgimedia]

That is an expensive degree.

That is a very expensive Associates Degree that most other schools do not recognize. At the time I could have bought a 3 CCD camera or got that degree. Seems like the decision was a good one based on the ebay and Craigslist prices for BetaCams these days.

[Denis Haineault]

...And finding a new solutions to old problems is absolutely what apple does.

Unfortunately, nowadays they also seem to find problems for old solutions.

[SilverPeasant]

Quite a firestorm. I too downloaded FCPx since I was holding off buying my own FCP Studio. I think Apple has always had a bit of an identity problem with "Pro" products, since their own focus has always been (except for those dark years when demise was predicted) to make product that is super user friendly and sexy. And not having an IT Department to back me up, Macs are a much better fit for the small scale user.

Look at most applications and it isn't Apple releasing the high end user apps. Intuit handles finance with Quickbooks. Only Adobe's Photoshop is a serious photo workshop tool, and Adobe's Dreamweaver is the real thing compared to iweb.

Video post production may have been the exception to the rule, with FCP7. And it's kind of funny, given that Apple actually dumbed down iMovie a couple of years ago, removing the timeline, so that FCP Express would be more marketable, I presume.

Most of all, I'm reminding myself to count to 100 in the future and not have to be the first kid on the block to buy some new software or hardware... to take some real time to kick the tires and take a look under the hood. Because Apple has made buying software like taking title to a new car - it's yours as soon as you drive off the lot. This is the biggest disappointment I have with Apple. No demo period - no beta period - even though they've developed the perfect distribution system that could actually suck the application back off your Mac if you wanted a refund.

Yes I'm looking at CS5.5, but I am taking my time. And reading posts about the pros and cons before I make a buy.

[cheezweezl]

Now, tell us what you really think! :furious3:

Sorry. It's been a confusing couple of days. I feel much better now that apple has handed my $300 back over....

Moving on.