Apple laid off 40 people off their Final Cut division.

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LuckyStudio 13

LuckyStudio 13

The Tapeless One
Despite the high profit for the company and so close to NAB, Apple just laid off 40 people from thier Final Cut division. I am sure that this doesnt mean the doom of final cut studio, but the pro division is surely being moved back to the back burner in favor of consumer electronics and mobile phones.
 
remember that when they introduced iMovie 08 they also said that Final Cut Pro would move to the same visual interface, and that they saw that as a model for all Pro Apps. Does this mean that FCS is doomed or that responsibility is being moved to the iMovie division?

I am tired of going back to the mid 1990s whenever I use FCP, so are so many others. We all have in investment in filters that binds us to FCS, but a clever newcomer with filter compatibility could easily get my bucks.
 
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orginal source is this tweet from Pete Warren, who used to give away great AE filters:

Apple laid off 40 of my old Final Cut team yesterday, lots of good people, despite high profits. Apple can be pretty evil.
8:16 AM Feb 12th from web

petewarden
Pete Warden
 
I have been over apple for a long time but I keep buying their products because nobody will step up to the plate. Is it going to be Google? Google phone, browser, OS, video editing? Or is the market going back to $20,000 AVIDs and Media 100.....
 
LuckyStudio 13 said:
the pro division is surely being moved back to the back burner in favor of consumer electronics and mobile phones.
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I think that this happened about 2007. I am really disappointed in Apple lately. The new MBPs lost all of their pro features, Snow Leopard was an arbitrary upgrade that really means nothing to most users and FCS has been stagnating for years. Out of the thirteen Macs I have owned, my current Santa Rosa MBP is a lemon, it has been back to Apple for repair eight times and my DVD drive just went down. Sigh...

There is always AVID. For my business, AVID is more accepted anyway.

Dan
 
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I liked the direction vegas went with its fresher UI and more powerful timeline, but every version is more buggy then the last. I'm about to jump ship to avid. I like FCP and its simplicity/stability, but it needs to be modernized. all in all, I'm not stoked on any of the current solutions out there.
 
let's hope they fired them because they could not get new product out the door and they want to get a team that will care about the pro market. yeah right!
 
premiere is decent at the moment but not amazing, certainly had a few bugs, but using XDcam footage seems pretty flawless so far. I'd like to get to know AVID but seems very different from the little time i've spent with it.
 
I'm about to jump ship to avid.
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Is it that easy, what is the cost of an avid system that delivers a complete solution like FCS3? (FCP, compressor, DVDSP, Color are the ones I am concerned with)
Also, does it work with current MBpro & mac pro lines?
I know there is always google, but I appreciate the basic info if you already know about it...
 
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I'll be the voice of dissent here:

It is possible these were the people working on DVD Studio Pro, which is part of Final Cut Studio. With the last update, DVD SP wasn't even updated. With Apple's determined emphasis on online delivery, and with DVD SP having no real future, I could see those positions becoming redundant.
 
VGurcu said:
Is it that easy, what is the cost of an avid system that delivers a complete solution like FCS3? (FCP, compressor, DVDSP, Color are the ones I am concerned with)
Also, does it work with current MBpro & mac pro lines?
I know there is always google, but I appreciate the basic info if you already know about it...
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I'm no expert either. cost is relative to what you have already - it should work on mac pros and MBP. I have a powerful PC and would get a fat student discount - the student version is around $300 last I checked. I dont care so much for a complete solution cause I use external programs ( after effects, soundforge ect.) for most of my finishing. Im only worried about codec support in avid. from what I've seen, the student version is an incomplete package - I believe I need to throw in another $400 for codec support but I'm not entirely sure - this was over a year ago.. If the next vegas 9 build doesn't solve the issues Im having, I'll go ahead and make preparations for a NLE switch. I love ya vegas9, but its a hurtful relationship.
 
I just hope that the next rendition of fcp utilizes the 64 bit capabilities of the operating system, is capable of using more ram than the current 4gb limit (last I checked), is stable, and allows for better use of multi core processors.

There is a lot of horsepower in the editing systems people are building that goes to waste due to the antiquated code in FCP. (Which I've read would require a MAJOR re-coding overhaul from the base up to do the things I've asked for above)

Apple has been a little too dazzled by the iphone gadgetry and has put pro users on the backburner to a degree it seems.

Anyone hear any rumors as to the next release?

If it falls behind and Avid picks up some of that slack I could see myself going that route.

--- Regarding Avid's academic version needing more codecs to be purchased-
Can you please elaborate on your findings?

Thanks
 
iPhone subscribers / activations increased a minimum of 100% in 2009 from 2008 (some sources report 300% growth, with a verified 2.7M subscribers added in Q4 alone). About $800M in hardware over that period and ongoing subscription fees from AT&T of ~$15 per month.

How many of you drove FCP dollars to Apple during that same period and for how much? I think many of you greatly overestimate your contribution to Apple's bottom-line. The ROI on the endless development infrastructure it takes just to keep up with ever-evolving formats has got to be miniscule.

As a stand-alone product, FCP is a poor loss-leader because it is, at best, a narrow niche product that cannot be aimed at Apple's broader core demographic.

e
 
Efexone said:
I have a powerful PC and would get a fat student discount - the student version is around $300 last I checked. I dont care so much for a complete solution cause I use external programs ( after effects, soundforge ect.) for most of my finishing. Im only worried about codec support in avid. from what I've seen, the student version is an incomplete package - I believe I need to throw in another $400 for codec support but I'm not entirely sure - this was over a year ago.. If the next vegas 9 build doesn't solve the issues Im having, I'll go ahead and make preparations for a NLE switch. I love ya vegas9, but its a hurtful relationship.
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Avid is $295 for students, and that includes 4 years of free upgrades. They've been averaging 2 releases a year (that you'd normally pay for - point releases are free).

Media Composer academic doesn't include the third party programs - Sorenson Squeeze, Boris Continuum Complete effects, Avid FX, and Smartsound. But I think a student can buy that pack for $199, so for about $500 you get the complete Avid package plus you'll always be able to upgrade to the latest Media Composer for free for four years. No other NLE has an offer even remotely close to that, and unless they change it there is an upgrade plan for when you graduate to a full commercial license. Otherwise, the Academic MC is identical to the commercial license - the splash screen will just say Academic. No additional codec stuff is needed.

It sucks that 40 people lost their jobs, period. Especially in this economy. I feel bad for them, but Apple really doesn't seem that interested in the Pro market anymore. Their last release was lackluster, and if they stick with their normal upgrade path it will be another year and a half before the next big upgrade.

I think the player with the most potential to grow is Premiere. I don't trust it as a main editor, but I'm looking forward to playing with it when they incorporate the Mercury engine.

Michael
 
I worked at a mostly AVID prodco for the past five years. While I prefer FCP because it is plain old easier for me to use and learn new functions, AVID has a lot going for it thanks to the competition that FCP provided a few years ago. The price is finally reasonable, there are options and upgrade paths and the app is bulletproof, much more stable than FCP.

If you hire professional editors as a producer too, it is much easier to find tip top editors for AVID than FCP overall. The smart editors speak either program but there are a lot of TV and feature editors who are AVID only. Say what you want about how great island apps like Vegas, Premiere Pro or Edius are, but they are not industry standards. If you are going to be IN the industry, use the industry standard tools, FCS and AVID. Using other apps is a hindrance in a professional post workflow. If you do everything yourself, never collaborate with or hire other editors, colorists, sound desginers and composers, use whatever you'd like. I dig Vegas, I would just never run my business with it.

Dan
 
Erik Olson said:
How many of you drove FCP dollars to Apple during that same period and for how much? I think many of you greatly overestimate your contribution to Apple's bottom-line. The ROI on the endless development infrastructure it takes just to keep up with ever-evolving formats has got to be miniscule.

As a stand-alone product, FCP is a poor loss-leader because it is, at best, a narrow niche product that cannot be aimed at Apple's broader core demographic.

e
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Don't know that I agree with this. The pro apps exist to fuel sales of their semi pro (like the quad iMac) and Pro (MPs) machines.
 
The main reason I even own Macs is to run Final Cut Pro. If I have to move to a product that works on both Macs and PCs, it might end up being more cost effective to go with PCs the next time I upgrade my hardware.

So, in that case, they aren't just losing whatever FCP licenses I don't buy, they're also losing the hardware sales.
 
LuckyStudio 13 said:
Despite the high profit for the company and so close to NAB, Apple just laid off 40 people from thier Final Cut division. I am sure that this doesnt mean the doom of final cut studio, but the pro division is surely being moved back to the back burner in favor of consumer electronics and mobile phones.
Click to expand...

Don't tell me Apple is making FCP for the iphone now. :zombie_smiley:
 
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