FCPX going subscription

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
Apparently there are signs that Apple might be looking to transition FCPX to a subscription model:

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/24/final-cut-pro-subscription/

Nothing definitely confirmed yet, but not surprising, as this is how all software seems to be going (Software as a Servive - SaaS). The trend is to “subscribe to everything, own nothing”. Makes sense from a developer/provider point of view, but the consumer can end up with a lot of bills and not only not own his software but not even his files fully, like an indentured servant. Regardless, the question becomes how many such subscriptions can a consumer afford? 100? It seems like this trend could put a crimp in the hobby/amateur user, since a pro presumably makes money from the software so it just becomes the cost of doing business. There was a lot of outrage when Adobe switched, but they’re making more money than ever. YMMV.

You can always go to DaVinci... until it happens there too:)
 
I hope they don’t but it would be less then Adobe so I am ok with it if we get more rapid development
 
That sucks.

To be fair they’ve released a decade of updates for free on a $300 program never charging for interim milestones. To be fair it released half baked and they needed to.

I’d rather see paid milestone updates every couple years like how things used to be. This subscription trend is going to end up hurting the landscape if/when it continues to expand to plugins and other software. The result will be only high volume/high revenue shops and an increased divide between high budget and low budget with fewer middle players. Well, that, and likely a re emergence of the digital software black market.
 
I hear you. I do everything I can do to avoid subscriptions. I recently transition to Affinity Photo to avoid an Adobe subscription. It has been the best $300 I've spent for over 10 years of use. Apple still does well for themselves, making up their money on the hardware.

Even though I'm happy with FCPX, they have put very little effort into improving it. All the built in titles and transitions are the same as when it was released over 10 years ago. There are even a few annoying things that they've never fixed. For example there is no built in text boxes or properly working borders filter. Both of these I found an individual had come up with fix in Motion.
My guess is everyone has the eye on Youtube. It's become the de facto place to learn how to do something and they're making a killing on the ad traffic. I wouldn't mind if Apple offered an add on subscription that you could get useful content but I'd prefer they kept the software non subscription.
 
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As I understand it, there are at least four alternatives being considered. One of them is to make no changes, and second one is to grandfather in existing users.

I left Adobe because of its subscription model. Don't like it, and hope it is not implemented with FCP X.
 
I don't edit, but have had FCP on my laptop dating back to FCP Studio 7(?)the last physical disc release), "just in case". I won't go with a subscription model. But I have no problem with paid 'major version/new version updates', like in the old days.
 
They'll probably be bundling it up with their hardware and Apple Silicon, sort of like they're doing with their TV streaming service and iPhone/iPad stuff.
 
If FCPX does this they are really going to need to step up their game with a faster release schedule.

FCPX also had a lot of opportunity to add a lot of great features over the years but as it gets more mature I see the "blow my socks off" kind of updates lacking to justify a subscription model. Apple would have to hire a ton of developers and innovate their pants off to really justify it. I love FCPX and what they do release is impressive but they do not win awards for speed of development.

On the flip side where do people go from here if they hate subscriptions? Resolve? Thats pretty much the only realistic option left and there is no absolute guarantee BMD will provide a free version forever or with as much core functionality as it has now. For many if they want to edit video the future may no longer provide any subscription free alternative.
 
I've been on FCP since it was beta in 1999. I co-founded the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group with Michael Horton. I can unequivocally say that if Apple does
something this stupid, I will uninstall FCP X from all of my computers and will 100% convert to Resolve. I am at about 70% FCP X and about 30% on Resolve now,
if Apple does this, bye bye FCP X. This would be a shame as I really love editing with it. I don't love everything about FCP X, but its positives massively outweigh its
deficiencies.

If Resolve goes subscription, guess I'll just freeze it in time and no longer upgrade. For me subscriptions aren't even as much about the money, it's about the principal. I too wouldn't mind if Apple
actually innovated and charge another $300.00, even yearly, IF the updates warranted it, which would mean Apple would have to truly innovate and make us WANT to pay for the
upgrade like we used to do with FCP Studio.

Adobe products have become decidely worse since they went to the subscription model. AVID did too but AVID as a mainstream editing tool is irrelevant anymore.
Pretty much only legacy users and production companies use it. When was the last time you met a newer pro editor who spent the money for an AVID subscription?

This is a bit puzzling as Apple is one of the highest market cap companies in the world so unlike Adobe, they don't even begin to need the revenues, whereas Adobe would cease
to exist without their Creative Cloud revenues. Subscription seems like a very weird strategy for Apple but then again, Apple isnt the same company it used to be and they may have
poached an Adobe person or someone who convinced them this would be wise.

If I add up all of the subscription services not related to editing that I am already paying (Vimeo Pro, six music and sfx libraries, plug in libraries, design software, etc.), it's a significant and somewhat ridiculous number, especially when business is slow.
I'm not adding another subscription for editing software. If Apple and BMD go subscription, guess I'll break out the old VTRs and edit controller?
 
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That’s where all these companies want us - to rent stuff. We become renters, not owners, perpetually at the mercy of those who control that which you need or want. “If you don’t want it, don’t rent it, it’s a free market”. Then again, there’s the argument with renting a place to live - “if you don’t want to rent, go be homeless”, quite some choice, but at least you can still buy a house and be an owner - imagine one day, like with software, you can no longer be an owner ever, only a renter. The folks at the bottom have to live according to whatever is dictated, as “beggars can’t be choosers”. Be glad you still have options. One day you may not have any options.

The other advantage of Resolve is that it’s cross-platform. You don’t have to stay in the Apple walled garden/jail (I say that as the owner of many Apple products, including a new M1 MBP). Who knows, what if one day you you can no more own the hardware, and you’ll be renting your laptops from Apple or whoever. Think it’s far-fetched? Well:

https://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/

Personally, I’m not going to get attached to any company or consumer model. I like Apple products, but as subscription doesn’t work for me, I’ll drop FCPX if it comes to that.

In a way, FCPX is already subscription, since you must run it on Apple hardware, and that always needs upgrades along with OS updates, and you can’t just get off that hamster wheel, because eventually FCPX will not run on your hardware/OS and you’ll have not choice but to buy new hardware - nothing lasts forever. Thats the advantage of Resolve in cross-platform, you get more choices. I wish Apple kept the old ethos - you make amazing software as an incentive to buy the hardware, after all, FCPX only runs on Apple hardware. That was the original deal. To now make the software rentable, feels like double dipping. Sometimes it’s wise to not squeeze a customer for all they’re worth in the short term, because you might lead them to leaving your platform instead of staying loyal. It’s better to have loyal customers, that way you make more long term. YMMV.
 
I hope they don't go that route. I dropped everything Adobe and I'd do the same with Apple. Back to Windoze and Resolve - until that flies up into the clouds then we're really f****d.
 
Many of these imaging software titles have been around so long that there is not much left to improve, add or innovate around. So the subscription model is less appealing to us, not the makers. After clinging on to the last Creative Suite, I installed the subscription versions since my wife teaches college and they give it to her. I use the same functions of the programs that I always have along with a more cluttered interface. What a waste.
 
I do know from conversations I have had with various Apple team members over the years that FCP X is a microscopic contributor to Apple revenues, it really is a speck of dust on the Apple machine. If they go to a subscription model,
FCP X users will abandon Apple in droves and even if they somehow kept a couple of million subscribers worldwide, the revenue stream would still be a tiny speck of dust in the overall Apple revenue scheme.

That's what makes it so puzzling, why? The money, to Apple, is almost nothing. So why alienate your user base, many of whom will stop buying Apple hardware. I probably will, as much as I hate Windoze. Without FCP X, there is little reason to stay on
Apple hardware for many of us who run businesses. I just built a $10K PC last year for live streaming, I will be loading my Resolve Studio license onto it, regardless. Dont be stupid Apple.
 
Apple will be the first to maximize FCP for its own combined line of ARM based hardware and software. So, will you stay on it, if you get a 50% performance improvement over the "closest competitor"? 75%? 100%? Many would.
 
I started with FCP 4, and later moved to Premiere, and now I'm on Resolve, but even though I don't use FCP X, I still hope they don't go the subscription route. It would be another nail in the coffin of stupid decisions, and I'm still miffed at them for dropping Shake.

In effort to claim the thinnest laptops, they've thrown versatility and functionality out the window, and I'm at the point that I might move away from Apple products entirely, which is
saying a lot, as my username is I'm-a-Mac-user. Window's isn't nearly as crappy as it was 20 years ago, so I could probably live with it on an editing tower and install Linux on a laptop.

So in regards to video editing, that leaves us with Resolve, Edius, and LightWorks (kind of, they have a subscription option and an outright license for $438).

I hope Resolve never goes subscription, and doubt that it will as long as Grant is CEO. I think he's playing the long game, offer an almost full featured version of Resolve for free and let a whole generation of editors learn to edit on it, and what NLE and panel hardware do you think they'll buy when they're working professionally?
 
puredrifting said:
I do know from conversations I have had with various Apple team members over the years that FCP X is a microscopic contributor to Apple revenues, it really is a speck of dust on the Apple machine. If they go to a subscription model,
FCP X users will abandon Apple in droves and even if they somehow kept a couple of million subscribers worldwide, the revenue stream would still be a tiny speck of dust in the overall Apple revenue scheme.

That's what makes it so puzzling, why? The money, to Apple, is almost nothing. So why alienate your user base, many of whom will stop buying Apple hardware. I probably will, as much as I hate Windoze. Without FCP X, there is little reason to stay on
Apple hardware for many of us who run businesses. I just built a $10K PC last year for live streaming, I will be loading my Resolve Studio license onto it, regardless. Dont be stupid Apple.
Click to expand...

Except then you’d have to use Windows, which is still an operating system designed to torture people who have to use it. I used Windows for probably 11 years before switching to Mac and I swore I’d never go back. I get mad every time I get a text or call from my Mom when she has an issue with her laptop, because it is a Windows machine. I’m not even talking about the hardware, just the God-awful Windows OS. I may bite-the-bullet for her birthday or Christmas and buy her an Apple laptop JUST to save my sanity whenever she has issues and I have to try to figure it out. But most of the issues probably wouldn’t happen on a Mac.
 
DLD said:
Apple will be the first to maximize FCP for its own combined line of ARM based hardware and software. So, will you stay on it, if you get a 50% performance improvement over the "closest competitor"? 75%? 100%? Many would.
Click to expand...

Not me. Majority of my editing is basic multicam, which my present hardware and FCP X versions handle just fine. I don't do much compositing or tons of layers, graphics in FCP X so all of the hot rod application of the new hardware is
basically lost on me. If I need to get "deep" with compositing, layers, graphics, etc. I'm hiring a motion graphics person using AE, I suck at graphics.
 
Run&Gun said:
Except then you’d have to use Windows, which is still an operating system designed to torture people who have to use it. I get mad every time I get a text or call from my Mom when she has an issue with her laptop, because it is a Windows machine. I’m not even talking about the hardware, just the God-awful Windows OS. I may bite-the-bullet for her birthday or Christmas and buy her an Apple laptop JUST to save my sanity whenever she has issues and I have to try to figure it out. But most of the issues probably wouldn’t happen on a Mac.
Click to expand...

Fully agree I hate Windoze and Microsoft, but my business partner is a Windows certified engineer and a Ph.D. who knows the finer points pretty well. If my PCs do dumb PC things, which I know they will, I have a built in tech support the next desk over ;-)
If I didn't have my partner, I would never go back to Windoze. He is our webcast engineer and does amazing things with Windoze. I, on the other hand, am barely functional to even navigate Windoze, having dumped PCs in the Windoze 95 days and went to Mac.
 
Other reason I don't think this will happen or is a bad move is Apple kind of has the pro apps to help sell computers. Moving to a subscription model not only hurts FCPX sales but could also potentially hurt Mac computer sales as well.

Sure there are a lot of designers and publishers out there using Adobe software on Macs but if FCPX goes subscription based it will be like the initial launch of FCPX all over again. Bad move. Very bad indeed.
 
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