Final Cut Pro X - Not Bailing Out On Pros

No doubt that Apple may have messed up a bit in perception of the new Final Cut X, but they have been releasing updates and adding the features people wanted into it. Whether it is too late or too much damage done, who knows.

But this blog post by Larry Jordan indicates Apple is listening.

Apple stressed that FCP X is a long-term project and that they are fully committed to it. (In other words, because I asked, there is not a Final Cut Pro 8 waiting in the wings.) Apple views Final Cut X as the future of video editing.

 

Also, if you look at the features Apple has added since FCP X first released, Apple has almost exclusively focused on adding features for the professional market: Roles, Multicam, broadcast monitoring, etc.

No doubt that Apple may have messed up a bit in perception of the new Final Cut X, but they have been releasing updates and adding the features people wanted into it. Whether it is too late or too much damage done, who knows.

I always felt a mix of commotion and remote tenderness for FC users in the AVCHD era

IMHO I cherish a deep admiration for their will power to submit to apple decisions.

From Log & Transfer to import files only from camera AKA from the frying pan into the fire.

Why so much hate?

PS

Ready for a NLE flame

You know, it's great FCX is making strides. But for those needing certain features now, well, I suppose in about 6 - 8 mths, $299 is considered an upgrade SHOULD it be ready for primetime.

Established editors with certain workflows just don't have time to wait for updates to work. Until it's fully ready, it'll suit certain users but not others. Maybe by X.1 it'll be ready. Until then, Adobe 5.5 is still faster and more complete and so is 6.

PP 5.5 is great I just miss a couple of plugins that I purchased for FCP, CS 6 looks awesome, it will knock the socks of FCP X no matter how many extra features they bring out.

LOL Jonny, be nice to Apple. They are trying. Some of the FCX GUI features are really intuitive. It does a require somewhat of a reset to work well. But it's not ready for prime time and even they admit it. But obviously it works for some people. Apple threw the baby out with the bathwater when they introduced FCX, let's not act like them and keep an open mind.

The biggest freakout has been trying to figure out where I change the scratch disk

It's a pain not to be able to separate the project from clips.

OK. I'll bite!

I'm not a professional editor, and have no intention of editing feature films at present. I have used Premiere Pro in the past, and FCP7.

I find FCPX speeds up my workflow (for what I use it for) significantly. Perhaps this is more a reflection on my abilities and goals in editing than the capabilities (or lack thereof) in the software, and I do accept that Apple have marketed it as being capable of much greater things that I do with it, but I really like it!

There-I've admitted it

Adam

Well alright then, iMovie Pro user!

Choose the product that suits the requirements and leave others to do the same. There's no one perfect solution!

This is sounding like the old Nikon vs Canon arguments.

Why can't we all get along?

Because debating it is half the fun Eric.

My wish list for X:

1) Fix the ram leak

2) Allow the clip browser to retain in and out points

3) Permit batch capture of clips with set in and out points, now you would have to do one at a time which is maddening.

4) Give me back all my keyboard shortcuts I spent 11 years learning.

5) Allow me to resize windows and retain my custom window settings

6) Permit me to create a custom favorites folder for text or effects

7) Bring back the Boris Calligraphy text

8)Bring back my 3 way color corrector, or at least, my custom white balance button

9) All the things I can't recall just now and that I will think of as soon as I post this.

10) Show me, Drew, where Apple admits to anything they should or should not have done.

That said, learning FCX has not been difficult. Now that I can use my broadcast out to an external monitor I am quite happy with most of it. If you've been editing for almost any length of time, it is really very intuitive.

Steve

I have not made the switch to fcpx yet and I'm still undecided. At the moment I'm editing most days if I'm not filming and I really don't have the time to learn a new nle right now. I think despite all the omissions in fcpx the time element of (re)learning a new system is actually the biggest hurdle for many. When I have to switch (to whatever nle that ends up being) I'll find the time, until then....

That's a good point Simon. It's easier to ease people into new features without tossing them into freezing deep water on the first day! The fact that they left out very important features pros used abd decided to release it, intending to add features later, promising more features demanded by pros when actually it'd be reintroducing features they added to FCP in 7 versions.

The difference between part time editors and full time editors is very wide. Keystrokes and muscle memory all play a key role, things part timers take for granted. It's easier to add a few new ways of doing things than to change an entire mind set, especially with a new GUI.

That said, things staying the same stalls progress.

I have not made the switch to fcpx yet and I'm still undecided. At the moment I'm editing most days if I'm not filming and I really don't have the time to learn a new nle right now. I think despite all the omissions in fcpx the time element of (re)learning a new system is actually the biggest hurdle for many. When I have to switch (to whatever nle that ends up being) I'll find the time, until then....

Hey Simon,

Once you decide to play with it, let me know and we can set a date and time to go on iChat. From there I can let you take over my computer or visa versa and get you quickly started with a couple of lessons. No problem and happy to help.

Steve

The biggest freakout has been trying to figure out where I change the scratch disk

 

It's a pain not to be able to separate the project from clips.

You just set the events and projects to your external drive and forget about it. FCPX's media management is vastly superior to any legacy FCP versions. Each time you create a new event and project for that event it will automatically go to the external you originally set FCPX to. You never have to worry about setting scratch discs again. Understanding the different concepts between legacy's projects and sequences against X's events and projects is the only real hurdle to working with X. The rest is all intuitive. You can also use Event Manager X to archive different events and projects on other drives. I use it and found it to be very reliable and there is no other app like it. http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/event...er_douglas.html

Steve

Thanks Steve, I'll take you up on that! I'm tempted to download it right now actually as I have 9 sequences / 7 hours of footage waiting to render out via Compressor that is going to take probably the next 2 days during which I can't edit at all on FCP6!!

Great, just let me know Simon. Remember, that you cannot have both FCP6 and FCPX open at the same time.

Steve

Thanks Steve, I'll take you up on that! I'm tempted to download it right now actually as I have 9 sequences / 7 hours of footage waiting to render out via Compressor that is going to take probably the next 2 days during which I can't edit at all on FCP6!!

You may also wish to check out PP CS6. It's got FCP shortcut keystrokes adjustability and plenty of features. I recently got up to speed with Adobe Story, which allowed so much integration with editing and shot listing with the script. Coming from Final Draft, it is quite cool to be able to send script changes to the editor in the studio or the director on set!

FCX has nice features built in and is still growing. If you do a lot of audio work and EFX, the integration factor to Audition and AEFX can't be ignored.

Someone sent me this link on several pro editor's (including Mike Friedman) opinions of FCX.0.3:

http://philipbloom.net/2012/02/07/fcpxeditors/

I have to agree with Mike Friedman and Cameron King's final statement. Gesture recognition interface is coming and FCX is V1.1 (imovie being the first real shift). It's just getting ready for primetime but the problem is hardware is iffy with the Macpro lagging FAR behind. You just won't get the performance even if the interface is faster to work with. Depending on the format you work with.

That said CS6 isn't sleeping...the project panel uses Hover Scrub (anyone had issues with FCX that first out with that?). They are slowly implementing changes to the interface and it's much more customizable. Exciting times and I hope this pushes Avid to modernize!