Apple releases Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and Compressor 4 on Mac App Store - Page 3

What Apple needs is a peer to peer system like BitTorrent to help keep up with the traffic Of course, when millions of people suddenly want to start downloading Lion, the ISPs won't be happy about the legitimate use of peer to peer traffic

hmmm, no mention of updated quicktime.

Why would it be? QuickTime X gets an update with Lion.

FCP X is not Quicktime based.

It seems a bit odd to me that Compressor costs the same as Motion. It's just a batch encoder. Motion is a full GPU compositing app. Plus, a lot of people will need it to encode DVD files so it would have made more sense to bundle it along with Final Cut X.

But, for Motion on its own to be $50 is insane pricing. This is an app that can replace a lot of the functionality in the $999 After Effects package.

I could care less about the past. These new iterations are fantastic! Loving the new Motion.

I should have qualified my statement better and stated I mean professionals using all digital equipment. Being a small studio I haven't needed to control a deck for quite a while but I have fond memories ... not Assuming no log and capture add ons appear you can use 7 for that and then use X. I bet you get at least one copy to play with.

Couldn't find any support files for FCPX!

The path I mentioned were for project (event) clip data files.

You aren't really upgrading from the previous app. FCP X is an entirely new app.

Looking forward to this very much!
What happened with Color?
Please say the new Color Board is as sophisticated as Color. If it's based on the Color Corrector 3-way one will have to invest in a more professional grading software, which is fine by me... I just want to know!

anyone have any thoughts on whether this will be available on a disc, in a box, in a retail store? (apologies to dr. seuss).

Depends on the need.

I agree final deliverables that need to be at full quality have to be on a physical medium.

If its just proxies or dailies. Most often streaming those is much faster and more convenient as it does not have to be at full quality.

To ask a question with a question can you buy software from the Mac App Store on a disc, in a box, or retail store?

Let me see... Final Cut Pro for the cost of Final Cut Express and people are worried about the cost?

I haven't used FCE for a while now as I've gotten by with iMovie but with an animation project I'm working on I will be moving straight to FCP for this cost. I can learn as I go.

It shouldn't be that difficult to learn... it's iMovie with real guts.

Personally I'm disappointed they never really fixed Soundtrack Pro, it had potential but all versions were pretty dreadful. But I'll bet the app was barely used since it was such a mess and won't be missed.


Nope, a number of features from the previous version are missing in this new one. Supposedly some or all will be back in updates fairly soon, but time will tell.

In light of this situation, I do think it would make a ton of sense to have a demo version of the app. Not so people can play around, but so existing FC users can try out the new version and find out firsthand how it works and exactly what features are missing in order to know if it's usable for them at this point or better to wait a few months.


Any word on how it is? Does it restore all the features that disappeared with QTX?

Who else does then when they make a major update to their flag ship pro apps?

All the bitching about upgrade pricing completely misses the mark, IMO. $300 is crazy cheap for a professional NLE.

However, the real question is whether or not FCPX still counts as a professional NLE. For people doing free lance work, editing DSLR footage, or moving up from iMovie, FCPX is an incredible value.

However, FCP as we have known it has been used to cut feature films, documentaries and television series. For that market, the new version is almost bizarrely under-featured. No OMF support, no xml out or in, no edl in/out, no r3d (which is odd, since RED is sort of the Apple of digital cinema and every other mainstream NLE suite has already incorporated direct support), no multi cam, no 3rd party device support.

Now maybe some or all of those things are going to be added, and added relatively quickly. Apple apparently has hinted that the App Store distribution model will allow them to do more frequent updates. But as it stands, for a good chunk of the professional market that Apple managed to wrest away from Avid, this release is a non-starter.

I doubt FCP based edit houses are simply going to stampede en masse to another product, but it's not like the competition has been standing still. While FCPX addresses some long standing issues, it does so at the expense of some basic functionality that has a lot of people scratching their heads and starting to look around at other options.

As it stands, I'm not exactly sure who Apple thinks they're going to be selling this to. It's probably overkill for most of the people who think the price point is as good a reason as any to jump into pro editing, and it simply can't do what a pro editor needs to be able to do. Add to that Apple's usual silence on further plans or road maps and I'm afraid we may see a sharp erosion of FCP's market share over the next year or so, unless Apple starts adding back stuff pronto.

Off the top of my head, Adobe and Avid have demo versions.

My guess is people doing work that doesn't require the missing high end features, hobbyists with deep pockets, and a few high end pros who will buy it but just play around with it for at least a few months while they use the previous version for real work.

This release sounds a lot like QTX. Hey, it's 64 bit and shiny! But it's missing enough features that high end users will just stick with the old version.

Nowhere near all of them, but it certainly is better.

downloading it from the app store is certainly doable. but the network where this will ultimately be run is not connected to the intertubes. and as i understand it, no connectivity to the app store means no app store authentication/authorization and, thus, the app will not be allowed to run when placed on the machine where it really needs to run.

how does the app store distribution model make it any easier to issue updates than does the software update model? i don't see it.

Are you talking about those basic stripped down web apps? Or are you talking about full versions of the software?

The negative reviews from professionals in the App Store(TM) are enlightening. The deficiencies in the new program don't end with the "mere" lack of support for previous FCS projects.

They killed FCE today.
The only option is to buy FCP.

I can't imagine it wouldn't be.

Yeah, the QTX comparison seems apt.

Problem being, this isn't that kind of software, where the average user probably doesn't care and those that do can get by just fine with the previous version, until Apple gets around (as they have started to) to adding back features.

If Apple starts to lose their pro video market they're unlikely to get it back. If they seem to be signaling that they no longer have the best interests of professional editors in mind, they'll lose mindshare faster than actual market share, but latter follows inevitably from the former.

It really makes no sense to me, because there simply isn't that much of a market for sort of pro software. You either step up and give the pros what they need, by offering plenty of options and flexibility, or you concentrate on consumers by offering ease of use and low cost of entry.

FCPX seems like it sort of wants to do both, but truly satisfies neither. Not remotely enough functionality for the pros, way to complicated for the casual user. Does Apple imagine that they're going to usher in a new world of professionally edited iPhone movies? Do they think that a You Tube upload option means that the kind of people that put stuff up on You Tube are going to start taking a lot of time and effort to polish their epic skateboard videos?

I have to believe that Apple intends to add to this quickly, but it would be nice if they gave some guidance. Being Apple, of course, that was never going to happen.

You really feel true professionals would be posting their honest opinion within hours of downloading the software. Would a "real" professional want to use the software for awhile before making an assessment?

Just go to your local or nearest Apple Store and play around in your own time on one of many pro computers that have FCP installed. Or, arrange a one to one session with a Geniuses. You can also attend one of their workshop. Simples! If you want 'privacy' or load your own content, you can do so in there as well. Not convinced? Try it.

The increased speed in some regards (i.e., playback, transcoding, etc.) is amazing, but the complete lack of support for basic features such as the export of XML and EDL files for professional finishing in other software is criminal. The changes to the interface and workflow are frustrating, but can be learned, however...

I've been cutting feature films and television programs for years with FCP, and without the ability to export files for use in third party software for color correction and other finishing, the latest version is utterly useless in a professional environment.

This is simply NOT a professional piece of software at this point in time.

I am vastly disappointed in Apple, and our company may have to look to an alternative software for editorial purposes moving forward.

Believe me they are. Professionals have been speculating about this program on many trade site for weeks now. Most of the opinions are based on specs.

Speculation means nothing. Actually using the software and getting work done informs a real assessment. That cannot be done in only the span of a few hours.

How do you know the people posting are professionals - exactly what defines a professional?

In fact, it can be done within a few minutes given what this package is lacking.

I think this statement says it all about anonymous people posting reviews.

Hey, roll your eyes if you like, but after having cut fifteen features and numerous episodics in FCP over the last eight or nine years, I think I know a thing or two about assessing the viability of changes to said software.

Right back at you.

The word within the professional (and non-pro, as well) community is spreading rapidly, and it's quite negative.

I would suggest you take a look at the reviews on the App Store if you seek less 'anonymous' feedback, and then give it a few days before some pros write more in-depth responses and post them on Apple and editorial sites.

That's a reasonable point, but some of the omitted functionality isn't a matter of using it and seeing how it feels, it's simply stuff that many editors need that isn't there.

It would be a little like Adobe releasing an update to Photoshop that didn't export PDFs or something. You see that, and you're taken aback, other workflow advantages notwithstanding.

It's difficult to believe anything on the Intertubes, isn't it? The Onion and John Stewart are the only reputable news sources anymore. That Bin Laden thing last month? Fake.

Professionals already have FCS and immediately recognize their old projects can't be imported into FCPX. The list of reported deficiencies goes on from there. The formal reviews are going to be fun.

I do understand that.

From talking with professionals I know. Few have any plans for upgrading to the FCP X on the first day. Especially not in the middle of important work.

Pretty much everyone had plans to download FCP X on a test machine, checking it out and seeing what the deal with it was before they would actually use it on anything mission critical.

Anything missing that they absolutely need simply means they will stick with what they currently have until the proper time to upgrade to something new.

I cannot think of anyone (an actual working professional) who has the time or would waste time posting on the App Store reviews. Especially on the day the software is released.