Final Cut Pro X draws mixed reactions from users, professionals - Page 2

Perhaps Apple can add 700 floating windows and checkboxes for you to make it look better.
I actually used it for a client project and I think it's wonderful.
Who cares about the iMovie similarities? Does that turn it into a bad app?

There are a lot of folks here saying that professional editors who complain about FCX are "bitching and moaning". This seems to be coming from a lack of understanding just how fundamental the things that are missing are. I get that, professional editors are a minority - even amongst those who purchase Final Cut Pro.

However, as a member of that minority, I've cut award winning music videos, commercials, feature films, and documentaries, and I have to tell you - FCX is not a professional package. This is not bias against the user interface changes or having to learn a new system. It's about what Apple left behind in it's pursuit of the prosumer market place.

All those feature films Apple likes to point out were cut in Final Cut Pro - The Social Network, Cold Mountain, True Grit, etc - could never be edited with FCX. Why? Because feature films, like most high end productions, are a collaboration. I'm sure FCX has the potential to be a fine tool, however right now, it's a closed system. It may be fine as an end-to-end solution if you use DSLR or AVCHD (but not the RED Camera yet).

Most importantly, though, is that "closed system" part. It is a program unto itself. With no ability to import or export EDLs, XML, OMF, or even FCP's old projects, and no ability to map audio or video tracks, there's no way to collaborate with others.

I just finished a Scion commercial in Final Cut Pro 7 - I didn't do the effects, they were done on a Flame. Guess what I gave the EFx house? EDLS - of all my elements that made up each effects shot split onto separate video tracks so the effects artist could pull those same elements in at high resolution and spend hours carefully assembling each shot in high end effects software. (If you do not know, an EDL or Edit Decision List is 30 year old technology that essentially is a text file consisting of a structured list of timecodes detailing the timecode of the start and stop of each shot. It's old technology, but it's the glue that allows the many elements that make up an edit to be dealt with by a wide variety of systems).

And I split all my audio and output OMFs (industry standard audio interchange file) and gave them to the audio mixer who cleaned up the audio and added effects and did a 5.1 surround sound mix, etc...

And this was just for a 30 second commercial. None of this is possible with FCX. You cannot assign video or audio to specific tracks, you cannot export your audio elements. This is very basic stuff for the broadcast professional.

Right now FCX feels crippled - closed off from the rest of broadcast post. Maybe with time it will learn how to play well with others, but as of now I don't think it's a broadcast pro product. And while FCX is "learning" how to become a professional, Apple have pulled all the copies of Final Cut Studio from their stores, as if they're saying "I don't care what you need, you'll use what we want you to or leave". This means I can't add any more FCP stations or expand my business unless I switch over to Avid or Adobe.

Which is truly a sorry state of affairs.

This is point zero on a total rewrite of a major program and it has been out less than three days. So yeah, it is bitching and moaning in my opinion. And i'm also a pro editor


Well good thing the release of this new software hasn't suddenly made the old one stop working. Few to no pro houses are dumb enough to dump their old software for a point zero release so it's really not that big of a deal


it is standard practice to stop selling old versions of software when a new old is out, especially by Apple. And you have know about this since April. If you were dumb enough not to plan ahead or to assume that the initial release, given it was a bottom up rewrite, would be perfect well thats on you.

not a bad app at all. great for a lot of people but i dont' want my iphoto library anywhere near while a client is behind me.
also have NO need to share with Facebook, CNN iReport, WTF is that?!
marketing was way off. please call this iMoviePro as it only opens imovie projects.
it's awesome for several things just not several others that are important to me.

Why is everyone so quick to blindly defend Apple. You'd think someone caught Christ pissing in the pool and no one wants to admit that the water is yellow.

Everything quoted below is so reactionary and irrational it's obvious that they are made by people not in the business or blinded by some unfounded faith in Apple. Let start off by apologizing ahead of time for some of my comments. Forgive my snark and my lack of brevity, but in light of some of the idiocy in this thread I believe it's justified.

To suggest that you NOT talk to your clients about you workflow is insane. I couldn't imagine what I would be given to work with if I had no dialogue with my clients about what I need. As a matter of fact if I can be on set, I'm there making sure things go right. I'm not the only one either. For example, Peter Jackson works very closely with his lead editor and has been known to reshoot scenes based on his recommendations.

To call people not satisfied with the update "cry Babies" is capricious at best.

To say the pro market is too conservative is unknowledgeable. In that case I'd compare "best practices" in editing and film making to "best practices" in the military. Despite all of the high tech blah blah blah used in the Navy, the guys on deck still use sextons. I run a tight ship in my shop, and sure some might call me a bastard drill sergeant, but I'm working allot these days because people know they can count on me and my crew.

If you don't know where you came from, how could you possibly know where you are going?

Referring to EVERY program with legacy support as "bloatware" is misinformed. Is FCS really "Bloatware"? Because that's the implication of the statement and the transition (re-write) itself. I personally like the features in FCPX, but I wouldn't have thrown out the baby with the bath-water either.

IMO Either FCPX should have not been called "PRO" or they should have continued to develop FCS for another year while simultaneously developing FCPX to ensure every feature present in FCS remained intact in the transition.

The more we learn the more professionals are beginning to discover this is not a program for them or for them to recommend for clients or their studios.


That is unequivocally THE DUMBEST comment so far in this thread; Period! If you work in the business please provide me with you contact info so that I can recommend NO ONE work with you... EVER!


Apple makes mistakes all of the time. Are you kidding? I hate to use the word fanboy, but jesus I could list more than a few mistakes Apple has made over the years and I think many could. I've notice many around here are the first to take note of every mistake Apple HAS made. Let me know if you seriously need a list and I'll start a thread so we can all contribute.

AS far as "staying current" goes. Well my friend... I have made a career out of knowing things that idiots with your attitude dismiss as unnecessary. Believe me, a guy who knows what OMF's, XML's, granularity, push processing, gamma, gumut etc etc etc are; when you don't, is worth ever penny more that he asks than you. Believe me, We ask for more money, much more. So keep living your delusion that you're worth more because of what you don't Don't know. What a tool you must be. Truly.



Um it's not really version 1. If it were then it should have been presented with a different brand and simultaneously been offered next to the original brand, like FCS and FCE. FCPX is really is FCE on steroids. Apple should have said, here's our latest and greatest prosumer software and depending on feedback we'll be integrating these features into the future re-write of FCS in a year. Apple has this hang-up with everything being a secret until it's released. I agree in most cases... this is not one.



Some might suggest that since you are not in the video business you should keep you comments to yourself. personally I don't know why you'd bother other than getting yourself heard. But for your future reference... there is NO new feature that is worth losing existing capabilities. I suppose you would give up your brain for a 15" dick?


You're whole rant is centered on the idea that FCPX is V1. It's not really. Again if it was they should have called it by another name and in this case it would still not be a rose. I assume since you called real professionals who know what they are talking about "elitists' (OMG LOL) another tool you must be. Yes, from where you stand we must seem like elitists and you know what, most of us are comfortable with that.



Um yes actually. I will probably make that recommendation since the latest Avid releases are quite compelling and the prices are quite reasonable; especially in applications where software only options work well, such as editing proxies. I love Avid and the new features (dialogue tracking, Multi format and RAW media support are truly amazing.

FCP NEVER compared to a an Avid workstation. Never. If you've ever used one, you wouldn't have made that comment. Personally it makes me chuckle to think that once again here's somebody who might believe those of us at the top of our game are Elitist. Are the top three Olympians elitists as well or are they just the best at what they do?

Motion tracking, color correction, media management, raw performance and power, etc etc etc have always been superior. That was never the issue. The issue was the $125k+ price tag and the only reason people use FCP is because it's close enough to get most of the job done (all for many that didn't need the quality Avid provided) and it was cheap. Do you really believe features are finished in FCP? Better not let the Flame, Smoke, Combustion, Davinci artists out there know they wasted their investments. LOL Nothing but a low budget doc or indie has ever been finished in FCP I guarantee you. Even if it was edited in FCP it will not be finished there.


No it's not and you are correct that it was a mistake to release it now and/ or to call it PRO. But seriously we aren't "throwing hissy fits". And if we are then perhaps it's not unjustified to say Apple just "spit in the face of professionals". You decide how much venom needs to be present in your interpretation of our comments.


I get what you are saying Murch, but I don't think you should start a re-write of software by removing features. I know for sure Avid would never release a re-write using the Symphony brand with fewer features than the previous version. That is one possible definition of unprofessional IMO.

I've never been a fan of "hoping" for missing features. That's called wishful thinking. The safest assumption to make is that those features will probably never be present. If they were important at all why were they removed? Finally many of the missing features (such as you examples of Multicam, OMF and XML support) are just as relevant to file based capture as they are to tape and film scans. I don't see how you could not be aware of that unless you are not an editor or you don't work with proxies, DI's, compositors, audio engineers or negative confirmation; just to name a few applications off the top of my head.

sounds like you are loving FCPX currently or planning to thoroughly embrace in the future.
tell me, are you even remotely satisfied that this is REPLACING a solid nles (FCP7) or just annoyed at all the ranting?
i understand if it's the latter... otherwise i am flummoxed.

#1 comment

I'm not surprised by the negative reactions. It happens with anything rewritten from the ground up.

It's not like Apple is saying FCPX is it because FCP7 is still installed on the machine.

Is there really no workarounds that people are so stuck? I seriously doubt it to be honest. No tape support? Import using iMovie, rough edit, export to FCPX. That's how I work and it works flawlessly. Admittedly I'm moving digital so it's not too much of an issue.

Yes there are going to be issues initially but the one thing FCPX will have that FCP7 didn't is regular updates because Apple can now leverage the Mac App Store. I would hazard a guess (especially with Lion's delta updates) that by the end of the year FCPX will have returned the features missing and sailed completely past the level of work people can do at the moment.

Apple did the right thing releasing FCPX as it is in order to get people used to the new way. Once people are used to it then the actual transition will be minimal.

Many serious editors are moving towards digital anyway so once FCP7 finally dies projects will be even more amazing than they are now.

Just chill, use FCP7 for your bread and butter, and learn FCPX NOW so that you have an edge over the stuck in the mud left-behinds that refuse to upgrade.

And here's where an otherwise good post goes disingenuous... This line. useless in a professional post facility and most user's workflows I think you are categorically wrong in your assumption of what MOST user's workflows need. MOST editors workflows need the ability to sort/ingest footage, manage it, label it, edit it on a timeline, and save the project to a hard drive/network drive to dish off, or export it into a file or on a disc. These are all things that FCPX does do. Exporting OMFs and EDLs, while necessary for an app like FCP to have... is NOT something most FCP users use. Its just simply not.

Apple released an app that they've been workin on for ages, knowing it wasn't feature complete, but did most of the things most of their customers do... Apple hasn't disregarded anyone.. they're just not scared to say its time for some spring cleaning of the codebase (which it totally was).

Don't get me wrong, there will be those like you who need features that are missing with this clearly 1.0 release (come on don't kid yourself) but you rail on the poster's attitude and only come across as being a complete douchebag with a superiority complex. You say you want this guy's details so you can tell people to avoid his work and yet all you make me want to do is get yours so I don't have to deal with an arrogant prick if I ever need video work done.

Calm down, grab a beer and chill out... and take that carrot out your date hole while you're at it.

No. It's not. It says so right here on the splash screen. Final Cut Pro 10 - oh, do you think they misplaced the decimal point? If it's version 1.0, then call it Whizzy Editor Pro 1.0 or something else. You can't have it both ways. If you're going to claim it's Final Cut 10, then you can't excuse the removal of those features by saying cross your fingers and hope they come back in Final Cut 11.



So, you're saying that as a post house, I should have anticipated that Apple would release crippled software and purchased enough copies of Final Cut Studio necessary for any expansion possibilities for the foreseeable future? And what was I to base this decision on? Releasing less capable versions of Final Cut Pro has not been standard procedure for seven prior versions.


No. It happens when a vendor capriciously drops necessary features, then leaves you with no solutions.


Really? Really? iMovie can log and capture ProRes 4444 from an HDCamSR deck via my dual link HDSDI Decklink card. Wow. If only they'd carried that functionality over from iMovie...


See, that's what's so surprising about this. Apple have always been so smart about major transitions in the past. Witness 68000->PPC, OS9->OSX, PPC->Intel. Heck when they released the considerably feature reduced iMovie 08 (sound familiar anyone?), they gave people a free download of iMovie 06 to ease the changeover until they added back the missing functionality.

All of those transitions were handled with far more finesse than this FCX debacle.

@Patrick Sheffield & Spliff Monkey:

Those were GREAT posts, and really give a great view into your profession and concerns re: FCPX!

FYI: I'm not part of your industry directly, but work in advertising and have specialized in print production, and moving forward, digital publishing. Basically, I'm an overall "creative", as they say.

IMO, it has "appeared" that software truly geared to the creative "professional" has been slipping up over the last few years. I use, and have used all of the Adobe products since versions 1, as well as assorted other creative software through the years, before they were either a) bought, or b) unfortunately died.

Not to get too far off track, but as we have all witnessed, companies like Adobe are producing software with fewer and fewer new capabilities each release, and most of all... are not releasing timely updates to fix bugs, and add small features. Apple has been pretty good in this regard, and I would like to point out Aperture as a piece of software that at it's inception, was not good at all and negatively compared to Lightroom. Over the last few years with many updates, it has become a truly professional piece of software that for many "pro photogs", handily beats Lightroom. I'm thinking this may be the case with FCPX.

My thinking is that Apple sees the future, as they always do, where the markets are heading. I studied traditional graphics, litho and print back in the very early 80's. I jumped on the Mac/DTP wagon in '85 and went through all it's transitions, from being a "toy" and amateur platform, to where it is today.

I now do the jobs of 20+ people, which even 10 years ago was a massive hand-off type of workflow.

Could it be that Apple sees the day in the not too distant future, where you "pros" in traditional broadcasting and film, with your multi-team/person workflows, will be few and far between? And that your concerns today, will not be valid in a year or 2 from now?

I'm looking at the inclusion of Facebook, CNN, etc. integration into FCPX. You as a pro would think like, "WTF" do I need that for? I would suggest that that may be a hint to you guys/gals where you're professions are heading.

Everything is going digital. Everything is becoming web-based. Everything will be viewed on monitors of one kind or another.

Color for example.

Complaints have been made by FCS pros that certain color controls are no longer in FCPX. I know a thing or 2 about color in the print industry, and for the last few years, our main concern is that it looks good on computers & devices FIRST, and worry about print a distant second.

The film and broadcast color shops are probably looking at the same transition, and I certainly wouldn't invest in any more "broadcast proofing" devices. See what it looks like on an iPad and a Galaxy Tab, then a run of the mill LCD-TV. Broadcast as we know it today, will be history in less than 10 years time. I would bet that even theaters will see their demise in that time, and tape/film anything will no longer be produced in quantity. You'll need to specially order, and wait for it.

To sum it up: my personal suggestion, as someone who's had their profession completely turned upside down more than a few times... is that you film pros give the new software a test drive. Make your concerns and most of all bugs known to Apple. The MAS approach and the new foundation for FCPX facilitates you getting fixes almost as fast as they are finished... new features as well.

I wouldn't worry so much about legacy workflows, and instead think about for whom, for what, and where you'll probably be producing your shows, news, docus, ads, and films in the near future.

Also, bone up on any of the skills that you traditionally hand off to other people and shops. The day is coming all too soon that you will be a "1-Man-Traveling-Band"... or at least close to it. Don't forget your dog/cat and a monkey or 2

PS: I have a general question to ask of any of the techies/devs here:

Exactly how difficult is it to add features to existing code of many our beloved software titles? Also, what about 64-bit versions for today's hardware, starting with legacy code? It appears that it is easier to start from scratch.

Typical Apple. More eye candy, less features.

+1 - While I was writing my reply... you said it much more precise and eloquently!

@ Patrick Sheffield -- You remind me of the ol' guys using Hell scanners and Quantel Paintbox systems worth millions that I demoed Photoshop to in the early 90's. Around the mid-90's, they came by my studio begging for a job.

Which means, you might consider Lowedededwookies advice and do the "carrot" thing ... or else?

I guess most of the stability issues reported by people will go away once OSX Lion is released.

+1

None of these early adopters are professionals. No one in any business will jump ship to a new revision of any product on its release, thats completely foolish and potentially financially fatal. Once a product is released you normally put it on a standalone non essential system so it can be trialled. Only after it has been trialled for some time would you move it onto production systems.

It wasn't pulled. It just wasn't written in. Apple rewrote the application from the ground up. That was a huge undertaking. The app gained many new features, and lost some others. Apple will likely add functionality to the application to replace some of the missing features. Send Apple feedback. It listens most of the time.

I will admit though Apple should have been more clear about what functionality was left out. For instance, the inability to import projects from previous versions would probably upset me. Most people would expect as much from a professional application.

That might be true for large corporations. I doubt it is true for small independent video companies, which often largely consist of one person. Improved software usually means savings in time and money. You want to put that to work immediately.

Many people likely bought the application thinking it would be their primary video editing software (like all versions of Final Cut before it). They already have the prior versions of Final Cut. To explore the new software, those people tried to import projects from other versions of Final Cut, which isn't possible.

Professionals expect backwards compatibility. If it isn't there, they shouldn't find out about it after purchase. This PR problem could have been avoided if Apple would have just spelled that out when it first previewed the software.

You should write to Steve Jobs and make sure Apple knows your position. Apple is responsive. Apple might at least still sell the old version. Your post was really thought out and should be told to Apple.

all this moaning... what i wouldn't give for logic pro to get the same kind of ground up engine rewrite...

If you buy software and don't check the feature list and mis 'essential' features afterwards you can only blame yourself.
If you don't understand what Apple is doing with FCX you shouldn't buy it. A look at the demo videos should be enough to decide.
So I guess most people complaining here didn't buy FCX or must be rather stupid and non-PRO.

J.

hear hear - I am not in the video editing business but I never remember running the latest DAW in a studio, at home maybe but even that is bloody risky. Upgrading immediately makes no sense whatsoever, just wait and carry on doing your job with the software you love. Maybe it time you will love this one too. The result is far more important than the tools.

I didn't mean you personally, I meant the stupid number of so-called professionals (I refer to the mentality, not to how they earn their living) giving this software 1-star.

Apple most certainly can do wrong. There was a debacle when they released Aperture 3 that had me fuming for days, but that wasn't a 1.0 release. Criticise sure, but people ought to have some balance, and en masse one-star rating in not balance.

Charlituna, I don't know what you edit or what your daily demands are but Patrick is absolutely right in all his points. The April preview was very scant on real information, and the rumour network gave a lot of weight to the probability that they previewed the eye candy but the things needed in the professional space would still be there, under the hood. They're not.

The unceremonious dumping of a decade or so of investment in Final Cut and its peripheral equipment is what people are bitching and moaning about, not some luddite aversion to a new UI. It's gorgeous, getting most things in is a dream. Getting anything useful out is hopeless.

People were entitled to expect that the next version of FCP (yes, that's what it's called) would be able to be used for the same tasks as its predecessor, before FCS3 vanished from the shelves. It can't.

There are a lot of analogies being used here, but let's say Adobe just released Photoshop XX, took the current version off the shelves, told you it couldn't open all your old Photoshop files and all you could make was JPEGs - because that's what people put on Facebook. You could keep the old version for old pictures but it won't run in Lion, and the next Mac you buy only runs Lion... but man, it's the future...

I just hope Apple has a new replacement for Final Cut Server up it's sleeve if not they should open source the code just like they did with QuickTime/Darwin Streaming Server. Shake and Color would be great contributions to the community as well.

Hate to see great software locked up when it still has it's uses and unexplored potential.
Plus it would be a great PR move on Apple's part!

The solution is clearly for Apple to offer the old version of both the OS and software to pro users who aren't ready to switch. This is pretty standard in the enterprise market, but Apple is very much a consumer oriented firm and so it tends to resist it.

Ah the conceited 'rolleseyes'.

You haven't actually read my post it seems. Thanks for quoting it so more reasonable people can see for themselves what I wrote.

I didn't label professionals elitists, I labelled the comment that I was replying to elitist drivel. It was. He called people who didn't know what OMF and XML were 'wallmart grazing prosumers'. That is as elitist as it gets. You using the term 'real professionals' also smells a bit wiffy. I'm a professional photographer but I don't label everyone I see using a mid-range DSLR Wallmart grazing prosumers or claim 'real professionals' work with 1Ds or D3xs. Some staggering work is done with these cameras, that's what makes them professionals or not in my book.

Nobody's claiming the top-end pro market doesn't have good reason to be frustrated or even angry, but the reaction is over the top. If Apple add OMF/XML support, Multicam etc. in an update next month, you'll all look pretty silly. Not because you got annoyed, but because hundreds and hundreds of you gave it 1 star on the MAS and took to the forums in a furore of vitriol.

The failing of Apple here, as is SO often their failing, is the complete lack of communication with their market. All they needed to do is put 'the following features will follow shortly in updates:' and all this heat would have been a heck of a sight cooler.

At least you knew FCPX was coming! I waited years for Aperture 3 and my industry had no inkling that it was even in development until the day it was released! We guessed it was because Aperture 2 was a success, but there was no announcement from Apple whatsoever until the release day.

I wish Apple would understand that when it comes to professional software they can't afford the complete, deafening silence that they insist upon so often. People's livelihoods depends on being able to plan smooth transitions that don't impact on their delivery of service.

Calling this product FinalCut was just one of many mistakes. VideoEditorPro for iApp users would have been more appropriate.

The number of comments of people so religiously defending Apple on these comments is hilarious, people who have no concept of a professional edit and saying things about how editors need to adapt and change their workflow when they have no idea of the difficulties and intricacies of a NLE workflow.


Other people have already covered things they left out like EDLs, OMFs etc... so I'll throw a few more into the pile.

My company is fairly small, we don't hand off projects to Protools, we don't use EDL's.. but there is still A LOT missing from this. We need total control over our media and FCPX does not provide that. I am an example that it is not just the people working in huge production houses that find this version unusable.

Example. We work off external storage like everyone else, we have a series of drives we use on a per-project basis.
With FCP7, when i first ingest footage I set up ALL my associated media, scratch disks, render files, autosaves, waveform cache etc to all go onto that one external drive, the project is 100% portable. Take the drive to another machine, boom, you're working.

FCPX, you can set where the duplicated media goes (note, you have to duplicate media from most formats or manually move the original native files to a location of your choice in the finder.
It supports less native files, we wrk with Canon XF and Sony XDCAM formats a lot and no support there, we would now have to convert to prores, prores is great, but the 270% increase in file size is not always worth it and takes time to re-encode.
EVEN WORSE
Not all of the associated media now lies where I want..externally. The 'Events' and 'Projects' libraries sit on the /Movies drive of the BOOT drive. this is terrible practice and there is no way to change it.

So... there is literally no ay to move a project without copying those libraries and manually placing them in aid location on the new macine...then redoing when returning to the first machine.

THIS IS NOT A SMALL PROBLEM. This literally 100% knocks out my current workflow and the workflow of pretty much all Mid-High end FCP users.

So Media Management - Broken
Format support - Seriously weakened ("oh but we now support h.264"...great, anyone who edits in h.264 needs to have their FCP licence revoked)

Multi cam - This is huge, it is huge, I don't need to explain.

Single monitor display, lack of being able to arrange the workspace to fit the project...awful.

Trackless workflow. Now this is an interesting concept. but it makes doing serious sound mixes a lot more difficult and since they killed Soundtrack..what are we to do?

The list goes on.....

Don't get me wrong, there are some great new ideas in FCPX, it is very fast, it looks great the UI have some nice ways of working. but they have destroyed so much of the bread and butter that a professional editor needs that it is not an option.

"So just use FCP" A lot of you are saying...
Well, yes, that is exactly what I am having to do for the time being, but FCP7 is not 64bit, it doesn't support OpenGL or Grand central, it is sluggish and the reason people wanted an upgrade was for things like 64bit.

Also, with them now killing FCP7 and no longer selling it, how are we supposed to add edit stations and how long will FCP7 survive and we are forced to use FCPX (not possible..) or go elsewhere.


Those saying "people who bought on day 1 are not pros"... this is literally the stupidest thing I've ever heard, it is us pros who were so excited by this new FCP and want to try it out, I installed it alongside FCP7 on my personal machine, why would I not try it out?

For now I will continue to chug along with FCP7, fiddle around on FCPX and wait and see what Apple do but I can't see them listening to the outcries, they may add EDLs or OMF's and multicams they are the loudest cries, but there is a lot more missing that I just don't se them every doing.
I am mentally preparing for Premiere or Avid to potentially be starting to be used a lot more, but i hope not, I've used FCP for years and it is a great product...until now.

That is an excellent link. There will be a lot of people defending Apple here, that's what we tend to do. But this Final Cut Pro X move is somewhat disconcerting, and I did suspect it was leaning this way.

Steve Jobs and Randy Ubilos seem to be too excited about iMovie these past few years. Sure, it's cool, but it's iMovie. I'm not sure how involved Randy is with Final Cut Pro X but Apple has dropped the ball on a 10 year legacy of a truly revolutionary video editing system (Final Cut Pro, not iMovie).

I think people need to relax and take a chill pill. There is a huge team of software engineers and UI experts that know little more than any professional video editor. Apple had to release FCP now because it's so overdue, but they always listen to their customer feedback. I am 100% sure that all those little features people cry about will get implemented.

The number of blind loyalists here with little to no understanding of a professional editing workflow is kind of disturbing. I don't mean its disturbing that they don't understand the professional editing workflow, I mean its disturbing that they don't understand it but speak as if they know better than those who do.

The five-star ratings in the Mac App store are from people coming from iMovie. The one-star ratings are from people coming from Final Cut Pro. What's the name of this program again? That's right, Final Cut Pro.

For the software to be released in such a crippled state is unacceptable; they've had four years to prep this program (yes its been that long since a legitimate Final Cut Pro update was released) and what they put out was iMovie with some additional features. The comment about this application not being ready for "some" professionals today, but being ready for many others is flat-out wrong. There is only a single workflow in which this program can currently function. If you are an editor coming from iMovie who works completely alone on a single computer with only digital files, then this app is ready for you today. For any other workflow, the program is unusable. And I mean that literally; there are no workarounds for any of the biggest current issues.*

I don't think people are understanding the severity of the state of this app; Apple just released a version of Final Cut Pro that doesn't open up Final Cut Pro documents. Let that sink in for a moment.

Other deal-breaker features are the ability to get any kind of layered edit in or out of the program. You can't bring in an edit done elsewhere (except from iMovie, which tells you where their priorities now lay), nor can you output a layered edit to be used with other software. That means every project must start and finish in Final Cut Pro X. You can't send your project to be mixed or colored by a specialist (which any project with a budget over 4 figures likely would be), you can't send an edit out for vfx or a finish, and you cant even share your project over a network with other Final Cut Pro X users. All of the metadata (which X's new one-way organization requires) and proxy files are generated locally on the user's machine!

All of that alone makes the program unusable in a professional environment beyond the aforementioned one-man band scenario. But then there's no support for deck control or capture from tape (even for those who are shooting all-digital today, they have libraries of tapes they need to access when projects creep back up), no way to put a project to tape, no multi-cam editing, no video output (even if the built-in color tools weren't awful they're pointless without the ability to send picture to a calibrated plasma), no RED support, no way to re-link missing media, no way to have more than one timeline open at at a time, and two-dozen other less-critical things.

But even if Apple were to add all of that back in a timely manner, which is not something they have publicly committed to doing, the way in which Final Cut Pro X organizes and handles media is fundamentally flawed. The "Event Library" shows all of the media for all of your clients and projects all at once. Who is that helpful for? There are no real folders any longer, only smart folders that rely on metadata. Metadata, as I mentioned earlier, that is only stored locally on your own computer. Should you share a project with another user, all organization is completely absent on their computer. And while Apple brags that the application handles nearly all formats "natively", what it actually does is create Apple Pro-Res duplicates of all your footage on your boot drive, with no way to designate a different location for those duplicates to reside.

So effective Tuesday, Apple has killed Final Cut Studio (you can no longer buy it) and replaced it with an usable application. Unusable, unless you are coming from iMovie and only work by yourself with strictly digital files and on a single computer.

The "you can just keep using the old version until Apple fixes the new one" argument doesn't fly either. Professionals have waited four years for a significant upgrade to Final Cut Pro; few if any are going to give Apple another four years to turn this iMovie Deluxe release into something that can actually be used in a professional environment. Editors want an application that can handle all video formats natively and uses all of their computer's CPUs and memory today. And if we have to burn all of our previous work to move to Final Cut Pro X, it'd be easier just to jump ship. Adobe Premiere's come along way, and it actually opens Final Cut Pro projects. What a novel idea, right?

*Automatic Duck has released a plug-in for OMF-export, which would allow for sending your project to be professionally mixed by a Pro Tools artist, but the plug-in costs two-thirds more than Final Cut Pro X itself. For a single feature! At that rate, it would cost professionals about ten grand to plug all of Final Cut Pro X's holes with third party plug-ins, if such plug-ins even existed.

Yeah that's the way I see it too.

Why would a "professional" video app import iMovie files and store projects on the local hard drive?

Seems like this product is aimed at iMovie enthusiasts that may want to step up to a more advanced product. Like a previous poster mentioned, I don't see how a high end production with advanced audio mixing and color correction can be done with FCPX as it currently is. These features may be added in the future.... then again they may not. I would not want to be in the position of hoping that they are added back in.

Aperture and and Logic Pro users.. be afraid, be very very afraid.

Jonamac, but it is your last comment that sums up why the smart money isn't assuming the missing features will show up in a month. Aperture is the program I spend every day in front of professionally, and while I stuck with it when it was too slow and had no localized editing, many of my peers did not. I would certainly not characterize them as "looking silly" when the program finally matured as if by magic one day without warning, um, four years later.

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That's a pretty sycophantic way to spin a product update having a number of important features removed. Professionals have been using FCX to make a living, if they release a paid "upgrade" that can't be used to do what the previous version did, isn't that a completely reasonable grounds for complaining?

And maybe all the high end features will be added back, maybe they won't and apple is happy with abandoning the high end and making money off of prosumers.


Do you even know the specifics of the situation?

FEATURES ARE MISSING.

It's got nothing to do with being "conservative" or not spending enough time with the software, playing around with it longer isn't going to make those features magically appear.



Yeah, that advice is going to go down well with someone who just shelled out $299 for an alleged "upgrade" only to find out that they can't use it - maybe a few months down the road they will, maybe not. And maybe those missing features will be free updates, maybe they won't show up until the next paid version (full price, no longer an upgrade). I expect there are some who want their money back, and I think apple should give it to them, particularly since they don't make it clear that features are missing and there's no opening of old sessions.



Speaking of drivel...this isn't an issue of being a luddite, its a case where the new version is missing features and it IS literally unusable for many professional situations where 7 was being used. If a new version can't be used and someone spent their money on something that's just going to gather dust, that seems like EXACTLY what a one star rating is for.



Looking at it that way then Apple killed off a perfectly good app that people were using for a wide range of work all the way up to the high end. And replaced it with something new that couldn't do everything the old one could. Not to mention that if it is a new app, it's dishonest for Apple to present it as an update which leads people to believe that it will have at least everything the last version had as well as session compatibility.



Absolutely. That's what most of the apologists don't seem to understand. That, or they are hobbyists who are happy with the new version and either ignorant of how broadcast/film works or just don't care.



Show me the link where the feature list says "doesn't open FC7 sessions". I'm dying to see that link. And the fact that you put "essential" in quotes shows how little you understand about those missing features.

Listen to Patrick Sheffield, he has done a great job of summing up the situation and it's obvious he's a working professional who completely understands the situation and what it means for broadcast users. It seems like the two sides are people actually using the software for the living who are most in the position to know what software is usable and what isn't, and a bunch of apologists who seem like they would defend anything apple did no matter how boneheaded, who have never worked as an editor in their life and whose expertise of the situation is nothing more than "Hey, that new one looks nice."

Guess whose opinion I'm going to take seriously in this case.

For the love of all that his holy, no no no! Logic is already 64 bit, it just needs some improvements and new features. Release a version that is missing features and can't use any old sessions and watch the user base flee.

Sorry to the pro editors who don't like the new version, but you are bitching and moaning. It's one thing to post a critical review, it's another to act like a child while doing it.

Asking for a guy's contact to blacklist him in your business, just because he has a different opinion than you? Really? How incredibly childish!

How about instead something like:
"I can't use FCPX because I need it to do this, this and this. I might have to switch to Avid or Adobe if Apple doesn't offer these features."
or
"I don't like the new UI because I use multiple monitors and I can't put blah blah on my second monitor"

Send that feedback to Apple too.

Whining with a post "This is like iMovie Pro - it sucks! Apple sucks!" is doing nothing, and won't be taken seriously. If you want Apple to update FCPX to give you the professional features that you need, then act like a professional.

Every time a pro app is within the range of amateurs, you get complaining. Many pros are afraid that their customers will go to the amateurs, forgetting it's their talent, not the tools, that provide the pro level results.