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Feature: Final Cut Pro X in 2013

December, 2012


Final Cut Pro X in 2013

by Richard Taylor


 
What might we expect for Final Cut Pro X in the year 2013?

FCPX will be two years old in June. I think we will see Final Cut Pro X version 10.1 in 2013.

Here are some of my reasons.
1) I think a two year full point upgrade cycle for FCPX in 2013 is more likely than a three year upgrade cycle in 2014. If that proves to be true, Final Cut Pro X could be updated to version 10.1 sometime around the second half of 2013, maybe with a sneak peak in the Spring around NAB.

2) There are only two more incremental numerical updates left for Final Cut Pro X 10.0, - 08 and 09. We had five FCPX updates in 2012. After the next two updates, 08 and 09, it's on to number 10.1.

3) Apple doesn't have the luxury of a leisurely release schedule for FCPX. It has to stay aggressive and at the forefront of modern NLE applications. Avid and Premiere are formidable competitors.

Some people question having to pay the full price of $299 for Final Cut Pro X in the App store for version 10.1. Previous upgrades for one version of Final Cut Pro to the next full point upgrade were discounted from the full price. Currently there is no way to get a discounted price on an upgrade for an app you previously bought from the App Store.

To be fair to current customers, some of the App store developers offer a discount when they introduce a new full point upgrade in the App Store. For example, Screenflow went from version 3 to version 4 and had a discount of about 50% for a few days. And 1Password has announced the new App store version, V4, will be free to existing V3 customers. Their new V4 iOS version is on sale for over 50% off.

I see no reason why Apple can't introduce Final Cut Pro X version 10.1 with the same kind of discount for a week or so. Or Apple can change the App store rules to include an upgrade path for existing customers of a given app. This is something App Store developers and customers have been requesting for quite a while.

But even if Apple doesn't provide a discount or upgrade path, I don't have a problem paying $299 every two years, or $150 per year, for a full point upgrade version of Final Cut Pro X. An individual can install one copy of Final Cut Pro X "...on each of the Mac Computer(s) that you own or control" according to current App Store Terms and Conditions. So if you own or control more than one Mac, you can install FCPX on each machine and only pay for the FCPX app once.

What kind of new features can we expect to see in Final Cut Pro X version 10.1? There are three categories.

The first category would be to add back missing features that FCP7 had (audio mixer, multiple scopes windows open at the same time, custom recallable window layouts). I expect the FCPX team will continue to return missing features that are much better versions than previous incarnations (like they did with multicam, persistent selections and Share).

The second category would be to add features that FCP never had but are an industry standard (a scrolling timeline).

And the third category would be unique FCPX features that no one has (like the introduction of the skimmer or the magnetic timeline) - where the puck is going, magic NLE features. Whatever the Final Cut Pro X team has up their sleeves, these are the features that will justify a full point upgrade.

2013 could prove to be quite an exciting time for FCPX users with future updates, new powerful iMacs already here and a new Mac Pro in "later" 2013. As a professional user and proponent of Final Cut Pro X, I maintain a master list of Final Cut Pro X feature requests at http://fcpx.tv/top.html. Let's see how many Final Cut Pro X requests Apple crosses of the list in 2013.

Copyright © 2012 Richard Taylor. All rights reserved.
Apple and Final Cut Pro X are registered trademarks of Apple Inc..


Richard Taylor is a Level 2 Apple Certified Trainer for Final Cut Pro X, 5, 6 & 7 and a
Video Editor/Producer in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. You can follow him on Twitter @RichardTaylorTV or via his website dedicated to Final Cut Pro X - FCPX.TV

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