Premiere is lacking some features that FCP 7 had (keyboard shortcut options are particularly sparse when compared to Avid and FCP) but Adobe does listen to feedback and it gets more professional features with every version. It makes good business sense for them to make the transition from FCP 7 to Premiere as smooth as possible so I'd advise putting in feature requests for anything you miss from FCP.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

Can't believe after working exclusively on FCP for 10 years, we've had to order an AVID system and start learning it to be sure we're future proofing our business (FYI - the FCP to AVID discount still works as of today)

just go here:

FCP to AVID 999 discounted price

Spoke with an AVID sales rep at their headquarters today (try getting a FCP rep on the phone) - they're shaking their heads (and smiling) about FCPX - their rep said they've made a lot of new straight from FCP customer sales this week)

Sad Sad week

FYI - apparently the app store folks are responding and I've read at least one person's getting his money back

I'm know how those guys feel. I don't see how the current FCP X is useable in a professional situation. There is way too little support for anything. I'll be toying around with it for a few days, but I'll also be polishing up my avid chops (mainly learning how to do up effects in MC). Frightening, really.



www.strypesinpost.com

Yes - Apple is refunding purchases (got note from App Store Rep)

put this note on their APP store comments but they appear to have stopped all comments from June 21st on so this may not show up there

FCP X Broke Pro-Editors Hearts

You've broken pro-editors hearts with Final Cut Pro X - we simply wanted 64bit faster no or little render time editing - no transcoding - better media management. Instead you gave us Imovie + and killed any future for the software we've used for a decade to make our living and run our business. There is no xml, omf, external monitor, ability to control audio for external professional mixes, no more COLOR app or Soundtrack Pro or ability to output to the old Color App -

Instead FCPX's media management is all or nothing - everything you've ever put in your "Event" library or put every project you do on a separate hard drive so nothing gets mixed with the others.

Apple appears to have abandoned the professional market with this release - I have owned every copy of FCP since version 1 and have helped convert many users from Avid to Apple with it's strong third party plug ins and professional work flow.

FCP X is now an isolated island - good for one man one project never leave the NLE operations - unusable for long form motion picture, news, documentary or even corporate video where you must control timeline elements.

We actually had to purchase our first AVID today and learn how to use it. Apple has abandoned small businesses who've invested a decade in their professional video products as FCP 7 will no longer be supported, updated..and will eventually no longer work as Apple continues to update and improve its system software.

How great would it be if Apple recognized this error and told FCP7 users - the loyal base that's kept the product alive and enriched the company with hardware purchases - that they've reconsidered - and will make FCP7's current interface 64Bit and return the features that made this the number one editing software anywhere.

Not frightening really, just a change. Change is the only constant in life. Embrace it and move on.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
biscardicreative.com

C'mon Walter...it's a little frightening. I was brought on here at my current studio over 3 years ago to aid in the re-tooling of the video department from all PC Avids to Mac FCP rigs. Entertaining the thought that FCP is EOL and we are SOL if we don't buy FCPX SUX.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

About eight months ago I suddenly realized how dependent my business was on Apple and it was terrifying. That prompted a new strategy - all apps from now on must support multiple NLEs and there must be a greater push into iOS apps (the one market Apple is unlikely to kill).

I think it's best for us all to run our businesses as if Apple will destroy them at any given moment.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

Couldn't agree more with Andy's sentiments. I'm 90 per cent on my way to switching to Avid...and I hate Avid. But my hatred for Avid is nothing compared to my hatred for iMovie and all its bastard children.

Luckily for me, Adobe Premiere is also an old, old friend of mine (first NLE I learned, before FCP) and I'm not afraid of it.


www.derekmok.com

Jon, I have been using Macs as production tools since 1989. I went through Apple's death spiral back in 1996/97. Up until that point I had never laid my hands on a Windows machine. It forced me to get spooled up with Windows production machines and then when Apple snatched up NeXT, I saw the benefit of Linux and UNIX as an operating environment so I became familiar with these "tools". Apple's near death experience back in 97 taught me to never let a company make you beholden to them professionally or emotionally. Escape plans are good when it comes to software and hardware. Apple is a very different company than it was 5 years ago as well. As implausible as it seems that Steven Jobs, as the former CEO of a huge motion picture company, could have allowed this rollout of FCPX to happen the way it has given the MASSIVE implications to production houses, I would not be surprised if this was intentional.

So fortunately for me, I am taking all this in stride but I cannot help but think how all of these big production outfits that are part of the Hollywood machine or involved in other high-end video production must be quite concerned if they are FCP based shops. They will begin to be more concerned once they realize updates to FCP 7 have disappeared from Apple's websites and reports are surfacing like an Apple CSA telling a disgruntled customer to take their "pro business elsewhere". Might all be unintended consequences. I wonder if Apple will remain mum on this or if they will do a mea culpa.

Just a thought....

I don't understand anyone that DEFENDS Apple. Saying cut them some slack this is version 0. Correct me if I am wrong, aren't THEY the ones who calls themselves "GENIUSES". (I have always had a problem with that statement.) Quite frankly a GENIUS would get it right THE FIRST TIME. If you can't back that up then take off the label. Apple has become the single most arrogant company in the world. What they are GENIUSES at is making their products a popularity contest. They have figured out to make people feel the need to buy Apple or you aren't one of the cool kids at school.

Riddle me this..... If this is NOT supposed to be iMovie Pro then tell me why does it import the footage and store it in your iMovie folder? Why does it only import iMovie project files and NOT FCP Files along with all the other blunders that they have made. Once again, they truly have some nerve kicking everyone off the stage and monopolizing the time at NAB to put on a dog and pony show to industry professionals and then dump this garbage in our laps.

Should we be up set? I think so. I beg to differ on the statement "Your clients don't care what tools you use." IMO - YES THEY DO!!! You are not going to go to NBC and tell them "don't worry how I am going to cut your tv show. You don't care what program I use."

If people don't see the real dangers here of what Apple has potentially done to our industry/businesses, well I feel sorry for them. Yes I am all for change. If there wasn't change I would not have been able to become an editor. But the difference here is that Apple has dumbed down the program for the rest of the world to try and become an editor INSTEAD of trying to have the rest of the world STEP UP and become a PROFESSIONAL editor.

Why hasn't Apple put out a statement? According to this article (if it is true?) Apple is censoring our feedback at the App store.

[www.ibtimes.com]

This is a MAJOR RED FLAG PEOPLE!!!

I now put the blame on myself for putting all my knowledge and time into learning one program. Lesson learned and shame on me.

Jeff

Andy Field Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sadly, another veteran FCP User jumps ship to Avid
> (how unusable does new software have to be to get
> this violent and business changing reaction?)
>
> FCP Pioneer Marcus Solorio's moving to Avid

It's true, but only because our hands are tied on the issue. We've owned every single copy of FCP since the beginning and even made it work with our Media100 hardware back on the first FCP1. I know FCPX will work amazingly well for a certain sector of people, but there's no way the current functionality of FCPX can work in our workflow. It's a shame... I was REALLY excited at the Supermeet in Las Vegas this year at NAB (the sole reason WE ENDED UP CHANGING PLANS AND GOING LAST MINUTE!!! LOL!). I came away feeling like FCPX was going to be something really cool and had high hopes that all the naysayers would be wrong. But they were right, and more so than they or I could have ever imagined. But again, because it wont work for us, doesn't mean it wont work for others, and amazingly so at that. The sucky part too is that I've never liked Avid as a company. Too much greed, dominance and arrogance. But then again, Apple has become that too. Sigh.

Marco Solorio | OneRiver Media | ORM Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Media Batch

Apple just put out a statement. Via David Pogue of the New York Times.

Well, they won't admit it's them talking, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out who it really is...

[pogue.blogs.nytimes.com]

So now David Pogue is like Deep Throat in the Watergate scandal?

This all just gets more and more bizarre...

This is my position:
I was pretty much conviced that FCP would be totally useless (just watching the filmed demo ). I bought it with compressor 4 because I wanted to use the 64 bit power of compressor 4. Producing mainly TV shows, my point was to speed up mpeg2 encoding.
And it did: ONE TIME.. The first time I turned Quick Cluster on i was able to transcode a 20 minutes show to Mpeg2 in about 1.5 minutes!! amazing, and the quality was great.
I felt ok spending money for a totally useless editor.

But then it never worked again!!! for the past few days: getting "Quicktime Error: 0".
Even tough Compressor is supposed to work with any supported f"freestanding" file, it only seems to work when exporting from fcpX at this point
SO until i get it to work again, I feel i wasted my money

I just heard that compressor 4 is not 64bit. Can you confirm that?

Compressor 4 (with Quick Clusters) definiteliy works when exporting from Final Cut Pro X.

But it fails when Qmaster clusters is on with external files.
Qmaster clusters work when exporting from fcpX
Naturally the speed gain is only interesting with qmaster.
And this is all in 64 bit mode...
I did not try in 32 bit yet...

sowattmusic Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is my position:
> I was pretty much conviced that FCP would be
> totally useless (just watching the filmed demo ).
> I bought it with compressor 4 because I wanted to
> use the 64 bit power of compressor 4.

Compressor 4 is an independent application so it wasn't necessary to pay $299 for FCPX as well.

Russ Blaise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just heard that compressor 4 is not 64bit. Can
> you confirm that?

This is true. It appears as a 32-bit app in Activity Monitor.

My software:
Pro Maintenance Tools - Tools to keep Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro running smoothly and fix problems when they arise
Pro Media Tools - Edit QuickTime chapters and metadata, detect gamma shifts, edit markers, watch renders and more
More tools...

Thanks Jon. That's what I heard.

Jeff C Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Why hasn't Apple put out a statement? According
> to this article (if it is true?) Apple is
> censoring our feedback at the App store.

Precisely why I typed up a very long Review on the App Store (got down to around 900 characters left) and then copied and pasted it into my article that appeared on the Creative Cow.

But I did just post my "Thank You to Apple" blog because without their pricing strategy and influence on the NLE market, my infrastructure probably isn't set up in such as way that switching from FCP to something else is as easy as installing a different software. All of my hardware transfers over to another NLE. In the case of Adobe Premiere it's literally just clicking a different icon that I own.

So while I will be leaving Final Cut Pro very shortly and not installing FCPX, I do owe Apple a Thanks for helping me to set up the facility to accept any NLE software and for helping me earn a better living by driving down the price of software and hardware.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
biscardicreative.com

You are correct: "Clients don't care what I edit on, as long as it looks great"..until I tell them that I cannot revise last years video without me recapturing all of his video and reedit the timeline because the software I used before does not support what we did last year. I think that will go over great.

if the software doesn't support a client monitor, they might be a bit miffed, too.


nick