Fascinating: Is Apple responding through David Pogue?

Many of you are aware of David Pogue's New York Times piece endlessly praising Final Cut Pro X. And it seemed to make sense... for him, as he admitted he's "not an editor" and was just playing with the program.

But now, Pogue has posted a huge list of "innacuracies" about complaints regarding the new FCP.

[pogue.blogs.nytimes.com]

Two things grab me...

1. It does clear up some falsehoods running rampant about FCPX. I learned things. And...
2. The response is WAY OVER THE HEAD of someone who is "not an editor". He has clearly been fed this information to present in the New York Times blog. By who? I don't know, but I have one guess. This would be Apple's front-line way of responding to a crisis... contact someone who is "in the pocket" of Apple, a significant tech columnist, and have HIM deliver info.

This continues to be fascinating to watch.

P.S. This is how his post ends. Almost sounds like it comes from the mouth of Steve Jobs himself. Hmmm...

"Professional editors should (1) learn to tell what?s really missing from what?s just been moved around, (2) recognize that there?s no obligation to switch from the old program yet, (3) monitor the progress of FCP X and its ecosystem, and especially (4) be willing to consider that a radical new design may be unfamiliar, but may, in the long term, actually be better."

Steve, is that you?

Sort of refreshing to read an article that corrects what the chorus of whiners keeps repeating.

I'm really looking forward to digging into FCP X. Obviously, no way I'd switch a huge project to it on day #3, but I wouldn't hesitate to start a project on it tomorrow.

I am hesitating... I need omf export to cut something on it. And media reconnection, also, media on media drives...



www.strypesinpost.com

The article is full, I mean full, of Apple PR BS. Two layer editing is multicam. Not in this world. You can send stuff to another editor, yeah, but what about to a colorist? You don't need to reconnect. The reconnect function Pogue describes flat doesn't work unless the files are in specific locations. Can't open old projects, keep FCP7. Right. How long is a 342-bit app going to run in the Mac world? The projects have to be updated to the current version of the software. That's basic. I mean flat out basic. Oh your Word 2011 app can't open a Word 2009 doc. Too bad. AD isn't $200, it's $500. It's $200 for an upgrade. But who has it, for something that's already in FCP7. The article is crap. Written by a hack swallow Apple BS. The article is full of half ass workarounds and bullshit and plain lies. Native editing in FCPX? Crap. Rendered editing in FCPX. I thought better of Pogue until today. It's clear he only spoke to Apple and not to a single professional. That's not journalism, at least not in any news organization I've ever been in.

All the best,

Tom

I'm one of the first people to respond to the first article. And he replied with "what are the features that are missing that you need?" I told him... and then we get this crap. Yeah, clearly being fed answers from Apple...and from Apple people who ALSO do not understand the needs of the professional editor. It is VERY clear that many people at Apple don't know the needs of the professionals (I personally know of many that do...so I don't say "ALL people at Apple"...otherwise they wouldn't have released this as Final Cut Pro. It really is Final Cut Express. And notice that the removed FCP AND FCE from the shelves and stores?

But they knew this was FCE/iMovie Plus. But if they didn't release it as FCP X, then people would have bitched that Apple didn't release anything new for FCP in two years..."we have to wait for longer?" Still, they are going down the wrong path with this one.

Michael...we need you to start a AMCUG (Avid Media Composer User Group). And a PPUG (Premiere Pro User Group). Or get your son on that.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

I'm not even sure David Pogue even wrote that article. He's a consumer electronics guy who played with FCPX and then tries to answer the "Questions from Pros."

I'm thinking he was on a cell phone call with Steve Beyes or Randy U and jotting down stuff that he had absolutely no clue of what he was talking about. A blatant attempt at damage control by Apple in the face of withering criticism.

Honestly the fact that you cannot open a Final Cut Pro project moving forward is the most damning thing they did of all. We pull projects from 4 - 6 years ago all the time due to the news and documentary nature of our work. So I would have to keep a running copy of Final Cut Pro 7 for at least the next 6 years. And of course if my discs get damaged or corrupted I can always buy another copy of..... oh wait........

Absolute worst roll out of a product Apple has ever created. BUT enough of that, already testing Premiere Pro and from all the calls / emails / visits today, I believe Adobe is going to be the HUGE winner of the predominance of the Final Cut Pro market.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
biscardicreative.com

Walter, how well does Premiere handle RED? The realtime feature is often touted, but I haven't tried it personally. Also, how is the media management tools in Premiere?

I tried not to comment until I saw and tried it out first hand. No tape capture at all? That is one of the major shockers. Sure it is on its way out, but we still need timecode accurate capture and recapture. And file relinking. I'm currently working on a multicam show and we're on an offline/online workflow due to storage limitations. The software is totally broken for most of the projects I have worked on, and these are basic features. I haven't even asked for Script Sync, or adjustment layers yet.



www.strypesinpost.com

I don't know about RED yet. I literally started testing it this morning on my home machine. Will be installing the CS 5.5 update on a few of the machines at work tomorrow along with the AJA drivers and really get to work.

I'll get some RED footage from a buddy of mine and let you know. Just bookmark my blog at our website as I will be keeping a running series called "Transition" as I test various options out there.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
biscardicreative.com

Cool. I have my avid shortcuts that are heavily modified to make the transition from FCP pretty seamless. Let me know if you want it.



www.strypesinpost.com

strypes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have my avid shortcuts that are heavily
> modified to make the transition from FCP pretty
> seamless. Let me know if you want it.

Its FCP 7 and MC for me. Can I get in on the shortcuts? I still hope that Apple will LISTEN and make the changes.

added in Pogue's text

[UPDATE: The information here comes from consultation with Final Cut Pro X's product managers at Apple.]

If you're editing a school project for an 8th grader, then FCPX is probably fine if you've the $300 to spend for an app you're going to use on occaision to be cooler than iMovie. This has zero to do with professional post production, and the author should know that.

Here's a real-world example. We're delivering a 5 minute corporate project for a major automotive client today that involved the following very typical processes we use on a regular basis:

1. Shot on RED 4K. Footage brought in to FCP via Log and Transfer to ProRes 4444.
2. Edited 2K in FCP 7.
3. Numerous VFX shots required tracking in Mocha as per the storyboard. That segment of the project workflow is xml based. Extensive use of tiff and layered psd files.
4. Tracked shots were finalized with additional VFX in Shake and Motion and re-imported.
5. Several additional shots and soundtrack elements were imported from a previous FCP 7 project via copy/paste.
6. The final edit was sent to Color for grade utilizing calibrated external monitoring via Blackmagic card and sent back to FCP 7.
7. There were a few final edit tweaks which were sent back to Color, the edit was reconformed, and then sent back to FCP 7.
8. Plug-ins from several third party suppliers were used for transitions and additional optical FX.
9. Neat Video was used for noise reduction.
10. Plural-eyes was used for Sound Synch.
11. Audio was sent via omf to sound studio for final mixing.
12. Final Audio mix was re-imported, then played out to .aif as per delivery specs.
13. Final Video was sent to Color for playout to DPX as per delivery specs.
14. Additional edit versions will be generated from the project in the next weeks/months.
15. The project will also be distribued on DVD for internal use inlcuding various language versions.

Since Apple has gone into hiding, maybe Mr. Pogue can talk to them some more for us and then write another more informed article about how to do this in FCPX.

One source. When I worked in news you got fired for that. You at least needed to make the call to the other side.

All the best,

Tom

Wow Clay. issues of New York Times aside, this is a great description of what editors are asked to do today in an editing room.

Thanks for this.

Norman

=====================================
NORMAN HOLLYN
Professor at USC Film School, Editor, Writer, Speaker

I wonder how Mr Pogue would respond if Apple suddenly declared the QWERTY keyboard obsolete?

Suppose they told him that typing was obsolete, and it would be much more slick if he conjured words by waving his hands at a space-age theremin-type of interface because that's more 'modern' and 'slick'. And while you're using the new interface, don't use words with the letter "P" because it doesn't do that yet. But don't worry, there's a $200 plug-in coming soon that will let you do that.

It's delightful to have a non-pro lecturing professionals on how their workflow is obsolete.

check it out:
[www.theonion.com]

"...everything is just a few hundred clicks away." Classic.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Quote

wonder how Mr Pogue would respond if Apple suddenly declared the QWERTY keyboard obsolete?

Well he would probably be OK with it. Because he's been writing about voice dictation software for years. He has a condition in his hands that makes it near impossible to type, and I believe it's not unrelated to why his career as a musician ended. He maintained a PC for years due solely to the fact that no Mac dictation software was as good as the PC version he was using. I think he finally switched a few years ago for Dragon Dictation.

Argh! How have I been lured back into this conversation?! Just adding some random facts in between all the hyperbole.[/radiosilence]

ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!