Fair and Balanced review: FCP X - great or not?

This is not a rant -- instead a witty, balanced unbiased view of what's great about FCP X and what clearly isn't ready for prime time....but may be one day. Why aren't all reviews this entertaining?




FCP X Great or ...maybe someday

Well done

Michael Horton
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ROTFL!!

Really well done.

Did anyone from Apple watched this?

Right about now the gang at Apple probably have guns to their heads and bazookas in the mouths.

Why why did we release this before it was ready for Pro users!!

Sorry about that

...outstanding.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

great!

Love it. He got the emotions just right lol.

The next sixth months will determine Apple's intentions for the pro post market. I suppose it's possible that they're willing to ditch the pros because we really don't make them that much money. That would be a bummer for those of us who spent years refining our skills on their software.

It really puts an interesting spin on that MacWorld expo in 2007 when they dropped the "Computers" from Apple Computers Inc. Is it possible that the EOL of Shake and now the real Final Cut Pro as well as the integration of iOS functionality into Lion are all indications that maybe it's time to reassess our computing options? As much as I hate Windows, it might behove me to start learning how Windows is set up.

I'd be more interested in running Linux and OSX86 to fulfill my post production needs.



www.strypesinpost.com

Quote
As much as I hate Windows, it might behove me to start learning how Windows is set up.

You know the part in the Riot Film video where he puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger... that's how I feel about Windows.

Hopefully lightworks will keep us from having to go back to pc.

"they're willing to ditch the pros because we really don't make them that much money."

And we're such a pain in the butt. Whinge and whine and bitch all the time.

There are a lot of great video production apps on the Mac even is Apple doesn't make them, Avid, Adobe, even Autodesk. Three As are enough.

All the best,

Tom

Tom Wolsky Wrote:
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> There are a lot of great video production apps on
> the Mac even is Apple doesn't make them, Avid,
> Adobe, even Autodesk. Three As are enough.

If anyone drives professionals users to Windows, it won't be the competition, it will be Apple itself. FCPX is proof of that.

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...

Agreed. It was easy to convince finance departments the world over to get Macs because FCP was one of the cheaper editing solutions that worked. Now they will ask why not an HP. I have been to lots of production houses where the only Mac Pros are the editing stations. And there are producers with MacBooks because it is easier to interface with the editing stations. That's a whole ecosystem there.



www.strypesinpost.com

2 years ago, an editor at my job told me that i should start to learn new Editing softwares. He said "Well, i wont be surprised if in the future, FCP will disappear as we know it and it will be integrated in the iLife suite as a new Editing Software. In fact the whole FCP suite will be reforged in the iLife suite"

At that time we were all laughing at him because his only argument was "No such things as iPhone and iPad as ever sold that much in the history of the electronics devices, I wont even be surprised if Apple stop making computers in a near future and concentrate on those Electronics Devices"

Call him Nostradamus i guess.

Actually he'd be wrong. Similarities in the interface do not make FCPX similar to iLife in technology. He also doesn't understand Apple's ecosystem. You can't throw out parts of an ecosystem, even small parts, and expect the ecosystem to survive. Apple is certainly starting from scratch but they've invested significant R&D into Apps that are extremely processor and GPU intensive. Witness the number of people on MacPros who had to upgrade their graphics to install FCPX.

>Witness the number of people on MacPros who had to upgrade their graphics to
>install FCPX.

Just checked Apple's website. It supports machines made from around to 3-4 years ago including iMacs and mac minis, those are the cards that support OpenCL. That's quite typical Apple- usually software support for hardware up to 4 years and iOS devices up to 2. Then you upgrade.

FCE is EOL because now FCP X is a learning step up from iMovie, of which previously didn't have a link with FCP. And I guess making it one step up from iMovie helps the Apple ecosystem more than anything else, that decision may also have helped make certain UI and system decisions. This is like saying to the iMovie users- "hey look, iMovie on steroids. Edit h.264 in real time. Like the pros do. Get FCP X"



www.strypesinpost.com

My guess is that it started when they acquired Keygrip and tried to make a consumer level product out of it, and FCE was no easy tool to teach a 5th grader, so they ended up with an eyesore of 2 consumer level programs- iMovie and FCE. When First Cuts came out, Steve may have seen it as a program that was simple enough for the consumer to grasp (if certain components was simplified even further), and with Randy at helm, who had also earlier designed 2 roughly similar NLEs (Premiere and KeyGrip), they came out with FCP X which would be much less of a logical leap for users of iMovie. Problem is that nobody decides the standards of Hollywood. We still use EDLs although it has been dead for close to a decade.



www.strypesinpost.com