By SteveJack
I’ve often wondered if the outcry we hear about things like iPhone antennas comes from actual users or *gasp* from Apple’s competitors who would naturally benefit if the general public were sufficiently confused.
It’s not that difficult to place an idea into the media and then watch the echo chamber ratchet it up to ridiculous levels.
After the ludicrous “Antennagate” stories finally died down, I pulled my iPhone 4 out of my pocket and looked at it. What I saw was only the most reliable and receptive iPhone I’ve ever owned (and I’ve owned them all). As usual, a mountain was made out of a molehill.
So, I have to wonder where the “backlash” over Final Cut Pro X is coming from? Keep in mind that Final Cut Pro X carries an amazingly low $299 price, especially compared to competitor’s now quite old-fashioned-looking and performing offerings.
Advertisement: Students, parents and Faculty save up to $200 on a new Mac.
Is all the noise we’re hearing today really coming from Final Cut Pro users who still have their previous Final Cut version(s) and already know how to properly and rationally submit feedback to Apple?
Or is it coming from non-Final Cut Pro users who see the $299 writing on the wall and realize that they’ll soon very likely have to learn something dramatically new and different from outside their comfort zone? Apple’s previous Final Cut Pro versions have not stopped working, nor has Apple stopped work on FCP X – in fact, they’ve just started working with a paradigm-shifing, extremely strong and powerful foundation upon which to build. Have a minute of patience, please. I heard the same sort of whining when we went from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X and some had to be dragged kicking and screaming. People stopped crying over Mac OS 9 in short order, too.
Or who perhaps some editors feel a little bit threatened that “non-pro” users will be able to edit so well for so little? And/or perhaps it’s coming from Apple’s now price-demolished competition who simply cannot crunch their numbers and make them come out profitably if Apple is going to offer Final Cut Pro X for $299?
All it takes to give something a 1-star Mac App Store review is to purchase the app. If the Acme Editing and Overpriced Annual Service Contract Company felt threatened enough, I wonder how many copies and what kind of reviews they’d give to Final Cut Pro X? Gin up a bunch of them and the “news reports” about Final Cut Pro X would certainly mention how many one-star reviews it received, right? It might even make FCP’s Wikipedia entry (it has). So easy to do. Much easier than creating a compelling product at a ridiculously low price that offers professional-level editing tools to so many, that’s for sure.
I really have to wonder exactly who’s really “outraged” over Final Cut Pro X and why. I can’t prove anything, but I’ve seen enough in the past to have strong suspicions today.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section. (He also has over 16 years of professional linear and non-linear editing experience. – MDN Ed., June 25, 11:15am EDT)
Related articles:
Conan blasts Apple’s new Final Cut Pro X (with video) – June 24, 2011
Answers to the unanswered questions about Apple’s new Final Cut Pro X – June 23, 2011
‘Professional’ video editors freak out over Final Cut Pro X – June 23, 2011
Apple revolutionizes video editing with Final Cut Pro X – June 21, 2011
We are a small studio and have been a Adobe CS drone for quiet a while, we mostly use Premier as its a cost effective web video editing solution once bundled with the master collection. The expense of FCP software and supporting hardware has been a major factor in it being used in our studio. With the $299 price point and speed improvements on non pro hardware we will be moving to FCP X, this is a surgical slash to adobe’s throat. Apple has just grown is market from Pro, to semi pro and home user with this price point.
It is clear that FCP X in this present form is designed for small studios where the output of the production workflow is web or DVD/Blu-Ray, not broadcast and do not have to collaborate other department or facilities.
All the tens of thousands of editing systems using FCP 7 or 6 around the world in television stations and serious production facilities will have to look elsewhere if they want to change their soon the be retired editing systems, at least in the foreseeable future.
It is pretty clear Apple do not think they are important potential customers for FCP X.
Wow. What a bunch of ridiculous opinions. So you really think that Avid or Adobe is going to spend $300 a POP to give the software a bad rap in the app store? And, if you follow the list serves, MOST of the people who think FCP X sucks are professionals who have relied on FCP for a long time and love FCP. I personally have owned Apple products since BEFORE Mac, including the ORIGINAL Mac and have been on FCP since version 2. Let me tell you that Apple has truly screwed the professional user. That’s a fact. I realize that professional apps aren’t really your specialty, so it’s understandable that you are misinformed, but the rest of it is … well, are you off your meds by any chance?
Talk to some professional editors before you “speculate” horseshit from Apple pr.
THEY HAVE THROWN AWAY WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT FINAL CUT. What is so hard to understand?
If Lion didn’t have the Finder, just the Launchpad, where would you stand, MDN? Would you say, “This is faster and more efficient, Apple knows best”? What change would be too arbitrary for even you?
I adore Apple.
I work in the professional TV/Film industry.
FCPX gives the finger to high end professionals. It doesn’t make certain things difficult, it makes them IMPOSSIBLE. Properly color grading, exporting to tape, these are two essential things, and FCPX provides no way to do them. (The “Integration of Color” is a joke. Anyone that knows about color grading will agree.) You CAN send your timeline out for audio sweetening to programs like ProTools, but it requires a $200 plugin from a 3rd party.
That’s 3 things FCPX can’t do. And those are 3 things that Professionals need.
Not want. Need.
FCPX doesn’t make those 3 things difficult. It literally makes them impossible.
I’ve never touched Avid. I hate Premiere. FCP7 is a programI love. FCPX is nifty, but not once you hit a certain level. It is NOT a professional program. Close. No cigar.
Your article would carry some weight were it not for the overwhelming number of complaints from professionals who cited — for example — the inability to upgrade previous FCP projects. Time will yet tell, but don’t denigrate those legitimate gripes and disappointments put forward by an otherwise loyal community.
It is not because of some conspiracy. When you can’t even monitor color critically you are in deep kimchee. It looks promising, but it is going to lose a lot of users that need more than it offers to other apps, primarily Premiere Pro while and if it comes up to speed. I’m using Premiere for native file support and Media 100 Suite because it just works. M100 is one editors should look at. I have to use FCP 7 with my AJA ioHD. Does anyone at Apple care? I like my iPhone, but I can’t make a living with it.
FCP must have sold like crazy within the first few days to video-edting “pros”! How else can you explain this large number of lengthy, seemingly well-informed complainers? Heck, not only must it have sold in large numbers, but I’m beginning to wonder how these people ever got by all these years without the new FCP?
Are you implying that our dismay is programmed? OK. I’ll add my voice. Grief must be expressed or it turns poison. So you can disregard everything that comes now…
I have been editing using FCP since 1999. In that time I have created untold numbers of projects for my clients.
The program was getting long in the tooth for the last couple of years. And yes, we “pros” were anxiously awaiting the update, hoping for a competitive boost to our businesses.
I bought as soon as I became aware it was available. 2 hours later my world caved in, but I also know no one would understand or care.
Through all the years of upgrading, Apple and FCP made sure I never skipped a beat.
So I thought surely it must be me. I must be the problem. So I bought 11 hours worth of training, only to discover that the program itself is hobbled and can never be made right.
And now this what I’m faced with. I’ll just use terms that non-pros might be able to understand:
11 years worth of projects I can no longer open. Big deal-killer and one that will never be addressed because trackless editing is dead.
Basic editing functions such as keyframing, gone.
Trackless makes it impossible to complete your edit with any reasonable certainty that the video is behaving as you expect it to. It adds all the disadvantages of iMovie.
Pre-made themes instead of the former ability to roll your own.
No preview out to a reference monitor. Perhaps clients don’t need to see what you’re doing.
Needless cloning of original source material, stuffing up your hard drive. Big deal-killer.
All projects you’ve ever created stored in RAM at all times will eventually cause the program to just stop working. Big, silly deal-killer.
I could go on and on and on and on. The point is that this program is not built for professionals. If you’re just starting out, have nothing to change, will only be delivering to the web and your output will be a seldom-to-sometime thing, this could indeed be your program.
But there is a dark side to all this. We were the ones who gave Apple the reputation you so desperately cling to and which has given you a conspiratorial outlook on those of us who’s hearts have been broken by this betrayal.
And I wonder, will a mere phone maker be able to rouse the same evangelical zeal that this magnificent crazy company once did for all of us whose careers were built on and prospered with FCS for the last decade?
The LEGITIMATE RAGE against Final Cut Pro X is its inability to open and work with, or translate, projects from previous versions of Final Cut Pro. I can’t think of a more stooopid thing to do.
Otherwise, the big problem is the new learning curve. Most of the previous features are present but buried. At the very least it is extremely obtuse for the programmers to treat this as a unique and new application, leaving previous users lost and confused.
Apple: This is called user-alienation and user-hostility. Bad show. Of course previous users are going to be ticked off.
Otherwise, it is evident that the new version is a step forward in overall usability and simplicity, which is entirely laudable and important. Bravo in that respect.
You’ve gotta love the reasoning of MDN and its disciples: “WTF, someone is criticizing an Apple product?! What…and it’s been underlined by loads of self acclaimed professionals?! But…but, it can’t be; Apple never releases anything that isn’t perfect! OMG, THIS MUST BE THE MINIONS OF THE JEALOUS COMPETION!!!!”
And please don’t give me the “but the Cohen’s uses FCP” or “Murdoch did this and that onit”. I mean, George Martin mixed Sgt Pepper on a beast of an analogue 4channel mixer back in 67- does that mean that todays Neve or SSL should pack and go home?
On an unrelated note, I’m not an editor, but work in VFX environments (mainly Smoke and iQ) and am not being paid to type this.
Now, even though Apple (or make that OSX) is dearly loved among many colleagues, Apple definitely lost a huge chunk of credibility back when they pushed the joke that is Motion, and EOLed Shake (and knifed Tremors). Sure, many agencies tried to stay with Shake because it was so damn good, or turned to Nuke, Fusion, Toxik & co. Still, being burnt like that also means a certain loss of trust in Tinseltown. And lets face it – just like this FCPX stunt Apple just now so delicately pulled off, it’s only a matter of time until Logic will be dumbed down to please the garageband crowd (or EOLed all together).
One have to understand that Apple never intended to become a producer of professional software. (Believe me, they barely make any serious money with this division anyway, compared to, say, iWork). So, instead, they’re milking the possibly best technology out there for ideas, eventually making it dead easy to use for the casual user. And they happen to be amazing at this part as well. (Well, Kai Krause’s daughter disagrees, though.)
Needless to say, but for the shareholders it’s great news that Apple is on a roll with their 3-button approach, where everything is based on glossy templates, poofs, swoosh etc (just ask any casual user!) However, if you’re looking for cutting edge tools, and a rock solid pipeline based on industry standards where you can rely on swift changes and updates when a function isn’t delivering as promised – look elsewhere!
Im sorry; I know this isn’t exactly the forum to post this, and that users like me will always be a minority. But hey, I just thought that I’ll give an alternate view to the current discussion, nonetheless. So, there.
Tl;dr:
Apple doesn’t really care too much about professionals, and as such, it’s very dangerous to rely on their longterm consistency. Still, their software are often a joy to work with, and often comes with interesting solutions to everyday problems.
Cheers,
Happy camper here with fcp x thus far. Needless to say, there are missing support for old features and functions, however new concepts, models, features, and performance enhancements more than make up for the drawbacks. It’s a steal at $300.
I have submitted my list of suggested enhancements to Apple, and let them know how much time I can wait for the enhancements and hope they take it into account. Meanwhile, I actively work with others in my local user group to find workarounds.
Excellent, lonex. That’s how you go about voicing your concerns to Apple. I’m sure they carefully listen to your concerns and will respond in kind. Meanwhile, enjoy your FCP X. I very much enjoy mine.
Gosh, all this negative comment about FCPX. Apple chose to come out with a radical new way to manage digital video, which I might add, is the way video is going. Apple never touted FCPX as an upgrade. As for the cost, it is a pittance compared to other solutions. I see people complaining about how the new software does not handle old NLE tape based files. The reality is that the new system depends on digitized video. Capture the current tapes you have and place them in a digital library. It makes things much easier.
You can capture your tapes, output to quicktime and away you go. I am amused by some of the arguments I have heard. Does anybody really want to base their future on tape? Do you really need a monitor to do color correction for digital monitors? It was a huge factor when we all used Never the Same Color (NTSC) monitors to calibrate what the color would look like in that robust 255 level arena.
Maybe I am just not an alarmist about this stuff. I see no real impediments. As for multicamera, I see no reason why you cannot just capture with the three cameras and bring the files in electronically, then perform the rapid edits from the digital files.
Apple did not erase FCP 7 from your system. It is still there and it works. Tell me how Apple did something wrong in coming out with a Pro solution for digital content? I am sure it is frustrating to have built a tape based system over the last 10 years to have it rendered obsolete. Many of you still depend on tape-based services and you will wind up moving to something else. That is okay too.
I remember when Apple dropped floppies. I anticipate that they will deep six the DVD drive within a year as well. It will be okay.
Bill….WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN TAKING??
“I see no reason why you cannot just capture with the three cameras and bring the files in electronically, then perform the rapid edits from the digital files.”
Do you have any concept what multicam editing is?
There are times (antennagate, etc.) when I would agree completely with this opinion of SteveJack.
But not this time.
I am not a professional film editor, however I am quite familiar with the industry and those who use FCP. I have no doubt that the hue and cry over FCPX is mostly due to two things.
1) A number of details/features that many (most?) editors rely on have been dropped. Some have just been moved around as Dave Pogue states, but most are gone.
2) FCPX is such a radical departure (not just under the hood or in missing features, but in the UI… in how you use it) that it is extremely disconcerting to its target user base… or a goodly portion of them.
I understand why film editors are upset, I understand why Apple released FCPX the way it is. You don’t need a “conspiracy” to explain the bruhaha going on. It’s the same sort of thing that went on with the old version/new version iMovie transition, only at a “professional” level.
I would be very surprised if Apple didn’t expect some sort of reaction like this. If they didn’t, then maybe they ought to vacate the pro industries.
Who is outraged? PROFESSIONAL TV EDITORS LIKE MYSELF. This software is JUNK. Editing crappy cat videos and your buddies skateboarding don’t compare to editing for broadcast and moving through hundreds of hours of footage at lightning speed. This software is CRAP and professional editors are not impressed with the obvious downgrade that this software offers.
The backlash against FCP X is mainly coming from professionals who rely on Final Cut Pro to earn their living.
Is FCP X going to be an awesome app for editing videos? Overall it probably is. Will people be able to make money with it? Yes, certainly. Will Apple improve on some of the “problems”? Yes, in time I’m sure they will.
But there are some big issues. When FCP launched more than a decade ago the market for Non Linear Editors was pretty small and dominated by just a few products. Most Television and Film editing was on Avid, and the rest was things like Media 100 and Lightworks.
FCP made a big impact, but it took a while to gain trust (and some important features) and really break into the film and TV market. But as of last week it was a big contender – Media 100 has basically died, Lightworks went quiet and has since become a free product and Avid’s market changed hugely. If you are editing TV for broadcast (programs or commercials) you’re either using FCP or Avid Media Composer. In feature films Avid still leads, but FCP also made a big impact there.
However in the last few years FCP has been falling behind the curve a little – 32bit was becoming an issue, and it’s support for new video formats are also not so great. An update was hotly anticipated.
Before I go on though it’s important to understand that, while it’s a “Pro” product, only a fraction of FCP users are actually editing TV and Film. From Apple’s perspective most of FCP’s users are not “pros” in that sense (many still earn money from it anyway, but don’t have the same needs as the film and TV industry).
For these people FCP X has real and serious flaws. It is also a big disappointment for those were were imagining it to be the next evolution in the professional NLE they were used to.
Perhaps the biggest insult in the FCP X launch, though, is that Apple has killed FCP 7 at the same time. Apple will no longer sell the Final Cut Studio package, and has in fact instructed some resellers to return current stock. For people who have built their businesses on FCP they have learned in the last few days that they can’t upgrade to latest version of the software (yet?) and that the software they rely on is totally EOL. They can’t expand their current setups to include new edit suites, nor can they rely on they current software to continue working on new OS versions or hardware.
No doubt fans of some competing applications are taking some delight in this farce, but the response is coming loudest from those who feel Apple has foresaken them with this upgrade.
On it’s own FCP X is a great app with some very interesting features, it is also Version 1 software. For those not working within the demands of high volume commercial television and film editing it will probably be great and offer lots of benefits. But it is also supposed to be a Version 8 application for a large number of professionals who have very specific needs.
For what it’s worth, I’m a professional film and television editor with dozens of credits and thousands of hours of work to my name. I’ve used Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer extensively.
This has to be the most ridiculous article I’ve read on the subject. I’m an owner of a post house and motion graphics shop. With about a dozen people working here from producer, editors, animators, and audio engineers. Why don’t you message me and ask ME what I think? You can even come visit if you like. I’ll walk you through the paces of WHY Final Cut Pro X is a far, far cry from being ready to go to work in our studio. Did you honestly miss all of the technical features that are MUST HAVES for pro studios?
Honestly…. people not in the industry should just shut their mouth…. because it’s making you look ignorant.
Steve, I’m still laughing! Even Apple executives know that they made a mess! It’s the worst marketing nightmare I see in ages! In a year (ASAP all new Macs will be Lion-ized) we’ll be forced to throw all our Aja and Blackmagic cards, our shared storage stuff and whatever… Unless we move to Adobe… That’s the sad story.
1) this article is a f*cking joke.
2) you clearly aren’t a pro editor or someone who is even saavy with cutting video and the technicalities of editing
3) 1 and 2 are both evident through this article.
FCP X is for the consumer, it’s a very beefed up iMovie. Apple is shifting their pro model to suite all users. No more pro vs the everyday user. The real pro editors are complaining about FCP X because, let’s face it, it falls short. I would be hard pressed if the Cohen Brothers and other big time hollywood elites will be editing motion pictures with FCP X. I miss the days when Apple products were like a small cult of people.
I bought FCPX and love it. It is exactly what I was looking for, but I am a home consumer, not someone with deadline responsibilities.
My take on all this is that it will work to my advantage. Apple will make the changes, at least many of them, and that makes FCPX stronger. Go over to the iMovie discussion list at Apple, and look at the calm, rational conversations. A couple of years ago we were furious at the introduction of iMovie 08, as it wasn’t that good. I hope in a year or so things settle down the same way. And if some Pros need to move to another editing program for their specialized video editing needs, how is that a black mark against Apple? I wish Apple had set up discussion boards for FCPX for prosumers, so we could be spared the venting.
You nail it, Steve. The majority of the complaints are from haters, bashers, and competitors (scared sh*tless of FCP X powerful capabilities and fabulous price, a combination they simply can’t match).
Notice that these bogus complaints are very similar to each other, starting with some fake claim about being loyal Apple users for xx years with yy products on zz devices to try to establish credibility and then on the same breath enumerate a litany of familiar complaints (they copied from a few legit posts), and then some mention of competitor products, and finally some emphatic statement about switching to the competitor products.
Like clockwork, the same bashing pattern repeats with each Apple product or service release – iPhone, iPhone 4 (antenna gate), iPad, etc. The funny thing is haters and bashers always end up eating dirt every time. This time is no exception.
You got it chemix. I can’t say it any better. Don’t forget the use of capital letters and insults by haters and bashers with the hope to attract more attention. They just put people off from reading their same old, tired posts.
“Don’t forget the use of capital letters and insults by haters and bashers with the hope to attract more attention. They just put people off from reading their same old, tired posts.”
So true.
Chemix, how OLD are you? How many Youtube videos do you post a month? What do you smoke?
What “competitors” are you talking about??
The complaints are from former “Fanboys”, that is ONE reason why they are so angry at being BETRAYED by Apple.
Why don’t YOU, little chemix, go EDUCATE yourself on what these user are complaining about.
When you think about how many truly PROFESSIONAL users of Final Cut Pro are in the industry if just 1% of them take the trouble to go online and post a complaint then you have thousands of “whiners” and no NEED for your fictitious “competitors”.
Delusion at its finest. This was so ridiculously written it almost comes off as satire.
I think it’s time Steve Jack took the tin foil hat off and got out of his Mother’s basement.
Wow, what a huge bunch of IDIOTS and a completely IGNORANT article!
The professional market of users for FCP 7 have been a very patient and extremely loyal bunch of high-end users.
Who we seem to have in this forum are a bunch of Fanboys who have no deep knowledge of FCP in an INDUSTRY SENSE.
What THEY needed was an incremental improvement in what FCP 7 and the Suite had ALREADY set as a standard, plus 64 bit harnessing of all the stuff they have loaded on their high-powered Macs.
They were ADOPTERS of FCP! They bucked the industry to adopt FCP 6 and 7 over other professional editing solutions. But then that requires for many of them the FCP Server, too, at $999.
These guys and gals are the last ones going to kick Apple in the teeth. They were giving Apple tons of valuable feedback over the past couple of years and Apple, in turn, had been promising an even bigger, faster 64 bit version of FCP PRO.
After all, how many of you numbskulls have been using FCP 7 for the past few years in an INDUSTRY environment?
Where workflow with other editors, colorists, conformists, audio editors, etc, was the daily workflow needed for Business.
You jerks have NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!
Just to post some of the comments I have seen reveals your babyish ignorance.
FCP X is iMovie Ehanced.
It is not Final Cut PRO….PRO
It is NICE, very NICE for an iMovie editor.
But, in just ONE area…think about it. Adobe announces a brandnew paradigm in Photo editing. They close down the last version of Photoshop and tell you come see what we smart people have done for you Photo experts.
Your PSD files will not open in new improved Photoshop.
Enjoy the New World!
This is just ONE of MANY areas where Apple has completely lost it–the new PROFESSIONAL Final Cut does NOT open FCP files!
I would tell you to go read guys like Walter Biscardi and Richard Harrington if you want to educate yourselves but that would be useless.
This stuff MUST be way, way over your little heads.
You know what you need, local TV spot editor? More CAPS LOCK. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Just like you add more font styles, font colors, and slather on the water drop transitions, you tasteless amateur.
Stop whining local TV spot editors.
Real professional editors understand and wield the power of the simple cut – which FCP X does perfectly well, thanks.
“Film Editor”, your moniker says it all.
This comment is where you, once again, demonstrate that this subject is completely over your head.
“Real professional editors understand and wield the power of the simple cut – which FCP X does perfectly well, thanks.”
Duuhhh… thanks for educating the guys who don’t understand the POWER of the simple cut. I guess the issues of FCP Pro project files which can be exported cross project to other editors and specialists such as color correction editors, music and audio editors, and shared using several simple but powerful xml standards just seem like so much nonsense to a real cuts-only man such as yourself.
Did you know that a project can have more than 2 tracks? Maybe 16, 20, 24 or more on a project? They have to be exported for real fine control and they have to arrive intact for the audio editor-sweetener to work with and go back to the same project intact when done.
Your toy, mr Film Editor, can not hope to do that.
Many other issues, many that are project breakers for people working on daily television, television movies, movies, commercials.
But please, post some videos to educate us on the power of single cuts. We ALL want to learn from Film Editor.
Steve Jack you aren’t a pro, you have no idea what you are talking about. If you ever had to deliver an actually show to a television network or worked in a real post production environment you would have a clue. But you don’t. It isn’t just about stringing clips together, it is an entire workflow you don’t understand. Nor will I waste my time explain to the other commenters – who can go back to playing angry birds.
The rest of the commenters here are teens and twenty year old who watch TV but have never made anything that has been on it.