Tuesday
Jun212011
Final Cut Pro X Is Here
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 9:34AM 
I’m downloading it now for the first time.
So is the rest of Red Giant Software.
In the past two months, Red Giant has cancelled two products and one appearance out of uncertainty regarding Final Cut Pro X’s support for the cool stuff we love to build for you guys to get your work done.
Reader Comments (26)
Looks like Red Giant will have an opportunity to build a nice tape log and capture app. Now that its gone from FCP X
Drink one for me buddy. I'm on my way home to download it too. Looks awesome and I know Red Giant will be plugging in to it in no time. There looks to be a bit of a colour correcting vacuum within the software as surely by dropping Color and rolling in certain features there will be lots of room for Colorista 3?...
nice. I can't wait to hear how you start a new project somewhere other than the root of your hard disk.
I dunno - with that well thought out iMovie import and NO FCP 7 import path, i think Apple has a winner on their hands.
hey, when will magic bullet looks be availible as a plug-in for fcp x?
I plan to edit my 1st pro edit on fcp x next week, will you be ready for that? ;-)
I wish man.
Well I hope you/RG continue your support for other platforms, because "Right now, I'm thinking Adobe's". This, after a 5-year love affair with FCP. Sigh.
After a day of exploration and disappointment Im opting for CS5. I have always loved AE and PS and PP seems reborn in 64bits. To edit, then dynamically link to AE is a dream come true. FCP X just has to much missing for my work flow needs. It feels more PROsumer than PRO.
@Tom Daigon: It worked for Gareth Edwards.
http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/fxpodcast-gareth-edwards-monsters/
I noticed that they went to a lot of trouble to make sure I can export my project to Facebook and CNN iReport and what not, but they couldn't be bothered to include EDL/OMF support. WTF? I was hoping to try it out on a documentary I just started shooting but with no viable means of exporting edit data, I don't think so...
On another note, just 6 months ago I had 2 Apple reps in my office doing a dog and pony for Final Cut Server. When we asked about the product road map we were assured that Apple is very committed to the product. I see they dropped it today as well. Way to go Apple. I'm glad I listened to my gut on that one.
I hope you like it Stu, I felt like I had wasted $300 when If first opened it but It's growing on me.
I can't wait to see what you guys cook up for FCPX.
As someone who is an online / motion graphics heavy guy FCPX is underwhelming me by a truck load. I feel like I don't have the precision i need to make sure my clients projects are not a cluster of oddly shaped aspect ratios / bad frames and things are generally right and tight.
Im going to give it time though before I rage. In the mean time I am more than happy with FCP7... which you know- I can do my tape out puts with (I cant wait to stop doing that someday...).
I can see how FCPX might help editors- but since when has FCP been only about editors?
All the basic filters/adjustment settings in FCP-X are lacking essential functionality. I hope that there will be an FCP-X release of Magic Bullet Looks very soon so that we can produce visually pleasing video with this editor. Before that, I won't touch FCP-X for any project, and refuse to learn it.
Over the last couple of days I've heard a lot of people say things like "[critical feature] doesn't do quite what I want it to" or "[insanely critical feature] could be better". These people are sugar-coating the issue, and ignoring the elephant in the room.
The new program is completely and utterly useless for us. Apple are dumping FCP and their entire Pro-apps efforts along with it. FCP doesn't fit with the rest of Apple's corporate identity and they've lost interest in developing it. What worries me is that Apple's OS and hardware will be similarly eroded, gradually becoming less and less useful for people who need to push their machines as hard as we do. Is anyone else concerned about this?
Remember the days cutting film? I mean, actual film? Razor blades and tape and lining up sprockets?
Editing hasn't changed very much since then. When NLE came about, the companies had to make their software fit the pre-existing workflow, in order to get anyone to use it... and still you heard a lot of complaining.
Nearly every major advance in personal computer technology has come from Apple over the last 30 years. For the things they didn't invent, they are the ones that made them useful. And much of the fundamentals, such as the GUI and the multi-touch interface they did invent.
And every time they did, you heard nothing but complaints from the people who made their living under the old way.
I'm glad Apple has actually moved the state of the art forward, at least a little bit.
A few tentative steps here in FCP X.
And still the kicking and the screaming is going on.
Threatening to leave for Adobe? Go ahead. Go ahead and pay the entire cost of your software suite every year when Marketing revises the release number. Go ahead and stick with a company that abandoned the mac, only came back because FCP was kicking ass, and couldn't be bothered to write for the cocoa platform. You deserve each other.
Frankly, I wish Apple hadn't been so tentative. They should have been really radical. Let the old foggies stick with FCP 7 or go to Adobe.
It's not like the restraint has quieted them down any.
So here's a message from the new generation-- you don't like that Apple moved the puck forward? Fine. Stick with mid 1990s crap software. Just STFU and stop screaming like a toddler.
I haven't really read a lot of complaints about apple's new innovations in regards to FCP. I for one am thrilled at some of the new enhancements they've delivered.
People are bothered by the file structure and that they left out certain very much needed features like import export xml, omf and the ability to preview on a broadcast monitor. Even in a one man shop scenario those features are critical.
How can we be excited about the new final cut pro if it doesn't do the things many of us need to do our work. Until certain features are implemented I'm afraid we can just dink around with it.
I knew there was a reason the BBC ordered 2,000 seats of CS5 last year.
"you don't like that Apple moved the puck forward? Fine. Stick with mid 1990s crap software. Just STFU and stop screaming like a toddler."
Moving the puck forward? This software does less than the 4.5 year old previous version. It doesn't seem to exist in any workflow used by any professional.
FCPX seems to confirm what many of us have suspected after Apple bought and killed Shake, Color, FCP Studio, FC Server, etc. While they used to have professional products, they are now almost exclusively a consumer company.
It sucks. Because I really love Apple's stuff. But now the cornerstone software that I make my living with is no more. Maybe they'll put in the pro features we all need (EDL, project sharing, etc.). Maybe not. We waited four years and this is what we got. iMovie Pro.
So keep drinking the Kool-Aide, kid. Some of us old fogies have bills to pay.
I think the various worries,comments and complaints expressed here are about what we should expect from a release like this. Yes it is a bit like iMovie and yes it is missing lots of core stuff which current pro editors need. Moondog's comments make that point well. Mr Kersten valiantly defends Apple and I can see both sides in different ways. You have the "sometimes change is painful" argument versus the "if it isn't broke don't fix it" argument.
I believe in both. Unnecessary change for the sake of it is a waste of human resources and our time. However innovation sometimes requires courage. FCP Classic is based on creaking, aged code. Building exactly the same thing again in Cocoa would have been an easy cop out for Apple but we need to remember that this is version 1.0 of a new platform. The journey is just beginning and FCP7 isn't going anywhere for a long time yet. Apple and the myriad of third party plugin developers like Stu and the Red Giant team will support it for a long time to come. Remember when iMovie changed to the new version a couple of years back it lost all of it's cool filters and effects. Lots of people complained in a mirror image of today. Then it evolved, the missing features came back and we now have a fluid, complete product which gives ordinary mortals an easy weasy way in to NLE.
Apple rebuilt Logic Pro in the same way, aligning the migration path with Garageband and they are simply finishing the last piece of the puzzle with Final Cut. Ok, Studio is gone..so is Shake (which I loved but it wasn't for mere mortals) but who knows where those technologies could resurface.
Rather than us seeing this as a giant betrayal, why not look at this as a chance to redefine how we work and an opportunity to take a very direct part in how our workflows can be made better. We can get rid of the old five different ways of doing the same action and Apple has already gotten rid of FCP's weaknesses and quirks. I think part of the reason many features are missing is because this is still a work in progress, but name a single application that isn't! The other reason I can see is that we are being given an opportunity.
Version1.0 not version 10...that's how we should see it. Now take control of it and use Apple's feedback driven culture to mould this platform into what you want it to be.
That's a very good question Alan. Unfortunately it has a very good answer.
A. Because Apple had a functioning product that had already been moulded, and which it's customers had paid to use while moulding it, and which Apple have now broken.
Why on earth should anyone choose a product that doesn't do what they need and pay to wait for Apple to add the features they used to have and/or can get somewhere else?
Instead of doing that I can stick with the version of FCP that I have, or, if needs be, go with a different system like Avid or Premiere.
What I wont be doing is buying something has been badly thought out and then offered to us as consumers like it's the crown jewels.
If I want to do that I can go buy something from Microsoft.
Nice point about Microsoft, Steve.
I'll gladly go to Adobe since I have to use their software already anyway.
I'm a professional- I have work to do, and I don't want anyone instructing me on my methods. I don't want my software app deciding how I'm going to organize my bins, I want to create and organize them myself. I don't want the software to decide how my clips are organized in the timeline- that's for me to decide! If I want a clip to float all the way in track 4, that is MY decision. I'm a professional. I know what I'm doing.
Avid's interface is still based on OS 9- but I don't care, because the program gives me the control I need to work freely and move my project easily between systems.
There are some great, thoughtful new features in FCPX- but nobody was asking for them. I never heard an editor say, "This timeline is just impossible to use!" or "I don't understand the purpose of the viewer window!" I did however hear major complaints about timecode syncing, gamma shifting, and stability. I do not see any of these in FCPX, in fact the program crashed after a short time.
In my book, Apple have some explaining to do. It's believable that this part of a complete overhaul and the comprehensive features will be added later- but in the meantime I'd like them to explain what they've done here and why, and how they're planning on supporting the existing workflows. I can't use this app for any of my existing projects, so I'd like to understand why I should continue paying for future versions. And I'd like this to come from Apple directly, not through indirect contact with bloggers.
Because I'm a professional. I have real work to do, not just CNN iReports.
Premiere CS5 was a full rewrite, the first version in native 64 bits and with GPU acceleration; yet it wasn't released as a half-baked alpha version: it worked, from the day it was released
in contrast, FCPX shows either lack of commitment, lack of care, or lack of ability; plus willingless to take your money without telling you what you're actually buying (or lying about it, if you consider they pitched it as a tool for pro editors) (yes, they may solve all these issues soon, but they haven't even promised they will, so this is how I see things right now)
here's me waiting for apple to prove this was just a huge but temporary slip
(plus: to measure how big the slip was, just consider how FCPX was laughed at in Conan; pretty impressive accomplishment for such an "obscure" bit of software)
Deep down, I had a secret hope the new Final Cut Pro X would become a true FINISHING tool. A Smoke and/or Flame killer. Which really isn't as far fetched as it sounds, since FCP nearly managed to kill off (at the time) $100,000 AVID systems in it's prime.
It was taking them SO long to update, I really thought this was their goal. And they had all the elements they needed - they purchased SHAKE then retired it with promises of "something new" coming; they purchased the high-end coloring tool FINAL TOUCH (which became Color), they already owned Logic Pro for sound, etc.
All of that seemed to be building to a crescendo - a singularity of high-end post-production software that would find a way to elegantly incorporate the functions of ALL of those programs into a single solution (with Apple's typically user-friendly interface). Final Cut Studio seemed like a step towards this, they just needed to finish and get it all under one roof - in 64bit.
THAT should have been what happened.
Instead they bought all those applications just to swipe their favorite lines of code (smoothcam, color matching, etc.) and plop them into iMovie. Then they go and kill the pro apps. What they hell were they thinking?
They had 50% of the professional marketplace! A new "superapp" could have taken nearly ALL of it.
The only thing about FCPX I'm curious about is what it'll look like in 5 years. I think it'll take that long to make it useful.
Ugh.
Stu,
I think the release of FCPX is the perfect counterpoint to your previous post. When I read the original post about Feature Requests I thought of many examples where developers took into their own hands what they thought the users ultimately wanted and ended up ruining their entire product. The immediate example that came to my mind was Digg.com and the complete overhaul of the website that was so rejected by its users, that nearly all users switched to competitor Reddit and the Digg community, which at one point was extremely large and vibrant, still remains a ghost of its former self.
But now with the release of FCPX, we have a much more relevant example. Apple took into their own hands what they thought video editors wanted and needed and made (almost) all the wrong assumptions. Now it's up to 3rd Parties, like Red Giant, to help save Apple from their own stupidity (unless Apple makes some significant updates first). I know I'm very looking forward to the next version of Colorista for FCPX because these supposed "Color" tools are largely horrendous.
In sum, this is why we often tell developers exactly what we want. It would be nice if we could say we can always trust developers to make the best decisions on our behalf, but we can't. I know everyone lobbies behind that famous Henry Ford quote, but to be honest, sometimes we just want a faster horse.
Whats also interesting is how quickly Automatic duck have been in releasing OMF export support for FCPX. For an additional $495. So add that to the price of FCPX and then perhaps a few more add ons when they become available, XML support, Colour Correction Plug ins (Red Giant?), and the price may suddenly jump to near FCP Studio bundle levels.
Perhaps this is what apple envisions. A basic app for anyone and the 'pro people' plug in whatever elements they need. Perhaps. They don't appear to have been talking to too many other developers though from what I've read.
Like one of the posters above I too hoped that FCPX might be the all in one finishing app for the next generation. The more I look at it though I think that might end up being DaVinci Resolve in a couple of releases time.
I'm not convinced though. AVID must think it's Christmas, Easter and their birthday all rolled into one. They have a chance now to pull back the pro market entirely.
Apple have identified the Vimeo/DSLR enthusiast as a bigger market than FCP studio could ever be. Instead of investing time and money into taking FCP studio forward (forget taking on Avid – user base is too small anyway), they've thrown iMovie and FCP together, a nice shiny interface, code it for the latest Intel whatever and chuck it out as fast as possible, crashes and all. You'll need one of their new iMacs, new OS and the world keeps turning.
Does anyone else’s iPhone crash (OS 4.something), or is it just mine?
Apple will give you exactly what you kind of, nearly, almost need, (see iPad v1) if you’re in their target market. Otherwise, wait and pay for the update or move across to Adobe.
Hope I’m wrong.