Final Cut Pro X: A Look From Past to Present to Future

[Alexander Ibrahim]

My point is it's a step back in workflow. True we couldn't do that stuff back then, though the kinds of music videos made were also far less intricate. Why should I want to go to a trackless timeline when I've been using one that supports 99 for the past 12 years? Would you want to go back to those early systems you mention? No, why should you have to when you have tools much more capable now?

Common, dare I say standard features were flat out removed and now Apple is trying to tell you how you should edit. It's not their job.

Actually, and here is why I decided to be sarcastic instead of just replying ... you don't know what you are talking about.

You can totally lay 20 tracks on top of each other in FCP X if that's what you want to do.

Here is what the "magic timeline" does for you .. it manages those tracks dynamically.

That means for someone who wants to lay twenty tracks down and start whittling away... FCP X starts removing unused tracks, so if you decide to remove a whole clip in your example, then FCP gets rid of the track too.

What you need 23 tracks for this one part? FCP X will dynamically add in the extra tracks.

Now, when I edit something like a music video ... I have to manage all that shit myself, with FCP X I don't.

As far as layer limits with FCP X ... I have not encountered any to date. I thought I read that it supported 64 bits of layers in the magnetic timeline - but that would clearly be a theoretical limit not any thing you could manage with the RAM limits in todays computers. The most I've laid out is 30 tracks.

Of course part of the point of FCP X is to make it so you don't have to do that sort of thing.

So, if you really want to be serious about talking about and using FCP X, step 1: It isn't FCP 7, Premiere Pro, Avid or anything else you've used. So stop trying to make it that way. That would be like a new Resolve user complaining that it doesn't work exactly like Color/Baselight/whatever.

Right now, this red hot second, the main reason I've found that stops me from using FCP X professionally is the lack of support for import/export of the project. An XML or EDL option for both import and export would be fine, but this "island alone" crap is why I haven't bought a copy.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

So don't use it.

Forget it.

Quite a switch, going from "customer is always right", to "salesman is always right",
but I'm gonna take this as a friendly and altruistic suggestion instead.

i'm not going to bite.

Comment suggests there was some kind of provocation, with a goal of you "biting" on it.
Wrong premise.

 

[David Battistella]

There is proably a great Windows machine out there with a great editing software made for professionals.

I'm not interested in the symantics of a discussion of how shit apple is. I don't care that much. There are people who hate RED too, they use ARRI or SONY or something else. If you do not like apple or their products, if you feel cheated by them, you have a very powerful thing called CONSUMER CHOICE.

One thing that doesn't wash with me is that you see this as a puff piece and some spokesperson.

Are you an AVID GUY?

What the heck would you describe this as (this ain't a puff piece at all)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68j14PmmQPk&feature=player_embedded

If Apple is so bad why did Apple come back to APPLE and start writing software on MAC again, why is Premiere PRO written for OSX?

 

[Eric Santiago]

There is proably a great Windows machine out there with a great editing software made for professionals.

I'm not interested in the symantics of a discussion of how shit apple is. I don't care that much. There are people who hate RED too, they use ARRI or SONY or something else. If you do not like apple or their products, if you feel cheated by them, you have a very powerful thing called CONSUMER CHOICE.

One thing that doesn't was with me is that you see this as a puff piece and some spokesperson.

Are you an AVID GUY?

What the heck would you describe this as (this ain't a puff piece at all)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68j14PmmQPk&feature=player_embedded

If Apple is so bad why did Apple come back to APPLE and start writing software on MAC again, why is Premiere PRO written for OSX?

Too funny that after all these years with Avid (since 1998 for me), they all of a sudden throw this out into the wild.
Usually dont get a heads up with what their doing unless your on the beta team.
Maybe Avids learning something from Apple after all

 

[Liam Hall]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68j14PmmQPk&feature=player_embedded

Why do these companies make such amateurish videos? It's particularly insane when they are aiming their video at professional filmmakers. If I were Avid I'd want a video that showcased best practice, not some shabby piece of garbage like they have produced here. It doesn't make me want to use their tools...

 

[David Battistella]

I dunno. Those straightforward videos on apples site kinda set the bar for delivering a message and useful information at the same time.

That AVID video is so.....PC....

Don'tcha think?

yes. I'm being cheeky.

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Why do these companies make such amateurish videos? It's particularly insane when they are aiming their video at professional filmmakers. If I were Avid I'd want a video that showcased best practice, not some shabby piece of garbage like they have produced here. It doesn't make me want to use their tools...

Agreed.

I mean, shaky footage, and flicker in the stand up host interview and ... well I'll quit. I could edit something far nicer in FCP X rather quickly, even having to fight all that muscle memory etc. That's not the way to win me over.

I do think the Apple product videos sort of set the standard right now. It doesn't take a whole lot, and frankly Avid should try harder. Details really matter.

I am intrigued nevertheless ... I really hate Avid's interface, so the idea that they were redesigning it made me curious.

I also like hearing that they are opening their platform to 3rd party i/o.

I was surprised that MC5 wasn't 64 bit already. I thought FCP was dead last in that category.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

There is proably a great Windows machine out there with a great editing software made for professionals.

Irrelevant. Topic is about this platform.

I'm not interested in the symantics of a discussion of how shit apple is. I don't care that much.

+1

There are people who hate RED too, they use ARRI or SONY or something else. If you do not like apple or their products, if you feel cheated by them, you have a very powerful thing called CONSUMER CHOICE.

Emotions = irrelevant.
"Consumer choice" factors differ from consumers to professionals, regarding equipment investments, tool adaptation and workflow optimization.

One thing that doesn't wash with me is that you see this as a puff piece and some spokesperson.

-It exaggerates the benefits of a product which are minute compared to tons of obvious shortcomings (not just few of them mentioned), without addressing the shortcomings and alternative solutions.
-It is made by a company living of Apple gear.
-It is an attempt to present a rudimentary, $20 2002 home video editing software look-alike as a new professional video editing revolution (which somehow by pure coincidence looks like iMovie and imports iMovie projects, but not FCP ones, but really is built from the ground up and absolutely not from iMovie)...and all because it has improvements everyone wanted in original FCP, and because it has added automation (some of which will mess up other things)...and it has magnets.

It is a puff piece. And a damage control piece. (IMO)


Some cute stuff from the clip:

Intro:
Promotional babble, convincing attempts ("couch", "butt", "you are dumb and lazy if you don't accept all the changes influenced by Stockholder Board");

Redundant history lesson with chosen parts, enhancing hype and buying time, without any relations whatsoever to the U-turn in NLE platform UI and logic. Using other folks' achievements to promote this platform (Lumiere, Red).

FCPX

"Why would you need 8 pages of preferences ?"

That's a tough one. CUSTOMIZATION, perhaps ?
Because all projects don't need same preferences and humans are not robots who came out of the same mold, sharing same FPGA or OS, and don't have same mindsets, hence same PREFERENCES ?

"I've never been forced to render, even on MacBook Air."

Nice choice of words, suggests to the crowd that one almost never needs to render, even on MacBook Air, without mentioning what type of footage, settings or editing process was used while "never being forced to render even on MacBook Air". Although render was required for some examples later in the presentation, not "forced" though, true.

"Zero gets away in the creative process."

Redundant bunch of additional clicks and window openings and closings, and re-navigating through visual-navigation-challenged UI...
DO tend to get in the way of a visually creative process.

Are you an AVID GUY?

If really important, simple logic and fact of commenting on this thread might help in guessing.
Without redundant jumping to tagging prefixes and choosing sides.

Working with 16 bit imagery, on 64 bit OS, I'd like to think mindsets go way more than 1 bit.

What the heck would you describe this as (this ain't a puff piece at all)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68j14PmmQPk&feature=player_embedded

A simple product promotion event summary, not commenting the quality, though.
The example is still not making the damage control puff piece look better.

If Apple is so bad why did Apple come back to APPLE and start writing software on MAC again, why is Premiere PRO written for OSX?

Shake - EOL
Motion - half finished, buggy
Color - half finished, buggy
FCP - not optimized to utilize power available since 2008 at least (CPU, GPU, RAM), replaced with 64 bit iMovie with Excel, "paint my grass yellow as the sun in the previous shot" tool, and magnets. So to speak.

Not interested in debating company strategies or which company is bad, good, better or best.

 

[Liam Hall]

Emotions = irrelevant.
"Consumer choice" factors differ from consumers to professionals, regarding equipment investments, tool adaptation and workflow optimization.

Are you kidding? This is Reduser, folks on here get more emotional about their production gear than their own family...

FCP - not optimized to utilize power available since 2008 at least (CPU, GPU, RAM), replaced with 64 bit iMovie with Excel, "paint my grass yellow as the sun in the previous shot" tool, and magnets. So to speak.

I agree about the first part of your statement here, not the second but that is a neat, if disrespectful, way to describe FCPX!

 

[David Battistella]

Does everyone now understand why I initially said I would not "bite".

My experience is that people who pick apart every word are just looking for a fight.

You know what I have to say.

Nothing.

You just proved my original theory. Thank you. nice job.

Bye bye.


David

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Are you kidding? This is Reduser, folks on here get more emotional about their production gear than their own family...

David inquired about "hate" & "feeling cheated" related to my posts.
None were the case, or relevant for the discussion.

I agree about the first part of your statement here, not the second but that is a neat, if disrespectful, way to describe FCPX!

Disrespect was not the intent. Ditching candy wrapper was.
With few metaphors.

Does everyone now understand why I initially said I would not "bite".

My experience is that people who pick apart every word are just looking for a fight.

You know what I have to say.

Nothing.

You just proved my original theory. Thank you. nice job.

You pulled incorrect assumptions related to me and asked me questions. You got the answers.
With quotes separated for clarity.

Sorry for the previous experience. Interesting theory.
You're welcome.