Did your ability to keep using FC 6 or 7 end? Nobodies forcing you to upgrade.
I can't start using fcp7, since Apple doesn't sell the upgrade any more.
Lost few small jobs in the summer, but I'm still not paying what they ask in eBay...
FCP 6 & 7 and their inherent functionality will not be developed, that is as good as they get.
And how long did it take to fcp to get there and how much has happened last years?
Last small bumb for fcp was in 2009 (v7) and a little bigger in 2007 (v6).
Last major upgrade was v4.5 in 2004.
All these years there has been problems with qt messing the gamma and not having a true color managed app.
Otherwise I guess fcp offered most bang-for-a-buck in 2004-2009. Before that Avid ruled for 15 years and premiere was the budget alternative.
This has returned to be the situation and somehow they managed to do what Apple didn't want to do: change their apps to cocoa.
I think we can all agree that fcpx can't handle the most of wide variety needed for professional editing. Lack of hardware support, features and 3rd party plugins and backward compatibility & to other apps hasn't (at least yet) gone away.
And the industry didn't loose the need for these when fcpx was brought to market.
So at least for now, I think it is safe to say that fcpx is targeted to a different customers than fcs was.
And this is the main problem, I think and also shows why the topic of this "news" we are discussing here about, hits the sparks so easily.
When fcs3/fcp7 was just a small update, me and everybody else were hopinf for something big for the next thing. Maybe they have finally corrected the problems fcp has had for years, when re-writing it to 64-bit? Maybe even background rendering that some editing software already had in last millenium?
And then they dropped the bomb.
So if Apple had already decided in 2007 to drop fcs away and target fcp to different cusomer segment, should they have somehow told us about that?
Is shooting down false hopes good customer support?
If they kept writing 64-bit fcp, should they have told us, when they dropped the project?
FCP X will plug all its holes in time and become one of the first of next gen NLE's if Apple keeps working at it, which it seems like they will.
The biggest issue with FCP X wasn't FCP X itself, but the fact that Apple discontinued FCP 7 immediately, which they did not do with OS 9 to OS X transition.
I just can't come up any sany reason for immediate discontinuation.
That hasn't happened any time before.
Total lack of respect of your customers.
But to say that fcpx will have all (good/necessary/etc.) features of fcp in "some day", screams when this day will come?
Apple has best resources in the world for code writing and if it took them 4 years to get fcpx to the point where it's now, this thing will take years.
When they have resources, the only reason for not doing it is lack of motivation. They didn't want to do it then, they don't want ro do it now and they will not do it in the future.
When fcpx will have it's first birthday and there has not been major update, I'll move on. Most of us has already done that. I'm using over 4 year old software now and it won't get any better or react to other development in technology and content making.
Avid execs can enjoy their bonuses this year, but it is a temporary bump.
Hmm, if Apple develops fcpx with the same speed than fcp/fcs before it will be about 2015 when fcpx can be considered fully professional software.
Then if the price is right, it can rule again. But which is more temporary: avid or fcp? Avid ruled years 1990-2004 and maybe about 2009-2015...
Apple started selling FCP 7 again, on September the 1st.
They are not selling an upgrade to me. Buying a full license again for almost completely over 5 years old software, when I could switch to avid for less than that, is pretty ridiculous.
FCP server.. gone, FCP7 gone, training for these products at huge expense, wasted.
Dumping FCPserver is the clearest signal of changing the target of customers. Somehow this has been quietly forgotten in these discussions here in MR also.
The industry has lost its confidence on Apple and when we are talking about backend server systems, they just can't get it back.
Sadly there might never be a situation in the editing world again where you could buy hardware, os and software from the same company.