Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple sent me a Final Cut research survey

Sonicjay

Sonicjay

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 1, 2008
666
0
I was surprised to see something hit my inbox yesterday that I didn't think would ever happen; Apple sent me a survey regarding FCPX. They were very thorough; it took about 15 minutes or so to go through it all. They are actually looking for user feedback and doing some market research instead of their usual bomb-drop take-it-or-leave it "innovation". There were a number of detailed questions on which features were missed, what existing features got any use, one question entirely about the magnetic timeline, several fairly detailed questions about exactly how I use it, how long I've used it, and what other software I've used; they also asked about whether I used EDLs, what formats I export to, what kind of cameras I use, and there were actually boxes on several sections that allowed me to type my own responses. There were also a couple questions on which Macs I use it on, which Macs I own, how I transfer media (SAN, etc), and more. I was glad to see that they are actually asking customers what they want. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new leaf turning over.
 
The impression I get from a lot of pros here (not that I are one) -- they're going to be very wary of getting back in bed with FCP. They've become very NLE-non-denominational for now, especially with prices coming down across the board. I think a lot of people are waiting to see where the market is going, and they have no confidence after the botched handling of FCP X.
 
I wonder how the results of the survey will skew. I mean, how many people who find FCPX unsatisfactory will get the survey? Is Apple really interested in bringing back the people they alienated or are they just trying to fine tune the app for the people that currently use it and enjoy it? It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of it.


2jaded2care said:
The impression I get from a lot of pros here (not that I are one) -- they're going to be very wary of getting back in bed with FCP. They've become very NLE-non-denominational for now, especially with prices coming down across the board. I think a lot of people are waiting to see where the market is going, and they have no confidence after the botched handling of FCP X.
Click to expand...

I know a lot of people have taken advantage of the deals on Avid MC/Symphony and Adobe CS 5.5/CS6 (and to a less extent Smoke and even Lightworks) but I still think people will settle on one primary NLE and just keep the others around in case they need them. I'd be surprised if someone kept 2-3 NLEs up to date at all times and used them all equally (unless they were a post house just renting out rooms to clients).


Lethal
 
Yea, I got the survey too. The way the questions were worded... definitely seemed like they were reaching out and asking why the program isn't working for professionals.

Count me among those who were not satisfied with the new program. You can be certain they got a piece of my mind. :)
 
Erendiox said:
Yea, I got the survey too. The way the questions were worded... definitely seemed like they were reaching out and asking why the program isn't working for professionals.
Click to expand...
I guess my line of thinking is, if you want to find out why someone didn't buy your product you shouldn't limit your search for answers to only those people that did buy your product.


Lethal
 
LethalWolfe said:
I guess my line of thinking is, if you want to find out why someone didn't buy your product you shouldn't limit your search for answers to only those people that did buy your product.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm hoping that these surveys are just to supplement some greater amount of research they're doing. That's in an ideal world though.

Any sign that they may not be completely writing off the professional market is good news to me. That's my gut reaction, so I'm pretty happy to have received it.
 
They sent me one too... I crushed FCP X in the most professional way that I could. I actually ran out of room on a couple of the boxes... I begged for FCP 8. Yeah, it probably won't do any good. But there is no harm in asking. For me even if they add every feature it won't change my mind. Just the way audio is handled, I find infuriating. Even Larry Jordan says the audio tools are still weak...They imovie interface is goofy and unintuitive. Changing things like Ripple, Roll, and Slip and Slide was change for the sake of change. The magnetic timeline doesn't seem to offer any tangible benefit for me. And I swear that things still move around when I don't want them too. I really only use it now for some of the new effects, which are cool, and the motion integration is a good idea.
 
If you ask me, if they really cared about constructive feedback from professionals, they would also send surveys out to those who have registered copies of FCP 6/7 and haven't upgraded yet.
 
I filled my survey out last week.

I guess my line of thinking is, if you want to find out why someone didn't buy your product you shouldn't limit your search for answers to only those people that did buy your product.

If you ask me, if they really cared about constructive feedback from professionals, they would also send surveys out to those who have registered copies of FCP 6/7 and haven't upgraded yet.
Click to expand...

I don't see how, if you never used FCP X, how can you really give accurate answers.

I have found some people said it didn't have this or that, relying on third party information, when in fact it did. It either called by another name, integrated with another feature or many other things. Something you might not know unless you used it for a length of time.

Just the way audio is handled, I find infuriating. Even Larry Jordan says the audio tools are still weak
Click to expand...

More added features for audio is for the next update.

The magnetic timeline doesn't seem to offer any tangible benefit for me.
Click to expand...

Quite the opposite for me. At times I definately needed magnetic timeline to make sure some audio/video is not overlapping on certain tracks. Other times I needed to turn it off.
 
Last edited:
I don't see how, if you never used FCP X, how can you really give accurate answers.

I have found some people said it didn't have this or that, relying on third party information, when in fact it did. It either called by another name, integrated with another feature or many other things. Something you might not know unless you used it for a length of time.
Click to expand...

I see your point here, but a lot of us (myself included) actually have tried out FCP X on the 30-day free trial. So, perhaps they should also send surveys out to those who test drove the software, but never purchased. After all, you do need an Apple ID in the form of an email address to download anything from the App Store.
 
Last edited:
LethalWolfe said:
If I'm in the market for a truck so I can haul lumber and salesman walks me over to a car I don't need to test drive it to know it's not what I'm looking for. ;)


Lethal
Click to expand...

The survey was specifically for those have bought & used FCP X. Not for people who think it may not be useful for them who never tried it.

I see your point here, but a lot of us (myself included) actually have tried out FCP X on the 30-day free trial. So, perhaps they should also send surveys out to those who test drove the software, but never purchased. After all, you do need an Apple ID in the form of an email address to download anything from the App Store.
Click to expand...

I could see your point as well. But I do see quite a few people will download the trial, only to use it for maybe 10 minutes, then email back Apple to tell them it sucks. Those are more then likely the people who already made up their minds they did not like it.

I think they are looking for long time users to fully evaluate it through out the several version updates.
 
Last edited:
linuxcooldude said:
I could see your point as well. But I do see quite a few people will download the trial, only to use it for maybe 10 minutes, then email back Apple to tell them it sucks. Those are more then likely the people who already made up their minds they did not like it.
Click to expand...
...or those are folks for whom FCP X simply wasn't made.
 
linuxcooldude said:
The survey was specifically for those have bought & used FCP X. Not for people who think it may not be useful for them who never tried it.
Click to expand...
I think it's just for people that bought it regardless of use. Unless FCPX phones home and reports to Apple how often the application is used. ;)

I also wonder if FCPX would be adding features so quickly if it wasn't for the people so loudly pointing out legitimate short comings from day one (not to mention the exceedingly rare event of Apple providing a road map for future features).

Which goes back to what I said in my first post, if Apple is looking to keep the status quo then they don't need to look beyond the people that are satisfied w/FCPX for feedback. If they want to go beyond that though they need to talk to editors that don't see FCPX as being worthwhile yet.

With that being said I'm sure Apple can just browse any number of forums to find out what people don't like about FCPX.


Lethal
 
The survey was sent to registered users of FCP7 as well. I received it, and there were several questions as to why I hadn't upgraded to FCPX and if I plan to.
 
I didn't hold back in my answers to the survey. I told them how unhappy I was very bluntly. Hope they take my review to heart. Everyone else who is unhappy should do so as well.

And I filled it out for my work and for my freelance. So double the hate!
 
I got it too...asking if I took advantage of the free FCP x trial and asking why I hadn't...and why I didn't upgrade. I was blunt...and mentioned I already purchased Avid's newest and was going to get the update of Adobe Premier (as well as that I had been using FCP since version 2 and Apples since the II+...although if they didn't upgrade the MacPro soon that could change too....)

I just signed onto an Adobe Premiere intensive to see how well it works with AVCHD (as I hear it edits it like a dream natively...instead of importing it as one has to in FCP7 and I think FCPX)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back