Apple Updates Final Cut Pro X with 2013 Mac Pro Compatibility, 4K Content

[ppenn]

I really like FCPX except for just one big issue: file management. I teach video editing, and students need to work on their projects outside of class in an open lab. Moving their projects from one machine to another is a nightmare. (We don't have an X San, so network editing is out.) I sent feedback to Apple asking them to make an option as they have in Logic X to package the project into a single file, which would allow for greater portability. I used to have beginning students use iMovie for just that reason, but the new iMovie now uses the same file system as FCPX. *sigh*

The solution at this point is the new Library system. You can move libraries from machine to machine. Check out the description apple.com/final-cut-pro/whats-new

and

http://images.apple.com/final-cut-pro/docs/Media_Management.pdf

 

[chfilm]

I've heard you can use disk image files (dmg) to transfer files between computers. Not sure how well it works but you could give it a try. It seemed pretty straight forward when I read about the process.

Exactly. There was a huge report about it on creative cow and I adopted that workflow. Really simple!

 

[ppenn]

We edit over gigabit ethernet here, and it works amazingly well, even with ProRes projects.

Can any FCPX users tell me if 10.1 is still network blind? (Unable to work with Projects, Events, or now Libraries) over SMB or AFP (or even SMB2)?

We are very keen to adopt FCPX as an organisation but not being able to have shared storage (that is not an Xsan nightmare) is a show stopper at the moment.

Read about the new Library system.

 

[kap91]

From what I have heard from some
Buddies who are really intro professionel video
Editing (working on Hollywood movies) is that with the update
To FCPx Apple basically scared their whole
Pro users away from final cut.

But who knows

That's exactly what happened. FCP7 was just starting to be accepted in the feature film/TV world and FCPX is/was nothing like FCP7. At the time of release it was nearly laughable for use in a professional environment and was completely incompatible with previous file versions. Combine this with a Mac Pro that had started to languish and barely any updates to FCP since version 6. Apple did nothing really to prepare the industry mentally (by for example saying right from the get go that it was a work in progress) - instead hyping it up as the end all NLE better than ever and downplaying its shortcomings. Editors in general have very particular workflows and do not like change- especially feature/tv editors - and this was change of the worst kind. Of course now FCPX has matured very nicely and is suitable for many types of professional work - but the industry is still hurting from that bungle.

People not in features/tv have mostly jumped to Premiere and the rest are staying on Avid deciding to just ignore the rest of the industry - quite happy with what they have already and a company that's virtually guarantees backwards compatibility and that things won't change in any major way. There's a small but growing group of people acknowledging that FCPX is much , much better than before but it'll probably still be a while before it catches on again. I personally think it has a ways to go before its really suitable for narrative work but its probably the ideal tool for anything else - assuming you don't really need to work too collaboratively.

 

[PhillyAnt]

Is this a good time to buy Final Cut Pro X? Do you think Apple is going to release free updates like forever, same as OX X and other Apple apps? I am not a pro but I do like to play with videos and do some serious stuff on Premier Pro, and I'm tempted to pay the 300 dollars and never looking back.

Only Apple knows about free updates forever, but I kinda have the same question. I love messing with music and I record professional voiceovers so I purchased Logic Pro X when it first came out. I will never use all that it is capable of, but I wanted to have the best so I got it.

I mess around with iMovie a lot making simple videos. Would purchasing FCPX be way overkill for me or will I find a lot of new cool features that would be useful to me for the simple things I do? Is there a lot more efx / transitions / intro options and stuff like that included compared to iMovie? I like how when I choose to create a movie or a trailer that I get a bunch of options in iMovie. Do I lose that in FCPX or do I get more? Thats the one thing I loved about updating to Logic Pro X from Garage Band. The amount of extra loops, sounds, and effects made it a worth while buy. I have no problem spending $300 if there will be some good things in there for this amateur video guy who does it fun. Maybe someone can list some of the differences between iMovie and FCPX or provide a link to somewhere that I can compare them? Not all the differences but the ones that would matter to a consumer like me who will never be doing pro work with it.

Thanks!

 

[linuxcooldude]

Originally Posted by Wiesenlooser View Post
From what I have heard from some
Buddies who are really intro professionel video
Editing (working on Hollywood movies) is that with the update
To FCPx Apple basically scared their whole
Pro users away from final cut.

But who knows


That's exactly what happened. FCP7 was just starting to be accepted in the feature film/TV world and FCPX is/was nothing like FCP7. At the time of release it was nearly laughable for use in a professional environment and was completely incompatible with previous file versions. Combine this with a Mac Pro that had started to languish and barely any updates to FCP since version 6. Apple did nothing really to prepare the industry mentally (by for example saying right from the get go that it was a work in progress) - instead hyping it up as the end all NLE better than ever and downplaying its shortcomings. Editors in general have very particular workflows and do not like change- especially feature/tv editors - and this was change of the worst kind. Of course now FCPX has matured very nicely and is suitable for many types of professional work - but the industry is still hurting from that bungle.

People not in features/tv have mostly jumped to Premiere and the rest are staying on Avid deciding to just ignore the rest of the industry - quite happy with what they have already and a company that's virtually guarantees backwards compatibility and that things won't change in any major way. There's a small but growing group of people acknowledging that FCPX is much , much better than before but it'll probably still be a while before it catches on again. I personally think it has a ways to go before its really suitable for narrative work but its probably the ideal tool for anything else - assuming you don't really need to work too collaboratively.

Not sure how it would scare away Hollywood film makers. They never really used FCP 7 much to begin with, let alone Premiere Pro.

 

[DocNYz]

Backups!

I think the fact that we can automatically backup Libraries to a disk or network location of our chosing is MAJOR and should be mentioned in the article! I've been using CCC to backup after a days work or a major completion ... what solutions have you guys been using prior to this?

----------

Not sure how it would scare away Hollywood film makers. They never really used FCP 7 much to begin with, let alone Premiere Pro.

As someone who works in TV for the biggest networks I can assure you many do, in fact, use FCP7 and have for years ...

 

[spaz8]

Its really awesome to see Apple re-writing its "pro" apps to use OpenCL.. I was not expecting FCP, Motion and Compressor to all have support this fast.

 

[linuxcooldude]

I think the fact that we can automatically backup Libraries to a disk or network location of our chosing is MAJOR and should be mentioned in the article! I've been using CCC to backup after a days work or a major completion ... what solutions have you guys been using prior to this?

----------



As someone who works in TV for the biggest networks I can assure you many do, in fact, use FCP7 and have for years ...

I said Hollywood films, not television. I know the TV industry uses it quite a lot.

 

[RhymeAnimal]

FCP 7 and new Mac Pro

How will the new Mac Pro handle FCP7? I know it works fine in Mavericks, but I'm wondering what the speed increase will be for rendering, etc going from my 2008 Mac Pro to the new one. I know FCP7 won't take advantage of all of the new mac pros capabilities...

I have no interest in upgrading software. Lazy.

 

[Daguerratype]

I really like FCPX except for just one big issue: file management. I teach video editing, and students need to work on their projects outside of class in an open lab. Moving their projects from one machine to another is a nightmare. (We don't have an X San, so network editing is out.) I sent feedback to Apple asking them to make an option as they have in Logic X to package the project into a single file, which would allow for greater portability. I used to have beginning students use iMovie for just that reason, but the new iMovie now uses the same file system as FCPX. *sigh*

As a few have already mentioned, the new Libraries feature is more or less what you are requesting. Even without the new Libraries, you can always just drag a project to an external drive, inside FCP X, and it will give you the option to copy over everything you need for that project.

 

[ChrisA]

I really like FCPX except for just one big issue: file management. I teach video editing, and students need to work on their projects outside of class in an open lab. Moving their projects from one machine to another is a nightmare. (We don't have an X San, so network editing is out.) I sent feedback to Apple asking them to make an option as they have in Logic X to package the project into a single file, which would allow for greater portability. I used to have beginning students use iMovie for just that reason, but the new iMovie now uses the same file system as FCPX. *sigh*

You CAN do what you want today. Use a "sparse bundle" disk image to hold both the event and project folders. The image looks and acts like a file in finder. It s completely portable and self contained.

What this does is "fool" FCP into thinking you have another disk drive, but this disk drive is really a folder. Make then with disk utility.

----------

As a few have already mentioned, the new Libraries feature is more or less what you are requesting. Even without the new Libraries, you can always just drag a project to an external drive, inside FCP X, and it will give you the option to copy over everything you need for that project.

Yes you could move the files. But it might take 30 minutes. Two ways are (1) use sparse bundle disk images as I wrote in another post or (2) better, I think is to give each person his own physical disk drive. Best if it is SSD with Thunderbolt but and old FW800 drive would work too. Then you move from workstation to workstation by moving the physical drive, just plug in and go.

With the disk image files, you have to copy/move the image, then double click to mount it and you are up and running. But as I said, it can take 30 minutes or more to copy the data. Physical SSDs are after.

 

[Flash SWT]

Anybody know if it is still possible to buy 10.0.9 for systems not running Mavericks yet?

 

[kylepro88]

Is this a good time to buy Final Cut Pro X? Do you think Apple is going to release free updates like forever, same as OX X and other Apple apps? I am not a pro but I do like to play with videos and do some serious stuff on Premier Pro, and I'm tempted to pay the 300 dollars and never looking back.

Honestly the way Apple has been going, free updates look to be very normal thing going forward. 10.1 being a free update was very telling as far as I'm concerned. It seems like as long as you buy the $300 program, you might not pay for it again for a really long time if ever. That's a bold statement, but it makes no sense to me that they'd make 10.1 a free update but then 10.4 or 10.5 or something later on before 11.0 would be paid for. I'de say if you buy it not you're safe for a long time…more then long enough to make up for that $300 purchase.

 

[chirpie]

There was a recent survey of documentary producers/directors and some 60-70% are still using FCP7.

(http://www.pbs.org/pov/filmmakers/2013-documentary-equipment-survey.php#.UrMXYHkifhk)

I sort of understand what you're trying to say, but the point of my response was the misgivings of the newer version are largely dealt with outside of the traditional timeline vs magnetic approach.

The other poster was giving the same kind of response that's a stereotype shorthand for what is now a borderline ignorant viewpoint. (It's frustrating that people still think of X as iMovie Pro because the interface has some GUI similarities.)

 

[xmichaelp]

Is this a good time to buy Final Cut Pro X? Do you think Apple is going to release free updates like forever, same as OX X and other Apple apps? I am not a pro but I do like to play with videos and do some serious stuff on Premier Pro, and I'm tempted to pay the 300 dollars and never looking back.

I'm of the opinion that apple is going to keep releasing free updates to FCPX and Logic X for at least a few more years. Apple clearly has a thing for "X" versions of software. And it would make no sense for apple to go from FCP7 to 10 to 11. X is here to stay IMO.

 

[stoggy]

so if you buy these monitors, please start telling them that you don't want bezels around the monitors anymore. That way you could get two of them and have 2x as much screen realestate, without the bezels inbetween. If you really need the bezel go down to the arts and crafts store, buy some poster board, cut a hole in the middle and make you a bezel. You could even make it pink. Get some glitter...

thanks.

also i think it would be better if they had no bezel and the screens came in 3" sizes. Then you could buy a bunch of them and make whatever size and shape you artsy fartsy types wanted. You could make a circle monitor if you wanted or a star or a boring old square/rectangle. Hell you could make you monitor in the apple logo shape if that was really your thing.

Then the apple would truly no longer have borders or shape or form. It would be fluid.

 

[xmichaelp]

Why bother trying to fix something that's junk? and imovie has more.

Look back at FCP7 and see why people liked it and still use it, unless you have switched to sony V or Prem.

Put all the features that are in FCP7 and I might consider moving to X.
Ow and however came up with the idea that out can't open old projects
needs to come in to the real world, it shouldn't have to be left to third party software.

FCP was once a great product

imovie has more? more what exactly?

 

[SeattleMoose]

FCP X gets upgrade with features AND enhancements to maximize the processing power of the nMP.

Logic X gets upgrade with features. No word about maximizing use of nMP processing power.

Apple has a favorite among "Pros", and it is not we audio engineers.

On the other hand…I am happy for the video Pros….there is still hope I guess.

 

[Nicky G]

We edit over gigabit ethernet here, and it works amazingly well, even with ProRes projects.

Can any FCPX users tell me if 10.1 is still network blind? (Unable to work with Projects, Events, or now Libraries) over SMB or AFP (or even SMB2)?

We are very keen to adopt FCPX as an organisation but not being able to have shared storage (that is not an Xsan nightmare) is a show stopper at the moment.

NFS works in previous versions, if you set it up as a "SAN" location. not sure about changes in 10.1 and if there are now more options.

 

[hvfsl]

Well after playing with it for a few hours, I can see a number of noticeable improvements. The stabilisation seems better for one, I just re-rendered a project with lots of gopro footage etc and things seem smoother to me. It is also a lot quicker at switching between projects which would really lag on the previous version.

For me the only thing that is missing now is better Motion round tripping (basically like how it was in Final Cut 7). I would like to be able to just add the Motion document to my timeline in FCX and have it render it.

 

[Pheo]

Anyone know if FCPX will now take advantage of the Iris Pro in my new rMBP15? I know people say its not as fast as the 750GT, but still, it'd be nice to know it was using it.

----------

I really like FCPX except for just one big issue: file management. I teach video editing, and students need to work on their projects outside of class in an open lab. Moving their projects from one machine to another is a nightmare. (We don't have an X San, so network editing is out.) I sent feedback to Apple asking them to make an option as they have in Logic X to package the project into a single file, which would allow for greater portability. I used to have beginning students use iMovie for just that reason, but the new iMovie now uses the same file system as FCPX. *sigh*

Sounds like Libraries are exactly what you need Consolidated media, all in one file you can move around, just like Aperture!

Certainly thats what I'm finding!

 

[nateo200]

Anyone know if FCPX will now take advantage of the Iris Pro in my new rMBP15? I know people say its not as fast as the 750GT, but still, it'd be nice to know it was using it.

It probably should already? You shouldn't need a dGPU for GPU accleration, it won't be as good as the GT 650/750 but it will still provide some boost. If your asking if it improves support probably, Apple would not forgo that IMO....other than that it doesnt explicitly say anything else other than support for Dual GPU's (which is pretty much for the new Mac Pro's). In the coming days I imagine places like FCP.co will do tests to see all the new features as apple likes to keep the details sort of broad.

 

[YoGramMamma]

I sort of understand what you're trying to say, but the point of my response was the misgivings of the newer version are largely dealt with outside of the traditional timeline vs magnetic approach.

The other poster was giving the same kind of response that's a stereotype shorthand for what is now a borderline ignorant viewpoint. (It's frustrating that people still think of X as iMovie Pro because the interface has some GUI similarities.)

I second this notion. I am glad to see people approaching FCPX with a clear and level mindset. I use FCPX every day (and have been since the day it came out) and I absolutely love it. I realize that it works great for my workflow, and that maybe that isn't the case with every "professional" but, I certainly consider myself a pro and FCPX is feature-rich and very capable imo.

I have a project fully edited in FCPX that nationally aired during this past Super Bowl, and another project for a major label artist that is on the front page of iTunes today, and plenty more professional level projects, all done in X. I constantly have to liaise with other post facilities for my work and using FCPX hasn't been an issue for me once.

The main reason people haven't switched away from FCP7 is because they're lazy or unwilling to learn something new. Period. Many people don't like slowing down their workflow to learn something new, and understandably so, but it's really a sign of stubbornness on behalf of the editor versus the software being incomplete imo. I have two roommates who also work in post and all but swear by Premiere, and will bash FCPX anytime they get the chance. But I can tell you that they have never taken the time to put FCPX through the paces long enough to learn what it does and how it works. Premiere is close enough to FCP7 in how it works, so they just went that route. They never read a manual or used an tutorial, or even looked over my shoulder while I'm working with FCPX and are clueless to probably 90% of what its capable of doing. This I have found to be common among anyone who truly bashes FCPX now days (it was a different story back when it first launched in 2011). They have simply mentally written it off because of what they've heard about it.

Let me be clear that I am not bashing Premiere, I do like it... just not better than FCPX. I could go on and on about what I like about it (including the magnetic timeline which I simply fill with a slug for my editing and edit solely from secondary timeline, which gives you much more freedom and alieviates most of people's main gripe with it) ... but I'll just leave it at that.

I'm very eager to see how well this new Library system simplifies my workflow. I just wish apple would add one tiny feature i really want... color labeling of clips on the timeline :/

 

[Pheo]

It probably should already? You shouldn't need a dGPU for GPU accleration, it won't be as good as the GT 650/750 but it will still provide some boost. If your asking if it improves support probably, Apple would not forgo that IMO....other than that it doesnt explicitly say anything else other than support for Dual GPU's (which is pretty much for the new Mac Pro's). In the coming days I imagine places like FCP.co will do tests to see all the new features as apple likes to keep the details sort of broad.

Wasn't sure!

All I know its helluva fast compared to my 2011 6630m equipped mac mini - so I'm happy!