Apple Updates Final Cut Pro X with Multicam Support, Advanced Chroma Keying, and XML Support

[QuarterSwede]

I don't sense arrogance or elitism. He's simply stating the needs of high budget productions. Needs which most on this forum are clearly unaware of.

I think the update is encouraging nonetheless.

I think you nailed it honestly. High budget needs as well as those who live in these apps need them to do certain things well even if the workflow isn't the best.

My own personal experience is in audio and I can relate to having to use ProTools (industry standard) even though I personally despise it. It's a pain to learn, not laid out well at all but it does certain things you need to do very well. Let's not also forget that a lot of hardware is designed for it so companies look at that as well when upgrading. I imagine it's similar in the video production world.

 

[Artful Dodger]

You know…something is actually missing here, let's see…oh yeah 11 pages, nope, 252 replies, nope. I got it, someone that actually tested the multicam support or the chroma keying features added and posting how it really seems to be working today.

I have read about how many friends most here have (some have even kept those imaginary kid ones) then, where everyone (vaguely, I guess I don't know the secret handshake or something) works, worked, wants to work, hopes to become, thinks they either will be or are the next Kevin Smith or George Lucas, how many alphabet companies are in the portfolio, who edits, who has edited, who bought breakfast today and who knows where the positive or negative buttons are (not the ones either left out of or were never there in FCP-?) but in this thread on the bottom right side and even a few Bams!!! 😉 (I did enjoy those more than those awful videos, laughs).

So with all the witty-banter aside, could someone find some real time to do this and give some feedback if it's good, on par or just plan sucks 😀 If not get Bob, the janitors apprentice to give it a go. Maybe even ask the BBC how it's working, I don't know something…the demo on the Apple site is all fanboy and they even got a crane on a Porsche to add a Bam!!! Like that in the demo, oh yeah and a "pro" driver or two for the day. I can't tell since I'm no pro but that even looked like an AirHogs helicopter (those small remote control kids have) with a camera mounted on it 😛

 

[MovieCutter]

I don't know moviecutter,

You say your a solitary freelance editor, but it seems your speaking for the entire industry. You use words like "We, we're, us, My firm" when describing people who don't like FCP X. But for the time being, your just working by yourself. I get you have friends in the industry, thats fine, I'm sure a lot of people do.

And 300 million does seem a bit far fetched. You then say you doubt that many viewers watch. Potential viewers and actual viewers are much different things.

Do you understand what a freelancer does? I work for different companies and different production houses as I'm needed and requested. One day I could be working for a PR firm, the next day could be an NGO, the next day could be a TV network, the next week could be filling in for a documentary...it changes and I love the fact that it does. So I see almost every aspect of post production on a regular basis. I worked for 3 years on a show for Al Jazeera, a network that reaches 300 million households. NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX all also reach probably 300 million people. Does everyone watch one show at the same time.

You guys are too much fun.

 

[hsilver]

Today's upgrade answered a lot of the questions about FCPX

I work on a lot of projects for both web and broadcast. I was an editor for years; now I'm a director/editor/shooter. I won an EMMY for a series I edited and edited a documentary nominated for an Academy Award (pre-nonlinear editing). For what I'm doing now, most of the deliverables are file based. Even for broadcast. When I needed to deliver on tape for a film festival, I used FCS. But I could probably use FCPX's XML to go to DaVinci Resolve and then to FCP7 to output to tape. Now with the latest update, if you can go to a broadcast monitor with AJA or Matrox or BlackMagic, you will be able to output to tape. The last update of FCPX already allows you to custom set the timecode for that.

I love FCPX. It is fast. Once I got used to the new way of working it felt like an extension of my brain and hands. I've used –and taught on a college level –AVID and FCP for years and I don't miss them or need them. A new program, Xto7 ($9.99) was also released today by Intelligent Assistance that does a very fine job of translating FCP7 projects to FCPX. So the issue of updating old projects is over. You can now relink media like FCP only a lot easier. In FCP you couldn't use multicam if the clips weren't all the same framerate and codec. In FCPX that isn't an issue and it will sync the various clips using the waveforms or by timecode. Read Larry Jordan's blog today about the update.

My only worry is about the MacPro. If it isn't updated soon that will be a serious blow for all Apple professional users. The FCP7 v. FCPX issue is hardly an issue.

 

[Kevin Monahan]

I really don't want to move to Avid and premiere wasn't stable last time I had a project run in it.

It's called Premiere Pro now and it's a fire-breathing monster. If you have not checked out CS5 or CS5.5, you are missing out. Stable as a rock, or so say our users. 64 bit performance going back since 2010 (Grand Central Dispatch, etc.). Give it a shot in our free 30 day trial: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=production_premium

 

[mBox]

You know…something is actually missing here, let's see…oh yeah 11 pages, nope, 252 replies, nope. I got it, someone that actually tested the multicam support or the chroma keying features added and posting how it really seems to be working today...

I will as soon as I finish reading all the posts 😉
Kidding aside, installed on 3 systems at work and one at home.
I dont have a recent project with more than one camera but from prev FCPX projects so far so good.
My main concern is XML support so thatll be the next test.

 

[sazivad]

As of now (see date-stamp), Final Cut Pro 10.0.3 has all 4 or 5 star ratings on the Mac App Store, which is (I'm pretty sure) the only way in which it is sold.

Just sayin'...

 

[MacFly123]

Thank God! Now maybe the video editors I work with will stop crying about how Apple screwed over the video industry.

Oh.. good. It looks like Final Cut "PRO" X is moving out of "beta"

This is why I told people not to panic. This is just how Apple operates, they create a product and then improve it over time. I told people that FCP X would be up to snuff in about a year from introduction. It takes this long for a 1.0 product usually. The same thing happened with the introduction of OSX, the iPod, iPhone and iPad. As the updates continued the products got better and better. Now no one complains about OSX, the iPod, iPhone or iPad.

Those that have left FCP will be regretting it later. 😎

I have been telling people to chill out as well. Now everything I have been saying is spot on and they see the sky is not falling.

We now not only do we have multicam editing, but it is way more powerful and robust in features than it was in FCP7! You will see the same thing happen with all the future features they put back/add. They will be even better and more powerful because of the awesome new foundation!

I am moving over to FCP X right now and it is a bit of an adjustment and there are still some annoying rough edges and little missing features that need addressed, but this update today helped a lot!

I think going from Snow Leopard to Lion is more of a shift actually!

P.S. Anybody want to take a stab at some questions I have???

1) Is there still a way to go from FCP X to Motion like 'Send To > Motion Project'...? I know Motion 5 has gotten decent reviews, but it seems like Apple has really cut back the connection from FCP X > Motion and you are forced to go Motion > FCP X one way. Am I wrong because I find this annoying and disruptive to my workflow with FX!

2) Is there a decent mask in FCP X like the 8 point garbage mask in FCP 7?

3) Can you not do drop shadows on images or assets in FCP X?

4) Why does FCP X have fullscreen mode but not Motion even after this update today? Weird!

5) Are we limited to the text templates in FCP X now without fine grain control over text?

6) What is the equivalent to 'Control V' from FCP 7 in FCP X? The command that cuts through all tracks.

Just some questions I am forming while diving into FCP X. Thanks to anyone who can answer some! 🙂

 

[Artful Dodger]

I will as soon as I finish reading all the posts 😉
Kidding aside, installed on 3 systems at work and one at home.
I dont have a recent project with more than one camera but from prev FCPX projects so far so good.
My main concern is XML support so thatll be the next test.

I give everyone here kudos for doing any video stuff. I ended up getting placed in video by random chance and I'm not even near knowing what the hell is going on with all three software options to be considered really good. I'm in the FCPX area as it and myself are starting out (I used FC Express before this). I was a fine art painting major in art school and one day it went we need someone to video an event, oh and we will be streaming it as well, enter stage left… To me it's all building blocks like clay or working up paint on the canvas. What ever it takes to get good results but I always want to know the other side of things for the pro's & cons and what will work faster/better for me and the clients.

Good luck to everyone and try to be happy as it seems everyone here is getting paid, even those guys in the Bam examples, laughs.

----------

As of now (see date-stamp), Final Cut Pro 10.0.3 has all 4 or 5 star ratings on the Mac App Store, which is (I'm pretty sure) the only way in which it is sold.

Just sayin'...

Yeah, they removed all the ones who were refunded and removed the zeros & ones stars 😛

 

[linuxcooldude]

Yeah, they removed all the ones who were refunded and removed the zeros & ones stars

Its still all there, you have to choose all versions instead of the current version.

 

[mBox]

It's a cool demonstration, but it still required a $5000 red rocket card to work. It's encouraging that things like thunderbolt will open up new options like that. But I completely agree that a workstation will remain the best option for the foreseeable future.

Im hoping that it will be an Apple one in 6 months. I have budgets to fulfill by end of March and have to purchase most recent offerings no later than end of Feb 😛
Cant sit around and assume something will happen.
With recent FCPX update, I'm hoping that Apple is still into making Mac Pros 🙂

 

[linuxcooldude]

Never really had much problems in FCP X as far as bugs. It was always Compressor 4 that gave me some fits. The project I just completed a few days ago was the only one where I did not have to force quit it after it finished!

Hopefully the update today fixed that problem.

 

[mBox]

...Why not sprend your time on the Avid or Adobe sites...

Haha Ive cut down my visits on the Avid forum. I think Ive p*ssed a few moderators cause they couldnt help fix an major bug that left me with a dozen projects deemed un-playable on the sequence 😛
If you must know it was this Hagrid error code along with XDCAM footage Transcoded using AMA that I spent hours with Tech support for almost 4 months with no answer.
Only way we got around it is to start over again after an MC update.
It was futile after awhile cause the damn error came back up.
We will never know if its still there since installing v6, I vowed not to use that footage again 😛
Oh and Adobe, yeah there's a piece of work for you. Adobe and Apple couldnt seem to figure what the heck was up with their 2GB file limit using AFP/SMB.
Both are to blame, we fixed it by not rendering to QT Uncompressed.
I even tried to bring this up at last years NAB but got the total run-around by their so called Software Engineers. I think I would have rather been dumped on by a booth babe 😛

 

[richlen]

I think what defines this whole issue is Apple is putting things BACK into Final Cut Pro X that were in FCP7. Meanwhile while they are putting features back, Adobe and Avid which already got a head start because FCP7 hadn't been updated for so long are adding some incredible features. There's also a much easier workflow switch to them then to Apple's own product.

From a professional perspective FCPX was a has been coming out of the gate and now has dropped way back. Not to say it's not for some people, for what it is, it's a fine product, but not up to what FCP7 was. I think everyone can agree on that. What we've discovered in our post house was that by moving to Premiere we can share files and projects from agencies doing work on PCs rather than having to convert as we had in the past. That being said we're finding Premiere particularly to be a money and time saver. And, in this business, time is money.

 

[greygray]

FINALLY. Great news to hear indeed!

 

[handsome pete]

Thank you for your reply to my rambling post, but I am now even more confused. I have heard FCPX referred to as "garbage" within earshot of my post. Truly, the violent polemic against FCPX would render it unusable by professionals, no?

Maybe it's the violence that is so confusing...

Well I would contend that those calling it garbage are a bit hyperbolic.

 

[Nostromo]

Great news!

I'm curious if the stability issues will all have been addressed.

Motion: I was hoping to find an upgrade to the stabilization function (which makes After Effects so desirable)

I'm also curious how the people who despised FCP X when it appeared have warmed up to it now or if there are still important features missing.

 

[RoboCop001]

"Has some issues"? There were major features REMOVED from the app, it's not like it was a new release with a few bugs here and there. And it was released with no announcement that those features would ever be added back in. Sometimes Apple does the rewrite/remove/add thing, but other times they remove features and never bring them back, or take years.

Example - how's that new version of Quicktime "pro" treating you? And how long ago were all the features stripped out when it got the 64 bit rewrite - wasn't that when 10.6 first shipped?

The reaction to the FCX release was pretty much the opposite of neurotic, it was perfectly appropriate for a botched release.

I totally see your points. My post was written in haste and out of frustration of people jumping off FCP so quickly (because the less people use it, the less Apple will care about it even more). I actually agree about QuickTime X. I tend to use QT 7 for things like the Export feature. I'm just saying that they did eventually add some of those things back in. But sure... it's still not quite the same.

But the point I really stand behind is this: it still works. The current one I mean. Why buy a whole new setup so quickly? It's worked for years. Say next year, if Apple doesn't add anything else major back into FCPX, then that's when I'd switch to something else.

But it just seems everyone's just gone "Oh my god I have to switch immediately." I haven't found anything about Premier (haven't used Avid) that screams "SWITCH TO ME NOW" either. It just seems very "at drop of a hat".

🙂

 

[NY Guitarist]

Great news!

I'm curious if the stability issues will all have been addressed.

Motion: I was hoping to find an upgrade to the stabilization function (which makes After Effects so desirable)

I'm also curious how the people who despised FCP X when it appeared have warmed up to it now or if there are still important features missing.

I never bought FCPX so I admittedly have lost track of what it may or may not be able to do these days. That in itself is telling, because I'm not the only one who let it fall off my radar of software tools.

Did Apple or anyone else ever get FCPX to utilize any hardware to connect a calibrated video reference monitor? Is there a way to send audio on separate tracks out to a DAW app, which I guess no longer means Soundtrack right?

----------

For the people who think the pissed off "pro" user are wrong for being upset, here's a thought:

FCPX is in reality the replacement for what WAS Final Cut Express and should have been sold as such. If you bought it thinking this is "what the pros use" you took the Apple bait and did just what they hoped for.

Once these missing features and functionality is added back in you will have Final Cut Pro again.

But really, FCPX is FC Express, and therein lies the problem.

 

[NY Guitarist]

But the point I really stand behind is this: it still works. The current one I mean. Why buy a whole new setup so quickly? It's worked for years. Say next year, if Apple doesn't add anything else major back into FCPX, then that's when I'd switch to something else.

But it just seems everyone's just gone "Oh my god I have to switch immediately." I haven't found anything about Premier (haven't used Avid) that screams "SWITCH TO ME NOW" either. It just seems very "at drop of a hat".

🙂

Very good points. I think some of the reactionary switching to other apps was a direct and somewhat emotional response to the total letdown when FCPX was released after being hailed by Apple as a revolutionary improvement for editors.


Once again if this was released as FCExpress with FCPro announced as coming... say... right about now, then they would have managed the expectations of the pro user more effectively. Again, at the FCPX unveiling at NAB, Apple made no mention that there would be missing essentials features that defined FCPro and distinguished it from FCExpress. They sold this as a Pro product. It's not, it's a de-contented app that is really FCExpress.

Maybe they didn't count on how invested people were in FCP as a long term solution and miscalculated the intense negative backlash it would create when they casually tossed aside the entire installed user base in one shot.

But I also wonder if they already calculated what would happen and is playing the long term strategy that the pro user will be upset, but move on, and knew they would sell FCExpress as FCProX to all the new wanna be indy filmmakers, etc, and a whole new user base of iOS customers.

 

[danimal99]

Oh forget it. I said the editors I know (all of whom are in the high end spectrum of production) have moved on. The guy who got a broadcast degree last year said I'm wrong. I'm done backing up my claims. To each your own.

No, Cutter that is NOT what you said. You have continued to imply that "most of us", as in everybody who cuts video on a computer, switched to Avid. Now it's suddenly just the guys you know. The list gets smaller and smaller.

And, do you think I'm some wet-behind-the-ears 22 year old who just got a degree? As I told you, I went BACK to school to get another degree because I wanted to. I was working with video back when the Video Toaster on an Amiga 2000 was blowing people's minds and you were just starting out in grade school. So save your I'm better than you schtick for somebody else who gives a damn.

It's great that you've had some high profile assignments. It's a great time to work in TV and film and the tools today are incredible compared to just 20 years ago. I roll my eyes at the 300 million viewers, though. Maybe when you grow up, you'll learn how to act with some semblance of class as well.

----------

I never bought FCPX so I admittedly have lost track of what it may or may not be able to do these days. That in itself is telling, because I'm not the only one who let it fall off my radar of software tools.

Did Apple or anyone else ever get FCPX to utilize any hardware to connect a calibrated video reference monitor? Is there a way to send audio on separate tracks out to a DAW app, which I guess no longer means Soundtrack right?

----------

For the people who think the pissed off "pro" user are wrong for being upset, here's a thought:

FCPX is in reality the replacement for what WAS Final Cut Express and should have been sold as such. If you bought it thinking this is "what the pros use" you took the Apple bait and did just what they hoped for.

Once these missing features and functionality is added back in you will have Final Cut Pro again.

But really, FCPX is FC Express, and therein lies the problem.

FCPX is Final Cut Express? This is a joke, right? Have you ever actually used this software? I have a really difficult time believing that you have now.

 

[NY Guitarist]

FCPX is Final Cut Express? This is a joke, right? Have you ever actually used this software? I have a really difficult time believing that you have now.

You are absolutely right, I have not used FCPX. But that doesn't mean when it was first released that I didn't understand what it could and could not do. I still stay that should it have been released as FC Express less people would have been upset at the missing features that were already in FCP7 and NOT in Final Express, and were now also not in FCPX, but it's called Pro. Express = limited feature set. FCPX = limited feature set = Express.

No joke. Like you I've been doing this for a long time... well, since before non-linear editing on computers existed. I'm certainly not getting into a pissing contest with someone who, because they disagree with me, thinks I have no idea what I'm talking about. Save it for the barroom arguments.

I think the joke is on everyone who bought FCPX thinking it was a "pro" app, because it was pro in name only.

 

[cgbier]

P.S. Anybody want to take a stab at some questions I have???

1) Is there still a way to go from FCP X to Motion like 'Send To > Motion Project'...? I know Motion 5 has gotten decent reviews, but it seems like Apple has really cut back the connection from FCP X > Motion and you are forced to go Motion > FCP X one way. Am I wrong because I find this annoying and disruptive to my workflow with FX!

2) Is there a decent mask in FCP X like the 8 point garbage mask in FCP 7?

3) Can you not do drop shadows on images or assets in FCP X?

4) Why does FCP X have fullscreen mode but not Motion even after this update today? Weird!

5) Are we limited to the text templates in FCP X now without fine grain control over text?

6) What is the equivalent to 'Control V' from FCP 7 in FCP X? The command that cuts through all tracks.

Just some questions I am forming while diving into FCP X. Thanks to anyone who can answer some! 🙂

1.) Not yet, but you can use the Feedback button. If enough folks are complaining about this issue, Apple will surely bring round tripping back to FCP X.
2.) No, but there is a free effect on somewhere on fcp.co
3.) In Motion... you can build that effect and publish it.
4.) Dunno
5.) Nope. You can either open copies of the text effects in Motion for fine tuning (Apple's idea of round tripping ATM) or build the effect in Motion and publish it.
6.) There are no more tracks.

Hope that helped a bit.

 

[bonehead]

You're part of the old guard man. Bloated post facilities with too many employees & too much overhead, charging clients way too much. The future is all about solitary editors working with programs like FCPX, pumping out super pro quality material.

Time to move on.

But in the present, people need to make a living and for some people (note the qualifier), FCP-X won't integrate into their workflows. What's your prediction on how soon all broadcast TV and major feature film production will cease?

----------

Indeed. I don't think any professional editor switched to Avid or Premiere as soon as they saw Final Cut Pro X wasn't a real upgrade. I think it's more they planned on updating regardless (after all, Final Cut Pro 7 wasn't full Cocoa and wasn't 64-bit) and held off to see what Apple was going to bring. Once they were disappointed, they decided to go with the alternative.

This is correct and people were waiting for a few years for that update.

 

[bonehead]

Apple doesn't care about you. Say it with me. "Apple doesn't care about me." It's hard to say but it's the truth. They don't care about your long and illustrious broadcast resume and they don't care about the passive aggressive "who cares, I already switched to Avid" posts you make on all of these threads.

They changed their product and business model. Companies are allowed to do that. They don't owe a thing. They know that there are a lot more people out there shooting with DSLRs and iPhones and putting their videos up on youtube and vimeo than there are crotchety old blowhards that spend their days grumbling on forums about tape decks and Ensure.

Then they shouldn't hold sneak previews at NAB where crotchety old broadcast blowhards go to see the latest tools of their trade. They also shouldn't run ads or issue press releases that feature and/or quote people with illustrious resumes in an effort to get all the youtube and vimeo people to buy their software because the "pros" use it.