This is amusing, but how is this topical? Does Conan's audience really have knowledge of FC?
Wow I agreed with LTD...at exactly the same time no less
Wow I agreed with LTD...at exactly the same time no less
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Conan O'Brien Mocks Final Cut Pro X
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I don't use Final Cut Pro, but if removing features makes it simpler, I'm all for it.
One of the things I hate about computers and software is how complex all the different options are.
Heck, just the Outlook Express options windows are overwhelming.
I'm waiting for the day there's just an on/off switch and that's it. No need to set any options...I can adapt to default settings...and keep my sanity.
One of the things I hate about computers and software is how complex all the different options are.
Heck, just the Outlook Express options windows are overwhelming.
I'm waiting for the day there's just an on/off switch and that's it. No need to set any options...I can adapt to default settings...and keep my sanity.
Apple continued developing OS 9 until the end of 2001, past the release of 10.1.
It wasn't until WWDC 2002 right before the release of 10.2 that Apple declared OS 9 'dead'.
This is hilarious. I love Conan.
Apple knows that if they make Final Cut cheaper and easier to use, they'll sell more of it. You know how popular this thing is going to be among YouTube partners who vlog and make internet vids for a living? As for the rest of us, we can stick to FCP7 or switch to AVID.
Apple knows that if they make Final Cut cheaper and easier to use, they'll sell more of it. You know how popular this thing is going to be among YouTube partners who vlog and make internet vids for a living? As for the rest of us, we can stick to FCP7 or switch to AVID.
I have the distinct impression that AVID is "the thing" for the true professionals in TV and movie, but I might be wrong...
Apple has said farewell to the pro industry
Why they came out to NAB in April to demo this to industry professionals, I can't imagine. They pretended that FCPX was going to be an upgrade to the existing software used by professional film and video professionals. They either have a group of completely incompetent people overseeing the pro apps division or they are simply lying about what they're up to. This release is an iMovie upgrade, not FCP. Pulling FCS 3 at the same time further signals that they are pulling out of the high end pro market. No one will be using this to cut features or major broadcast programs anymore. How could you? All the features they built into FCP to lure users away from Avid with a viable post workflow and tools are gone. Plus, Apple has come off in all this as an untrustworthy partner to the production industry. That will be a major turn off to anyone buying pro hardware from Apple too. Look at all the pro hardware they've abandoned in the past year. Seriously, who is going to be buying Mac Pros now? Gamers? It's a risky premise looking at the way Apple just dropped this bomb. Bottom line, I would be sad if they came out and said "we've decided to move away from our pro software development." But they came out and claimed to be upgrading the pro software people love and depend on and it was total BS. Incredibly deceitful.
Why they came out to NAB in April to demo this to industry professionals, I can't imagine. They pretended that FCPX was going to be an upgrade to the existing software used by professional film and video professionals. They either have a group of completely incompetent people overseeing the pro apps division or they are simply lying about what they're up to. This release is an iMovie upgrade, not FCP. Pulling FCS 3 at the same time further signals that they are pulling out of the high end pro market. No one will be using this to cut features or major broadcast programs anymore. How could you? All the features they built into FCP to lure users away from Avid with a viable post workflow and tools are gone. Plus, Apple has come off in all this as an untrustworthy partner to the production industry. That will be a major turn off to anyone buying pro hardware from Apple too. Look at all the pro hardware they've abandoned in the past year. Seriously, who is going to be buying Mac Pros now? Gamers? It's a risky premise looking at the way Apple just dropped this bomb. Bottom line, I would be sad if they came out and said "we've decided to move away from our pro software development." But they came out and claimed to be upgrading the pro software people love and depend on and it was total BS. Incredibly deceitful.
Apple has lost footing in the film/tv industry with this release
I read through all of the postings here and while some good comments were made, there were too many comments made by people who clearly do not understand the impact this software has on the film/tv industry. Or rather...lack of impact. I have been using FCP since 2001, but since becoming a working professional in the film/tv industry, I have only been using Avid. I still use Final Cut for web based side projects...but not for professional use and FCPX won't make it easier...
For starters, Apple's Final Cut Pro has NEVER been a standard tool in the film/tv industry. It has been an OPTION, but the standard has and always will be Avid. Final Cut Pro has mostly been used for reality television, independent films, student films, industrials, and any other project on a shoe string budget. There are some tv shows and even films that have been cut on Final Cut Pro, but that might make up 1% of the productions that are made every year. That might be an exaggeration because I don't know for sure, but what I am saying is that Apple does a fantastic job with marketing a film that has been edited on FCP and there is such a large consumer base with Apple from the very beginner to the professional that everyone thinks that FCP is the only software used. When in actuality Avid is still the most used software used to date and is still the chosen tool for the editors in the film and tv industry. American Cinema Editors has also made it very clear that they are behind Avid and not Apple when it comes to their choice of editing software.
There were posts by people saying that the features that were taken out aren't a problem and that editors have to adapt and not be scared or something along those lines. There were posts about how this is great for the iMovie user because it offers so much more than iMovie. And that is the big issue with this release. It is completely geared toward the CONSUMER. People who are behind this release and say it is better than FCP7 have no clear understanding of a professional workflow when it comes to editing and communicating with vendors (and I'm not sure if the people who designed this software truly understand what the film editor needs).
For Apple to call this a PRO application is a direct slap in the face to everyone who truly is a professional. I don't care that updates will be made or third party software will be coming. There are basic features that SHOULD have been in this release to be able to call this a PRO application. The big features missing are:
Creating EDLs and OMFs: If you are asking yourself...well who cares? What is that anyway? Why did they need to keep that? Then you aren't a professional and really need to start understanding more. EDLs and OMFs are the only way to communicate with other vendors. In the film industry, the workflows NEED these basic features. EDLs are used to be sent to color correction facilities and DI facilities so they can rebuild the edit on their end and start manipulating the film. EDLs are also generated to hand over to the Sound houses so they can rebuild the sequences to start doing their sound magic. OMFs are used to essentially consolidate the audio into a ProTools file to be sent to the sound guys with the EDLs to help in rebuilding the sequence.
This is a very basic explanation, but by eliminating these features from FCPX, it has rendered the program USELESS in the professional world. 100% USELESS.
No multicam support: This is just plain idiotic. I am not a fan of reality television and while I know editors on those programs work their tail off and I have great respect for them, I have very little respect for the idea of reality tv. However, as stated earlier, FCP is primarily used in the reality tv world and FCPX just rendered itself USELESS for that world. Reality TV is, at the very least, shot with two cameras (sometimes as many as 4-6) and now Apple has taken multicam right out of the equation. I have worked on numerous well known film and tv shows and all were shot with two or three cameras. Multicam is the way of the world. Some shoots will do single camera, but more often than not, two cameras will be used. To remove this feature with the release of a PRO software was a huge mistake. Again, it doesn't matter that an update will eventually come. The fact of the matter is that Apple is selling this material as a PRO level software to compete with Avid and it can't even do the basic functions of what a professional needs to work.
What is also sad is that I don't even think Final Cut Pro 7 handled EDLs, OMFs, or Multicam very well in the first place. So now they have come out with a "brand new way of editing" and will most likely make things worse than they already were.
Lack of Log and Capture: Ok, this was just ridiculous. Sure, tapeless workflow is the wave of the future, but why would something like log and capture be taken out? Tapeless workflow is not fully implemented in the feature/tv world yet. Sure, the film might be shot tapeless, but the film I just worked on that shot on the Alexa had SR backups made on set. And we had to grab footage from those SR tapes because the Alexa had digital hits and artifacting that didn't transfer over to the tape. So the tape was clean and good to go.
I also work on a tv show (cut on Avid) that does everything in house. When we get our dailies (which is a multicam 3 camera shoot) we load in our tapes at the cutting room and start editing. Then when we are ready to turnover to the facility for color correction, we online the sequences ourselves. We do this because the budget for the show can't afford to use a telecine facility to do the digitizing and syncing.
Apple has now made that type of workflow impossible with FCPX and is essentially forcing a production to spend more money because Apple didn't want to implement a simple feature of log and capturing. Now in order to work with FCPX...you must shoot tapeless otherwise you could run into some very expensive costs to transfer your media to FCP format.
These are just a few of the features I felt were completely necessary to have in the release of a PROFESSIONAL software. Apple has failed their professional users. Maybe with updates they will be smart enough to implement some of what is missing, but I'm not sure how many editors will be quick to jump back on board. Not to mention learning a whole new system. Why fix something that isn't broken? Avid won't be changing their interface any time soon. All they are are tools anyway. Just because you can make a couple edits here and there doesn't make you a film or video editor. Can you tell a story without losing your audience? Can you keep your audience engaged? Can you help make sure the audience doesn't get ahead of the story? Those are just some of the things that makes an editor...not the software.
I'm a huge fan of Apple, but they are definitely losing sight of where they started and are in fact catering more toward the consumer. Obviously there is nothing wrong with that. They are still a company that wants to turn a profit. But please don't say something is geared toward the professional when in reality...this software is anything but that.
I read through all of the postings here and while some good comments were made, there were too many comments made by people who clearly do not understand the impact this software has on the film/tv industry. Or rather...lack of impact. I have been using FCP since 2001, but since becoming a working professional in the film/tv industry, I have only been using Avid. I still use Final Cut for web based side projects...but not for professional use and FCPX won't make it easier...
For starters, Apple's Final Cut Pro has NEVER been a standard tool in the film/tv industry. It has been an OPTION, but the standard has and always will be Avid. Final Cut Pro has mostly been used for reality television, independent films, student films, industrials, and any other project on a shoe string budget. There are some tv shows and even films that have been cut on Final Cut Pro, but that might make up 1% of the productions that are made every year. That might be an exaggeration because I don't know for sure, but what I am saying is that Apple does a fantastic job with marketing a film that has been edited on FCP and there is such a large consumer base with Apple from the very beginner to the professional that everyone thinks that FCP is the only software used. When in actuality Avid is still the most used software used to date and is still the chosen tool for the editors in the film and tv industry. American Cinema Editors has also made it very clear that they are behind Avid and not Apple when it comes to their choice of editing software.
There were posts by people saying that the features that were taken out aren't a problem and that editors have to adapt and not be scared or something along those lines. There were posts about how this is great for the iMovie user because it offers so much more than iMovie. And that is the big issue with this release. It is completely geared toward the CONSUMER. People who are behind this release and say it is better than FCP7 have no clear understanding of a professional workflow when it comes to editing and communicating with vendors (and I'm not sure if the people who designed this software truly understand what the film editor needs).
For Apple to call this a PRO application is a direct slap in the face to everyone who truly is a professional. I don't care that updates will be made or third party software will be coming. There are basic features that SHOULD have been in this release to be able to call this a PRO application. The big features missing are:
Creating EDLs and OMFs: If you are asking yourself...well who cares? What is that anyway? Why did they need to keep that? Then you aren't a professional and really need to start understanding more. EDLs and OMFs are the only way to communicate with other vendors. In the film industry, the workflows NEED these basic features. EDLs are used to be sent to color correction facilities and DI facilities so they can rebuild the edit on their end and start manipulating the film. EDLs are also generated to hand over to the Sound houses so they can rebuild the sequences to start doing their sound magic. OMFs are used to essentially consolidate the audio into a ProTools file to be sent to the sound guys with the EDLs to help in rebuilding the sequence.
This is a very basic explanation, but by eliminating these features from FCPX, it has rendered the program USELESS in the professional world. 100% USELESS.
No multicam support: This is just plain idiotic. I am not a fan of reality television and while I know editors on those programs work their tail off and I have great respect for them, I have very little respect for the idea of reality tv. However, as stated earlier, FCP is primarily used in the reality tv world and FCPX just rendered itself USELESS for that world. Reality TV is, at the very least, shot with two cameras (sometimes as many as 4-6) and now Apple has taken multicam right out of the equation. I have worked on numerous well known film and tv shows and all were shot with two or three cameras. Multicam is the way of the world. Some shoots will do single camera, but more often than not, two cameras will be used. To remove this feature with the release of a PRO software was a huge mistake. Again, it doesn't matter that an update will eventually come. The fact of the matter is that Apple is selling this material as a PRO level software to compete with Avid and it can't even do the basic functions of what a professional needs to work.
What is also sad is that I don't even think Final Cut Pro 7 handled EDLs, OMFs, or Multicam very well in the first place. So now they have come out with a "brand new way of editing" and will most likely make things worse than they already were.
Lack of Log and Capture: Ok, this was just ridiculous. Sure, tapeless workflow is the wave of the future, but why would something like log and capture be taken out? Tapeless workflow is not fully implemented in the feature/tv world yet. Sure, the film might be shot tapeless, but the film I just worked on that shot on the Alexa had SR backups made on set. And we had to grab footage from those SR tapes because the Alexa had digital hits and artifacting that didn't transfer over to the tape. So the tape was clean and good to go.
I also work on a tv show (cut on Avid) that does everything in house. When we get our dailies (which is a multicam 3 camera shoot) we load in our tapes at the cutting room and start editing. Then when we are ready to turnover to the facility for color correction, we online the sequences ourselves. We do this because the budget for the show can't afford to use a telecine facility to do the digitizing and syncing.
Apple has now made that type of workflow impossible with FCPX and is essentially forcing a production to spend more money because Apple didn't want to implement a simple feature of log and capturing. Now in order to work with FCPX...you must shoot tapeless otherwise you could run into some very expensive costs to transfer your media to FCP format.
These are just a few of the features I felt were completely necessary to have in the release of a PROFESSIONAL software. Apple has failed their professional users. Maybe with updates they will be smart enough to implement some of what is missing, but I'm not sure how many editors will be quick to jump back on board. Not to mention learning a whole new system. Why fix something that isn't broken? Avid won't be changing their interface any time soon. All they are are tools anyway. Just because you can make a couple edits here and there doesn't make you a film or video editor. Can you tell a story without losing your audience? Can you keep your audience engaged? Can you help make sure the audience doesn't get ahead of the story? Those are just some of the things that makes an editor...not the software.
I'm a huge fan of Apple, but they are definitely losing sight of where they started and are in fact catering more toward the consumer. Obviously there is nothing wrong with that. They are still a company that wants to turn a profit. But please don't say something is geared toward the professional when in reality...this software is anything but that.
Interesting how more and more average users who are part of the Apple ecosystem can now do work and enjoy projects that approach "Pro" levels. It's never been easier.
Amazing, isn't it? The way Apple empowers Joe Average, and those who have traditionally been intimated by computers and complex Pro software you had to "learn."
It's a very profitable direction.
Yes, that's just what the art world needs. Something that makes cranking out digital fluff by the gigabyte even easier...
It certainly used to be, but Final Cut has become increasingly popular in the industry, especially among younger editors like myself. You'd be surprised at some of the big name projects that were done on FCP.
There do seem to be some features missing which should be added but people complaining about the overall UI and workflow are not pros, they are "hacks". Anyone who blames the tools for not being able to do their job is a hack.
If you don't think FCP X is ready to use then simply don't upgrade until it is ready.
If you don't think FCP X is ready to use then simply don't upgrade until it is ready.
That is a huge exaggeration. AVID lost a lot of market share, and many shops moved over to FCP. Avid has always been a standard, and for editors hoping to make a living they had better know how to use it. But FCP isn't just used for one or two TV shows, it is used a lot. As far as features go, True Grit was hardly a low budget affair! I also know of many people editing high end stuff for the likes of Discovery and Nat Geo who use FCP extensively. In fact the reason why so much fuss has been kicked up over FCPX is precisely because those guys who use FCP to edit broadcast TV with it have made their opinions on the new software known.
Most of the most prominent shouting isn't coming from low end one man bands. But from broadcast vets who have built entire businesses around FCP.
Avid have made improvements to their software, but it is still nonsensical in many respects. Premiere Pro is also vastly improved over previous incarnations, but it is made by Adobe, and they don't get my money. That leaves me with one option to keep my eye on. Lightworks.
I HOPE that it's a similar thing. I have to give Apple credit for upending so many commonly held UI concepts, and adding so many cool features (magnetic timeline, range-based tagging, compound clips, etc.).
IMO those are the real meat of the app. I'm not making excuses. But it seems like most the real hard, creative, thinking has been taken care of. The rest is codec support, format support, etc. that can be patched up relatively easily - as in over the next few months to 1 year. The organizing, editing, and rendering mechanics all received once-in-a-decade updates though, which are amazing (if overdue).
I can see the parallels to the OS X transition. Some amazing features, re-thought UI, much slicker. But also some glaring omissions that will need to be addressed. Again, not making excuses - but these sorts of things take a long time to get sorted out. People will be using Final Cut X for 5, 10 years. It is not like an iOS upgrade or the latest iLife, which will be replaced with something cooler in 2 years.
I highly suspect that Apple's video team is scouring over every FCP review and feverishly taking notes. In 6-12 months, FCP's "Current Version" ratings will be 4.5 stars. I don't say this out of blind faith, but because FCP's foundation is strong and because Apple really wants FCP to be a success.
This was goal #1. And rightfully so. The Apple philosophy is that tech is an extension of your life - the life you already have - and should integrate into it as easily as anything else.
The "Pro" segment will necessarily come second, though it will not be excluded. But have you noticed with the tools that are readily available to the average user these days that the line between average consumer and pro is becoming less distinct? I certainly have. It's happening.
At some point down the line (not that long, it would seem) today's Pro will just be tomorrow's average user. Cut down the learning curves and soon grandma can edit too.
FWIW, Final Cut apparently has a larger cut of the video editing market than Adobe plus Avid combined. And its used for major TV shows and motion pictures:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/technology/personaltech/23pogue.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Apple could (and still can) do two things to make this just fine:
1. Keep the old version around to allow a REAL transition.
2. Keep evolving the new version until it matches the old features while still having the new benefits.
#2 is obviously happening. #1 isnt, and thats a blunder! Even if Apple reverses that situation (not unlikely) its still a failure to communicate clearly with their pros and handle the situation in a way that keeps peoples confidence.
Luckily, the old FC that everyones using hasnt stopped working
So pros who rely on it can craft their OWN transition timeline. No need to jump on X now.