Final Cut Pro X Tidbits: Software Add-Ons, Graphics Card Requirements, Supported Cameras

[hvfsl]

Wow, my late 2008 MBP Nvidia graphics card, no love. Seems the early unibody won't play nice either.

My imac 2009, no love, this is pretty depressing, can't even upgrade to this latest software and have it work! What are they thinking, one has to have at most a 2 year old mac of so form to get this application to run?

Where are your getting your info from? My late 2008 MBP is supported (9600m), I assume you mean you have a 13inch with the 9400m. I can't see anywhere where it says the GPU is unsupported and my understanding is if you have enough RAM, it will allocate 256MB to the graphics.

Apple isn't just making random cut offs here, the ATI 2xxx series cards don't have the hardware to support OpenCL. Plus it looks like you need at least 256mb for it to work well enough (although I guess someone could probably hack this limit, will probably be slow though).

Let's get this straight -- if you were actually working on any pro projects right now, you wouldn't be a fool and upgrade to a total overhaul of your primary program on day 1. Period. FCP X previews showed many of these features would be absent from the 1.0 release but on their way in imminent future updates. If you needed any of those features and you updated, again...what were you thinking?

I think the idea is for Apple to start grabbing prosumers now, as well as letting full-time editors screw around on second computers and start to understand the major overhaul.

Exactly, I am glad they released it now (even if it isn't finished yet). Will mean I will be able to mess around with it when I go on holiday this summer.

 

[ddavid]

I'm guessing most of the people spelling disaster aren't long time Mac users.
The response to FCPX is the same as when OSX came out.

People bitched about a lack of features or hardware support and it spelled the doom of Apple. Yet Apple managed the transition pretty darn well then and I suspect they will do the same again. Apple will add new features and bring back old ones and overall improve everything. In a few years time people will remember the time FCPX came out and how everyone went nuts, and they will laugh about it.

In a few years time people will almost remember a time when pros used some NLE by Apple. People get up and work every day and need stuff that works too. If pros have to switch to Adobe while Apple adds features I doubt they'll switch back in "a few years time." If this is crap, hobbled, beta, featureless scrapbooking software then Apple should release it for free for a couple of years while they get it together, or remove the pro and just call it Final Cut beta or perhaps Interim Cut Pro.

 

[mBox]

In a few years time people will almost remember a time when pros used some NLE by Apple. People get up and work every day and need stuff that works too. If pros have to switch to Adobe while Apple adds features I doubt they'll switch back in "a few years time." If this is crap, hobbled, beta, featureless scrapbooking software then Apple should release it for free for a couple of years while they get it together, or remove the pro and just call it Final Cut beta or perhaps Interim Cut Pro.

Aahh I remember trying to do "Pro" edits in Premiere.x then media100. I dont see why everyone has to jump ship if you already own a legit copy of FCS. Heck we have six CS5 Master Collections here and to date PPro sits third in the NLE pecking order (Avid then FCP). Lets all just relax and learn the software. If you dont buy it...****!

 

[Affirmed]

Let's get this straight -- if you were actually working on any pro projects right now, you wouldn't be a fool and upgrade to a total overhaul of your primary program on day 1. Period. FCP X previews showed many of these features would be absent from the 1.0 release but on their way in imminent future updates. If you needed any of those features and you updated, again...what were you thinking?

I think the idea is for Apple to start grabbing prosumers now, as well as letting full-time editors screw around on second computers and start to understand the major overhaul.

I don't know a single editor or post professional that was planning on using this day one. Now I know about 10 who have no plan to ever use it.

The only reason I can even comment on it at all is because we installed FCPX on two systems here to play around with. Copies we didn't have to pay for by the way.

Beyond 64 bit support, there is nothing in this software that we desire in our workflow. I thought calling it iMovie Pro prior to it's release was kind of disingenuous, but now that i've actually had my hands on it, that's exactly what it is. I wouldn't even bother to put it on my personal laptop. FCP 7 is much more intuitive for editing even the quickest little videos.

 

[reel2reel]

Despite my bitching, I gotta say I'm pretty excited about some of the features: the magnetic timeline, the metadata support and the built-in color controls.

It's just such a tease right now.

 

[CIA]

So my experience so far. I downloaded it this morning from my 2007 iMac (2.8 C2D 4GB). I didn't launch it there, but it did let me download it. I think it only has 2600HD graphics inside though.
Screen shared into work and started the download on my MacPro (2008 3.2Ghz, 16GB, 8800GT card).

Got into work (Small TV station) and fired it up (after running software update for the other updates that went with it. I'm the guinea pig for the station to see if this transition will work.

Right now as I type this I'm importing some footage shot in HDV from a Sony Z1U camera. It shows in Final Cut as a Sony HDV device, so I'm guessing all our HDV decks and camera's will work for import. Once I'm done importing I'll start the edit and report back. So far it won't let me launch FCP7 while FCPX is running.


Update... I can get FCP7 to open while capturing in FCPX. But a window pops up on FCPX saying I must quit FCPX to continue using it. Capture (in X) does continue in the background, but I probably won't be able to edit in FCPX until I quit 7. Sure enough when I quit 7, the window in FCPX went away. I could edit in FCP7 while capturing (from tape) in X though.

Update 2... It just dawned on me that I can no longer do batch captures, it'll just take whatever's on the tape. Granted with cheap hard drives that's not a big deal, but that feature is gone. So much for logging footage pre-ingest.

Update 3... Capture complete, but I can't figure out how to tell FCPX to put captured footage in my capture RAID, and not default to my internal HD.

Update 4... A little confusion about the new "Events" feature. It's very iPhoto-esque. I created a new "Event" on my video Storage RAID, and was able to move all the clips into that from my internal movie folder. The "reveal in finder" option shows the clips are now in that location, but only as Alias's.

Update 5..... I have launched (but not edited anything) FCPX on my Core 2 Duo 2007 iMac 2.8 (4GB) with Radeon 2600HD graphics, even though Apple says that machine won't work with FCPX.

 

[Haberdasher]

I don't know a single editor or post professional that was planning on using this day one. Now I know about 10 who have no plan to ever use it.

The only reason I can even comment on it at all is because we installed FCPX on two systems here to play around with. Copies we didn't have to pay for by the way.

Beyond 64 bit support, there is nothing in this software that we desire in our workflow. I thought calling it iMovie Pro prior to it's release was kind of disingenuous, but now that i've actually had my hands on it, that's exactly what it is. I wouldn't even bother to put it on my personal laptop. FCP 7 is much more intuitive for editing even the quickest little videos.

Print out your comments and put them on your wall. Check them in two years. Like all major software overhauls, no one expected everyone to upgrade day one. As bit by bit the software improves and becomes more ready for prime time, eventually it'll trickle up until in a few years lots of FCPers are using it.

And of course the software you live and breathe seems more intuitive than a complete overhaul on day one! Rushing to call it iMovie Pro or whining the crap out of this release makes you look silly and impatient, not smarter than everyone else.

No one is making you buy this, and FCP 7 is quite fine for now. What's your rush?

 

[ddavid]

Why is everyone calling it an upgrade?

 

[johnnyfx]

FCP 7 is widely used because it has deck support, supports EDL's OMF's XML.

The bad:
You can import from iMovie, but not FCP7 (You are prompted to import from iMovie when you first fire it up).

There doesn't appear to be a PDF manual (just a help file)
It appears to do a lot of stuff in the background automatically. I swear I saw the colours on a clip change without me doing anything (there is a background tasks panel that shows what's going on but I didn't keep it open).

There are "presets" in the colour tool like "moonlight" and "sewer". There's also the famed "magic auto color balance" (so I guess that's all you colourists out of a job then).

Most of the icons are different from FCP7, as are the menus. So a bit of a learning curve there.

There is no support for decks. At. All. You can import HDV/DV/etc. but apparently not any grown-up tape formats.

The good:

It seems very fast.

So as I said what is the point, why did they not call it iMovie Pro. Rather than kill a great editing system!

RIP FCP!!!

 

[Affirmed]

Print out your comments and put them on your wall. Check them in two years. Like all major software overhauls, no one expected everyone to upgrade day one. As bit by bit the software improves and becomes more ready for prime time, eventually it'll trickle up until in a few years lots of FCPers are using it.

And of course the software you live and breathe seems more intuitive than a complete overhaul on day one! Rushing to call it iMovie Pro or whining the crap out of this release makes you look silly and impatient, not smarter than everyone else.

No one is making you buy this, and FCP 7 is quite fine for now. What's your rush?

Ha, ok kid. Read my comments from the beginning of the thread. Nobody was planning on using it for actual work today. My comments are based on using the free copies I installed after Apple sent them to me for my editors to try. Normally we get it pre-release, this time we didn't. Typically that happens when Apple knows what they are sending is not all there.

I'm not even so sure why you are defending the product as you seem to agree that it's still mostly at a beta stage.

Ugh, fanboys.

 

[mactree]

I feel like apple needed to be forthcoming about what wasn't going to be there in this initial release. I don't like feeling tricked.

Clearly the only motivation as far as I can see with not fully disclosing the info, is to make sure people buy the product, therefore they are using smoke and mirrors. In all my many years of being an apple supporter, I have never worried about being let down, this is a first. If apple's plan is to eventually have it up to speed as far as features go with fcp7 then that's fantastic, just fill the customer in.

When you call your new product Final Cut Pro, then that's what I'm expecting. Something better than what I have currently as a pro editor.

I've ALWAYS been able to hit the ground running with Apple's past products. Just very surprised here.

 

[Studio96]

Incompatible!

Damn, my MBP 3,1 is on the exception KB article list..

 

[ellsworth]

"Apple has been very specific, that this is not the final state of FCP X. Features are expected to be added quickly, via the App Store, with some of them waiting to show up natively in OS X Lion and with support for Thunderbolt."

Doesn't make sense releasing a software that's not ready for the masses? Pretty silly if you ask me.

 

[portishead]

Ha, ok kid. Read my comments from the beginning of the thread. Nobody was planning on using it for actual work today. My comments are based on using the free copies I installed after Apple sent them to me for my editors to try. Normally we get it pre-release, this time we didn't. Typically that happens when Apple knows what they are sending is not all there.

I'm not even so sure why you are defending the product as you seem to agree that it's still mostly at a beta stage.

Ugh, fanboys.

Free copies from Apple? OMG can I touch you?

 

[portishead]

Final Cut Pro X isn't going to be ready for professional use for another 6 months to a year.

Anyone who thought this was going to replace your NLE right away is foolish.

It's great that the app was re-written, and using AVFoundation, but it's missing quite a bit of professional features that have been discussed a million times.

Nothing really new to be said, but people speaking of FCPX demise already kinda missed the point. FCP7 works fine for me. I have no problem using it for the next year, even two, until FCPX does what I need it to.

One day, FCPX is going to be an insane editing app.

 

[tivoboy]

Where are your getting your info from? My late 2008 MBP is supported (9600m), I assume you mean you have a 13inch with the 9400m. I can't see anywhere where it says the GPU is unsupported and my understanding is if you have enough RAM, it will allocate 256MB to the graphics.

says right here at the bottom of the page

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4664

but as of NOW it shows the 128MB cliff apparently, they must have updated it to include these. Let's check the imac now

 

[Aiwaz418]

A Disaster

The increased speed in some regards (i.e., playback, transcoding, etc.) is amazing, but the complete lack of support for basic features such as the export of XML and EDL files for professional finishing in other software is criminal. The changes to the interface and workflow are frustrating, but can be learned, however...

I've been cutting feature films and television programs for years with FCP, and without the ability to export files for use in third party software for color correction and other finishing, the latest version is utterly useless in a professional environment.

This is simply NOT a professional piece of software at this point in time.

I am vastly disappointed in Apple, and our company may have to look to an alternative software for editorial purposes moving forward.

 

[NY Guitarist]

The increased speed in some regards (i.e., playback, transcoding, etc.) is amazing, but the complete lack of support for basic features such as the export of XML and EDL files for professional finishing in other software is criminal.

+1 It was a real shocker for me, not because of a few missing extra features, but that a professional editor can't use it!

 

[osxhero]

I have to say, based on the 1 star reviews on the App Store, I'm very thankful I waited to read before buying. I absolutely hate iMovie with a passion, and will never pay for a professional product that emulates it in any way.

Least of all "face recognition" that eats up HOURS of useless time for something I have no use for.

 

[menano]

I'm happy to see that my computer supports FCX and that it supports my camera! We'll see about all the complaints..

 

[Imhotep397]

I can see this is gonna suck. (Just the situation in general)

There are a lot of automatic features that are going to make this thing beastly if they work as advertised, but the lack support for systems that are more than two years old (like 3 years old is the cutoff), plus the lack of support for fairly late model iMacs (which Apple has promoted as professional tools for years.) Also, the lack of basic 3-point editing in favor of this timeline only editing crap which was tried with about the first 3 or 4 versions of Premiere, which has never been accepted as a real pro tool is ridiculous.

Automatic color timing /SWEET!/
Automatic image stabilization /SWEET!/
Automatic scene sorting /SWEET!/
Automatic indestructible sound sync /SWEET!/
Automatic robust networkable media management /SWEET!/

These are all critical things, but so is 3-point editing and that's the heart of every editing station and the first thing every editor expects to see.

 

[noshjewman]

4870 doesn't work in the 1,1 if I understand correctly?

I haven't read through the whole thread, so maybe this has been answered elsewhere, but I can confirm that the 4870 works in a Mac Pro 1,1.

I'm downloading FCP X now - hope it won't disappoint as much as some feel! I've been waiting since FCP 5 to upgrade the home office.

 

[fat phil]

What a surprise, Apple wants everyone to buy new computers.

Thankfully I learned my lesson when the Genius Bar refused to send me a replacement for the X1900 in my 2006 Mac Pro - insisting I had to bring the whole machine in so they could replace the card themselves (because, you know, it's a terribly tricky thing to do).

Like hell am I dragging £4k worth of kit into a shopping mall 20 miles away for them to fix a card that they denied was faulty for nearly 4 years.

I've always been a staunch Mac Pro advocate. I'm now a 100% Hackintosh advocate. And I don't have to worry about what video cards my expensive hardware is compatible with.

I don't run Hackintosh so I can put OS X on a cheaper computer. I do it because I get to put it on a computer I trust. The hell with proprietary desktops, and I can run FCP X on my "Mac" today.

 

[toastboy]

 

[bugfaceuk]

In a few years time people will almost remember a time when pros used some NLE by Apple. People get up and work every day and need stuff that works too. If pros have to switch to Adobe while Apple adds features I doubt they'll switch back in "a few years time." If this is crap, hobbled, beta, featureless scrapbooking software then Apple should release it for free for a couple of years while they get it together, or remove the pro and just call it Final Cut beta or perhaps Interim Cut Pro.

This is such nonsense, as are most of the tantrums I am seeing in here. Firstly, Apple's made it quite clear we are on a journey. There's a bigger picture here and we've been explicitly told that.

Regardless. I find it laughable that self-styled "Professionals" are complaining they can't switch their work flow on day 1 release of an application that's core to their revenue stream. No professional would do that, even if feature X that they wanted was in there. You transition a work-flow, you take the opportunities to tune and refine it. Apple didn't uninstall older versions from your machine.

If you want to switch to Adobe because you are a long term malcontent, then switch. Do so professionally without throwing a hissy fit in a public forum. Perhaps write a blog about the experience afterwards to explain to others how you did it so they might learn from it and make the transition themselves if they want to.

I'm comfortable with this as an R1 application, the promise oozes out of every pore. I won't be using it for some time to come, but I knew that yesterday, and the day before, and the week before, and the months before. So did you. However, despite not being able to use it on production projects I can see what doors this application opens, and I look forward to stepping through them as the right projects come up and the software develops.

Let's be clear, if you are posting here as a professional who is disappointed you can't switch today, or even this year... you're not a professional.