I'll tell you what the biggest problem is with FCPX; the
users. Had FCPX been all they'd ever known or used, it would be the best thing since sliced bread, and they "wouldn't be able to work without it". The same FUD was spread around when iMovie '08 was first released - people moaned and whined like no tomorrow, for the simple reason that
they weren't used to that way of working, but do you ever hear iMovie complaints en masse, now? Nope.
We all get comfortable in our surroundings - a bit like settling into a home after a number of years. We may be offered one 10 times the size, with all the modern conveniences and time saving gizmos,
but we like
our home, because we have settled into it, regardless of the cold logic and efficiency that may prevail by moving to the bigger, newer house.
People are the biggest obstacle - they stubbornly
refuse to accept change, no matter whether bad or good, and that is a part of human nature. We often cannot see past the end of our noses, no matter how "modern" and "cutting edge" we feel we are.
An example of this is the fact that we fool ourselves into thinking we're all ultra high-tech and modern, with our amazing interfaces, touchscreen iPhones, i7 iMacs and jQuery web UIs... but then when you consider what powers all this technology, it is a
massive crash back down to earth - we're still burning coal which is dug out of the ground using hard, back-breaking labour. COAL - dirty, smelly, inefficient... but because we cannot see the source of our power, we ignore the problem. As far as we're concerned, we plug in the MacBook, and it comes on. Period.
My point is that there is always a better and more efficient way of doing something, but no matter how much better FCPX may be than previous versions, there will
always be an uproar when something new is released, because people are scared, and partially (or wholly, it seems) unwilling to accept that tape & DVD are dying formats, and because Apple have seen far beyond that horizon of their inevitable death, and made something better suited to eliminate clunky, old fashioned formats, they don't like it, because they feel alienated and threatened.
It is indeed revision 1.0 of FCPX, but could be seen as revision *4* of iMovie, in a way - it's not as if Apple haven't had four years of experience and feedback, upon which to judge the failure or success of this new interface and workflow methodology. The things that are missing will gradually come to be patched in again through updates, but it is by no means a "bad" product at all, we're just stuck in our ways, and refuse to give things a chance. The avalanche of complaints and bad reviews is the sum total of just a few
days of use - that's hardly a reasonable amount of time to get to know the software
in depth, discovering all its' little quirks and hidden gems, deep in the UI & workflow.
See beyond the surface, and "think different" to the way in which you are used to thinking - is this not what Mac users always used to proclaim? Try something new, give it six months
of daily use, and
then you'll be suitably qualified to moan and deride it, if it still doesn't achieve the same product at the end, albeit with less pain and inefficiency.
Humans are creatures of habit; therein lies probably the biggest barrier to using FCPX. If you've used iMovie, you're already used to the slicker, newer and more intuitive way of working. It takes getting used to, but is that not worth some investment? I think so, and I think we should stick with it, because Apple rarely fail with a product - why should this be an exception to that rule?
Is the truth of the matter that we feel threatened? The skills and long-winded techniques that we have grown to use over many years, are now consolidated into a couple of mouse clicks - something simple, that even the novice can achieve? Is it that this incredible software has the potential to turn many, MANY more of those who were put off older versions of FCP due to the scaryness and complex interface, into people who can
finally realise their creative visions, and turn that into something visible? Do you feel undermined, and less "professional" because the unemployed girl in the flat next door, living on £65 a week, now has the potential and the toolset to produce something that, in time, could rival your work, albeit with less investment in those "skills" you had to sweat over for weeks, because Apple have purged the clunky UI and inefficiency out of the product, so that it makes more sense? It may not make more sense if
you are used to doing things the silly, long-winded way, but the end product will look the same, so why not?
Walk into using FCPX with a fresh perspective, and forget that you've convinced yourself it is a bad product, and ignore all others around you who slate it, and then you'll almost certainly grow to love it.
PS: I'm a software engineer, and also a Premiere Pro editor (lesser, but learning), After effects creative, and general Mac/Linux/Windows geek. I don't tell myself I am professional, but everyone else does, and I still cannot work out why. Maybe it's because I don't strut about
proclaiming to be professional and know more than everyone else, or telling others that their way is "wrong", even if I may think it to myself. I have zero qualifications in software science, editing or anything computer based, but people from all over seem to think I am brilliant, and tell me often :$ and even my friend who owns a computer shop calls me up for advice on a regular basis - how's that for flattery!
My point? You're as skilled as you are - no matter what you tell yourself or others. Words on a certificate don't make you any better than anyone else, and years of skills and shortcuts you may have learned, that have now been replaced by drag 'n' drop, don't make you
any "better", just because the way you learned to do that, was 10x as hard as it is now in just two mouse clicks. Software is starting to reach a stage where the masses can edit, focusing on the creative process, and not the six month learning curve of importing differing file formats & framerates, or the locking of tracks so as not to punch them out of sync through not knowing any better, and then struggling for 3 days trying to fix the mess.
We all have potential, and Apple help us realise it, so give FCPX the chance *we all* deserve.
