Is FCP still a good choice?

[cosmichobo]

G'day,

In 2006/7 I studied film/tv at university, using Final Cut Pro 5/6. I ended up buying FCP 7 for making my YouTube videos (and hoping to maybe one day more than just amateur fun, but that never happened).

I haven't done any editing for about 6 years, and I know there's a lot of new options out there.

When FCPX arrived, I hated it. Whereas FCP5 had felt intuitive to me, X just did not gel.

I have been feeling like trying some editing again, but FCP7 wont run on my Mac Mini (I believe it was only supported as high as Sierra).

So - what would be a good option for me?

iMovie is NOT an option. I just tried using it again (version 10ish) and after using FCP - it's like trying to paint with all my fingers cut off and my eyes gouged out. I need something that gives you control...

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers

cosmic

 

[PaulD-UK]

Your best alternative to FCP is Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve.

As a long time user of OG FCP2-7 I too have a problem with FCP (X).
FCP (X) has a minimalistic interface requires that you learn every single one of the 537 (ish) commands to achieve the edit you want.
You do not dare to use the 'Undo' command unless you have also memorised which of the whole 537 list works with Undo, and more importantly, which don't. Because if you use Undo for an unsupported command, the the most recent supported command is invisibly undone, without your knowing.... aargh!

You don't say what Mac you wish to use, as Resolve is a resource intensive program, so works better on a higher spec Mac. But as it is free to use it is easy to try. It was originally developed on the inheritance of FCP 7 so has a much more user-friendly interface if you know how to use old style pro edit software.

There is a paid-for upgrade, Resolve Studio, which unlocks higher end features.

 

[cosmichobo]

Thanks for the response.

I am currently running a Mac mini 2012 i7 16GB 480GB SSD with a USB3 hard drive tower for additional storage and 2 x 23" ACDs.

I imagine that could be a bit limiting - also only running Mojave.

I spent about 2 hours in my old copy of FCPX yesterday, just cutting a video to fit the specs for YouTube shorts. So - rotated 90°, etc etc. Just working that out seemed incredibly difficult as nothing is signposted. I was glad that some of the basics were still the same, but I remembered instantly the issues with transitions between clips...

I'll check out Black Magic. Thanks for the suggestion. Well - hopefully it will run :}

 

[PaulD-UK]

No. I don’t think it has ever run on integrated GPUs in Intel CPUs.

 

[cosmichobo]

Ah.

I'm not in a rush to go backwards to my 2010 MacPro5.1... Not sure if that would be an answer anyways. It only has the stock graphics card.