FINAL CUT PRO / Not all editing is the same / Apple can't be trusted
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)
Has any high profile editors publicly gone fcpX? I'd assume very few if so.
-----
As someone who has edited since the ripe age of 11, and professionally for HBO since age 15, when there was only film, 2-inch Quad videotape, 1/2-inch reel-to-reel EIAJ video recorders and finally 3/4-inch cassettes (there was no Betamax or VHS in the home yet), I worked my way up to post supervising The Academy Awards (R) and The Primetime Emmy (R) Awards, and ask to please allow me humble input on this subject in my first-ever MacRumors post/reply.
1. Not all editing is the same. When you see things like 'Oscar (R)(TM)-winner 'The Social Network' edited on Apple Final Cut Pro, you may not realize that most motion picture off-line (creative) editing is done as simple CUTS and maybe a few dissolves. The "finishing" happens in the "on-line" edit, with Digital Intermediate or negative cutting. An effects heavy film like Spider-Man will have just the main cuts done while all the effects shots are composited elsewhere and brought-in as completed clips to give the editor, director and producers an idea of what will happen later.
A timeline for a t.v. show or t.v. promo, and in some movie trailers -- with flying motion graphics, interstitials, effects, is a much more complex editing timeline, and that's where Final Cut repeatedly fought you versus Avid flowing with you. A reality show can have 24 or more cameras with 50+ video/audio tracks all sync'd on a timeline -- much more advanced than a movie that has 1 or 2 video tracks with simple cut, cut, cuts.
The move by the respected Bunim/Murray is a major statement; as was Disney/ABC's frustration with trying to upgrade over 2,000 Final Cut editing stations one-by-one because of Apple's repeated missteps.
2. Let's not kid ourselves: While I love Apple, the only reason Final Cut Pro made any imprint in theatrical, broadcast and professional industries was its low entry cost. At a time when Avid was the defacto standard, but its software cost $50,000 and exclusive hardware to connect it all was another $50,000, FCP's software-only entry at $1,000 made a lot of sense. A school could set-up 100 desks for the cost of 1 Avid. That didn't mean FCP was better because they quickly grabbed market share. The Betamax was a far superior home VCR than VHS, but Sony was initially greedy and controlled all Betamaxes - while VHS licensed it to whomever wanted to make one (is there a parallel to Windows and Apple here - the better OS always being in Apple's domain, but Apple's exclusivity led to higher prices, and so the public went cheap with ubiquitous IBM/MS-DOS instead?)
FCP did force Avid to look at their cocky ways and re-invent itself, and lower their prices drastically. FCP's early trade ads were even mis-leading, showing a $75,000 FCP edit suite with a bold headline "Edit for $995." The $995 was only for the software and not all the things in Apple's picture, showing a Miramax feature being edited on a $50,000 Sony HD monitor and about $200,000 worth of needed gear.
With Apple, many high schools and colleges could now afford editing via FCP - which was great. Greedy career editing adult schools would continue to fool naive first-timers by loading laptops with the best John Williams score and Steven Speilberg-shot stock footage, ask students to grab a mouse and put some clips together - then voila, hit the play button and see how "easy" it was to become a well-paid editor. These students were "editing," - they weren't "editors." When giving lectures, I can stand in a room full of 30 students; we can all grab a spray paint can and paint the wall blue. Maybe only 1 in the class is Picasso. Editing has, and always will be an art based on something that isn't "taught" -- human emotion. Avid, FCP, PremierePro, Vegas, Media 100 and the like are tools, but they don't make an artist. I still force editing students to cut film and even edit with two VHS machines or (3) Betacam SP analog decks with a controller, editing linearly, before I sit them down at a non-linear editor.
I really wanted to LOVE FCP. I ended-up investing a lot of time and money for external boxes and forced half my projects to go with FCP; leaving the remaining to Avid. And I appreciated the low cost entry-point for democratizing what used to be a nearly impossible field to enter in due to its restrictive cost (I grew up in the projects and had to force myself into a black-and-white training films post facility to earn my chops at age 11).
We would yell at Avid saying, "remember when you were scoffed at as the new kids on the block in 1995? Remember the lesson in Sony's mistake with the Betamax? Your software came down to $2,495, but you won't open your hardware to third-parties, so that still costs $25,000. This is where FCP has got ya." Avid finally listened, and Avid 5 and the new 6.0 is now open.
3. Apple and Steve Jobs got cocky - they never listened. Having a grandfather who was a WWII hero, who instead of taking a purple heart, asked to re-enlist with his men on the front line, he taught me that I should talk to the people on the front line and consider all options before making any decision as a leader. Apple becoming iGadget lost its way, and said, "You are going to do it our way - we are reinventing editing." Editing didn't need to be re-invented. I can't tell you how many times AVID listened to me when I was a nobody in the industry and actually implemented changes. Final Cut Pro could have been made 100% better by 7 small changes in the way it does things; instead, Apple blew it up and re-invented a wheel when all we wanted was some power-windows, navigation, and better air conditioning. I've showed the small changes of Avid vs. FCP in systems side-by-side.
Apple TOLD the world how the iPhone and iPad would be, and for those consumer products, that was great.
The writing was on the wall with them destroying "SHAKE," ignoring Blu-ray, and not keeping their MacPro Workstations up-to-date. I bought my first Apple PowerBook when it was the first with a 17-inch screen; the first with a WiFi antenna built-in instead of having a USB stick protruding out of it; the first with a DVD burner; the longest battery life and then a cheap Final Cut Pro to edit on location with. That was the best $5,000 investment in hardware I ever made, and even used it on a live Fox Sports national broadcast, impressing my producers and the director. But I still often had to do 5 steps for every 1 I did in Avid. The old Apple Computer would not have waited for Thunderbolt - they would have been the first with USB3 and Blu-ray burners as the mid-step. And people like me would have bought 3 systems for our home edit suites.
I am still holding out for a new MacPro workstation, but am worried that like with FCP-X, Apple will screw it up. I love Apple's OS and it is an example of improvements done right. SHAKE should be #1 and be giving NUKE a run. MacPro's should be setting trends, not following them 2 years behind. Apple should bite the bullet, kill FCP-X and call it iMovie Plus, and make the small changes to FCP-7. The "PRO" has left Apple's soul, and making plans for the next 5-10 years, Apple is proving it can't be trusted.
So are you listening, Apple? Your die-hard fans are holding hope.
www.KitchenTableEditorial.com
Hollywood