With the launch of Final Cut Pro X last week, the editing world was also launched into upheaval. Some love it, some hate it, some are just waiting for the dust to settle.
I’m still on FCP 7 myself. But I’ve been trying to educate myself about the new version, which I will likely be upgrading to before September, by reading as much as I can on the subject. I’ve found some great information out there, so I thought I’d do a roundup blog post to pass it along.
So first of all, there’s been a lot of backlash from “professional” editors (whatever that term means in their eyes) to say that FCP X doesn’t do what they need it to do. My favorite quote on the subject is
Here’s the thing: In a time when minor aesthetic updates to Facebook’s home page are greeted with petitions that attract thousands of users, is it any surprise that a radically different Final Cut Pro would be met with resistance?
That ’bout hits the nail square on the head.
When the product first launched, Larry Jordan (who had pre-release time with FCP X) posted a great blog post with some pros and cons of the product. He compared FCP X with FCP 7 and even recommended when we should upgrade. In his opinion, anybody who doesn’t jump ship will be on FCP X and lovin’ it in eighteen months, tops. Later, he recommended that we wait at least a month for the dust to settle before we jump overboard.
David Pogue did an excellent roundup of various complaints about missing features, explaining that some features were not missing but merely moved. Better still, he managed to get official statements from Apple about the features that really were gone. (Philip Hodgetts did a similar post which is also very worth the read.)
Meanwhile, a petition appeared, demanding that Apple bring back FCP 7. However, Philip Hodgetts quickly responded with a post denouncing the petition. Apparently, his name is on it without his permission. He gave details about better ways to tell Apple your complaints.
A hilarious Mac vs. PC ad spoof showed up, with FCP 7 and FCP X going at it hammer and tongs.
While we’re on YouTube, Alex Lindsay, Mark Spencer, and Steve Martin did a roundtable discussion of FCP X, demoing pieces of it, answering questions, and generally being helpful for two whole hours. Not to mention the sweet studio tour at the end.
Tao of Color Grading discussed where we’ll be without Color, reviewed the new Color Board, and gave some nice color grading tips into the bargain. They also impressed me enough that I subscribed to their e-mail list.
The dust settled a little bit when Apple posted its own response in the form of a handy FAQ page and a new page highlighting the professional-grade features in FCP X. (One of the big accusations is that Apple deliberately alienated the professional market segment.) Best out of that FAQ is that Apple mentions several key FCP 7 features that are on the way in future updates. Apple even went as far as to say that we’ll see an update this summer.
To round this blog post out, here are some training links that I have enjoyed… First is Steve Martin’s Final Cut Pro X training, running five hours and available for $40. But he has some nice free samples, so check those out. And Izzy Video has a completely free 2.5+ hour training series as well.
All in all, I’m excited about Final Cut Pro X. I can’t wait to get my hands on it, though I don’t know if I will be editing any “real” projects on it anytime soon. But this looks like the future of editing, and the future is bright. Very bright. In fact, I’m getting out my sunglasses. 8)