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Off The Tracks review
An interesting critique:
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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29 Replies
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(Chuckle)
A “review” of a creative work that says almost nothing about the actual creative work it purports to review?
Interesting approach.
And perfect in its own way.
What Off the Tracks does more than anything else is point out that the FCP X kerfluffle was never actually about the program itself very much at all – but about how the programs existance made different editors “feel.”
Ignored, slighted, empowered, confused, joyful, angry — it was a Rorschach test about the editor, him or herself, mostly.
The X launch confused everyone.
Some editors were moved from confusion to anger or disgust.
Others were moved from confusion to fascination and delight.
Powerful stuff.
And so it goes.
Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery. -
[Bill Davis] “What Off the Tracks does more than anything else is point out that the FCP X kerfluffle was never actually about the program itself very much at all – but about how the programs existance made different editors “feel.”
“You’re right it wasn’t about the program, it was about Apple suddenly EOLing a piece of of software used by millions with no path to upgrade projects. Which made Editors “feel” angry 🙂
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I watched out of curiosity and because I thought/ think its completely insane that someone went and spent their’s and other people’s money on something to merely validate their NLE choice.
Any info here is widely covered in the last 7 years on pick your internet forum with nothing but blank optimism and here-say to look forward to.
Hard to call it a “Documentary” per se but more like a network clip show IMO. Too much bias.
Decently made, but really not sure who this is for? More preaching to the choir and circle jerking for the people that are already adept at doing that?
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[Steve Connor] “it was about Apple suddenly EOLing a piece of of software used by millions with no path to upgrade projects”
Not sure it was millions PLURAL. I don’t think Apple hit 2 million until FCX came out.
BUT, that, IMHO, is a fair assessment. They did change the software to meet the needs of a majority of it’s users….and I will hazard that most of the users of FCP-X aren’t professional editors, but hobbyists, or even those who are content creators for things that do make money, but they themselves aren’t only editors, but have multiple hats. One thing I did get from the forums are the sheer number of people who didn’t need all of the professional features that FCP pretty much required in order to work…transcoding to an editing codec, external monitoring for example. They just wanted/needed drag and drop editing and to do a few simple things…but also have great graphics for lower thirds (inclusion of Motion templates). So all of this “you need to transcode” and “do your clip settings match your sequence settings” and “are you using drop frame timecode” was too much for them.
Yes, a LOT of professional editors use FCP-X…I’m not saying that. I still hazard that most of the users (without any stats to back this up…it’s opinion)…aren’t professional editors, but do produce a lot of content (a lot that might be paid). FCX happens to fit the needs not only for those who aren’t professionals, and just want to get a quick video out there…but it also does serve the needs of many professional fields as well. THus why now it’s in the millions of users (plural) range. Something I can say that Avid is not. Avid no doubt doesn’t exceed 500K users…if even that.
Not that number of users is a measure of success. Just saying.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
I don’t know where the idea that a documentary must give balance to dissenting voices came from. I guess a lot of docos use this as part of the boring ‘must have conflict’ mantra that many commissioning editors at broadcasters insist is a core thing in a doco. Frankly I am so over this one trick story arc that I don’t consider a critique claiming a lack of dissent is a deal breaker.
When it comes to an actual story though, I remain to be convinced that this is a great yarn. I haven’t seen the doco but I’m prepared to give it an honest look. Some of the most interesting docos I have worked on are niche and not necessarily in areas I am already interested in. But a good story well told is always worth a look.
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[Bill Davis] “Ignored, slighted, empowered, confused, joyful, angry — it was a Rorschach test about the editor, him or herself, mostly.
The X launch confused everyone. “I think the release of FCPX was just a culmination of what was perceived by many in the professional video community as the last move in Apple’s extraction from engagement with the professional industry. That tainted the application beyond the qualities of the software itself. Had there still been an Apple Color, Shake, Final Cut Server, Xserve or Xserve RAID, among others, the perception might have been different. FCPX might have been judged a bit more on its merits. But as it turned out, FCPX was the icing on the cake for many in a community that thought Apple had an emotional connection to them (which no corporation really does).
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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Well, with the benefit of 7 years of hindsight, those who analyzed it as “Apple no longer cares about pros” were being pretty stunningly short-sighted.
Roles wasn’t exactly designed for home movie shooters.
Few Weekend Warriors need ruthlessly optimized code that runs fast and stable, just to create their vacation videos.
And all that Rec2020 and ProRes RAW plumbing seems like s bit of a stretch for editors seeking improvement on their next cat video.
“Giving up on pros” started out as a canard – and remains one.
And so it goes.
Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery. -
[Bill Davis] “Few Weekend Warriors need ruthlessly optimized code that runs fast and stable, just to create their vacation videos.
And all that Rec2020 and ProRes RAW plumbing seems like s bit of a stretch for editors seeking improvement on their next cat video. “Clearly you don’t interact much with successful YouTube/Instagram “influencers”.
And performance helps sell hardware, which is Apple’s main interest.– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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[Bill Davis] ““Giving up on pros” started out as a canard – and remains one.”
It seems you misread the post. My point was that it was that perception by many that drove the reaction. The “jilted lovers” that used FCP7 ☺ After all, it was people who liked or used FCP 1-7 who were mad. Especially facility owners. People in the Avid or Adobe fold really had very little problem with what Apple was doing, because it wasn’t their tool of choice anyway.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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[Bill Davis] “Well, with the benefit of 7 years of hindsight, those who analyzed it as “Apple no longer cares about pros” were being pretty stunningly short-sighted.”
Yes…we are. We have ZERO historical reference in which to base this on (Shake). No reason to think that Apple puts general consumers (iWatch, iPad, iPhone) over professionals (no MacPro update in 5 years…iMac Pro simply a band aid, limited expandibility…MacBook Pro, form more important than function, slimness over better cooling for faster processors). There’s simply NO REASON we should ever doubt Apple doens’t care about professionals. #sarcasm.
[Bill Davis] “Roles wasn’t exactly designed for home movie shooters.”
No, it’s implimented for professionals. I’ve said before, FCP-X is great for consumers (cheap, easy to use) and good for professionals (cheap, easy to use, useful features…buy add-ons when/if needed).
[Bill Davis] “And all that Rec2020 and ProRes RAW plumbing seems like s bit of a stretch for editors seeking improvement on their next cat video.”
Yes…things they are adding later. Almost as if it were an afterthought…because of massive blow back from professionals. Oh, yeah…ProRes RAW, only works with Apple…no third party. As stated, with over 2 million users, you have a wide base, ranging from cat video makers to broadcast TV. But really…how many cat videos do you suspect were cut with FCX, opposed to cut with Avid? I’m going to wager the favor is in Apple’s court on that one. BUT I AM NOT CALLING FCP-X NON-PROFESSIONAL. Just noting that it is used by more than professionals. And again, I’ll wager that the vast majority of users who use it aren’t professional editors. not saying they might not use it for monetary gain…some might. But I will wager most users are home users. But there are no stats on that, I know. IMHO
[Bill Davis] ”
“Giving up on pros” started out as a canard – and remains one.”They bought Shake…then killed Shake. Why? To grab the image stabilizing technology for…wait for it…iMovie! Yeah, they have a great track record with Pros lately. Release a MacBook Pro that throttled the processor…only fixing it AFTER huge blowback. Apple makes its money on consumer goods, not professional ones. Ever since it shifted focus from pro users to consumers, it went from a niche company with 5% computer market share to the biggest company in the world. So, being a business, with this in mind, where will you put a majority of your focus?
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
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