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Avid crossgrade comparison
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[Jeremy Garchow] “So Final Cut Studio 1 or there abouts?
“
No. The first version I ever used was 2. I don’t really remember if the 1st version I owned was 3 or 4. Probably 4. And that was in concert with a Blackmagic card. I definitely waited till broadcast i/o was solid before buying in.
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[Oliver Peters] “that they would lead the marketplace over ALL NLEs.”
FCP8.
…what might have been…
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[Jeremy Garchow] “FCP8.
…what might have been…”
What “might have been” is that FCP 8 would be exactly the same damn thing that FCP has been since 2005, when the last new structural feature, multicam, was added. Since then, it’s pretty much just formats, and even Pro Res came four years later than DNxHD.
For all that I can be cranky in posts — I mean, who posts when they’re happy, right? LOL — I’m actually a very positive, optimistic guy…but I have absolutely zero idea where anybody got the idea that anything big and new would have happened this time. Maybe because it HADN’T in 2007 or 2009, so in 2011, we were finally due?
Maybe I have a different perspective because all I do is read posts, and I do read ALL OF THEM, but in even numbered years, people howled that there was no release, FCP must be dying, Apple doesn’t care….then in the odd-numbered years, a release would show up, and people would say the exact same thing — nothing here, FCP must be dying, Apple doesn’t care.
All of which got fired up again every time a new release of iTunes broke FCP.
Pro Res in 2007 was obviously a big deal, and breathed new life into what appeared to otherwise be a moribund development enterprise…but by 2009, people here were already talking about looking for more modern alternatives.
Now, if by “FCP 8, what might have been,” you mean FCP 7 plus 64 bits, well, yeah, that’d be a cool enough FCP 8. But otherwise, do you really think that Apple had been focusing on FCPX since 2005 and THAT’s why nothing much but Pro Res happened since then?
On the flip side, I’m still bullish on FCPX…if you can stand working on a Mac LOL….but FCP 8? My prediction for what might have been is that the bear might still have been hibernating.
This actually makes another interesting thread — what MIGHT have been for FCP 8? Both realistically what it might have been, and we WISHED it might have been….
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You are preaching to the choir. Didn’t we ask for this?
I was commenting on Oliver’s summation:
[Oliver Peters] “I contend that if Apple sold off the FCP/FCS package to someone else, who developed it into a 64-bit app (with cleaned-up cosmetics, but no changes to the functionality and user experience) – that they would lead the marketplace over ALL NLEs.”
What might have been if FCP8 was in someone else’s control. That’s all.
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[Jeremy Garchow] “If Avid would have been price competitive during The Legend of FCP™ chapter, would you be here today?”
I think I would have, even though I was a poster boy for FCP-because-it’s-cheap adoption, starting my freelance career on a shoestring budget.
In all the talk of The Legend of FCP, there are two elements of history that are very easy to gloss over.
First, FCP’s UI offered some advantages over Avid’s. Sometimes the mouse is just faster (there, I said it!). Compositing in the timeline and manipulating the composite in the canvas was great. FCP was tactile in a way that we talk about touch apps today, and that really appealed to me (even though I’m a heavy hotkey user, too).
Second, while the Legend of FCP was rising in the early 2000s, there was the Nightmare of Avid across the aisle. There were dark days where Avid stopped listening to their customers, where Media Composer stagnated, and where bugs just never got squashed. They came out with some truly dreadful hardware (ask any Adrenaline owner). They never seem to have understood DS and probably squandered a gigantic opportunity there.
I do agree with your idea that FCP has become larger than life in our minds, but there were real reasons to choose it over Avid other than price as the legend was unfolding.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[Walter Soyka] “Sometimes the mouse is just faster (there, I said it!). “
You’ll burn for that.
But, yes, I agree.
[Walter Soyka] “Second, while the Legend of FCP was rising in the early 2000s, there was the Nightmare of Avid across the aisle. There were dark days where Avid stopped listening to their customers, where Media Composer stagnated, and where bugs just never got squashed. They came out with some truly dreadful hardware (ask any Adrenaline owner). They never seem to have understood DS and probably squandered a gigantic opportunity there.”
Yup. I think the nadir was around 2.8. There was a two year period around then, that MC–for single user, short form at least–just wasn’t as good a piece of software.
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I think everyone’s forgetting about the upgrade costs to Avid every 6 months somewhere in the vicinity of $500, with point upgrades that Avid calls features like being able to tick a checkbox for AMA importing without having to restart the computer.
Not saying that FCPX can be used on everything at the moment (reality TV, multiple cameras, manual grouping and sharing amongst a large number of editors and producers, comes to mind 🙁
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[Ben McCarthy] “I think everyone’s forgetting about the upgrade costs to Avid every 6 months somewhere in the vicinity of $500”
That’s optional and up to the user. Price varies. A number of folks have suggested doing every other version and you actually only take a slight hit for doing that. It’s also not every 6 months. Sometimes 6 months, sometimes a year. This past update (6 to 6.5) added the J2K codec and AS-02 export functionality (among other things). The latter is similar to FCP X adding MXF support, which will require the purchase of third party plug-in products.
Customarily software version updates are billable with most companies at the point and 1/2-point level. Right now that policy is an unknown with FCP X due to the App Store. What makes you think that when and if there’s a 10.1, that you won’t have to repurchase the app as a new program? As well as all the other third party add-ons? It’s a complete unknown for now and Apple is simply leaving everyone in the dark.
[Ben McCarthy] “with point upgrades that Avid calls features like being able to tick a checkbox for AMA importing without having to restart the computer”
That’s compete nonsense. You have never had to restart the computer when changing AMA settings. Relaunch the app. Yes. Reboot? That’s just not true.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Sorry your right, I meant restart Avid, almost as annoying as a computer restart…
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[Ben McCarthy] “Sorry your right, I meant restart Avid, almost as annoying as a computer restart…”
While that part is true, you are changing a preference setting. Not uncommon with any software for preference changes to take affect with the next launch of the app. I was reacting to your premise that this was the main feature of a billable point upgrade. I felt that was a bit off the mark.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com
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