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FCP-X: Thinking Differently?
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Oh dear. Sorry if I’ve bummed you out there, Jeremy. I can’t offer you much in the way of an apology, and I think I’m going to stop any kind of debate with you because we seem to have rather different understandings about life, and, while I usually make the effort, I’m guessing from our few interactions, that it just probably is not worth it. So, go in peace. And, for your own sake, I would suggest that you stop reading or commenting on any of my posts. They don’t seem to have any value to you, nor do you seem, from my POV, to understand them.
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[Chris Harlan] “Add to that, how valuable are Dvorak skills in a world of QUERTY keyboards?”
The true value of anything boils down to its benefits minus its costs.
In the case of the Dvorak keyboard, the benefits of increased efficiency and ergonomics are, for most computer users, outweighed by the actual or perceived costs of the learning curve that is required to get up to, and then ultimately surpass, the speed at which one types with the ubiquitous Qwerty keyboard.
Likewise, any discussion of the benefits and efficiency of FCP X that does not take into account both the actual and perceived costs of retraining, as well as the “time-cost” of the learning curve required before editors actually derive benefits over and above what they were using before (if they actually do), is not a completely valid discussion, at least not in my opinion.
I think it’s this very aspect of the discussion that seems to have generated many of the most heated arguments about the merits of FCP X on this forum. It’s why many of the most experienced editors never want to separate the EOL of FCS 3 from the ongoing discussion, and why many of those touting the virtues of FCP X simply want to “move forward,” taking Apple’s handling of FCS 3 out of the discussion, thus effectively keeping the debate about the merits of FCP X in a vacuum.
In other words, I think many of the more experienced editors see the overall costs of deploying FCP X as appearing to outweigh any actual or perceived benefits derived from using the software. Many others either don’t seem to understand that argument or simply don’t desire to factor it into the equation.
And, it does seem clear that Apple either hasn’t factored in the costs of redeployment and training into the overall equation, or Apple has simply dismissed the matter altogether as if it’s unimportant, simply because it’s not important to anyone at Apple. I think this is a major oversight on the part of Apple. Does anyone else agree or disagree?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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Oh, I agree completely. I have nothing against X. I can even see eventually using it as a sort of note pad/iPad editor, doing a rough edl or xml that I bring into a more encompassing EDL. I keep coming here because I do hope to understand it, and help sway the development of the things that can make it useful to me.
My fear is that despite all our talk, Apple’s course is set and that we who truly rely on FCS are no more than a spec in the rearview mirror. I truly love FCS. It allows such broad and differing approaches. It is so open. I would be thrilled to have X as a companion to FCS. As a replacement it seems to me an epic fail.
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[Andrew Richards] “However, in the case of Keyword Collections in particular, I still don’t see how they are exclusive of any of the good ol’ fashioned bin behavior. You can still create one with a keystroke like you could with a bin, still drag clips into it like a bin, still look at the contents in a list like the bins in legacy FCP.”
Andrew, I believe I do agree with you about this, at least from my use of limited use of X. To what degree a clip might eventually get tangled in its own metadata, I don’t know. But my initial assessment is similar to yours.
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David, I think that cost-benefit analysis will still come back to the question of FCPX’s target market. Different groups of customers will have different perceptions of the value that FCPX offers, as we’ve seen over and over in these posts.
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 -
[Chris Harlan] ” I keep coming here because I do hope to understand it, and help sway the development of the things that can make it useful to me. “
Yes, that is my goal as well, if it’s at all possible, and it’s why David Lawrence and did our podcasts.
[Chris Harlan] “My fear is that despite all our talk, Apple’s course is set and that we who truly rely on FCS are no more than a spec in the rearview mirror.”
Absolutely! And, as David Lawrence has postulated, it’s very possible that Apple may well have painted itself into a corner that it cannot reverse even if they do conclude at some point that developers have made fundamental errors.
[Chris Harlan] “I would be thrilled to have X as a companion to FCS.”
That’s what I keep thinking too. This seems to be the primary disconnect of this entire situation – since FCP X is clearly not a replacement for what came before, why has Apple positioned it to replace what came before? And, so long as they’re not talking, we’re left with no choice but to speculate about it, no matter how many keep questioning why we’re still here.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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[Walter Soyka] “David, I think that cost-benefit analysis will still come back to the question of FCPX’s target market. Different groups of customers will have different perceptions of the value that FCPX offers, as we’ve seen over and over in these posts.”
I agree with you Walter, and until the target market is “accurately” identified/defined by Apple we’re left to wonder and to speculate about everything related to their move. Which is precisely why the debate continues…
However, given that Apple did show this product at NAB, and that it has capabilities for 4K imagery, etc., it still has to leave us to conclude that they haven’t completely discounted the professional market. And, if that is so, then I still must conclude that ignoring the cost-benefit analysis of redeployment and retraining for those 2-million existing customers using FCS 3 has got to be considered in this discussion, and that if it has been ignored by Apple, then it was either an oversight or an error.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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So after all this, I am the one who’s told to go away. Honestly, I don’t appreciate it, Chris. No apologies required.
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Jeremy —
FWIW, I find your input highly valuable, and it would be a loss to this forum if you didn’t contribute. We all get cranky from time to time.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions -
No, dude. You are the one making comments about me, which I do not appreciate either. You certainly don’t have to “go away.” That’s something I never suggested. But you do seem to be pretty much annoyed by a lot of what I say, and like to share that:
You wrote: I am very sorry that you are so angry with Apple. Please take your frustration out on them, or move on to another OS. You seem to snipe anyone who talks positively, and presents options.
I don’t think that is by any means a fair assessment of my participation on this forum. And, it is a bit personal. But, you know what? If that is your POV, that is your POV. I don’t want to argue with you. Nor do I want passive/aggressive messages about attitude adjustment from you either.
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