FCPX and the new economy.

[Craig Seeman]

[Ann Clark] “Craig, You’ve clearly got a lot of time on your hands. I’m not sure why you’re so interested in countering me line by line. Tiresome.”

Since when is accuracy tiresome? I do a lot of compression work so render bars give me time.
Personally I find spending time reading inaccurate statements tiresome but not responding to them as many others might be reading.

[Jeremy Garchow]

I welcome the new changes, some do not, and that’s fine. I’m not telling you what software to use, as that’s silly. I do have some comments about a few things you have brought up.

[Ann Clark] “This is why there’s a common opinion that it’s for the less sophisticated producer”

What is wrong with things being more simple? I just don’t get this argument.

Also, I don’t equate simplicity with low end. I would venture to say that some of the lower cost jobs I have been on require the most amount of resources. They are much harder to complete and appease. The free jobs are even worse.

Look at computer operating systems today. They are much easier to use, yet get more sophisticated with every release. Does this make them more low end? No, it just makes them easier to use with more capability, and I’l ask again, what is wrong with that exactly?

[Ann Clark] “Given that FCPX is aimed at users not necessarily married to FCP7 (see other postings on this in Creativecow and also LAFCPUG) it’s a hard call to say it ISN’T for a brand new (and probably less experienced) user.”

I don’t follow. Yes, we can’t open our legacy projects at this time, I get that, and our archive is of real value to us as well. But that doesn’t mean my experience on FCP7 gets thrown out the moment I open FCPX. To say that the new car is a worse version of the old car because the new seats don’t fit in the old chassis doesn’t seem like a valid argument. It’s a new car, different model year, same name with inspirations of the old design. There is no question that FCPX is different from it’s predecessor.

Before FCP, I used to edit on Media100. I still have all of those projects. I do not get calls to update those projects anymore, they are essentially dead. At some point, my 15 yr old FCP Legacy projects will be dead too. We will have to keep FCP Legacy around for a bit, that’s OK, hard drives and LTO tapes are cheap.

[Ann Clark] “Before we jump in to buy this software, I need to be sure we really should scrap old machines, “

There’s now a free 30 day trial to see if works on your existing hardware. If you need video out, I would wait until the next update comes out which is in “early 2012” according to Apple. My advice would be to give it an honest to goodness spin. “I don’t like it” knee jerk reactions to this software are unprecedented. It takes a little while for it all to sink in.

Jeremy

[Steve Connor]

[Jeremy Garchow] “I don’t follow. Yes, we can’t open our legacy projects at this time, I get that, and our archive is of real value to us as well. But that doesn’t mean my experience on FCP7 gets thrown out the moment I open FCPX. To say that the new car is a worse version of the old car because the new seats don’t fit in the old chassis doesn’t seem like a valid argument. It’s a new car, different model year, same name with inspirations of the old design. There is no question that FCPX is different from it’s predecessor.
“

Plus the fact the old car is still in the garage if you need to take it out for a drive

“My Name is Steve and I’m an FCPX user”

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Steve Connor] “Plus the fact the old car is still in the garage if you need to take it out for a drive”

Zzzzing!

[Timothy Auld]

There is no problem with simplicity as long as it is accompanied by functionality. In this case is is not. There is plenty of potential functionality there but it still does meet many people’s basic needs. Not mine, anyway. While I am encouraged by Apple’s apparent new attitude, after exploring this update I don’t find a lot to shout about. It is also apparently (to me) still a very buggy piece of software.

bigpine

[Don Scioli]

Everyone- I just wanted to see how 1, everyone’s business was doing in this lousy economy and 2, is FCPX taking some of the low end business away from the “professional” by making crappy video cheaper and more attainable by the amateur.

[Craig Seeman]

Actually it’s brought me some of the low end crappy business willing to pay my full rate.
Clients save by not having to spend on my charging to convert AVCHD to ProRes for example.
I’ve rescued one iMovie project from a client that was not an editor (obviously) and had started a job in iMovie.

[Ann Clark]

Jeremy,

I think you’re taking me out of context. Simpler is better – as long as that’s streamlined. Also, I said that the common opinion seemed to be that the software was a bit low-end.

The interface, as I understand it, for FCPX, requires learning/relearning a few, maybe many, things.

I don’t need the 30-day test drive. My hardware, according to my tech guy, is on the non-compatible list. He said I’d need an upgrade to try the test drive.

Maybe when FCPX gets a few more of the features I need, such as support for my gazillion FCP 7 files, I’ll take the financial plunge. For now, I don’t intend to fix what ain’t broke…

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7

[Jeremy Garchow]

I’m not sure if I am taking you out of context. Didn’t I quote what you said?

[Ann Clark] “Also, I said that the common opinion seemed to be that the software was a bit low-end. “

I think this decision can only be made by trying it. There are plenty of people that can run FCPX on hardware that didn’t on the qualified page. It’s free, and I would try it out on a non production system to see if you even like it. The only way to try something is to actually try it.

As far as getting FCP7 project support, that might not happen. It certainly isn’t possible today.

[Ann Clark]

[Jeremy Garchow] “As far as getting FCP7 project support, that might not happen. It certainly isn’t possible today.”

Bingo.

When they solve this big requirement, then I’m perfectly happy to try it out. Till then, there’s no real motivation for us to experiment with the new regime just because it’s from Apple. (Plus, they don’t pay the editors to experiment, they pay to get the job d-o-n-e.)

MacPro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 14GB memory – OSX10.6.4 FCP7