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Is FCPX really worth it?
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I’m just in my first week of really knee deep work with it. I’ve been at it and nothing else for a few days. With that in mind, It would be presumptuous to do an honest comparison of my experience vs 7
However I will say this – nothing I’ve experienced so far was worth the drama they created. In order for this much upheaval and confusion to have been “worth it” the program would have had to have immediately apparent advantages to the professional community for one simple reason – the “P” in FCP.
Given the funding available to them, there should have been an integration team working along side the development team for the last year or so to guarantee that the things that make it not “P” were there upon release. And for gawds sake hire a communications firm to teach you how to talk to your customers.
And I like the program.
But as an 11 year FCP user, I should respect Apple more not less as a company. -
The hallmark of great change is, in a word – disruption.
We’re in yet another era where fundamental disruption is everywhere.
Heck the whole idea of a “virtual community” like this one is largely disruptive in and of itself. Just ask the trade mags who’ve seen their ad revenue disappear toward the banners over there on the sides of this screen!FCP-X is also disruption writ large.
Some here have little tolerance for disruption, others embrace it. (as it has ever been throughout human history)
So David, to directly address your question, the tumult wasn’t just necessary – it was inevitable. Without regular disruption things remain the same. And in a rapidly transformational world – staying the same Is actually falling behind.
That Apple video that famously started “Here’s to the crazy one’s…” was a pretty good clue to the company’s appetite for disruption.
That anyone was truly surprised by FCP-X was just an indication that we’d forgotton to listen for a while to what they were saying all along.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Jim Giberti] “nothing I’ve experienced so far was worth the drama they created. In order for this much upheaval and confusion to have been “worth it” the program would have had to have immediately apparent advantages to the professional community for one simple reason – the “P” in FCP.”
I honestly expected more answers like yours Jim, even among those unwavering fans of what X has managed to deliver.
In all sincerity, when I look at quantity and quality of what has actually been delivered, vs. the quantity and quality of the drama Apple chose to create around the delivery, I’m absolutely flabbergasted, and I’m really surprised we seem to be among the minority in that regard.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new Creative Cow Podcast: Bringing “The Whale” to the Big Screen:
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/Podcast-Series-2-MikeParfitandSuzanneChisholm/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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[Bill Davis] “So David, to directly address your question, the tumult wasn’t just necessary – it was inevitable. Without regular disruption things remain the same. And in a rapidly transformational world – staying the same Is actually falling behind.”
I have to disagree Bill, organizations, businesses, and governments all have one thing in common- at their best they exist to serve their members/customers/citizens. Ask any average person what they want in their life and “tumult” and “disruption” will fall at the very bottom of anyone’s list – business or individual.
A good business or organization should be judged on how they manage important change – not simply their ability to create it.
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[Bill Davis] “The hallmark of great change is, in a word – disruption.”
This seems tautological.
I’d argue that while disruption is a form of change, and progress requires change, disruption is neither necessary nor sufficient for progress.
I disagree with Gerald Baria when he claims “newer=better” in his signature. Newer is newer, and newer may be different, but newer is quantitative and better is qualitative, so they strike me as tough to equate.
DRW’s question acknowledges that FCPX has been disruptive — but the question is, are the benefits of that disruption worth its cost?
You may say the answer to that question is yes, but then I’d ask another: could similar benefits have been realized with less disruption?
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 -
[Jim Giberti] “A good business or organization should be judged on how they manage important change – not simply their ability to create it.”
In fact the business world is full of massive failures that involved changes that were considered “too” radical or disruptive. Just look at the “New” Coke. Or if you want movie examples, look at “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch.”
No matter how FCPX plays out as a viable NLE, the manner in which Apple released it was a massive PR failure. And despite its defense by many on this forum, FCPX is going to have to go a long way to win back a lot of folks in the editing community. The brand name may already be too tainted.
Frankly, I think it was a huge miscalculation on Apple’s part. And it fostered a lot of mistrust (deserved or not) of their motives and future goals when it comes to professional software and hardware.
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I do think bill, that the crazy ones here were the Ubillos lead software engineers in apple.
crazy isn’t always judicious or good. not with a standing industry mainstay. Hubris is crazy and people really seem not to be taking the apple medicine here?
Its chugging away on the appstore, as niche pages might, but as an editing platform, this thing feels more than a tad dead in the water.
Its a dodo with a bitter vengeance in soho.outside of mythical unicorn age of aquarius single new adopters, do we have any signature adoption of this editing system that anyone can call to? at any scale?
why should anyone entering into editing invest real training time in what is starting to look, at least to me, as a bit of a weird apple curio?
Does anyone remember the Edius judgement editor with the 3D timeline?
http://www.ogallchoir.net
promo producer/editor.grading/motion graphics -
Is FCP X really worth it? Not to me. I didn’t buy it, and instead jumped on the Premiere Pro bandwagon. FCP worked fine for me for the last four years, and I was eagerly anticipating something awesome after patiently waiting two years for a major update. With FCP being EOL’d, and having seen other Apple software I own get thrown on the junk pile, Apple has taught me that they’re simply not reliable. In that sense, I guess FCP X was indeed worth it to me.
I just can’t help but think of how different the current situation would be had Apple delivered an awesome FCP 8 that had those features we were hoping for, and perhaps more.
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[Walter Soyka] “DRW’s question acknowledges that FCPX has been disruptive — but the question is, are the benefits of that disruption worth its cost?”
yes. Its a very good and simple question.
http://www.ogallchoir.net
promo producer/editor.grading/motion graphics -
[Jim Giberti] “I have to disagree Bill, organizations, businesses, and governments all have one thing in common- at their best they exist to serve their members/customers/citizens. Ask any average person what they want in their life and “tumult” and “disruption” will fall at the very bottom of anyone’s list – business or individual.”
I wholeheartedly agree with you Jim, and in this case I’ve always believed the drama involved vs. the payoff have been a total disconnect.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new Creative Cow Podcast: Bringing “The Whale” to the Big Screen:
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/Podcast-Series-2-MikeParfitandSuzanneChisholm/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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