I’ve figured out who these people are!!!

[Chris Harlan]

Richard, I hear what you are saying.

If you’ll forgive a change of subject–have you given Roles a try? I’d like to hear your feelings about it when you do. I believe you do quite a bit of DAWing, and I’d like to know how the workaround feels for you.

[Marvin Holdman]

[Richard Johnson] – “This forum is for people talking about their experiences and what workarounds they would need to adapt, dead-ends prevent them from using it, problems it gives them, solutions it provides them etc… That is ultimately what these threads are useful for.”

See forum header…. Apple FCPX or Not: The Debate

The forum you are describing is here…. Apple FCPX Techniques
”

Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv

[Davee Schulte]

I think the people that are most upset are also the people that were the most loyal to FCP and Apple. They feel betrayed by the way things were handled. At this point though I do agree, it’s a tool for editing. If it doesn’t work for you, apple has given refunds. If it does, great! Personally, I hate the software less and less the more I use it (like most things I guess).

[Richard Johnson]

Point taken Marvin. I had just gotten home from a party where I had a couple beers and probably was a little quick to pass judgement. Forums, by nature, jump around from one topic to the next. I was simply concerned that on occasion it feels like political bickering instead of truly debating.

The thread I was frustrated about referred to my curiosity over whether people thought Avid was likely to come up with quality and timely FCPXML support for Pro Tools despite the fact that they are publicly trying to take Apple’s Final Cut Pro customers away. I know there are many here with more experience and knowledge than myself about those matters and there are oftentimes workarounds if one program can’t import files directly from another. I believe sometimes people send Premiere files to FCP to then bring into Davinci Resolve. If XML support may be crippled or nonexistent for good DAW’s I may jump ship to Adobe Premiere or Avid before their deals are over. I was curious to others feedback on that topic. Once again, I’ve settled down a little and probably could have simply asked my question more directly in the first place. Live and learn right. Cheers.

[Liam Hall]

Richard, if it works for you go for it and don’t worry what grumpy, self-opinionated has-beens say on the internet.

I bought FCPX the minute it was released and like you I can see a lot of usefulness and some really cool stuff in FCPX. There’s no doubt it will be fun to use on certain jobs.

Equally, there are some things I’m not so convinced about and that will mean I use another NLE for those jobs (most jobs).

Furthermore, I can’t see too many facilities houses or production companies furnishing their edit suites with FCPX – at least not for a few years yet. It took the original FCP 4-5 years to gain a foothold in that sector and I don’t see it being anything different this time round.

The good news is that these NLEs are so cheap now that even the most parsimonious of editors should be able to afford at least two of the main players and it’s never been easier to find good help and education on how to get the best out of any of them.

Think of FCPX as a plug-in and run it alongside another NLE. I do, and it’s failings don’t annoy me quite so much anymore.

Liam Hall
Director/DoP/Editor
http://www.liamhall.net

[Mark Bein]

I was actually just about to answer your post,
but then decided to scrap it for reasons you mentioned.

So here it is:
It is misleading when Walter Biscardi writes Apple should stick
with established XML versus their new flavor of XML.
XML is not a standardized video editing file format.
XML is designed to be a language that is easy to understand and
extensible when needed.
If you have well documented XML, practically every software developer
should be able to translate any flavor of XML to another.
So if AVID does not support (FCP)XML you could even have someone
program a translator for you.
Since it’s so easy I expect some solution to appear soon.

Also – as Chris Harlan mentioned – Roles might just do
the trick for you.

[Glen Hurd]

Avid (and others) may sit tight until FCPXML supports more features than the current iteration. Currently, you can’t even export and import an FCPX project and preserve your audio levels. Let alone support flip/flop, blending modes, etc. for video. If FCPX can’t even roundtrip with its own implementation of FCPXML, I don’t see why Apple’s competitors should be obligated to fix it.
Ironic that foolcut is a more feature-rich strategy for opening up FCP X than Apple’s own FCPXML is. But irony has always permeated the FCPX commentary.
As to the barbarians repeatedly attacking this gem, I think you should feel safe. Our attacks are the nature of debate – its how ideas get fleshed out. Speaking of politics – that too is about the combat of ideas. The constant cry for compromise is always sung by those who are being beaten, and never mentioned when they are winning. Yet, if in the act of being beaten, their ideas show up as shallow and short-sighted, isn’t it better they stay beaten? Should we celebrate survival of the fittest? Or is it someone else’s turn?
But here, in this forum, you can find easy support for Apple, percolating under the surface. Look at the commentary regarding their recent roadmap to support features that every other self-respecting editing system has had for at least 5 years. The celebratory exhilaration surrounding Apple’s radical revelation to support . . . wait for it . . . to support . . . broadcast monitoring . . . has left us all breathless. For different reasons of course.

Don’t be too offended. Some of us feel like we’re watching the “future of editing” spin around like a leaf caught in a gurgling eddy – our curiosity piqued by the curious recognition that the wealthiest of companies seems confused by its own intentions.

Until they can settle down, you can hardly blame anyone else for not.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

Richard,

I’ll leave aside the obvious ad hominem aspect of your post, but you’ve pretty much done what you claim to denounce. (More political analogy? – Do as I say, not as I do?)

It probably doesn’t help your case (critical of all the drama) to start a farcical diatribe with all caps and three exclamations points.

That said, I am a sure your root sentiment is shared by many (too much bashing, too many rants).

However I will take you to task on one point – you state that those in the forum “… oftentimes state … claims with a ‘definitive’ standpoint … in a definitive broad enveloping … kind of way” (edited for bombast).

I will direct you to the Apple FCP page where these claims are made:
“Everything just changed in post.”
“Final Cut Pro X redefines post-production for professionals.”
… along with the sentence fragments:
“A major breakthrough in video editing.”
“Revolutionary editing tools.”
etc. (and this is only the front page of the site …)

I think if you are going to be critical of the hyperbole in the air, you might start here.

Further, as has been pointed out already – this is the debate thread.

– Franz.

[Gary Huff]

[Liam Hall]Richard, if it works for you go for it and don’t worry what grumpy, self-opinionated has-beens say on the internet.

Hahahahaha, that’s rich!

[Richard Johnson]

Thanks Franz. All three A’s tell us their video editing software is breakthrough from time to time, it’s called marketing. Hyperbole wasn’t what I was attacking and neither was debate. In fact, I specified that constructive debate is what is useful on these threads and political style bickering gets us nowhere. Maybe I am the cat calling the kettle black but I don’t think so. Anyway, I’ve made my point so I’ll leave it at that. I think most people understand exactly where I was coming from.