Point Me In the Direction of A………..

[Craig Seeman]

[Herb Sevush] “I just maintain that with X Apple has announced that they’ve decided to exit the world of “complex-workflow” video post.”

https://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/faq/
Can Final Cut Pro X export XML?
Not yet, but we know how important XML export is to our developers and our users, and we expect to add this functionality to Final Cut Pro X.

Does Final Cut Pro X allow you to assign audio tracks for export?
Not yet. An update this summer will allow you to use metadata tags to categorize your audio clips by type and export them directly from Final Cut Pro X.

[Craig Seeman]

[Scott Sheriff] “Neither Compressor 4 or Motion 5 list 64 bit operation in the specs on Apple’s web site.”

https://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/motion/
64-bit architecture
With its new 64-bit architecture, Motion lets you create deeper, more interesting multilayered effects for use in Final Cut Pro.
https://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/motion/all-features/
Like Final Cut Pro, Motion is now a full 64-bit application. This means that Motion can support deeper, more interesting multilayered effects for use in Final Cut Pro.

[Herb Sevush]

When I see it, I’ll believe it.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Craig Seeman]

[Herb Sevush] “When I see it, I’ll believe it.”

There comes a point where people either believe FCPX is EOL and all development has ceased or that inevitably new features will be added. I believe the latter makes more sense than the former.

If every single feature someone on this forum mentions as something that will be added, is refuted, what rational thinking does one come to as are as upcoming features? Does one believe there will be no features added? Maybe that any feature added will have no bearing on professional use? What features are those?
When people say “Apple should say…” and when Apple does say explicitly some of the upcoming features and response is disbelief, one has nearly ended all rational discussion.

[Herb Sevush]

I don’t think FCPX is dead, I do think there will be enhancements, I haven’t the lightest idea what they will be, I question, but don’t refute, Apple’s stated intentions.

I do however treat Apple’s past and present actions with more weight than I do with those same stated intentions. You take Apple on faith and give scant weight to what has actually happened; I see things in exactly the opposite manner.

I said I would believe it when I see it and that is exactly what I meant, nothing more nor less.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Andy Neil]

“I’ve been told by experienced editors that is a toy and a waste of time.”

Does this mean you don’t have or haven’t even tried FCPX? If true, don’t you think it’s a little premature to slam features you haven’t even tried? The skimmer is not a waste, it’s just different and takes some getting used to. Keyword collections and smart collections are like bins on steroids. They can be as helpful or automated as you want them to be.

And really, FCPX isnt as different an NLE as people are making it out to be. Sure, shortcuts are different and there are some aspects that are radical changes in paradigm (clip connections), but you still load clips in a viewer, mark in and out points, drop in a sequence. I’d be amazed if you couldn’t figure out how to edit with it quickly.

There’s certainly a lot to be annoyed about, but I’m not going to slam features that are actually improvements to the design.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Scott Sheriff]

[Craig Seeman] “https://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/motion/
64-bit architecture
With its new 64-bit architecture, Motion lets you create deeper, more interesting multilayered effects for use in Final Cut Pro.
https://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/motion/all-features/
Like Final Cut Pro, Motion is now a full 64-bit application. This means that Motion can support deeper, more interesting multilayered effects for use in Final Cut Pro.”

As I said in the specs page, which is not the page you posted a link to, there is no reference to this.

So here is the FCPX specs, notice that 64 bit is clearly called out, I have added bold text for your convenience:

Minimum
System
Requirements

Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better
2GB of RAM (4GB of RAM recommended)
OpenCL-capable graphics card or
Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later
256MB of VRAM

Display with 1280-by-768 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later
ProKit 7.0 or later
2.4GB of disk space

Application

64-bit architecture to take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM
Background rendering using GPU and CPU
ColorSync-managed color pipeline
High-precision floating-point render in linear-light color space
Uses Grand Central Dispatch to tap into all available processors

Full-screen, real-time preview playback of SD, HD, 2K, and 4K media on main screen or an attached LED Cinema Display
Customizable keyboard
Full Unicode support

Editing and
Timeline

Magnetic Timeline automatically keeps material in sync, prevents clip collisions, and eliminates gaps.
Clip Connections keep secondary material in place while trimming and moving the Primary Storyline. Choose to hide or display Clip Connections in the timeline.
Compound Clips allow complex compositions to be simplified into a single clip.
Auditions combine multiple clips into a single clip to see alternative takes, color grades, or effects in context.
Duplicate a clip inside an Audition for comparison of different effects on the same clip
Edit while importing media in the background.
View material in Filmstrip or List view with a mini-filmstrip and metadata columns.
Skimming functionality enables fast viewing of large amounts of material.
Skimmable projects in Project Library enable viewing before loading.
Mix frame sizes, frame rates, and formats in the same timeline up to 4K in real time.
Edit at 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 50, 59.94, or 60 fps.
Create the correct project setting with the first edit.
Insert, Overwrite, Replace, Append, and Connect with keystroke or drag and drop.
Extend edit to Skimmer position.

Split edits with J and L cuts in the timeline.
Top and Tail in a single keystroke for news and documentary editing.
Direct access to iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, and Aperture through Media Browsers.
Timeline Index for timeline navigation and the selection of items based on text searches and other important metadata.
Position tool for moving and deleting media in the timeline and leaving gap.
Clip Markers that include to-do items that can be checked off when tasks are completed
Snapping to Playhead, Skimmer, Clips, and Markers.
Replace with Gap
Lift from Primary Storyline
Create Storyline to consolidate B-roll into a single unit
Insert Placeholder
Insert Gap
Numeric entry of precise clip durations
Blade tool for adding edits
High-quality, real-time vectorscopes, waveforms, and histograms
Record Audio tool for adding narration
Six Clip Appearance presets for timeline display
Multi-Touch gesture support

Trimming

Inline Precision Editor allows skimming of media around the edit before trimming.
Basic timeline trimming
Trim tool for advanced timeline trimming functions
Ripple and roll

Slip and slide
Lift and ripple delete
Dynamic 2-Up trimming with Show Detailed Trimming Feedback enabled
Keyboard and numeric moving and trimming

Effects

Shared Render Engine with Motion and Compressor
Add multiple effects and transitions within a range selection.
Multistream real-time effects in SD and HD formats
Alpha-channel support in real time
Integration with Motion for advanced motion graphics work
Use “Open in Motion” on any effect, modify in Motion, and save as new in Final Cut Pro.
Numeric and keyframe control for precise animation and effects
Copy and paste motion and effect attributes to multiple clips.
Access music, sound effects, transitions, filters, color looks, and generators through Media Browsers
Over 150 advanced 2D and 3D title templates
Over 90 high-quality transitions
Over 125 sophisticated animation templates with video drop zones created by a top Hollywood effects company
Over 110 filters, keys, blurs, and color looks

28 backgrounds, elements, solids, and textures
Trim, crop, and Ken Burns effect
Distort tool with keyframes and onscreen controls
Transform tool with keyframes and onscreen controls
Stabilization effect in real time after background analysis
Rolling Shutter correction to improve DSLR video
Spatial Conform to make different aspect ratios fit into a project seamlessly
Retime tool for speed changes controlled in the timeline for entire clips or selected ranges
Rewind, Instant Replay, and Speed Ramp in a single click
Three Retime quality settings: normal, frame blending, and optical flow
Preserve audio pitch when changing speed
Find and Replace Title Text
Show Title/Action Safe Zones for positioning titles and effects
——————————————————————————————————–
And here is the Motion spec, with no mention of 64 bit:
Minimum
System
Requirements

Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better
2GB of RAM (4GB of RAM recommended)
OpenCL-capable graphics card or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later
256MB of VRAM

Display with 1280-by-768 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later
ProKit 7.0 or later
2GB of disk space

User Interface

Dark look to enhance color perception
Single-window layout for all user interface panes
Onscreen controls for selected filters
Keyframe editor pane with a streamlined timeline view for intuitive time-based control
Center toolbar for tools; color-coded objects and inspector keyframe controls for easy identification
Unlimited tracks of movie clips, graphics, text, and particles
Project sizes up to 16K (8K resolution requires a graphics card with 512MB of VRAM; 1GB or more recommended; 16K resolution requires a graphics card with 1GB of VRAM)
Color bits per channel: 16-bit float for GPU rendering; 32-bit float for background software rendering of Motion projects in Final Cut Pro (float processing requires a graphics card with 256MB of VRAM; 512MB or more recommended)
Customizable nonsquare-pixel support
Semitransparent heads-up display with onscreen controls for layers, behaviors, and filters
Onscreen controls for 3D position, 3D rotation, 3D anchor point, skew, four-corner pin, crop, and text glyph manipulations
Enable/Disable viewing and rendering of Lighting, Shadows, Reflections, and Depth of Field

View color channels and alpha channels independently
Canvas alignment tools including dynamic alignment guides, 3D grid, and rulers
Pen-and-tablet gesture-based interface
3D mouse support
Integrated File Browser for fast access to Finder content
RAM Previews for viewing complex animations at full frame rate
Save favorite settings, customized effects, gradients, text styles, and more in the Library
Over 1900 pieces of Apple-designed, royalty-free vector artwork, high-resolution images, and animated design elements
Instantly display and access all layers in the project using a single keystroke, similar to Exposé in Mac OS X.
Create, save, and remap custom keyboard shortcuts.
Show images outside the visible frame boundary for easily adjusting offscreen objects.
Automatically collect media used in a project for easy backup or moving to other locations.
Use Spotlight in Mac OS X to locate Motion projects by searching on any layer name or text string created in the project.

3D Compositing
Environment

Position, rotate, and intersect multiple layers in 3D space.
Combine multiple layers into 3D groups for hierarchical 3D animations.
Add, animate, and cut between multiple cameras.
Walk-Camera intuitively operates like a first-person video game.
Adjust the camera’s near and far soft clipping planes to avoid object “popping.”
Apply Camera behaviors for easily creating and modifying complex camera moves.
Quad split view for displaying multiple orthographic and perspective views
Inset viewer for quickly checking alternative views while making adjustments
Multiple light sources including ambient, directional, point, and spot

Enable shadows for selected point or spot lights, define objects to receive or cast shadows, and control the shadow colors and softness.
Enable Reflectivity on most objects, movies, paint strokes, and more.
Activate depth of field to enhance realism and control focus.
Enable particles, Replicator elements, and paint strokes to animate in 3D space.
Create 3D text behaviors for character-by-character animations with full 3D position and rotation control.
Create 3D motion paths for layers, cameras, and light sources.
Apply behaviors like throw, orbit, and vortex with 3D attributes.
Isolate any layer to a Front view for easily modifying masks or editing text.

Timeline Editing
and Layering

Layer list view makes it easy to change the stacking order of any layer, group, filter, or animation behavior.
Grouping for applying compound transformations and filters
Common “bring to front” and “send to back” functions
Opacity and blend mode display for quick access on every layer and group
Create drop zones for easy drag-and-drop image replacement.
Clone layers for linking instances of images that inherit properties automatically.
Solo tracks for easier viewing and refinements
Isolate selection for temporary framing and solo of an object to facilitate editing of an object in a 3D composition.

Composite with premultiplied or non-premultiplied Alpha channels.
Mini-timeline built into the Canvas that displays a single track for the currently selected layer, group, filter, or behavior
Trim, slip, slide, and retime audio and video clips via the mini-timeline.
Retime clips using frame blending, motion blur blending, or optical flow.
Cache optical flow retiming analysis to change speed at any time without reanalyzing.
Full timeline with drag-and-drop editing to choose between compositing and assembling multiple clips.
Insert and overwrite editing directly into the timeline
Markers that can be placed in the timeline or on a specific clip with notes

Animation

Unique behavior animations for creating natural phenomena like wind, gravity, and vortex
Sophisticated simulations like attract, repel, and orbit, which create multilayered 3D animations
Text sequencing for automating complex title animations in 3D space
Auto-animated Parameter controls like oscillate, wriggle, and more
Parameter linking for driving secondary animations
Retiming behaviors automate ramping in and out of speed changes.
Audio behavior for syncing animations with audio tracks
MIDI behavior for triggering parameter changes via any MIDI device
Shape behaviors allow for tracking points on a shape or creating random wriggling animated shapes.
Complete keyframe-based animation tools
Keyframe editor with Bezier, Linear, Constant, and Ease In/Ease Out curve interpolations

Keyframe edit tool, keyframe sketch tool, and a keyframe box manipulation tool
Copy and paste keyframes from different tracks and parameters
Keyframe settings for ping pong, repeat, and progressive
Record Animation feature with keyframe thinning for recording animations in real time
Draw keyframes in the Keyframe editor using a freehand pen tool.
Squish, stretch, and move groups of keyframes using a transform box.
Save curve sets for quick access to common parameters.
View animated curves for easier navigation.
View keyframes in the timeline for quick positioning.
Enable/Disable keyframe and behavior-based animations to easily compare different results.

Particle Engine

Sprite-based particle engine with accelerated performance
Over 200 particle presets for easy access to sparkles, fire, smoke, and more
Animate particles in 3D space with Face-Camera control.
Apply multiple objects or video clips as emitters.
Apply additive blend mode for intense glowing results.
Animate emitters and cells independently.

Save newly created particles in the Library for reuse in other projects.
Choose between point, line, rectangle, circle, box, sphere, and more for emitter shapes.
Control birth rate, life, speed, angle, spin, scale, and gradient colors for particle cells.
Scale particles over their life or add behaviors like orbit and vortex for amazing 3D results with little effort.

Paint Effects

Paint with pressure-sensitive vector-based brushstrokes.
Select from over 140 customizable brush styles from traditional to abstract.
Modify brush width, color, opacity, and jitter over the stroke path.
Automatically draw on and draw off with full customization.
Edit brushstrokes as Bezier or advanced B-spline paths.

Rotate the stroke in 3D space with Face-Camera control for volumetric 3D strokes.
Assign pressure and speed to brush properties when using a pen and tablet.
Enable dynamics on paint dabs for particle paint type effects.
Apply Replicator-like sequencing animations that can cause the paint stroke to ripple through 3D space.

Replicator Tool

Automatic replication of any graphic, text object, or movie file along defined patterns
Over 200 Replicator presets that can be completely customized and resaved
Animate replicated patterns in 3D space with Face-Camera control.
Save newly created Replicators in the Library for reuse in other projects.
Choose between line, rectangle, circle, burst, spiral, wave, box, sphere, and more for Replicator patterns.
Define the number of rows, columns, and 3D ranks that fill or outline the pattern.
Control pattern size, cell size, angle, scale, and gradient colors for Replicator cells.

Change the offset for rows and columns, causing them to shift position across the defined pattern.
Control origin of animation from various points of the pattern.
Add random scale and angle setting for more natural replications.
Apply additive blend mode for intense glowing results.
Set color of replicated objects from a single tint to a user-defined range.
Add Replicator Sequence behavior for wavelike animations over various patterns.

Title Design

Vector-based text engine for creating clean type at any size
Import capability supporting Text and RTF files to create Motion text objects
Format text using size, rotation, slant, tracking, kerning, and more.
Animate individual text characters in 3D space using customizable text behaviors.
Transform single characters with the Adjust Glyph tool.
Select from a common set of blend modes, including normal, multiply, screen, and add.
Customize text styles with control over the face, outline, glow, and drop shadow.
Type-on and text-on-a-path layout/animation options
Scroll and Crawl layouts and animation options that support large amounts of text

Text field parameter in Inspector makes it easy to edit text even if text is obscured in the Canvas.
Fill text with solid or multipoint gradients.
Apply static images or video clips as textures to text faces.
Control textures using hold frame, offset, wrap modes, and opacity.
Support for Asian, Cyrillic, and other Unicode system fonts
Right-to-left and vertical text support for non-Roman languages like Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic
Search-and-replace function to find and modify specific text throughout a project
Shrink-to-fit option that automatically resizes text to fit into a given area

Tracking and
Stabilization

Match move using single-point tracking or four-corner pinning
Create tracking data that can be referenced by multiple objects.
Track a filter’s onscreen position controls.
Offset tracking for creating a single track from multiple offsets
Tracking behavior highlights best potential tracking points, eliminating guesswork.
Advanced tracking algorithm maintains accurate analysis when patterns rotate or skew.
Smart retry feature resets the search region automatically for less user intervention.

Provide directional hints for fast-moving regions by using the look-ahead feature.
Stabilize using traditional point stabilizer or optical flow analysis.
Automated optical flow stabilizer bypasses selecting points and time-consuming setup.
SmoothCam optical flow analysis removes jitter and rocking from handheld shots while retaining overall camera moves.
Adjust amount of smoothing applied to transforms, rotation, and scaling in real time.

Accelerated
Filters and
Effects

Over 110 accelerated filters for real-time interactivity
More than 10 blur filters, including Gaussian, Channel Blur, Radial Blur, and Defocus
Simple and bevel borders
More than 15 color correction filters, including Color Balance, Gradient Colorize, Color Reduce, and Threshold
More than 25 distortion filters, including Refraction, Insect Eye, Glass Distortion, Ripple, Scrape, and Polar
Stunning glow effects for Light Rays, Bloom, Aura, and more
Keying filter that automatically analyzes the dominant color of the visible frame and presents onscreen controls for refining the sample color and edges of the key
Keying controls for filing holes, adjusting edge distance, spill level, and light wrap

Advanced keying color-wheel control for adjusting the tolerance and softness in the chroma and luma channels of the keyed region
Stylize filters like Vignette, Bad TV, Bad Film, Color Emboss, Halftone, Line Art, and Slit Tunnel
Unique kaleidoscope and tiling filters
Time-based filters for echo and strobe effects
Video filters for deinterlacing and broadcast-safe colors and luminance
Generators that automatically generate patterns, noise, colors, caustics, and concentric shapes and spirals
Text generators that create and animate text elements like numbers, currency, dates, and timecode or can generate text using the contents of a text file

Masking Tools

Bezier or advanced B-spline masking tools
Create ovals, rectangles, and arbitrary freehand shapes.
Control opacity, rounding, and edge feathering.
Combine masks using mathematical operations.

Track entire shapes or control points using tracking behaviors.
Create image masks from alpha, luminance, or RGB values of a second image.

Audio

Support for AIFF, WAV, MP3, VBR MP3, and AAC (MPEG-4 Audio)
Edit audio tracks in the timeline with trim, slip, and move.
Retime audio tracks with pitch change.
Scrub audio tracks for frame-accurate positioning.

Control balance, gain, mute, and solo individually.
Use master audio controls for global audio adjustments.
Trigger parameter changes based on audio frequencies or transient hits.

Final Cut Pro
Integration
and Third-Party
Support

Create and save Smart Templates in Motion for titles, effects, transitions, and generators to make them available in Final Cut Pro for drag-and-drop application without rendering.
Rigs allow multiple parameters to be controlled with simplified sliders, pop-up menus, or checkboxes.
Predefined aspect-ratio snapshots make templates automatically fit the Final Cut Pro project frame size.
Define fixed durations for intro and outro sections in templates; Final Cut Pro adjusts the title body to fit the timing in the middle.

Rigs and parameters can be published in a template for simplified control in Final Cut Pro.
Import vector PDF graphics, Photoshop layered documents, BMP, GIF, JPEG, PICT, PNG, TIFF, TGA, or Open EXR files.
FxPlug 2 for GPU-accelerated third-party filters and effects, including support for shapes, paths, cameras, and lights
Support for Image Unit plug-ins

Export

Share feature to export and deliver content automatically to devices like iPod and Apple TV or to services like Facebook, Vimeo, and YouTube in a few clicks.
Export to ProRes, H.264, MPEG-4, and other QuickTime-supported codecs.
Export as movies or image sequences.
Export as OpenEXR format.
Support for progressive and field-based rendering

Accelerated motion blur with customizable shutter
Save custom export settings for easier selection.
Settings created in Compressor can be accessed directly from the Share feature in Motion 5 and Final Cut Pro X.
Send a whole project to Compressor for advanced encoding requirements.
Export Selection can render out selected objects.

——————————————————————————————————–
And here is the Compressor spec, with no mention of 64 bit:

Minimum
System
Requirements

Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better
2GB of RAM (4GB of RAM recommended)
OpenCL-capable graphics card or
Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later
256MB of VRAM

Display with 1280-by-768 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.6.7 or later
ProKit 7.0 or later
685MB of disk space

High-
Performance
Encoding

H.264 multipass encoding for Blu-ray discs and files
Support for red laser burning of AVCHD discs for playback in compatible Blu‑ray players
H.264 encoding for Apple devices, web, and mobile devices
Support for image sequence sources: TIFF, Targa, DPX, JPEG, and OpenEXR
Support for encoding HTTP live streaming
Support for encoding to TIFF, Targa, DPX, JPEG, and OpenEXR image sequences
Full QuickTime support
MPEG-2 encoding
MPEG-1 encoding
MPEG-4 encoding
Two-pass VBR encoding for MPEG-2
Dolby-certified encoding to Dolby Digital Professional AC-3 format
Accepts QuickTime (single-channel or multichannel), AIFF, Sound Designer, and WAV files
Advanced chaptering for Apple TV and podcasting
Closed-caption support for Apple devices, QuickTime, and MPEG-2
Automatic setting creation via drag and drop of a QuickTime file
Scaling and down-converting
Standards conversions
Retiming
Preview with split-screen comparison
High-quality image processing

Batch templates with job actions for automating workflows from encoding to delivery, including:
Add to iTunes Library
Create DVD
Create Blu-ray Disc*
Create Web Reference Movie
Open with Application
Prepare for HTTP Live Streaming
Run Automator Workflow
Publish to YouTube
Publish to Facebook
Publish to Vimeo
Publish to CNN iReport
Send Email
Podcast Producer Workflow
More than 100 presets included
Automated encoding with droplets
Automatic and custom cropping
Automatic and custom padding
Automatic copying of source media for reference media to encoding nodes
Automatic FTP
Reverse telecine
Deinterlacing
Enhanced droplets for easy desktop encoding

Built-in
Distributed
Encoding

Built-in setup for distributed encoding, including This Computer sharing options as well as the ability to create rendering jobs and administer clusters
Create Rendering Jobs option to run third-party process on available clusters

Full cluster administration tools including maximum number of jobs to be run, email notifications, and security permissions

Dolby Digital
Professional
Encoding

Dolby-certified encoding to Dolby Digital Professional AC-3 format
Accepts QuickTime (single-channel or multichannel), AIFF, Sound Designer, and WAV format sound files for encoding

Support for all channel formats from mono to 5.1 surround
Automatically creates 2.0 or 5.1 based on the number of channels in the source media file
Confidence decoding for preview of AC‑3 files

Video Filters

BlackWhite Restore
Brightness and Contrast
Color Correct Highlights
Color Correct Midtones
Color Correct Shadows
Deinterlacing
Fade In/Out
Gamma Correction

Letterbox
Noise Removal
Sharpen Edge
Text Overlay
Timecode Generator
Watermark (Image, animated with QuickTime or Motion files)

Audio Filters

Dynamic Range
Peak Limiter
Apple: AUGraphicEQ
Fade In/Out
——————————————————————————————————–
These are full cut and pastes directly from Apples web site.
In the specs for X, they clearly call out the app as being a 64 bit app.
But when it comes to Motion and Compressor, there is no such spec.
In the Motion specs they say this ” Color bits per channel: 16-bit float for GPU rendering; 32-bit float for background software rendering of Motion projects in Final Cut Pro (float processing requires a graphics card with 256MB of VRAM; 512MB or more recommended)“, and never is the term 64 bit used.
I find it odd that they tout 64 bit on the main page of Motion, but when you get to the actual specs, there is nothing but the sound of crickets.
Compressor doesn’t even mention 64 bit anywhere.

Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair

Where were you on 6/21?

[Craig Seeman]

All you have to do is look at Activity Monitor to see what’s 64bit.
Motion 5 is 64 bit.

[Herb Sevush]

Andy –

All my work is multi-cam, I have no intention of giving Apple any more of my money until there is at least a chance that X (or XI) will be useful to me; at the moment it isn’t.

As for the skimmer, all I said in my original post is “I don’t care”, as in, this is not a feature that would make me either embrace or reject any NLE. When I was told I was missing something essential I merely relayed a differing opinion from someone else who had tried it, to show there was not unanimity on the subject. I have no opinion on it one way or the other.

I’m sure there are many things in FCPX that I would probably like if I tried it. But not all the skimmers and smart bins in the world will make up for the lack of functionality that now exists. And the overall “trackless magnetic timeline” seems totally incongruous with my work flow.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Walter Soyka]

I’m seeing a lot of the early FCP7/FCPX arguments rehashed in this thread, but without the context of the original discussion.

FCP7 was a flexible editorial platform with large third-party support and which not only supported interchange (EDL) but also advanced it (FCP XML). It was built on an outdated codebase, but it offered all the functionality necessary for basic editorial and for participation in “complex workflows” (which seems to be the best semantic resolution to the pro vs. non-pro argument that I’ve seen yet).

FCPX is a new editorial platform with novel interface and editorial paradigm, limited third-party support, and zero interchange ability (for now). It’s built on a thoroughly modern codebase, and while it offers very little functionality necessary for complex workflows, it’s a great foundation for future development.

This argument has become about when or whether FCPX will add features. Will FCPX 10.1 add features? Certainly — but so will Avid MC 6 and Premiere Pro CS6, and both of them already offer basic NLE functionality that didn’t make it into FCPX. Which one will be the best? Impossible to say — not only can you not define “the best,” but none of these apps are actually shipping yet!

That said, I think this totally glosses over what really shocked everyone about FCPX two months ago.

FCP was an industry leader, but out of the blue, Apple rebooted the FCP franchise. They decided that an application could still carry the Final Cut Pro name, even if it didn’t have post fundamentals like video monitoring, tape I/O, editorial interchange, or legacy format support.

With this move, Apple created a huge gap in the market. If you need video monitoring to do your job, Apple does not have an NLE product to sell to you. If you need multicam, Apple does not have an NLE product to sell to you. If you need to share your work with a colorist or audio specialist, Apple does not have an NLE product to sell to you.

Apple in effect told the entire “complex workflow” segment of the business, “Thanks for your support over the last decade, but we are not currently interested in your business.” They either didn’t understand how important these features were to the “complex workflow” segment of the market, or they didn’t care. Either scenario indicates that they are out of touch with these editors.

This conversation is about so much more than 32-bit vs. 64-bit, or open timeline vs. magnetic timeline. In industry terms, it’s about stability, goodwill and trust. It’s about how quickly a hard-earned reputation can be tarnished. For me personally, it’s about understanding whether Apple understands and is interested in meeting my professional needs or not.

All this speculation is what raised everyone’s hopes so high for the erstwhile FCP8 release in the first place, and while I think it’s very premature to count Apple out of the NLE game, I think we need to be careful about being overly optimistic about what Apple can cram through development for FCPX 10.1.

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