Reconsidering FCPX in Hollywood

[Simon Ubsdell]

[Scott Witthaus] “Editors are notorious for resisting change.”

This is a time-worn cliché that is easily falsified by the massive take-up of FCP Legacy … without which this forum (among others things) would not be here today.

[Scott Witthaus] “I highly doubt Apple cares. They see a great big world outside of Hollywood and the US where the product seems to be doing better than the rest.”

However the subject of this thread is the take-up of FCP X in Hollywood, so while this might be true it’s also not relevant to the discussion.

Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki

[Steve Connor]

[Simon Ubsdell] “o while this might be true it’s also not relevant to the discussion.”

Since when did we EVER keep to the subject of the discussion?

[Scott Witthaus]

Thanks Simon. Point well taken.

FCP Legacy gave the “traditional editor” (your words) a whole new level of competition. It did 80% of what a MC system could do (and then some) and a really cheap price point. It wasn’t really that different. The big complaint from the “traditional editor” about FCP-L was “its so cheap now every college kid can do what we do”. The change came when “traditional editors” and their shops started getting their collective a**es kicked by these “college kids”.

Avid DS was a system that could run rings around MC and Symph and the biggest complaint from the “traditional editor” was “it’s not like MC. I don’t want to have to learn it”. Trust me, I was there.

And now the “traditional editor” who used FCP-L or MC has the same complaints about X. I have heard network sports editors say, “yeah, it looks great and may be better, but I just don’t want to have to learn it so don’t talk to me about it”. The reason X stands out is because it’s different and many folks simply don’t want to try something new, even it can make their workflow better. What they have works. And that’s all well and good. I am sure some movies in Hollywood are still being cut on very old Avid systems (Meridien, anyone?). And why not? You can’t force change.

It’s all cool. Change is not easy. We all resist it in some way. Doing my time in academia I constantly see this with faculty.

Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Visual Storyteller
https://vimeo.com/channels/1322525
Managing Partner, Low Country Creative LLC
Professor, VCU Brandcenter

[Aindreas Gallagher]

I’m sorry, but there is a reason no one ever reconsidered the various insanities of the magnetic timeline, secondary storylines, connected clips, auditions or any other random stupid balls Apple decided to come up with.

It was broadly rejected out of hand as an illiterate methodology scrawl from a post iPhone company effectively high on its own supply.
FCPX was, and largely remains, a pompous long standing industry joke piece of software. It’s the literal antithesis of FCP.

It was, is, and will ever be, a rare kind of software we all can laugh at for good reason. My connected clips you guys. I think I need a secondary storyline.

https://vimeo.com/user1590967
producer/editor.grading/motion graphics

[Oliver Peters]

Dude! Welcome back. Or maybe that was just a drive-by. Like a blast of fresh air, though… Well, maybe ☺

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Tony West]

[Neil Goodman] “Thats my point – and thank you for punctuating it.

Editors need a reason to switch – a bunch of people saying “hey look its faster”, month after month for the last 7 years obviously hasn’t made a difference to them or overridden the bad rep it got at the start.”

You are actually making MY point. In order to have a “reason” you need to know about the reason. That’s what he’s doing. He’s trying to reach folks who might not know about what he’s pointing out. If they already knew what he was saying there would be no reason to tell them.

I think you and some others feel like most editors are paying attention to forums like this and sitting around constantly taking about different NLE’s. I almost never hear anybody doing that. I convinced people to try X either by showing them tools or telling them about it. At no time did any of those folks say “I already knew that”.

I tried X because I saw videos online (like this one) showing different tools. There are over 8 thousand people that have seen that clip in a couple of days.

[Aindreas Gallagher]

come on though, this is the oldest joke in editing. This forum is the last standing bar of FCPX. It’s filled with a certain class of editors telling anyone who’ll hear that they are about to break across the world and spread the good word we haven’t heard yet.

Should have listened to my old man, there’s plenty like me to be found, so goodbye yellow brick road, should have heard the yellow brick road. As the lyric goes.

And so, farewell FCPX. With a dagger thrust through your heart. We chose to kill you.

https://vimeo.com/user1590967
producer/editor.grading/motion graphics

[Neil Goodman]

I agree with you, I was trying to make the same point, that people aren’t educated about it, sorry that didn’t come through clearer. I too don’t know any other editors personally that browse forums. This and some Facebook groups are the only forums I’m in, and this is the only place I ever come to on the cow.

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

In Belgium, somewhere in March 2014 I think, (long before 10.3, which would have made even more impression) I gave a demo of FCPX to a group of industry professionals and even some ex-teachers from school.
They recognised me and told me before the event: “We’re just here to see the stuff about the new Mac Pro. You can try and convince us about FCPX, but we hate it, we tried it, we hate it.” I just smiled, not a lot you can say to that.

I did a demo of FCPX, and afterwards they asked me all kinds of specifics about the program. A year later (because in education they had to get every budget thing approved etc), they asked me to give them a 3-evening workshop to teach them FCPX, which they completely switched to.

So yeah. A lot of people only know the program from inception and never gave it another look. It was a disastrous launch by Apple.
But people who see the program in action by someone who really knows it, and takes a couple of hours to show them correctly, instead of them trying it and just being confused and frustrated, does make a world of difference.

https://mathieughekiere.wordpress.com

[Steve Connor]

[Aindreas Gallagher] “FCPX was, and largely remains, a pompous long standing industry joke piece of software. It’s the literal antithesis of FCP.

It was, is, and will ever be, a rare kind of software we all can laugh at for good reason. My connected clips you guys. I think I need a secondary storyline.
“

We’ve missed you Aindreas ????