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So has the 10.3 Update calmed your fears on the Future of FCPX?
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[Oliver Peters] “It’s only software. It doesn’t define what I do or don’t do.”
Yes but if the speed or functionality of the software you use a lot of the time is improved considerably then that IS a reason for exuberance. The timeline I’m working on at the moment is 110 minutes long and there is NO LAG, it’s a project I do every year so it gives me a yardstick on how FCPX is doing.and this is the first time I’ve been able to have a timeline of this length without lag in FCPX. I’m pretty exuberant about that!
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[Steve Connor] “The timeline I’m working on at the moment is 110 minutes long and there is NO LAG, it’s a project I do every year so it gives me a yardstick on how FCPX is doing.and this is the first time I’ve been able to have a timeline of this length without lag in FCPX.”
Lag when you are doing what functions and with what media? I’ve had some feature-length timelines in X and its been fine before 10.3 and on older towers, too. For the most part I see similar performance in Premiere and Media Composer (excluding skimming, of course). For end-to-end completion they are all pretty much on par. Some faster in some areas and others faster in others. At least in my experience.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Oliver, I have been thinking a bit more about this discussion, and I just wanted to add a thing. Not really useful, but I wanted to throw it out there:
When Apple released the original Macbook Air it was 1800 dollars, had a slow hard drive, not that much connections, and battery life was mediocre. When Apple released the redesigned Macbook Airs (2010 I think, could be wrong), this ‘evolution’ of the idea made it into an instant hit, that became the de facto standard laptop that a LOT of people bought from Apple.
Maybe the whole Roles thing is the same? Yes it is an evolution, not a revolution. But if it’s good enough, it can change big things for the popularity of the product (in this case FCPX) ?
https://mathieughekiere.wordpress.com
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I think you’re being overly pessimistic Oliver. I don’t really care if Apple kills FCPX, but for now it’s my NLE of choice and my favorite NLE by far. If Apple pulled the plug I’d be cool moving to Windows and Premiere/Resolve and finally in a hardware world that I have some control over. Apple had no problem updating and then killing off Shake, which was the gold-standard for compositing at the time. So anythings possible.
But I think this is a substantial update, the way roles self-organize on the timeline is insane and something no other NLE maker has probably even thought of and honestly substantial enough that I would have paid for the upgrade. I’ve seen much more positive progress since the release of X in 2011 than anything Adobe or Avid has done. Resolve is looking stronger all the time but still not, for me, as good as X when it come to editing. As far as performance improvements. I agree with Steve, I find it much improved with a big (feature length) timeline – 4K 444XQ – no sweat!
Wondering what they’ll do next…
It was at a Vegas premiere that I resolved to become an avid FCPX user.
Lance Bachelder
Writer, Editor, Director
Downtown Long Beach, California
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680680/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 -
[Lance Bachelder] “I think you’re being overly pessimistic Oliver.”
You’re are probably right. But in the context of the original question – whether this release calmed fears about FCPX – I still contend that for me, it didn’t. But I never had any of the pros versus consumer concerns about FCPX to begin with. Where I have concerns is that Apple’s public commitment at the start was for 10 years and, as yet, nothing has been stated by them otherwise.
Personally, I think we’d all be better off if Apple spun off ProApps into its own company, like FileMaker. At least then there would be a better yardstick for the future. Given how Apple operates, I think there will always be a question, and you either roll with it or go to other solutions.
[Lance Bachelder] “But I think this is a substantial update”
I agree there are a lot of items in this release. My issue is that given the time they’ve been working on it, I expected more. So I have to question whether engineering resources were diverted in between to work on other things.
[Lance Bachelder] “Apple had no problem updating and then killing off Shake, which was the gold-standard for compositing at the time. So anythings possible.”
Isn’t that the core of the question that started this thread? And aren’t you actually saying the same thing I did, but in a different way?
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Mathieu Ghekiere] “Maybe the whole Roles thing is the same? Yes it is an evolution, not a revolution. But if it’s good enough, it can change big things for the popularity of the product (in this case FCPX) ?”
Maybe. I just have a hard time seeing it become widespread across the industry among professional users. Heck, I see very few active users of X making extensive use of roles, either.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Oliver Peters] “Heck, I see very few active users of X making extensive use of roles, either.”
Because if you didn’t deliver multichannel outputs, or go to audio post, there was really no use for them? Now, even if you don’t have a use for multichannel output, or send out to mix, there’s a use for Roles.
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[Lance Bachelder] “I don’t really care if Apple kills FCPX, but for now it’s my NLE of choice and my favorite NLE by far. “
Exactly. We all know more than one NLE, so if one happens to go away, you just move on.
Remember Avid|DS? 😉
Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
1708 Inc./Editorial
Professor, VCU Brandcenter -
[Jeremy Garchow] “Because if you didn’t deliver multichannel outputs, or go to audio post, there was really no use for them? Now, even if you don’t have a use for multichannel output, or send out to mix, there’s a use for Roles.
“I was going to say something similar. As someone who keeps watching X but hasn’t used it yet, the addition of Lanes, as well as color coding, solves a visual organization shortcoming compared to other NLEs. It also provides an immediate, useful benefit to using roles.
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I think the big picture view is that 15 years ago, Apple’s toe hold or life line was in the heart of the creative biz, video editing, photo editing, layout, printing etc. So Apple had created a niche in the creative world which was essential to their survival. THen there was the iPod, iPad, iPhone, and apple became a large consumer company based on those devices and their ecosystems of hardware and software. MacPros and other more niche things like video editing, photo editing that call for machines with lots of connectivity options and computing power are but a rounding error in Apple’s bottom line these days.
For those of us that spend our days working these niche realms whether or not Apple releases a new and more powerful cpu means a lot as HD 1080 becomes the new ‘DV’ and 4K and higher resolutions become more common in our work. For Apple, a new Mac Pro is just a rounding error in terms of revenue. They could probably find an equivalent amount of money by pulling out some couch cushions and looking in some crevices.
For those of us laboring in these niches, the feeling is one of insecurity, because some of the tools we like and use could dry up at some random moment.
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