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Thank you Apple – and don’t change course. Please
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“FCP had only recently broken into the high-end by the time it was scuttled, Premiere Pro has yet to achieve the same cachet (and it looks like it will soon), and the rest of editing’s high-end has been dominated by Avid since the NLE replaced the flatbed.”
I think you have to keep in mind that generally, film editors at the top of their game aren’t necessarily interested in changing applications each time something new comes out. Many aren’t computer power users to begin with. Regardless, they are hired for their talent and not the ability to manipulate software. So for many, it’s a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
FCP “legacy” was a good hybrid of the old and new at a low cost, so it got traction. Precisely because it wasn’t completely locked down was what made it malleable in a number of different workflows that put it “above its weight class”. With X, Apple has chosen to ignore many of the familiar features with the trade-off of adding a lot of new ones. Some folks will gravitate to those and other won’t.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Carsten Orlt] “Could you explain how it does work when you put 5 different codecs into one sequence? Will the final output switch on the fly between the different codecs or does it convert everything on the fly to a chosen master codec? I always thought you need a final render in the end at least? “
You don’t need any codec for processing or preview.
In FCP, processing is done in 8/10b uncompressed 444 (or 8b RGB) whatever the stuff you put in the sequence. The sequence codec is only applied when you write a file (rendering or exporting).
rafael -
[Andrew Richards] “I taught myself FCP, but stuff like AutoCAD and Maya is waaaaay more complex. Full-featured NLEs aren’t trivial, but they aren’t the most complex software out there by a long shot.”
We may be talking about two different things, Andrew. I’m talking about the difficulties in authoring, not in learning/using. As such I’ll stand by my claim. NLE’s must do a wide variety of tasks for a wide variety of uses and users. They must interface with the analogue world of a wide spectrum of hardware. I can’t imagine that any 3D software, as complex as they are to learn and use, is as complex to write. But maybe one of the Adobe engineers who respond to questions here could venture an opinion without bias.
[Andrew Richards] “I guess it depends on your definition of “great”, but for OS X’s part, the engineers that built it at NeXT went to work at Apple and turned it into OS X, so it isn’t like Apple didn’t have or doesn’t now have top-teir engineering talent. Autodesk didn’t develop Smoke, they bought Discreet. After Effects originated outside Adobe. Avid acquired DS. What’s the difference?”
A fair point about OSX requiring good engineering (‘great’ would depend on your pov but I’ll grant you that :). Autodesk absorbed the discreet engineering team, but Autocad was almost completely developed in house. Adobe developed PremierePro completely in house. But point out a ‘major’ app (other than OSX)that Apple developed from the ground up.
[Andrew Richards] ” Premiere Pro has yet to achieve the same cachet (and it looks like it will soon)”
It seems Adobe is fully committed to competing at the high end. I think we’ll see some good uptake this year and when their media management rivals Avid’s they’ll be well positioned.
David
AllinOneFilms.com -
[Scott Sheriff] “What the heck? As long as you have what you want, who cares about the rest of us? Right?”
Scott, I agree with most of what you are saying, but frankly, I’ve just given up. X is what it is and making the demand that it be something else seems fruitless.
After all the NAB news this year, I’ve decided to stop comparing X to FCS. They unfortunately share a name, but thats ALL they have in common. I believe it was a poor decision on Apple’s part to kill FCS. I still use it nearly every day, and frankly it was a b!tch to start retooling again, but I’m on that path now, so ‘uk ’em. There are really great choices that tower over X for the kind of work I do, and a fortunate side effect of the killing of FCS is that these choices are much more affordable. So, nasty problems, but a wee bit of win-win, as well.
X is this interesting $300-400 program that I’m intrigued by, but not particularly crazy about. Some of its thinking is kind of cool, but a lot of it seems muddled by its own glitzy training wheels. It is unsuitable for my professional use, and there is nothing to lead me to believe that it ever will be. I don’t believe that Apple is working in that direction. X is not a valid replacement for FCP 7, but in my world all the people who need to know that, pretty much know that now.
When people call X revolutionary, I think that’s a bit delusional, but I’ve also been trying to recognize that it has its uses for many people. I think Carsten’s right–that it shouldn’t change course. Mostly I think this because its too late. It is what it is now. And, I guess, after a year–for me–that’s just a big “Oh, well.”
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I feel the need to respond.
I’m not mad at Apple, and I’m not sure if FCPX is going to work for us or if Apple computers are ultimately going to be the “right” choice.
We run a very small facility.
Facility is too big of a word. We don’t wear berets when we edit, so boutique isn’t quite right either. My perspective isn’t relevant to every situation.
We haven’t spent money on new Apple editing gear (hardware/software) in quite a while.
Of course there’s the occasional production gear upgrades (we are full service production/post) and little software bumps here and there, hard drives, OS, LTO, etc. Most of that is not going to Apple.
The EOL of Final Cut Server is probably the most expensive loss from this situation. That’s a big one to invest in and get working. This would be maddening if we had FCServer.
Our computers aren’t the fastest in the world, or the newest. We have been waiting like everyone else, and we instead invested in infrastructure in the form of a fairly open, file based SAN as it was the right time and frankly, we needed it.
When the computers were new, FCP7 was fairly new, so in the scheme of FCP7 technology, we are still running cutting edge commodity machines/support gear, or at least the very best that Apple had to offer. I will maintain that Apple computers have never been the most powerful (read fastest) computers in the world. People tend to forget this, and I think that people had a huge slap in the face realization when FCP7 was EOLd. It forced them to take a really good look around, and that is perfectly valid. Good on ’em. Use what is right for you, and if Apple doesn’t fit that bill, so be it. It happens all the time in the business world. Directions change.
I also get the sense that there’s a rush to go out and buy something.
Why?
Don’t get me wrong, there are times when purchases need to happen immediately. I get that, and of course, we have to set price deals aside as there hasn’t been a better time to jump in the NLE game. Apple isn’t the only one playing the price game if anyone feels “devalued”. Smoke 2012 dropped to $3495, that’s 2012 not the unreleased 2013, Symphony is a $1000 cross grade, you can get the entire CS6 suite for $30/month. In that sense, now is a good time to buy, but what do you buy and why buy them all?
FCP7 is going to be around for a while, simply because not everyone is going to simply jump. We can’t jump, and if we can’t jump, I assume that there’s many many like us who can’t jump. We aren’t going to rush out and buy every NLE deal and cross grade and a small pile of Windows boxes. We simply don’t have the time, it financially doesn’t make much sense, and we are busy enough that we couldn’t take the time to run all softwares at once anyway. So we stick with FCP7 for a little while, yet. It still works pretty well. Nothing has been broken. And then we download free trials. 30 days is probably enough time to figure out if a tool is going to work or not.
Of course, this won’t last forever. Something will break, or something will require a hardware update. Then what do we do? Do we have to go all in to Windows? Really?
What is it about that situation that makes my future more certain by buying a PC and other software?
Have you priced a top of the line HP z820? Have you clicked the buy button?
Do we just buy iMacs and deal with it?
After playing around on a buddies brand spanking new Thunderbolted quad core iMac, I tell you what, it’s not that bad of a reality. A real and true reality.
Did I ever think it would be? Hell no. No way.
It is not necessarily the direction I would have picked? Nope.
I don’t really like the iMac form factor. But as a computer, a real and usable computer, it is pretty f*cking great. Sure, I won’t be doing stereoscopic uncompressed 6k edits, but you know what, neither will 99.99999% of total editors everywhere.
We will also have to go out and buy a few new replacement pieces of gear in the form of some faction of Thunderbolt/external PCIe. In short, once we do make a decision, we will spend the money on on hardware what we probably would have spent on the proverbial FCP8 update.
I started in this business with a laptop because it was all I could afford that the time. After I got my first desktop, there was no way you were prying that thing out of my hands. But now?
Apple is simply the most recent company to put something to bed and sure, Apple might EOL other software someday, but my guess is that other companies will EOL other software too, or decide to go in another direction if profits aren’t working out. After all, this is a business. A huge business.
You have a business right? Do you keep cranking out videos hoping someone will come in the door and buy them, or do you make better business decisions and figure out how to make the customers that are actually paying for your services more profitable? Apple has all the money to keep making MacPros, but is that the right business decision to make?
My feeling is that FCP7 didn’t fit in to their business plans anymore than handhelds fit in to HP’s business plans. For now.
Plus, if you look at the technology, and really take a good look at it before shrugging it off, there are signs that all is not lost. If sticking with Apple, will it be a big, loud, heavy sizzle core? No. We try and do our best to hide those from client view anyway.
What lead you to believe that Apple was looking out for you and your business, and why does Apple need to shoulder that responsibility?
What other company, NLE or otherwise, gives you complete confidence that you will be able to get through the next 10 years? And why should they shoulder that responsibility?
I ask all of these questions honestly. I’d love to get your take on it.
So, as you say, if FCP wasn’t all that high end (and I am total agreement with that statement) why are you so mad? What is there to be angry about? Look around, there is much to see and learn, and once you venture out in to the post FCS world, you will see it’s not all that bad, and in a lot of cases, much much better. So, while FCPX might not be the best for you, I agree with Carsten. Carry on, Apple.
Jeremy
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[Jeremy Garchow] “We don’t wear berets when we edit, so boutique isn’t quite right either.”
Sorry, dude. The official boutique uniform is jeans, black tee-shirt, and running shoes. No berets. I bet you guys fit right in.
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I should add one now thing to Dennis’ post: you only have to render on output if you’re going to a file. If you’re going to tape via sdi it’s direct.
David
AllinOneFilms.com -
[Chris Harlan] “Sorry, dude. The official boutique uniform is jeans, black tee-shirt, and running shoes. No berets. I bet you guys fit right in.”
We resemble that comment, except it’s 80 degrees here today, so actually, it’s shorts.
And my dog is sleeping on the floor next to me.
Jeremy
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[Chris Harlan] “X is what it is and making the demand that it be something else seems fruitless.”
I’m not 100% convinced of that. Although I take it with a grain of salt when Apple PR tells me something was done in response to customers, I do believe that RED support, better multitrack audio editing and dual viewers (3 of the 4 things pre-announced for the next version) are making their way into X because of customer feedback. It was specifically stated to me as such, and I do tend to believe it. So, while most of what we want from an “FCP8” probably aren’t in the design, I do think ProApps is looking at ways to tweak the product. I think they shipped everything that was in the pipeline with 10.0.3 and now they are fishing around for the right direction to continue that development, as long as it fits into the structure that’s been built.
Heck, maybe we’ll even get tracks. Oh wait, this is reality…. Lost it there for a moment 😉
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[David Cherniack] “We may be talking about two different things, Andrew. I’m talking about the difficulties in authoring, not in learning/using. As such I’ll stand by my claim. NLE’s must do a wide variety of tasks for a wide variety of uses and users. They must interface with the analogue world of a wide spectrum of hardware. I can’t imagine that any 3D software, as complex as they are to learn and use, is as complex to write”
I’m certainly not qualified to adjudicate that either.
[David Cherniack] “But point out a ‘major’ app (other than OSX) that Apple developed from the ground up. “
There is Xcode, which is arguably the most important app that Apple develops (at least from Apple’s perspective). There is also Safari, or more importantly the Webkit engine it runs on. I intentionally left out Motion and Aperture, as they might not qualify as “major”.
[David Cherniack] “It seems Adobe is fully committed to competing at the high end. I think we’ll see some good uptake this year and when their media management rivals Avid’s they’ll be well positioned.”
I agree- they seem to be at that momentum tipping point FCP was at around FCP5. I doubt they will unseat Avid as the king of studio features and episodic TV, but it will fill most of the vacuum left by FCP7.
Best,
Andy
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