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The old one still works
Have I missed out on something here? Doesn’t Final Cut Pro 7 continue to do all the great professional things it did last month before FCPX was released? And won’t it continue to do those things well into the future? Just because Apple says it’s time to upgrade and puts out some crappy newer version of Final Cut Pro doesn’t mean we have to spend money and buy it. In fact, I’m actually still using FCP 6 on my Macbook Pro and it still works great for my requirements in broadcast news. It’s not like Apple is switching off all the previous versions of FCP.
I’ve worked at so many places that aren’t using the absolute newest versions of Avid and their worlds don’t seem to be ending. And how many people have walked into an office somewhere that’s still running Windows XP, because Vista was just too much of a pain to upgrade to? While it would be nice to have a newer version with more bells and whistles, FCP 7 and previous versions will continue to work for years to come…during which time Apple may get its shit together and give the professional editing world something it wants.
Meanwhile, we could all just relax and keep using the program most of us can operate with our eyes closed and avoid the added stress.
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43 Replies
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Sure, but the TV station I work with is in the process of hiring a half dozen new editors, and setting up half a dozen new non-linear desks.
They have trained all their editors on Final Cut Pro.
Where do they get their new software for the new editors and editing streams?
I’m not as anti FCP X as some here. But this is an immediate issue. Not a theoretical one. And as we need defined track outputs FCP X is a non-starter.
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“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”
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I don’t want to rehash all the old FCP/FCPX arguments again, and staying on FCP7 for now is the right choice for some — but it’s not the right choice for all.
[Stuart Cohen] “Have I missed out on something here? Doesn’t Final Cut Pro 7 continue to do all the great professional things it did last month before FCPX was released? And won’t it continue to do those things well into the future?”
FCP7 is not built for modern computers and is not well-suited for native format editorial.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten the general disappointment over the FCP7 in 2009. Many users were putting up with FCP7 largely because Apple said the next release of FCP would “awesome.” The industry assumed that FCPX would be an upgrade to FCP7 that would be able to use all those powerful processing cores and GPUs, and would no longer require time-consuming ProRes transcodes to use media from modern cameras. It wasn’t — it was a whole new product, with some very powerful new features added and some very important old features missing.
Meanwhile, Adobe has taken Premiere Pro 64-bit and released the Mercury Playback Engine, and Avid has released AMA.
Apple’s competitors are not standing still, and some editors and facilities have been waiting on a big new FCP release since 2007. I can certainly understand why some are choosing not to continue work on a dead product while waiting for Apple to release the product they wanted years ago.
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 -
I guess that means there are some good deals to be had on E-bay for Final Cut Suite 3 at a fraction of the cost when it was a current program. I can’t imagine a TV station that would want to pass up a chance to save money. If all the editors are trained on FCP, they’ll be as lost if your station upgrades to FCPX as anything else.
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[Stuart Cohen] “I guess that means there are some good deals to be had on E-bay for Final Cut Suite 3 at a fraction of the cost when it was a current program. I can’t imagine a TV station that would want to pass up a chance to save money. If all the editors are trained on FCP, they’ll be as lost if your station upgrades to FCPX as anything else.”
Go look on eBay. Unopened licenses of FCS3 have been selling at a premium. Its value has gone up since Apple EOLed it.
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 -
[Stuart Cohen] “I guess that means there are some good deals to be had on E-bay for Final Cut Suite 3 at a fraction of the cost when it was a current program.”
Try about 20%-50% higher. It’s no longer being sold through traditional outlets so supplies have dropped. People still need/want new licenses so demand has increased. Prices have never been higher. And who’s to say that you’re buying a legit license? TV stations often can’t/won’t buy used, period. When I worked in TV I found all kinds of deals on used equipment but the mothership bought new only and never replaced it.
[Stuart Cohen] “If all the editors are trained on FCP, they’ll be as lost if your station upgrades to FCPX as anything else.”
Great point. But FCPX doesn’t fit into a broadcast workflow, so they’ll probably just switch to something else, use their current seats of FCP7 and start the new editors on the new program and eventually switch everyone over. Or do what my old station did – load a new edit system everywhere (Edius), then pay for a week of training (mandatory that everyone go). The next week – switch everyone over, deal with it. Worked out surprisingly well, actually.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
This really is a bizarre thing Apple decided to do isn’t it?
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So, now everyone is adding editing suits to their facilities? That’s an evolving market!
Leo Hans
Editor AVID – Final Cut Pro
https://www.leohans.com -
[Leo Hans]So, now everyone is adding editing suits to their facilities? That’s an evolving market!
What are you saying?
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Well, I misspelled
It seems that everybody is complaining the lack of available licenses. Maybe some really need new ones, but people talks like if every editor is going to buy a new license this month.
Leo Hans
Editor AVID – Final Cut Pro
https://www.leohans.com -
Does anyone remember the “New Coke” Guess this is Apple’s “New Coke”. But try actually finding that anywhere anymore. The old formula came back, after the company found a way to save face when they realized what a massive marketing flop the new product was.
Unfortunately, in the end what Apple has done isn’t all that different than what broadcast engineers and designers have done to editors going back to the days of CMX, Grass Valley and Sony BVE edit systems. Someone is always designing something they think is an improvement, without a clue how the product actually gets used by professionals in the field. And a good salesman is always able to convince some network or post house executive to spend money on that crap that makes a job harder.
Look at most of the lesser-known server-based desktop edit systems broadcast facilities are using today and ask yourself why anyone would buy Grass Valley’s Aurora system or Leitch’s old Predator system with its magenta and yellow edit points…known to the rest of the industry as in and out points…when most of the editors in the world know Avid or FCP like the backs of they hands.
Some engineer at Apple was able to convince his bosses that he had a great idea that would make our lives better. Now we’ll just have to wait until they figure out how to fix their mistake without too much embarrassment and cost. In 2 years maybe FCP X will be better known as iMovie Ultimate and the home video hobbyists will have made it a success. Meanwhile, hopefully the Pro will have been designed back into Final Cut.
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