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Walter Murch won’t use FCX
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Devin,
I agree the headline here is a bit misleading. On the other hand, the linked article states:
“He used FCP7, which he acknowledged may be the last time he uses Final Cut Pro.”
Walter Murch seems pretty ambivalent about FCPX, and I’m sure he’ll be testing workflows and considering a number of different NLEs. Which is pretty much where most FCP editors are right now, from what I see.
Franz.
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[Franz Bieberkopf] “Walter Murch seems pretty ambivalent about FCPX, and I’m sure he’ll be testing workflows and considering a number of different NLEs. Which is pretty much where most FCP editors are right now, from what I see.”
I’m not so sure he will necessarily be evaluating workflows with X. He moved to FCP for “Cold Mountain” because Digital Film Tree had worked out the kinks. This was also after the Coens had started using it. I don’t see any suppliers at the DFT level jumping onto the FCP X bandwagon yet. I also think that given the perception in Hollywood about X, it’s going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to convince a studio to risk millions on a post workflow based on X. Maybe in 3 years or more. “CM” was cut with FCP 3. I also suspect that he’s not the only highly visible FCP feature editor who has sent Apple an off-the-record WTF response.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Oliver Peters] “I’m not so sure he will necessarily be evaluating workflows with X. He moved to FCP for “Cold Mountain” because Digital Film Tree had worked out the kinks.”
Yet he seems to have at least had a quick look at it and seems to be aware that Apple is working on improvements. If/when FCPX seems “ready” someone may see the opportunity to jump in and provide the backend support. It’s not there yet.
I don’t doubt that Apple’s analysis is guided by dollars and cents(sense too). Multi Million Dollar Hollywood productions only make a minuscule amount of NLE and Mac sales, I suspect. The value to Apple is in PR of course. The Apple internal evaluation may be how much does that increase sales of FCPX (which would still be only of small value to Apple) and, more importantly, how many more Macs will that sell.
It’s only a guess of course but I suspect when the new MacPros hit (early next year so it seems), FCPX may be in the throughs of another update and at that point it might be worth it for Apple to step up its marketing game depending on what the next FCPX and MacPros have to offer. It may yet take another update or two after that for FCPX to be competitive (mid to late 2012 or thereabouts) and that’s when I think Murch might have a closer look. That’s when I think there’s the possibility of a major “backend” supporter stepping into the market.
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[Craig Seeman] “Yet he seems to have at least had a quick look at it and seems to be aware that Apple is working on improvements.”
He has had regular contact with them over the years and was invited to the Feb advance screening.
[Craig Seeman] “I don’t doubt that Apple’s analysis is guided by dollars and cents(sense too). Multi Million Dollar Hollywood productions only make a minuscule amount of NLE and Mac sales, I suspect. The value to Apple is in PR of course.”
Agreed. But even the PR may be small. If you notice the Apple website, marketing case studies of features dwindled a lot since about 2008. FCP adoption in Hollywood features peaked about then, so Apple may have decided to move on.
[Craig Seeman] “I suspect when the new MacPros hit (early next year so it seems), FCPX may be in the throughs of another update and at that point it might be worth it for Apple to step up its marketing game depending on what the next FCPX and MacPros have to offer. “
IF there are new Mac Pros. That’s another thread of course, but I tend to see Apple focusing on Mini and iMac solutions. Of course, nothing but pure speculation at this point. 😉
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Alban,
To the extent you are talking about the core editing functions of the software, I largely agree. While much of the initial angst about X focused on elements such as magnetism, , it’s clear now that these were pretty easy to adapt to with a little hands-on experience.
The real complications are in learning how to maximize the use of the brand new meta-data tools. Knowing the nature, best uses, and strategies for smart collections, event libraries. What the project library allows and doesn’t allow, is actually more complex than simply learning how to assemble a basic cut in X.
That’s part of where the initial confusion came from I think. So many new trees to focus on that we literally couldn’t grasp the boundaries of the new forest very well..
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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[Oliver Peters] “He has had regular contact with them over the years and was invited to the Feb advance screening.”
[Oliver Peters] “Agreed. But even the PR may be small. If you notice the Apple website, marketing case studies of features dwindled a lot since about 2008. FCP adoption in Hollywood features peaked about then, so Apple may have decided to move on.”
FCP hasn’t had much new to offer Hollywood since then. I think it’ll be some time (at least a year or two) before Apple has anything interesting for Hollywood. Personally I think the database media management end might be a hook but I don’t think Hollywood is Apple’s priority. I think Murch’s “they like us…” comment pretty much describes where things sit. Like, not Love. Not mission critical and would be premature for that kind of relationship now.
That you see Evan Schechtman RadicalMedia/Digital Outpost making the rounds might indicate where Apple might be targeting in the shorter run. Only when (if as some feel) that happens will there be the backend support to move to the next step.
[Oliver Peters] “IF there are new Mac Pros. That’s another thread of course, but I tend to see Apple focusing on Mini and iMac solutions. Of course, nothing but pure speculation at this point. ;-)”
It may not be called MacPro but something will replace it. My own guess is it will be like a high end MacMini. Something like: two PCIe slots, one of them populated by a GPU and a second that can be used for another GPU or something else. An SSD boot drive and one standard internal hard drive. There will be no space for additional internal drives or GPUs. There may be no optical drive. It’ll have three or four Thunderbolt ports for expansion. It may be a 2 Rack Unit sized box. It’ll come in some variant of 6, 8, 12, 16 core models.
Basically it’ll look like a large MacMini. It will be very powerful and rely heavily on Thunderbolt for expansion. It’ll certainly be a “Pro” machine but given the design, might start at a lower price point.
I think Apple’s goal will be to have a higher end computer with broader appeal than the current MacPro. At that point you might see some marketing geared towards and FCPX/Thunderbolt based facility with communication designed to work well with server/san environment.
Thunderbolt will not only be part of the communication but it’ll allow one to move such peripherals to MacBookPro and even MB Air for portability and flexibility of resources.
Obviously FCPX and related will have to grow a bit more but this is where I’d guess Apple is headed.
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[Craig Seeman] “FCP hasn’t had much new to offer Hollywood since then……That you see Evan Schechtman RadicalMedia/Digital Outpost making the rounds might indicate where Apple might be targeting in the shorter run…..My own guess is it will be like a high end MacMini. “
Agreed on all counts.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Bill Davis] “The real complications are in learning how to maximize the use of the brand new meta-data tools. Knowing the nature, best uses, and strategies for smart collections, event libraries. What the project library allows and doesn’t allow, is actually more complex than simply learning how to assemble a basic cut in X.”
I find it a bit ironic that, in spite of the fact that Apple’s design direction is to simplify and be intuitive, FCP X is anything but that, once you get past the basics. Just look at how much folks in this forum are struggling to make sense out of it. I don’t think the untainted college student or YouTuber is a good measure. In almost all instances, those people are never power users of any software. I’m not criticizing – just making an observation.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Those users will be the power users. The novices to video production are remarkably adapt at this application and take to its workflow and quickly become what I would consider power users. They have no understanding of the implications of track based applications, only seeing this as stories with connections. The paradigm has an aesthetic logic that’s easy to follow.
All the best,
Tom
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Coming in 2011 “Complete Training for FCPX” from Class on Demand
“Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users” from Focal Press -
[Tom Wolsky] “The novices to video production are remarkably adapt at this application and take to its workflow and quickly become what I would consider power users.”
With all due respect, that’s also true of iMovie, Vegas and many others. In my experience, I have almost never seen novice users become power users without training. I don’t think FCP X changes that. The difference is that it is more rigid, so it’s harder for people to get in trouble. The ones that do advance on their own are those that gravitate to understanding software concepts in general. Most novice users stay at the minimum level of knowledge needed to get their immediate project done. I would suggest that many feature film editors are also not power users of NLEs. That’s why many of them rely on technically-savvy assistants.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com
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