Was Apple planning a pro exodus from the get-go?

[Peter Blumenstock]

I am willing to bet 100 bucks that Mac Pros will be history within the next year or two. What should they be good for? FCP X is basically a single monitor app, drives can attach via Thunderbolt to anything, PCI-E is irrelevant because there is no video IO and an iMac is fast enough to run anything Apple has on offer without problems. Those who may need it for Resolve or whatever – why would Apple care?

[Phil Hoppes]

Ditto. There is no need for MacPros. FCPX is fast. Its only redeeming trait that I’ve seen. Steve has a nice, mid-range NLE that will run on their laptops and iMacs. Hell, given Moore’s law still working, in a few years FCPX will run on iPads which is what Apple wanted all along. MacPro revenue and profit is in the round off error for their annual books. Take the resources and put them on iPhone and iPads where you get gobs of ROI.

As Tony Soprano use to say “Hey, it not personal, it business”

[John Berpskin]

Are you guys seriously buying into this? A pro exodus? Yeah right!

I swear this is just getting funnier by the post. Sky is falling! Sky is falling!

People – there are FAR TOO MANY FACTORS out there to be starting unsubstantiated rumors like this…. and that’s just what over half of the posts are in this forum – unsubstantiated rumors.

[Banks Meador]

What all of you just said.

It was the plan from the beginning.

The approach seems to be that they wanted to help novices keep from “messing up.”

I truly love innovation. If there were simply different ways to do some of these things, I’d be ready to learn – no worries. Different isn’t bad at all.

But compare the capabilities of this editor – even in the foreseeable future – to that of its supposed competitors, Media Composer and Premiere. It has not even half the FUNCTIONALITY (not features, though that’s a strong argument too) of its “peers.”

[John Berpskin]

Or another way of looking at it is that NO ONE has built a NLE from the ground up that is file based (vs tape based which every other editor is) and this is the first step of the journey.

I mean, did it ever occur to anyone that, with a new operating system and Thunderbolt drives coming, that you may not be seeing all of the picture yet?

[Phil Hoppes]

Ah, the infamous Thunderbolt drives that the default set up FCPX will never see, use or even know exists because everyone always stores their media on the system drive under Movies.

And yes, I truly believe that MacPro’s will be dead. I don’t believe a word that Apple or any corporation says….. I believe what they do. What Apple does, very very well BTW, is compete very profitably in the consumer market place. That’s that 80% area under the bell curve. MacPros are an outlier to that space. Apple has just demonstrated to us all via FCPX and other actions (FCP server dead, XSAN dead) they don’t wish to participate in these fringe top 10% markets. What actions have they done that shows a strong commitment to the MacPro market other that putting an upgrade mboard in the same box year after year after year. The last update was one of the most paltry updates seen. That they have completely dumped nVidia for high end graphics cards as well as in the ATI space they don’t support their FirePro series tells me they really are not serious about making and supporting high end workstations. Speaks volumes to me.

[Banks Meador]

But

[John Berpskin] ”
Or another way of looking at it is that NO ONE has built a NLE from the ground up that is file based (vs tape based which every other editor is) and this is the first step of the journey.

I mean, did it ever occur to anyone that, with a new operating system and Thunderbolt drives coming, that you may not be seeing all of the picture yet?”

But NONE of that stuff explains why such rudimentary things aren’t present. Thunderbolt drives and Lion probably won’t bring with them the ability to fine tune a dissolve with the precision of every other pro editor out there, including FCP 7. It probably won’t bring with it the ability to make a simple title (though FCPX does actually seem to update the titling live over the viewer – an improvement).

With me, it’s the sheer amount of missing functionality that is the proof. It’d take a mammoth amount of work – two more years by Apple’s (and most other NLE manufacturer’s) release cycle – to add in the functionality needed for a professional editor to fall in love with this software. They’ve stepped away from the tru pro market.

[Peter Blumenstock]

Why would you call Premier for example tape based? On the contrary: it handles all the various taples formats and it does so natively. Unlike FCP X which doesn’t. They just understood that people still use tape and therefore the feature is there.

[John Godwin]

Banks – “With me, it’s the sheer amount of missing functionality that is the proof. It’d take a mammoth amount of work – two more years by Apple’s (and most other NLE manufacturer’s) release cycle – to add in the functionality needed for a professional editor to fall in love with this software. They’ve stepped away from the tru pro market.”

As a former Liquid Chrome owner I feel the pain here. This comment you made, though, addresses the point I’ve tried to make – I *think* they released FCP X before it was more finished so people could use it for what it has in it now. I *think* they’ll add most of the missing functionality in the next year or two (though I have reservations about machine control, maybe 3rd party?). And I *think* they wanted to get the first version out rather than hold it back for another year or two.

And I’m *sure* if that’s correct that they should communicate that to us immediately. In the meantime FCP X can handle 90% of my current needs, and I’ve been a pro for over 30 years.

Best,
John

[John Berpskin]

Because Premiere and all other NLE’s were launched BEFORE footage started be aquired file based (on cards and hard drives) All systems had to have a digitize tool for that. FCP X (my opinion) is going to be the first NLE that will be completely file based from day one with an after thought of tape digitization via third party capture (lost likely from video card manufacturers)

You have to remember we are in COMPLETELY uncharted waters on several levels –

1 – A new OS is coming out
2 – It’s a new ap built from the ground up and rushed to market.
3 – It’s a new way of “thinking” while editing, hence the rush to market, so that you can start becoming familiar with the theology WHILE STILL using FCP 7.
4 – Because the file is purchased from the app store, my opinion is that updates will come with more frequency than how they were released before.

And again, Apple turning it’s back on Pros because it wants to a consumer level? How would any board of directors entertain that notion when you consider the following –

1 – FCP is dominating market share PRIOR to release. Why would they suddenly throw in the towel?
2 – Pros are the ones who purchase apples high end gear with more frequency than a consumer would – with an average upgrade/purchase every 4 years.
3 – They are entrenched in film making on the cusp of digital distribution.
4 – They now have a whole audience (iphone and ipad)

….. and yet they are going to somehow turn their back on the creative crowd, their core audience since mac began, in favor of consumer driven video editing dominance.

…ain’t buying it. There’s a bigger picture.