Why the urgency to jump to Avid/Adobe RIGHT NOW?

[Gary Hazen]

The discounts that Avid and Adobe are currently offerening aren’t going to last forever. I think a lot of people have picked up one of those packages. They’ll continue to cut on FCP7 until they’re up to speed on the new NLE. Are they switching or are they simply adding another NLE tool to their skill set?

[Gareth Randall] “Why not simply stay with FCP7 and see what happens to FCPX over the next year or so”

They could wait a decade, they’ll still never be able to bring a FCP7 project into FCPX.

[Bruce Allen]

“I can’t help wondering: if FCPX had actually been nothing more than a 64-bit rewrite of FCP7 (i.e. no substantive new features), would there still be as many people shouting that they’re going to abandon ship?”

Personally, no, I wouldn’t be abandoning ship in that case.

The big change for me the surprise that Apple told us that they don’t intend to add full support for loading old projects.

This was a real shock because with software, generally if the software has the same name, it can load the old projects. Heck they even strung us along at NAB – “Here’s our old project in FCP 7 – and here it is in FCP X. Look how neat it is!”

So, a month ago, folks were working in FCP 7, assuming that any new projects they started in it would migrate. Now that changed.

My particular projects go on for a *long time*. There is no way in hell I am starting a new project that might go on for years in an editing software that got EOL’ed.

If OS X wasn’t able to read anything created in OS 9, then the same thing would have happened – folks would have jumped ship to Windows / Linux. You couldn’t have responsibly started new projects in OS 9 if you know that your stuff isn’t going to load.

I think that if Apple had said at NAB “hey we’re releasing a new app that has no plans to load your old FCP projects” folks would have looked into jumping ship then. But instead they kept this secret until now – and now that folks have found out, they’re jumping ship.

Bruce Allen
https://www.boacinema.com

[Chris Walsh]

I’m with Gary. I’m not switching yet, but I’m taking the $300 I would have spent on FCPX and putting it toward the Adobe Suite.

The ability to open legacy projects is crucial. I kept my discreet *edit system running until 2008, and I was still cutting on it 3 or 4 times a year, because I had so many old projects on it. I do miss *edit even today. I could unarchive a project, open a timeline, and have an undo list of every edit I had made four years ago. I could step all the way back to an empty timeline if I so desired. Plus I miss real time all the time.

But hey, times change. I’m sure there will be things about FCP 7 that I’ll miss (STP, DVD studio), that will never be the same or as easy or as good, no matter if I end up in five years on FCP X, or PPro, or Avid. And for those that decry the tone of this forum, the *edit forum was like this for a year or more, as was XPRI, Media 100, etc. at different points. It’s the circle of life, or swirl of EOL.

Chris Walsh

http://www.musicfog.com
Silver Spring, MD
Final Cut & AVID MC5
Former Windows User and edit* lover

[Chris Jacek]

No, I think many would be happier with a 64 bit version of FCP7. Ideally, I think may were hoping for both performance and innovation, without sacrificing what has already been established.

Not to speak for everyone, but I’m guessing that the main reason people will jump now rather than later is because any project you do now in FCP 7 will not be able to be opened in the future. Apple has made it clear that they have no plans to EVER allow FCPX to open previous versions of FCP projects. I certainly would not want to start too many projects in a system that will never have an update, that I will never be able to open in future versions of the software.

Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee

[Dan Stewart]

Fcp studio is dead, history, kaput, gone forever. If you’re buying / adding suites to your facility or sharpening your freelance skills then It’s the ‘new paradigm’ that no pro no where is using -and wait a few years to see if you’re wasting your time- or get a proper functioning tool and get back to work.

[Petros Kolyvas]

[Gareth Randall] “Is it because they didn’t like FCP7 and were only sticking with it because of what they thought the next generation of the app would provide?”

I can only speak for myself and our small shop, but it’s not that we didn’t like FCP7, it’s just that if we had the choice between a Revolution (which at this time won’t work with any of our monitoring hardware or control surfaces) or an evolution that finally allowed FCP to address more memory (part of the 64-bit package), have better multi-threading/multi-cpu support (IE take advantage of the hardware more efficiently) along with a few tweaks and updates, we’d take the later.

I also think it’s reasonable to assume that over time – as many have said – FCPX will begin to develop support for all that 3rd party stuff. It’s still hot from the oven – and it’s only the first batch to boot.

However, CS5/CS5.5 is running a 64-bit engine (that’s very very fast) and can take advantage of large amounts of RAM (again to speed-up workflow) right now. It has also be able to edit many formats natively for some time. Finally, it also supports a fair amount of monitoring hardware – even if control surface support is lacking. We’ve been using CS5 alongside FCP7 for almost a year now and no client has ever cared if their project was “edited” on one or the other.

There’s still a lot we like about FCP7. It’s just that there’s as much to like about Adobe’s products.

And, as Gary mentioned, with all the promotional pricing, we’re planing on trying out MC5.5 too. In fact, FCPX and its advantages or disadvantages aside, it continues to be an exciting time for those involved in media production.

—
There is no intuitive interface, not even the nipple. It’s all learned. – Bruce Ediger

[Chris Harlan]

Gareth, when people say they are going to jump, it doesn’t generally mean right this second. What it means is they are going to transition. Since FCP X is essentially a new piece of software, with its own learning curve attached, and not an evolutionary development, many FCP editors find themselves at a junction. FCS 3 has been EOLed, and they are aware that any direction they turn for future development will require a learning curve. It takes a while to build up muscle memory (i.e., not consciously thinking about processes or keyboard short cuts), so a change like the introduction of FCP X becomes a time of critical evaluation, and all of the arguments going on on this site are part of that evaluation. It is also, where I work in Los Angeles, a community discussion because we are not islands here, but very interdependent. Everyone in the FCP community here in LA is trying to figure out where everyone else is going to be in 2 years.

Right now it is pretty clear to me that here we will all be on Avid with Premiere as a chaser, meaning that we will build up our muscle memory on Avid but know how to use Premiere. That doesn’t mean that I’m not using FCS 3 to cut today, or that I won’t continue to do so for the rest of the year and into the next. Or that I won’t keep an eye on X. It is a time for decisions, though, and I have already begun re-uping my Avid skills (something I should have been doing for the last few years, anyway, but have been too lazy.)

[Chris Harlan]

I’d have been thrilled with a 64 bit version of 7.

[Gareth Randall]

[Chris Harlan] “Gareth, when people say they are going to jump, it doesn’t generally mean right this second”
The articles and other comments I’ve read have implied very strongly that the writers have made up their minds and are making the move right now, not at some undefined point in the future.

[Gabe Thorburn]

I think the shock factor of FCP 7 being discontinued immediately made people worried about how they could get additional licenses when they need to expand. That sparked the mass desire, from a facility and freelancer’s standpoint, to switch to another NLE right away.

However, Apple has announced that they will continue providing licenses to clients who have purchased volume licenses in the past. This will allow places that rent out systems to continue to provide FCP 7 systems for those shows that want FCP.

So, if you get your FCP systems from a rental company, or are a facility with a previous volume license agreement, you can continue to use FCP and expand. If you are a small production company, don’t have a volume license agreement, and don’t have plans to expand, then you can continue to use the copy of FCP that you have been using.

If you want to stay current with industry trends then you should try to learn a new NLE right away. FCP will be around strong for another three years, but after that who knows. New camera formats and workflows will make it outdated. Why not try to learn a new NLE now? Especially with 50% off sales from Adobe and Avid.