[Chaim Mehlman]

This is not exactly FCP7 after some time, more like FCP X after one day. Hope it’s not too off the topic.
Having used iMovie once in an emergency and being utterly exasperated with its clumsiness and limitations, I couldn’t help being put off by X’s similar seeming interface. It took me at least 3 or 4 times as long to do a very simple 7-minute video in iMovie as it would have taken in FCP 7. Especially the sound! That and FCP X’s absence of round-tripping with Motion, which I use every day. I’ve become very comfortable with FCP 7, nothing unique there. But…
I do occasional multi-camera shoots and have had to struggle through them with FCP 7. I’m playing the timeline and clicking on the camera angle choices, and suddenly the playback stops dead and the playhead jumps backwards several seconds. At times this happens every few seconds or so! Especially with music concerts, this is maddening. Forget about flow and rhythm, just slog through bit by bit and get the thing done. I’ve consulted the forums etc, and nobody knows what to do. No response from Apple, let alone action. I’m thinking, how about Premiere…
Yesterday I downloaded the X trial version and read up on multiclip editing in X. Then plunged in, imported 4 hour-long angles from my most recent concert video and did a test multiclip edit in X. Same computer, same clips, same everything. I couldn’t believe it — not a glitch. Talk about fast. Felt like I was doing a live switch again. Had to stop myself talking to the camera operators on talkback.
Another unexpected time-saver was the default roll-edit function of the trimmer. If your “live” cuts are a fraction too early or late (happens often), adjusting them is very quick. In 7 you have to reselect the roll edit function if you’ve done anything else in the meantime. That’s a lot of key presses.
I’m still bewildered by the X interface, but it’s early days I suppose.