[Franz Bieberkopf]

[James Ewart] “But I am not a broadcast or mainstream editor so of course my needs are different to many.”

James,

I think one of the strongest ongoing themes of this forum is its testament (often well-detailed) into the diverse needs and workflows of different editors. In spite of this, the idea of there being a “best”, “fastest”, or otherwise “top” NLE (unqualified subjectively) still comes up routinely.

[James Ewart] “There are though a fair smattering of Luddites out there.”

… some reflection on the Luddites.

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/29273

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[James Ewart] “But then there are others who resist change because they don’t like change.”

James,

It’s just as easy to invoke the ghost of those who trumpet change for change’s sake.

There are tropes that come up constantly in this forum – they’re usually brought up without support to make some ideological point in preaching to the choir.

The ideological noise is the least interesting aspect of this forum for me, and thus I make efforts to dampen it when I can.

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[Lance Bachelder] “… over 60 back in the 10.0? days.”

Lance,

Thanks.

I typically have hundreds of sequences on any given project. I’ve yet to read any accounts of how FCP X performs under these conditions (particularly over a term of 6-8 months).

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[Lance Bachelder] “As far as multiple sequences etc. for doc’s or features I don’t see a problem at all…”

Lance,

What would you say is the maximum number of sequences you have worked with in X on any given project?

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[James Ewart] “… the fact that especially for features and long form docs, the logging and organisational tools in FCPX are second to none.”

James,

Since this comment and others like it continue to come up …
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/71345

I’ll repeat that I can’t speak to the browser-based editing workflows that FCP X key-wording seems designed for, but I will say that there are many ways of organizing vast amounts of data, and for sequence-based editing workflows (doc or otherwise) I don’t see any advantages in X – I certainly wouldn’t call it the “best” tool.

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[Oliver Peters] “I have yet to see a clean result whenever X crosses over one of these major updates in the application. Really makes you question whether you are totally hosed down the road whenever you need to return to old sessions.”

[Rich Rubasch] “The legacy projects could come back to haunt us.”

Apple have pretty clearly demonstrated their philosophy with regards to the past, and done so repeatedly.

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

Dom,

I’d certainly recommend other considerations outside these numbers if you are putting together decisions for curriculum.

Different pockets of filmmaking and video editing tend to favour certain kinds of workflows and thus certain kinds of software. It might be worth polling some local labs and industry references, for example. Also, while FCP 7 still seems to be in wide use (and I’m using it), it’s life is pretty limited at this point. (On the other hand, I would have said the same thing 2 years ago, and here we are.)

I don’t think there are easy answers.

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[Dom London] “I would be very grateful of getting the sources of these numbers being mentioned.”

– Adobe Premiere Pro, 2.5 million (Fall 2012)
https://www.beet.tv/2012/09/adobepremiere.html
(video, and I believe the language he uses is “2.5 million Premiere Pro users”)
(… further, current subscription numbers for Creative Cloud are above 1.8 million – search here or on the net, you should have no problem finding sources.)

– FCP 1-7, 2 million (NAB 2011)
(This number was widely reported at the launch of X, thus reflects versions 1-7, and should not be hard to find – one source below.)
“Apple said it currently had more than 2 million licensed Final Cut Pro users…”
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-announces-final-cut-pro-x/

– FCP X, 1 million (NAB 2014)
“Apple announced today that they had more than one million separate installations of Final Cut Pro X.” (No official announcement from Apple that I can find to verify, that’s just the way Apple does it.)
https://www.larryjordan.biz/app_bin/wordpress/archives/2482

– Avid, 3 million (NAB 2014)
(This number is from Oliver Peters and he also doesn’t have sources that can be verified but claims his “sources are straight from Apple and Avid”, but you could write him on his site for further clarification.)
“The 3 million Avid users number was stated numerous times by Avid at the Connect event.”
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/67876
“Also to clarify, the Avid number of 3 million users is a total for all of Avid’s products, whether Media Composer, Pro Tools, ISIS or an old copy of Avid Xpress. At least that’s the answer given at Avid Connect.”
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/68835

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

Marcus, Bill,

I’d agree this is more evidence that FCP X is playing in the same (smallish) sandbox as other NLEs.

I have more thoughts on those numbers I may post later.

Franz.

[Franz Bieberkopf]

[Marcus Moore] ” What spin are you talking about Franz?”

Marcus,

NAB 2012:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/31581

“Apple notes that there are now more editors working with FCP X than with Final Cut Pro 7.”

The spin I’m referring to is the way that statement is crafted (interesting that sales aren’t mentioned); people forget the specifics and it gets confused and remember as this in 2014:

[alban egger] “FCPX has already sold more copies than all FCP versions together.”

In retrospect what is interesting about that statement from Apple is that implies they sold less than maybe 250,000-400,000 copies of FCP7 (including upgrades). Wow.

Franz.