[Herb Sevush]

“I know people who were livid when Discreet dropped Edit* (I wasn’t an Edit* user but I worked with people who were) and they did not listen. They also abandoned Cleaner and Combustion.”

I was one of those people, and livid didn’t really cover it. My feelings about Apple are positively congenial compared to my loathing for Autodesk / Discreet.

However the notion that “they all do it” is not an excuse for Apple doing it too. Money is truly the only voice to be listened to in the corporate world, and it is only by threatening to take yours away, and more importantly, to convince others to do the same, that you can get your viewpoints respected.

Complaining is a necessary, but not always sufficient, remedy. Better that than BOGU (my new favorite acronym.)

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“They are no more nor less “respectful” then any other business. I’ve seen every major NLE maker do things that some would consider “not respectful” of a base of users. Just because Apple is the most recent doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before and won’t happen again by another company.”

And one would hope that you bitched and complained every time it happened in the past, and will continue to do so when it happens in the future.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

A 4 camera limit tells me that PPro was never serious about the multi-cam market, which is a shame because of all the “lost” features of FCPX, multi-cam is scheduled to be the last to be re-implemented, leaving a big opportunity for Adobe to pick up a lot of high end editors. As of now Avid seems to be the only serious multi-cam NLE left out there, and I’ve never been a big fan of their GUI.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

It’s Earl Grey X – a rethinking of the whole “tea” paradigm:

It’s not made from tea leaves and you don’t actually drink it. Instead it’s refined tree bark that comes in suppository form, because we know where you need to stick it.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Winston –

Your responses are perfectly reasonable for your situation, but I’m going to respond to them to show why others might not follow suit.

1. The cost. $300 is cheap, but if you actually are interested in the promised functionality I/O upgrades, be aware that many will not be free. That $300 can easily start approaching the 1K you’re trying not to spend, once OMF, XML, EDL, Tape In / Out and others are provided.

2. I use Motion as well, but quite frankly AE + Photoshop is way better. If you spent the same time on training for them as you did with FCPX you would have a far better graphics toolset and be a more marketable editor.

3. FCP hasn’t evolved, there is not an iota of FCP in FCPX. The 2 products have nothing in common except for the name, parent company and Randy Ubillos.

5. As for loyalty, I’m in favor of it as long as it cuts both ways, with Apple it obviously doesn’t.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“if more people went through a couple training sessions with FCPX they might be more open to it’s possibilities. However, I know it’s never a fun idea to think you have to relearn a skill set (in this case how to operate an application) just to continue doing what you’ve been doing for so long already. Then again, that’s precisely what it sounds like most everyone is going to do anyway as they move to Smoke, AVID, or other NLE from FCP.”

My question is why did you choose FCPX to learn, why not Avid or PPro?
What is the advantage you get that off-sets the lacking features?

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“I know FCPx is not talking to the rest yet. If it never does I will not update and use FCP 7 quite happily. But I’d rather use FCPx.”

Just curious as to why your only choice is FCPX or FCP7. Why not look at PPro for your tapeless workflow. It’s a much easier migration than FCPX in terms of both training and file compatibility.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“Given that there are currently stability issues, minimal plu ign support, file sharing capabilities but those have been promised to be fixed”

Promises, promises, I don’t live on promises. Post again when they actually are fixed.

“AND WHEN THEY DO, what becomes of your previous opinion about FCPX?! Suddenly it becomes the fastest most powerful editimg software that exists”

IN what way is it faster than PPro, that has been 64 bit for almost a year, handles all formats without rendering, is integrated seamlessly with Photoshop and AE and can actually output an EDL.

In what way is it faster than Edius or Sony Vegas?

What is so special about FCPX other than the name Apple that comes on the box. And while Apple is hugely successful in many fields, it’s record is pretty dismal when it comes to applications programming. What makes you think FCPX won’t be the Motion of the compositing field – an interesting quirky program that is miles behind After Effects in almost every way?

“your not part of the editor demographic that will be financially sensible to “immediately” move to FCPX because of the fact that your heavily invested in FCP 7 gear, (plug ins,hardware etc.)”

But I am going to move, I’ll be migrating to a new platform by next spring. Whatever my investment in FCP7, it is already sunk. It will cost me the same to switch to FCPX as it will to Avid. So these costs, which you seem to think are having an effect on my decision making, are in truth totally beside the point.

“But for the rest of the other guys, those that are about to go inoa transition period of upgrading their systems, those new businesses that have an al digital workflow, and all the new editors that want to get into the game and looking for a system to invest into, in short, those who are thingking about their future, FCPX should be a great option.”

As long as you don’t need multi-cam, don’t have to deliver to PBS or other Broadcasters that require tape deliverables, don’t have to collaborate with Colorists and Audio Post Houses, don’t need to view your video on reference monitors to know what it actually looks like, yes FCPX is a fine option. No better than some others, but it does have the Apple logo.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

Craig –

I apologize on behalf of the whiners.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Herb Sevush]

“I assume that, so why is a lot of people keep bitching about FCPX over and over and over again, shouldn’t you just spend enough time with it that you’ll be able to do your edits as easily or even easier than you could with PPro,FCP7 or Avid?”

Why should I prefer FCPX to PPro or Avid? It is the least functional, most untested, least compatible NLE out there. Why shouldn’t I make my life easier and move to a faster, better, more robust featured program?
Am I missing something, do I owe something to Apple? As a matter of fact they just EOL’d FCP7, a decision that’s going to cost me a lot of time and money. So why on earth do they get primacy?

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions