Walter Biscardi
Forum Replies Created
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[Craig Seeman] “Then he asked me a question that really summed up what we saw in FCP X. He asked if I was around for Final Cut Pro 1.0 some 10 years ago? I responded ‘Of course! That finally gave me an Avid at home.” He then asked: “Would you have edited a feature film in Final Cut Pro 1.0?” I probably would not have edited a feature in FCP 1.0 as it wasn’t a mature enough or robust enough application to handle a feature..
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He said that he thinks of FCP X more like a 1.0 production. “A rebooting of Final Cut Pro” I said. “Exactly” was the response.I have no idea if the conversation is true or accurate. I certainly find it odd that even that much would be revealed to anyone if the above is true though.”
So then Apple has made a calculated business decision to take a very robust, solid editing system and give us a 1.0 reboot that isn’t really ready for primetime and they expect those of us to run it professionally on feature documentaries and broadcast productions?
Really, this is a wise decision? Here’s something that’s pretty good but not nearly as good or robust as what you’re using today. Yeah, we’ve been working on this for over 2 years, but it’s the best we can do for now and we know you really want something new. So bear with us for the next two years or so while we make it something as solid as FCP 7 and has all the features you’ll need to cut a film.
If that statement you printed is near true (and from what I heard from other people after the event, it sounds pretty close to what I was hearing) Apple is really playing with professional careers. This is not a consumer product and we’re happy to have bugs and failings in the first few iterations. This is a professional products that people make their living on.
If Apple is admitting this thing can’t cut a feature length project, why even release it? The Cow really needs to get an interview set up with Walter Murch and / or the Coen Brothers. Would really love to hear their take on the “new and improved” FCP and whether they plan to cut a movie with it.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
[Rafael Amador] “Looks like the very day FCX will be released everybody will need to take a decision that will mark the rest of their lives.”
For $299? hardly. On the day it’s released Apple will be able to issue a PR release that says something like “Apple shatters all download records with 2 (3, 4, 5) million downloads in a single day (weekend, week)” blah blah blah.
At $299 it makes total business sense for EVERY post production facility to one man band in the world to have a copy of FCP X in their shop. If for no other reason than to be able to bring in a project from another editor. So from a business standpoint, you’d be an idiot to not at least install one copy somewhere in your shop.
So Apple will be able to sing about the 5, 8, 10 million registered users of FCP X like it’s some huge deal that so many people have at least purchased / installed it.
But a major change in the rest of our lives? Not really. You need to make a business decision based on your needs, your workflow and how much you interface with outside production companies / broadcasters. You’re going to download FCP X but will you make it your primary editor right off the bat or simply have it around for testing and to interface with other FCP X editors as needed?
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
[Craig Seeman] ” Walter if you find the switch easy and affordable why delay to hear more from a company who’s business practices you don’t like and who’s product may not meet your needs.
Apparently despite all that you’re holding off. For some reason, not financial, not related to personal training, is holding you back. Of course maybe I’m wrong and you’re already setting up your Avids or Premiere Pros.”
That’s an easy answer. Avid does not support the AJA Kona board today. We have 6 of them here along with a BMD 3D Extreme card.
If Avid did support the AJA Kona board today, we would already have at least one copy of MC 5.5 in here to test out the workflow.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
[Siu Kei Ip] “Then, is iMac series better than 15′ macbook pro with FCP??”
They are essentially the same computer inside. The iMac gives you a much nicer and larger screen.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
During the “sneak peek” it was said that the new FCP X will handle any codec, any framerate mixed in any timeline.
That’s what was said. It was not shown. So there was an H.264 clip in a bin. I have 40 H.264 clips in a bin right now in FCP 7. Know what happens when I drop one into a timeline?
The Avid demo I saw the editor threw everything under the sun at the timeline and hit Play. The super cool thing for me was the interpolation options he had for mixing PAL and NTSC in the same timeline. He was able to completely smooth out the playback of the PAL clip in the NTSC timeline. Oh and this wasn’t a single track timeline, it was multiple tracks stacks and still playing in realtime.
Kind of like what Adobe Premiere also does right now.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
As long as OMF and AAF are included, I really don’t care much about EDL’s.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
Apparently according to Apple we don’t need Tape, Tracks or OMF’s anymore….
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
[Bjarki Gudjonsson] “Your thoughts?”
All my thoughts are in my blog.
https://blogs.creativecow.net/blog/4690/apple-dropped-the-ball
Bottom line, Apple wasted at least an hour of the FCPUG Supermeet with what they DIDN’T say. Not for lack of time, but for lack of…. well I have no freakin’ clue.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
[Craig Seeman] “Not at all which is why I don’t think the “movers” will really be moving all that much. The problem comes if/when there are hardware costs involved. If “moving” involves switching all the GPUS from ATI to nVidia, if FCP compatible cards don’t work with Avid. Those costs add up. No one is going to jump unless they find FCPX a detraction from their business.”
Avid has already opened up their software to AJA and Matrox external cards. AJA makes some, if not all of the hardware that runs current Avids.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the question is no longer “if” Avid will support AJA (and probably BMD) capture cards, but “when.” My guess is much sooner than later.
When I have to install at least 7 copies of software and I need all my editors to be up to speed on it quickly AND all my freelancers as well, then it better be a familiar software.
When I have to interface with sound studios, post production studios, numerous independent producers, my software have to work correctly importing / exporting all media.
[Craig Seeman] “It’ll be far easier to transition from FCP7 to FCPX then FCP7 to Avid or to change FCP7 systems with ATI cards to Premiere systems having to buy nVidia cards to take full advantage of Mercury.”
Really? Have you looked at the Avid, FCP 7 and Premiere interfaces? They’re basically the same. Heck we have have Premiere in our shop for several years now since we just buy the entire Creative Suite each year. It’s nothing to simply switch over to Premiere. Looking at the Avid interface, we’ll be editing immediately and figure the rest of it in less than a week.
Running Premiere with the ATI cards currently in our machines still gives us faster performance than with FCP and they work perfectly fine with our AJA Kona boards. So even if you were to just switch to Premiere and leave all your other hardware the same, you’re going to get a performance boost. We have simply chosen to continue with FCP to this point waiting to see what Apple was going to release.
We’ll definitely buy one copy of FCP X to play with and see just exactly what it will and will not do in terms of interfacing with other apps and the other pro features we need. However, the $995 cross grade price to Avid certainly makes that much more palatable for us, particularly with the much improved efficiency of codec handling and the really nice round trip to / from Resolve / Pro Tools and others.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media -
As we don’t know the rules for Pro Apps downloaded from the app store yet, I’m going on the assumption that at $299, it’s going to be one machine per download.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media