If that was the case, then it'd be worth seeing where Apple go next, surely, before cashing in your chips with Avid?
I've nothing against Avid, it's a great system, but like I said, if your FCP system is working it'll surely continue to do so.

Where Apple have shot themselves in the foot is new editors coming online and not being able to buy a 'Pro' package from Apple.

The Log & Capture thing is a bit of an issue, we're still not quite at the point where you can give up tape based capture entirely. 3-5 years time - perhaps. We're going to start fading out the tape cameras here in favour of the HD/SD based ones.
As for the EDL being dropped, I'm reading a lot of editors weren't using it anyway, the XML format being in favour anyway.

I think what's probably going to happen is a lot editors are going to wait a generation, review what the early adopters make of FCP X and take a long look at the next version.

They have been using Avid for a decade. They also used Final Cut Pro 7 for smaller projects. They also write a lot of their own tools, many of which are available, either free or to buy.

It sounds like they will just abandon FCP and move the remaining users over to Avid.

Saying that, Lindays was very enthusiastic about FCP X, as a standalone product for very small projects and the semi-professional user. He thinks it will move the industry forward, in the long run, but it isn't suitable for production work in its current form.

Indeed. And with Final Cut Express gone, and FCPX priced near enough as to make little difference, I find myself pondering the following scenarios:

1 - Apple will be introducing in app purchases for the Mac App Store with FCPX. Want XML editing? Buy it from the app. Want tape log and capture? Again, buy it in the app. By giving a core app which does what the FCE crowd used (FCE was FCP without all the access to pro kit stuff that proper broadcasters use and need), but which has the plug-in architecture to bold in the other bits and bobs as needed makes me think that this could be the way FCPX could be going. If I’m right (and I could be road-accidentally wrong), this could lead to other apps in the future adopting a similar path. Keeps the cost down for the less serious, and allows the app to be tailored as required. Mind you, given that Aperture costs around £40 on the App Store, I’d expect FCPX to be a lot more than a souped up iMovie “out of the box”. That said, my (now old and obsolete) copy of Final Cut Express gives a far, far better finished product than the current iMovie does.

2 - Apple will start selling hardware through the App Store:
(a) You want to run FCPX on THAT? Buy a new Mac with your software, have it come preinstalled.
(b) Your Mac looks a little old now (ie more than 3 years old), here - buy a new one.

The problem with that scenario is corporations, where they want to buy "the package" and install it, identically, on different machines. Having everything in a bundle might be more expensive, but it is more convinient.

And you aren't going to give every employee the password to the company iTunes account, just so they can make sure they have the correct plug-ins installed.

That is way too much hassle, you buy a single copy, build an image, distribute the image and ensure you have enough licences to cover the distributed images.

I think, perhaps, when your software launch is being made fun of on a TV chat show, you might have got it wrong:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRzLP0FJ82I

Its gone but I had already seen it. Very funny.

Video above has been deleted for copyright reasons! Is that the same clip as this..?
Hitler finds out about Final Cut Pro X

(Caution: NSFW!)

I really need to watch Downfall. Maybe when it’s on the telly next.

Anyho, back on topic.

This blog post tells us more about Apple’s thinking with FCPX:

http://digitalcomposting.wordpress.com/ ... /x-vs-pro/





So, basically, a few noisy Pros who want XML editing (or whatever) are high maintenance for the return they bring. It’s better to look at another audience, and give them tools which let them do more than they dreamed of easily. Basically, someone like me with an interest in video and photography is likely to get more out of FCPX, and am more likely to buy it because of the lower price point than its predecessor (though I do have FInal Cut Express which I use). Add in all those DSLRs with HD video capability, and you have an audience for whom iMovie may not be the right tool.

Hitler has a view on everything!

I found another link

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20074 ... x-on-show/

It is a good film.



In which case, they shouldn't push it as a replacement for the old FCP package, when it can't do as much and can't even load the existing projects people have!

It is even worse, in that you can't have the old and the new on the same computer. That means you can't keep FCP 7 hanging around to edit the old projects, whilst working on new projects in FCPX.

If they had dropped the Pro from the name, there would be less confusion and fewer complaints from their long-time, loyal users.

2011 seem to be very much about alienating as many commercial users of Apple products as possible.

You sure? Several things I've read suggest otherwise.


Apple don't care about 'commercial' vs 'consumer'. Each user has a number over their head, which is how much profit Apple will make supplying their needs. Apple does what makes the total off all those numbers biggest. If (as the previous URL) that means pissing off 5,000 professional video editors to please 50,000 'prosumers' and in the end make more money, that's exactly what they'll do. They don't care how many whiney blogs video editors put up. If they make more money pissing them off than making them happy, the internet can bitch until the cows come home.

Apple spent donkey's years trying to please the 'professional/enterprise' markets and, generally speaking, were on a hiding to nothing- and in fact very nearly went out of business doing it. Then they decided to concentrate on consumer products and have made more money in 5 years than they made in the previous 40.

Anyone considering notions of 'loyalty' in conjunction with a corporation, well, let's just say i find that concept naive.

Jon

Apple’s FAQ says this:


http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/faq/

So, it appears that you can. Back up your system before hand, though.

Okay. I've just got back from holiday. The reports, before I went on holiday all suggested that they couldn't be installed in parallel.

I felt rich last week and stumped up for a copy. I’ve liked the way iMovie edits and handles stuff, but not the final compressed movie, which seems to look like it’s been slightly posterised. So far, I’m liking it - it can be a tad unstable, but I really like the way you can edit stuff without too much forward planning. Right now, I have my Russia video epic underway with it, and it’s handling it well. I do like the way you can import footage from a video camera, and start editing it right away while it’s being imported and analysed. Very clever stuff. Much, much nicer to work with than Final Cut Express.

Anyway, there is an update on the horizon now, which appears to make headway towards the true professional users’ needs:

http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/09/20/a ... o-version/