Final Cut Pro X: Hit or Miss?

I’m a ‘casual professional’ user of Apple’s Studio products, which includes Final Cut Pro. I don’t produce video as a primary product, but I produce tutorials and other support video for my work. So, it was with some interest that I downloaded Final Cut Pro X yesterday. Blimey! It’s different! VERY different. In fact it’s [...]

I’m a ‘casual professional’ user of Apple’s Studio products, which includes Final Cut Pro. I don’t produce video as a primary product, but I produce tutorials and other support video for my work. So, it was with some interest that I downloaded Final Cut Pro X yesterday.

Blimey! It’s different! VERY different. In fact it’s a completely new way of working. I mean COMPLETELY! The only things that remains the same are that you’re handling video and it’s a non-linear editing tool.

There’s certainly plenty of professional’s complaining about Final Cut Pro X. Why? Complaints can be broadly split into two camps:

1. “Ew! It’s different. I don’t like it.”
2. “It does not support <insert favourite feature>, so I hate it.”

Okay, the first camp are immediately dismissed. Every new release of a product that attempts a significant overhaul faces opposition like this. People generally find the disjoint of learning a new way of working uncomfortable. Too bad. Such is the price of progress.

The second group are simply not going to be the early adopters. Look guys, Apple works this way with all their products. They release a product the will appeal to a large proportion of their customers, then they wait for all the complaints, then they add in those features that most people really need. Simple.

If you really need a feature that’s missing, keep using FCP 7. It’s not that difficult. FCP 7 was great yesterday, it will be great today. FCP X does not downgrade FCP 7′s functionality out of spite. If a feature is really needed (and if it’s technically possible) Apple will put it into FCP X over the next year or two. (Oh, and the the moron who said FCP X deleted his FCP 7, look for a folder under your applications folder. FCP X moves FCP 7 out of the way, it does not delete it.)

I’ve only been using FCP X for a few hours and, yes, the interface is, at the moment, a barrier to me because it’s so new. There are tons of features in FCP X I can see being real time savers (like automatically cataloguing clips, auto-synching clips, locking clip together on the timeline) and the new paradigm of a storyline makes perfect sense to me. It will take a few days messing about to get used to it all, but I’m confident it will be a great fit for me in the long run.

If you’re a professional working in a broader workflow then, sure, you’ll not want FCP X. It does not export XML (so passing your work too and fro through a complex workflow is out), nor can it import clips using an EDL. Nor can it open FCP 7 projects. All of this is probably because FCP X takes such a different approach to controlling the timeline that it may not be possible.

So, what are Apple up to?

As usual I think that many reviewers are missing the point. The number of professional users of FCP who need these features is vanishingly small compared with the actual, or potential, user base who want a professional editing tool and work alone or in a small team. All those Indie film producers, YouTube/Vimeo/etc. producers. All those small companies (like me) who do their own video work. The list goes on and on. Apple are not here to serve a minority, they’re looking at the bigger picture.

Sure, they will lose professional editors unless they find a way to fill some of the perceived gaps in the next 12-18 months. But let’s face it, many of those whining about FCP X fall into category one above, and of those that fall into category two most will continue using FCP 7 until either a) it gets so long in the tooth they are forced to move, or b) FCP X becomes a viable upgrade for them. What they will NOT do (unless they’re idiots) is immediately start moving their workflow to Premiere or Avid just to spite Apple.

So, hit or miss?

I little from column A, a little from column B. For me, I think FCP X will be perfect once I get my head around this new interface. The speed improvements are awesome, the new features and automation are great for someone in my position, and overall I like the storyline idea. FCP X is going to make my life much easier. On the other hand, it does mean taking time to retrain myself, and no doubt I will find some things I dislike along the way, but these are the price of progress.

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