UPDATE
David Pogue, New York Times, has written an excellent followup article with Apple’s response to missing features in Final Cut Pro X.
Read it here: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/professional-video-editors-weigh-in-on-final-cut-pro-x/
– – –
Apple released Final Cut Pro X this morning at 5:30 AM LA time. You can read Apple’s announcement here — http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/06/21fcp.html
You can visit Apple’s new webpage here: http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/
In three words – speed, power, cutting-edge.
The first time I saw Final Cut Pro X, back in February, this quote from the title of Stephen Ambrose’s book on the transcontinental railroad flashed into my head.
Just as the transcontinental railroad permanently changed 19th century America – in a wide variety of ways – Final Cut Pro X has the same capability.
During the last several months, I’ve had extensive discussions with engineers and product managers at Apple, read virtually all the Help files and, more recently, been running the software itself.
I’m knee-deep in a long newsletter which will provide a lot more detail when it comes out next week (subscribe for your FREE issue here: larryjordan.biz/newsletter), so here, in this blog, I just want to provide a bigger picture approach.
In every conversation I’ve had with Apple, each person stressed: “The easy thing would be to just create an incremental upgrade. But, we felt that while the current version of Final Cut held up well for the last ten years, it wasn’t ready for the next ten. We needed to design something from the ground up to take us into the next ten years.”
With this release, Apple made four significant changes in direction:
* For the first time, two different versions of FCP can coexist on the same system. I’ve been running FCP 7 and FCP X on the same system for months.
* Maxing out performance to take full advantage of current hardware
* Almost exclusive support for tapeless workflows
* Distribution via the App Store
FINAL CUT PRO 7 IS NOT DEAD
To me, this is one of the highlights!
Installing FCP X does not remove FCP 7. So you can take your own sweet time deciding when to make the switch. And, in fact, you can use FCP 7 where it makes sense and FCP X when that is a better choice. For the first time ever, we can have two different versions of FCP on the same system at the same time, without partitioning hard disks and jumping through hoops.
PERFORMANCE
Its no secret that Final Cut Pro took forever to accomplish some tasks. (I have it on good authority that many families were significantly augmented while waiting for the render bar to complete its measured progress.)
Plus, the 4 GB RAM limit caused projects to corrupt, files to mysteriously disappear and spawned a new breed of tech: the Final Cut guru, who, with an apparent laying on of the hands, could bring nearly dead projects back to life. (That last may be a dramatic overstatement, but I like the allusion.)
This new version flies. Whenever Final Cut needs to think, it does so seamlessly, in the background, with a little indicator that tells you how its doing and a complete dashboard for the curious who want to monitor their system.
It allows editing files natively, but prefers to convert them to ProRes – a decision that I agree with, for both performance and image quality reasons.
Once you edit with the magnetic timeline, you’ll never want to go back. And, while the concept of connected clips is a bit weird initially, the benefits these provide are so well-thought out and obvious that I stopped worrying about them after the first couple of days.
Nesting is improved. Audio filters are amazing and first-rate. There is much tighter integration with Motion and Compressor.
There are as many ways to edit in the new version as the old and more ways to trim. Trimming can even be in real-time or slow-motion. Old barriers such as clips in the Browser, still image sizes, clips in a project, and tracks have all fallen away.
The context-sensitive nature of the Viewer window, and the speed it responds, make me completely comfortable editing with only one image window.
The whole system is designed for speed.
And, when it comes to keyboard shortcuts, there are already hundreds in the system and the new process for creating shortcuts is just amazingly powerful – and easy to use.
NOTE: Remind me to mention how much I like the new audio meters – big, fat, large, readable, and adjustable.
SOME OLD FRIENDS DIDN’T MAKE IT
Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and Color are not in this release. (LiveType was discontinued when FCP 7 came out.)
We all have our favorites, but I will miss Soundtrack Pro the most.
HOWEVER, keep in mind that if you own this software now, you’ll still be able to use it with FCP X. But it is no longer available.
DEALING WITH THE IMOVIE MONKEY
Much ink has been wasted and many pixels have died in the flame debate that FCP X is just a larger form of iMovie.
Yes, they share a similar approach to the interface.
Yes, FCP X imports iMovie projects and media. No, it doesn’t import FCP 7 projects. Yes, Apple should figure out a way to provide an FCP 7 translator. It can’t be that hard.
However, think about this for a minute. iMovie has been out for, what, eight years with ZERO ability to upgrade to Final Cut? Doesn’t it make just a little bit of sense to provide an upgrade option for the millions of future editors out there?
Of course it does.
There’s such in increase in power stepping from iMovie – which I’ve never liked – up to FCP X, that it would be like moving from a bike to a motorcycle. Yes, they both have two wheels and a handlebar, but there’s a huge difference in power in the seat!
APPLE IS MOVING TO TAPELESS
If tapeless media is your life, it will take you a week to stop giggling once you fire up FCP X.
However, FCP X has only limited support for tape. Tape ingest is from FireWire-attached devices, and streaming-only, no timecode controlled positioning of ingest or output to tape.
I’m reminded of the hand-wringing that occurred when Apple dropped floppy disks for optical media “back in the day,” now that Apple has decreed that tape is dead.
In this case, though, I side with the “tapists.” Apple controls the eco-system of the Mac. They don’t control the eco-system of Hollywood; then, again, I’m not sure anyone does. I have clients today that are using 3/4″ Umatic cassettes for sound design and music composition, and EDL lists are used daily for conforming major feature films. Both those formats were declared dead AGES ago!
While FCP X can ingest from a Firewire-attached deck, its output options to tape are limited to live streaming.
This lack of support for layback to video tape using RS-422 control protocol with timecode accuracy gives the perception that Apple is not meeting the needs of professional output. It remains to be seen if companies like AJA, Matrox, or Blackmagic Design will step into the breech. If they do, great. If not, this will cause many of us problems.
However, if you are shooting tapeless, this new software is designed for you. Easy ingest, background transcoding, background rendering, background analysis… Very cool. And, best of all, you can stop or cancel a background process at any time.
Plus, if you are someone that likes to organize their files, FCP X supports that. If you HATE organization, FCP X will organize your files for you. Now, we have a choice.
DISTRIBUTION VIA THE APP STORE
This is a real biggie, as Apple explained it to me. Because no physical media is involved (think packages in an Apple Store), Apple can push out updates faster and at much lower cost because they are using the App Store.
In the past, Apple used a 18 month, or so, cycle between updates. Now, Apple is telling me they are hoping to do an update once or twice a year.
This ability to respond faster to the market and deliver economical updates has already born fruit with the new low prices for Final Cut, Motion, and Compressor.
This gives me lots of hope for the future.
MONKEY #2: APPLE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THE PRO MARKET
Writing software like this is not easy, not fast, and not cheap. Its taken Apple several years, dozens of millions of dollars, and an engineering crew big enough to fill a small cruise ship.
You don’t go to that effort to meet the needs of a market you aren’t interested in.
Apple tells me they are committed to quickly improving this version and building on it. They tell me they are committed to making changes quickly and bringing them to market. They tell me they are interested in hearing our reactions to the software.
I believe them and look forward to them fulfilling their promises.
THINGS I DON’T LIKE
Final Cut Pro X is very impressive, but it isn’t perfect. There are a variety of design decisions that I disagree with – and I’ve shared these many times with Apple.
There’s no multicam support.
The audio capabilities in FCP X are far superior to FCP 7 in terms of technical specs and filters. But a completely unintuitive method for adding audio cross-dissolves and lack of support for track-based audio mixing leaves me fondly missing the power of Soundtrack Pro.
The process of adding an audio cross-fade is dangerous, unintuitive and dumb.
Worse, there’s no native way to export a project to send it to either Soundtrack Pro or ProTools for sound mixing.
I’ve already mentioned there is no native ability to layback to tape using timecode control.
The autosave is great, but what we need is the ability to freeze specific project builds so that the client can review and approve a version and KNOW that if the project is opened in the future that nothing will be changed.
Preferences need to include the ability to use frames, not just hundredths of a second for all timing decisions.
A clip needs to remember the In and the Out when you deselect it.
There needs to be a way to remove a project from the Project List without having to resort to the Finder.
There needs to be a preference setting so that all new projects default to Stereo vs Surround.
There are others, and I’m sure you’ll have your own list.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
Look, you and I both know you’re going to buy it regardless of what I say. So here’s my main point. I think that within the next 18 months virtually all of us will be running FCP X and wondering how we lived without it.
It’s that good.
Is it perfect? No.
Whether this is right for you depends upon what you are doing. Here’s a list to help you decide:
* If you are exclusively shooting tapeless and outputting to the web, this product was designed with you in mind. However, some vendors – Sony comes first to mind – need to update their drivers to work with FCP X. Be sure to check the Sony website for updates before moving to FCP X.
* If you are shooting tape and sending XDCAM SR tapes to the network, you should stay with FCP 7 and complain to Apple to add improved support for video-tape output.
* If you are shooting (H)DSLR cameras, you’ll love the automatic transcoding, auto-image correction, and blinding speed built into the new system.
* If you shoot on DV or HDV and export your files for the web, Final Cut Pro X can make your life a lot simpler.
* If you shoot tapeless and distribute your files on DVD, you can use FCP X for your edit, export your footage, compress on Compressor (either old or new) and use DVD Studio Pro to create your DVD.
* If you simply need to burn your project to either DVD or Blu-ray, the new Final Cut makes this easy. If you need to author a DVD, or Blu-ray, you’ll need to use either DVD Studio Pro or Adobe Encore.
* If you are working in iMovie, you should step up to the new version and put some power in your pictures.
* If you are doing projects with complex audio mixes, stay with FCP 7 until Apple gives us improved audio mixing and audio export support.
* If you live for speed and high image quality, you have a new love in your life.
* If you are in the middle of an FCP 7 project, you should stay there. Don’t even think about trying to port your project into the new system. Finish your project. FCP X will be here when you are done.
* If you are responsible for meeting incredibly tight deadlines, stay with your current system. Buy FCP X – learn it. See what you like and what you don’t. Then, as it makes sense to you, roll it into production.
In other words, consider that your job is telling stories with pictures. Final Cut Pro X is another tool in your toolkit that can help you with your story-telling. For some of us, its perfect now. For others, it needs to mature a bit.
But, when the credits roll, it isn’t the power of the tool, its the power of your story that makes people care.
I’ll have much more in my newsletter next week. In the meantime, let me know what you think.
Larry
P.S. I’ve spent the last six weeks creating training for Final Cut Pro X. 88 movies, over eleven hours of in-depth training. All ready, right now, for you to discover the power and capability of this new software. Visit: larryjordan.biz/fcpx
214 Responses to Ain't Nothing Like It In the World
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Grant McCulloch says:
June 23, 2011 at 4:07 am
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Larry says:
June 23, 2011 at 4:21 am
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Eric says:
June 23, 2011 at 12:33 pm
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Larry says:
June 23, 2011 at 1:26 pm
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Caesar Darias says:
June 23, 2011 at 1:37 pm
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DavidH says:
June 23, 2011 at 2:18 pm
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Larry says:
June 24, 2011 at 4:41 am
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Alex says:
June 23, 2011 at 2:34 pm
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Larry says:
June 24, 2011 at 4:37 am
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Paul says:
June 23, 2011 at 8:14 pm
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Larry says:
June 24, 2011 at 4:33 am
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Tom says:
June 23, 2011 at 9:10 pm
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DavidH says:
June 24, 2011 at 5:29 am
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David Stacy says:
June 24, 2011 at 6:17 am
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Larry says:
June 24, 2011 at 6:29 am
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Jack says:
June 24, 2011 at 6:43 am
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Larry says:
June 25, 2011 at 12:56 pm
← Older Comments Newer Comments →Larry, please don’t let me down. I can honestly say that my editing career/experience has been built on lessons and tutorials from you.
From Lynda and beyond you’ve been my guru and I’ve always thought of you as the the go to guy for all things editing. Clear, honest and concise.
I hate to say it but you’re sounding like a Apple schill. You’re turning me off and sounding a bit pathetic.
I’m sure you’ve heard Biscardi’s review. That’s real.
Work arounds, and excuses for this piece of consumer crap is just not you. I thought.
Larry, please don’t let me down.
Get some balls on this one … please.
Thanks
Thanks for your concern.
The KEY thing to remember is that everyone’s editing needs are different. Walter is correct that for the high-end user – as I mentioned in my blog – there are far too many gaps in this program to make it useable.
But, not all editors work at Walter’s level.
My key point, which I’ve made before is look at the kind of editing work you are doing. If Final Cut Pro X can help – then use it. If it can’t, then continue using FCP 7. They both coexist.
NEVER feel that you are forced to choose one or the other. You aren’t.
Larry
Larry, they are discontinuing the “PRO” version of FCP. So evenetually you WILL be forced to choose….either a sub-par feature deprived FCP X or choose another company’s software. Apple has given only that as a choice. Even as a “wedding shooter” this program has not the ability to perform even close to what I need from it. Not being able to sweeten audio or do multi-camera work makes it totally unusable even for most “wedding shooters” alot of which are one man bands on a single machine. Walter’s level is high-end sure….and FCP X can’t work there……I guess my wedding business is ALSO too “high-end” fro this new FCP.
That leaves me with this question for you:
If everyone’s editing needs are different as you say, and FCP X is obviously not good in the market Walter works in, and/or the market that I as a wedding guy work in…….WHAT market is it good for? cutting single camera home videos where real editing doesn’t matter??
Thoughts?
Frankly, I was shocked that Apple discontinued FCP 7. There was NO reason to do this and every reason to continue selling it for people who are not able to use FCP X.
Apple tells me they will be upgrading FCP – and I believe them. But there was no call for them to remove the older version. Very, very poor decision.
Larry
Larry, everybody knows that we’re not forced to do anything. That’s not the point. And the outpouring of anger misdirected at you has nothing to do with FCP X being too cheap and/or too accessible to the masses.
A lot of people are very upset, I believe, because they’ve invested a lot years and money in FCP. Suddenly, FCP is, in effect, dead. There’s now something new with a lot of missing parts.
Does Apple really think that the casual birthday party, tribute to granma and vacation video iMovie user is going to bother to pay $300 and take the time to learn the intricacies of FCP X? That’s ridiculous.
Only in the world of video production can companies release problematic & premature software, computers and cameras and cavalierly issue updates and “firmware” fixes to correct what should have been known before the product was sold to consumers.
In the automotive industry it’s referred to as a recall and you just might get hauled before a Congressional hearing if it happens too often. But there’s really no consumer accountability in video production. There’s a like-it-or-lump-it mentality.
Perhaps FCP X will eventually turn out to be a home run. Right now it appears to barely be a bloop single. For some, Apple has struck out, looking.
Larry, here is what baffles me. Final Cut Studio because of its price and sophistication was clearly intended for people whose occupations went beyond uploading Youtube and Vimeo videos.
Apple plainly proclaimed and marketed Final Cut Pro 7 and the suite of Color, Motion, Compressor, SoundTrack, yada, yada as a “professional editing solution”. The Apple.com promotions featured working professionals with sophisticated needs extolling the sophisticated features of Final Cut Pro, etc. Most of the promotional material for the past few years that Apple has pumped out was not aimed to the iMovie crowd, far from it.
They marketing department solicited and exalted online testimonials for years precisely from the kind of industry professionals in the MEDIA INDUSTRY who slathered on praise for the technical capabilities of FCP.
Then Apple disappears into a dark cavern in Cupertino, keeps high-end editors in the dark while continuously using guys like you, Larry, to keep us hopeful and calm despite our worst fears.
Larry Jordan, supposedly, was an “inside source” who understood the more sophisticated needs of working professionals, and who “asked tons of questions” directly of the programming team.
The people who bought into the whole studio concept of dedicated components integrated with FCP 7 and the industry who created imaginative and timesaving plugins and Motion templates were exactly the people such bloggers and authors such as yourself have placated for the past years….don’t worry, don’t worry….Apple has your back.
Apple knows what you need–enhancements to FCP 7 and Motion and Color, etc…etc… this has been your mantra, Larry.
I read your review and then I read Walter Biscardi’s– world of difference and astuteness.
The very features most FCP 7 users, whether high end or middle range use on a daily basis are missing. After “years of feedback and development and LISTENING” the paranoia of FCP 7 users has been completely, entirely fulfilled. Round trip?? You cannot roundtrip specific audio tracks to SoundTrack Pro?
You cannot open up yesterday’s FCP project? No IMPORT?
A media Event browser that insists on LOADING EVERYTHING it can find every time you open up FCP X? You have to Offload a drive to hide it?
Look, Larry, what Apple has done is terrific, no kidding, for iMovie users.
And some great features that would have been very exciting in Final Cut Pro 8!
But this has to be the single WORST launch of any high end product in Apple’s history!
A slap in the face to all the Apple devotees working in the video and media industry.
I know you sell great FCP STUDIO Training videos and courses for a living, Larry, but don’t YOU feel somewhat USED, too?
I don’t feel used because I’ve tried to present both my perceptions and what I’ve learned from Apple as fairly and as quickly as I was allowed.
However, I am disappointed because I think Apple handled this launch very poorly. There was no need to cancel FCP 7 so quickly. There was no need to name the product Final Cut Pro – it could have been called something else and live in harmony with FCP 7 and let the inherent benefits of fCP X sway editors to its side.
This launch was set up to be polarizing – which is something I have never liked. There is too much screaming in the world – finding a balanced voice is very, very difficult.
I still believe that most of us will be editing with FCP X in the next 18 months – but the road to get there is now much more rocky than it needs to be.
Larry
Eric, I totally agree with you. This software is useless for broadcast people, Film people, wedding people… Who is demographic target for this software? Students? Like with FCP v.1? At the time it was different, Avid was unaffordable for students, but FCPX competitors are much more affordable today. If I were a student today I would learn Avid and Premiere, as this could get me a job, you know, a paying one. Not FCPX because it’s useless, and not FCP 7 because it’s gonna die.
And the all “It’s only a v.1!” is BS. I would be ok with that if FCP7 was still available. At least until FCPX is up to the task.
Grant, don’t be mad at Larry, he has to sell his tutorials, so he’s not gonna ditch the software he made those tutorials about.
Larry, Despite what I just said I respect you and what you do, but Apple just screwed you too, and you should realize it. We’re all somewhat obsolete now.
“Apple tells me they will be upgrading FCP – and I believe them.”
But When? It took Apple 5 versions of FCP to add multicam, and at the time it is my opinion that it’s the one feature that put the “Pro” in Final Cut Pro.
And we don’t have time to wait Larry. In our business as it is in manny, it’s do or die. It is not 2001 anymore, and Avid does, and Premiere does.
I work in the broadcast world, so I can only speak for this segment of our industry, and the problem we have is not the interface, that we could learn easily. it’s the missing features. FCPX doesn’t allow us to deliver the shows the way we are obligated by contract with our clients to deliver them. And by the way, we don’t get to decide how we’re gonna deliver our show, the client does. If Steve Jobs wants the industry to go tapeless, I think we’re all ok with that (that would save a lot of money in decks and tape stock), but he should talk to the network execs, not try to force a half baked application on us.
I’m gonna buy a copy of Avid (first one in 10 years!) to brush up my skills, which I wanted to do anyway, and one of CS 5.5 (first time) and learn Premier which I wanted to do anyway too. Because the networks don’t have time to wait for FCPX to be ready, my boss doesn’t have time to wait for FCPX to be ready, I don’t have time to wait for FCPX to be ready.
And when a middle class worker is willing to shell out thousands in pro apps versus $300 for a singler one, everything is said.
Have a good day, and enjoy FXP7 while it last…
Alex:
I appreciate the pain you feel. I don’t write the software. I can only help people learn it. FCP X is not ready for your needs. It would decrease everyone’s stress if it were. However, you, not Apple, are responsible for making decisions about your work and career. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.
Larry
Came back to take a look at the comments after a few days. Feel surprised, although I don’t suppose I should be. Very heavily negative. Wow.
Just want to thank you, Larry, for all the support over the years, making yourself available for the occasional email, the quick response (haven’t had to ask lately, and maybe now that your business has grown perhaps you wouldn’t be able to as quickly, but) – anyway, don’t expect you’re taking any of this personally, and hope you won’t. Apple will obviously move on changes, upgrades, fixes.
I was tempted to try it at first, but as a professional editor I move back and forth between Avid and FCP, in and out of the production houses, and don’t need to rush it personally.
I can understand the furor; although I’ve been an Apple platform devotee from day one (and still have my Apple Classic – which still works by the way, what with a 4 MB hard drive – which managed to drive all sorts of programs – Word, Word Perfect, Final Draft, games – this was all way before FCP) I’ve gotten used to Apple’s boundless desire to control things, and frankly its scary what they’re doing with the iPhone, but it’s all neither here nor there; when FCP X fully comes together, more professionals will try it. Some in the meantime may even find ways to make X sing.
And Larry, your efforts will always be helpful, so thanks, now, and in advance.
P
Paul:
Thanks for your very kind comments – they are very much appreciated.
Larry
I have to agree about moving to Adobe. I love their ability to manage metadata all my images, audio, and movies – not inside of an unstable app that Apple is willing to simply pull the plug on a whimsy.
I moved to Apple 5 years ago because of my frustration with dealing with video on Windows… but now, I’m on my way back. I simply don’t want Apple jerking me around like this.
An AMD 6-core, 16 gb RAM, GTX 470 cards, running Windows 7 64-bit and Adobe CS5 with Mercury costs less than $1500. A nice quad core i7 laptop costs $900.
I think its time to move on…
Larry, Apple had many naming conventions open to them on this product .. iMovie ’12 would have been extremely apropos and accurate.
I think the iMovie 11 application is a great product. You can actually make great productions. But this is all centered on a local computer, assuming that you, Larry Jordan, have one account with the Apple Apps store to get this software from and that only you will be working on that movie on your local computer. It is all local, computer centric, and ASSUMES that, of course, all your iMovie resources, including movie, will by DEFAULT be stored on that one MacBook Pro or even MacPro.
But Apple, by naming this iMovie 12 editor “FINAL CUT PRO X” indicated many falsities, deliberate, thought out, with malice aforesight, LIES had been the core, the very administrative CORE of their intent for this product for the past few years.
Did it not seem suspicious to the Apple community of professional users that you could not find any heavy duty commercial, television, and Film editors blogging “Hey, fellow Pros, I’ve sworn an oath of secrecy not to reveal the details, but I just got back from a sneak peak at what we have all accomplished in the Studio 4, Final Cut Pro 8 upgrade. Gonna be AWESOME!”
And, you, Larry, Final Cut Pro INSTRUCTOR, live in the heart of the industry where, evidently, you never educated your ownself on the day to day NECESSITIES of the cutting houses and post houses all around you.
Your review gave such emphasis to praising an upgraded iMovie editor and very very plainly de-emphasized the most important not just “deal breakers” but INDUSTRY PLATFORM BREAKERS.
How about that after how many years of waiting that Apple did not deliver a 64-bit Final Cut 8?
That ON-GOING PROJECTS could not be IMPORTED into this 64 bit application?
That post houses and creatives in the very industrial area where you yourself reside would not be able to resume the workflow that their CLIENTS expect and have contracted for?
For Lord’s sakes, Larry, you can get in your car and drive up and down Ventura highway and drop in and learn what the big houses are doing, not just the community colleges!
It is not about TIPS and shortcuts on the keyboard for professionals who have made such an investment in learning and training and installing FCP, it is about COMPATABILITY and COOPERATION between multiple editors or Colorists or Audio Sweetening or Conforming Editors.
Larry, where have you been in this arena?
You have represented yourself as being a fellow Professional in the LA Area.
Why are you so slow on the uptake to acknowledge that Apple has truly let down the guys who work all around you in the Los Angeles Movie, Television, and Production House industry—just for starters.
Do you know any of these people? Have you ever ventured deeply into their world to look beyond the keystroke issues?
In your review you should have gotten the big picture earlier than the rest of us and said “It”s great, but it is NOT Final Cut 8”
Thanks for all your input Larry. I am very disappointed in loosing Color. The program is very deep and versatile, a fantastic tool. I am guessing that it can still be used but no more round tripping to FCP.
I understand that Apple wants to get their product to market ASAP to start cash rolling in. I am betting a lot of pros are not happy loosing their high end functionality in a trade of for speed.
What about the functionality of all the plug-ins that work with FCP 7?
As with the transition from FCP 3 to FCP 4 — and converting from FCScript to FCPlug — the new conversion to FCPlug2 will take a few months. I expect plugins will be back to “normal” in 3-4 months.
Larry
Hi Larry
I was at the FCPUG last night, and first off I want to say that took some balls in the face of all that adversity.
I’ve already received a refund for FCPX, mainly because there is no deck support. But looking back, I see much larger issues.
Last night someone mentioned Walter Murch using FCP 3 on Cold Mountain. Well, by coincidence, I worked on the digital intermediate for Cold Mountain. You know how we were able to make it happen smoothly? EDL. Yes, a 30 year-old format. We still use it today, because it’s human readable, and extremely simple.
Apple doesn’t seem to understand the need for an interchange format, which given they recently created one of the most widely adopted ones (FCPXML), seems bizarre. I was talking to the Adobe guy last night, and even Premiere Pro uses FCPXML as its interchange format. I appreciate that it will be possible for 3rd parties to implement support, but without a de facto standard interchange format, it will be useful. FCPXML was starting to become the “modern” EDL.
Here’s the problem. Let’s assume switches to digital cameras within the next few years (everyone except Spielberg and Tarantino, at least). How can I recreate anyone’s FCPX offline edit in any sort of online environment. Forget even worrying about a DCinema grade, a 3D movie, or film recording. How can I get a commercial that was cut in FCPX into smoke, without flattening the whole thing into a quicktime?
Jack:
This is a critically important question that, so far, Apple has not provided an answer to. I agree, it is a big limitation of FCP X.
Larry