Since Apple launched Final Cut Pro X last Tuesday, I’ve had more than 3,500 emails that range from “I’m enjoying FCP X and creating useful projects,” to “FCP X will destroy my ability to make a living.” (And, ah, far worse, I’m sad to say.)
When I first saw Final Cut X, I was excited by its potential, but warned Apple that this release would be intensely polarizing to the editing community. It does not give me pleasure to see that I was right.
Worse, Apple has alienated the very people who can make a very visible statement as to the inadequacy of the program. No clearer example can be found than the public ridicule of FCP X on the Conan O’Brien show.
Or, as David Pogue wrote in his New York Times blog: “…let me be clear on this point — I think Apple blew it.”
With the possible exception of the launch of MobileMe, I can’t think of an Apple product launch which has spun more wildly out of control than this one. Apple did not just blow this launch, they went out of their way to alienate their key customer base.
Which is a shame, because FCP X has such great potential — but now, Apple has to concentrate on damage control, rather than getting people excited about the new program.
After the launch, Apple compounded their problems with three extremely poorly timed moves:
1. Canceling Final Cut Studio (3) and pulling all existing product from the market. This is devastating to shops that can’t use Final Cut Pro X. The two applications can co-exist on the same system — killing FCP 7 will not boost sales of FCP X to those shops that can’t run it. All it does is set up a black market for FCP 7.
2. Not providing – then publicly stating (thru David Pogue’s New York Times blog) that they do not plan to provide – a conversion utility from FCP 7 to FCP X. Not only does this render a HUGE number of past projects inaccessible, it sets up the obvious conclusion that if Apple is willing to discontinue support for legacy applications with no warning, what’s to prevent them from doing so again in the future? Every time you watch a movie that is more than 6 months old, you are dealing with legacy assets. Not providing a conversion utility is completely inexcusable.
3. Leaving the support for interchange formats – XML, EDL, OMF and others – to third-parties; or not supporting them at all. Yes, the video and film industry needs to move into the current century. However, Hollywood is very reluctant to change what works. Meeting deadlines is far more important than adopting new technology. Apple’s walled garden approach is totally at odds with the nature of post-production, where the editing system is the hub around which a wide variety of other applications revolve. On any editing project I routinely run 5-10 other programs simultaneously — only three of which are from Apple. I am constantly moving data between programs. This, combined with a lack of support for network-based storage, highlight grave development decisions in determining what features to include in the program.
NOTE: Apple told Pogue that they are working on providing the specs for their XML API. This is essential for any third-party developer to access conversion “hooks” in the program. David didn’t report that they mentioned when this would be available, however.
When I was talking with Apple prior to the launch, they told me that they extensively researched the market to determine what needed to be in the new program. In retrospect, I wonder what people they were talking with.
As I was working with the program, developing my FCP X training series, I often felt that the program was developed for two different audiences. Some features, effects for instance, are clearly geared for the iMovie crowd, while others, like trimming or 4K support, are geared for pros. The program sometimes felt like it wasn’t sure what it wanted to be when it grew up.
In FCP X, Apple got some things amazingly right. But they also got key features amazingly wrong. And if they don’t change course, this software, which has significant potential, is going to spin further and further out of control. At which point, its feature set is irrelevant, its reputation will be set. We’ll be looking at another Mac Cube.
Apple does not normally ever comment on future products – though they did this year, prior to WWDC, because they needed to reset expectations. Because of the visibility of this product into an audience that can cause extensive PR damage to Apple, I suggest that Apple break its usual vow of silence and do three things:
1. Immediately return Final Cut Studio (3) to the market. If it is not compatible with Lion (and I don’t know whether it is or not) label it so. But put it back on store shelves so consumers have the ability to work with the existing version until FCP X is ready for prime time.
2. Fund the development of a conversion utility – either at Apple or thru a 3rd-party – and announce the development with a tentative release date.
3. Publicly announce a road-map for FCP X that just covers the next 3-4 months. Apple needs to be in damage control mode and the best way to defuse the situation is to communicate. Answering the question: “What features will Apple add to FCP X, and when?” will go a long way to calming people down.
I have written in my earlier blog (read it here) that FCP X has a lot of potential, and, for some, it meets their needs very nicely. I still believe that.
I was also pleased to provide training on FCP X so that new and existing users can get up to speed on it quickly.
I don’t mind helping a product develop into its full potential. I enjoy providing feedback and helping people to learn new software. I don’t even mind that FCP X is missing some features; this is to be expected in any new software.
But I mind a great deal being forced to adopt a product because other options are removed, forced to lose access to my legacy projects, and forced to work in the dark concerning when critically needed features will be forthcoming.
This launch has been compared to Coca-Cola launching New Coke – resulting in a humiliating loss of market share.
With Final Cut Pro X, however, the situation is worse — with New Coke, only our ability to sip soda was affected. With Final Cut Pro X, we are talking losing livelihoods.
Let me know what you think,
Larry
253 Responses to Apple's Challenges
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Utah Editor says:
June 27, 2011 at 12:21 pm
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Bill Pryor says:
June 27, 2011 at 12:22 pm
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Brian says:
June 27, 2011 at 12:51 pm
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DavidH says:
June 27, 2011 at 12:54 pm
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Robert says:
June 27, 2011 at 1:05 pm
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Bob says:
June 27, 2011 at 1:08 pm
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Konrad says:
June 27, 2011 at 1:21 pm
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David Sallak says:
June 27, 2011 at 1:36 pm
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alex rodriguez says:
June 27, 2011 at 1:51 pm
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Deyson says:
June 27, 2011 at 2:13 pm
← Older Comments Newer Comments →Larry,
The most disheartening thing for more is trusting the beat of the Apple drum that things would “just work”. Apple berated Microsoft for this very same thing. I know, I know, Final Cut X does “work”, but it doesn’t fulfill user needs. For me, that is the same thing.
Had Microsoft released such a limited and “not ready for professional use” program, the guys at Apple would have responded with derision. “What do you mean it’s not ready for professional use?”, they would have said.
Apple seems to respond much more quickly to issues with the iPhone (bumper cases for example). They need to do the right thing here and bundle Final Cut 7 with Final Cut X until it is ready. It’s the only way to make fully “usable” software available until the new software is ready.
Also, I need DVD Studio Pro. So do all of my friends in my business. Every single one of my professional friends uses DVD Studio Pro. Every single one. Because their clients want DVD’s.
Let’s look to the future constantly, but understand we live in the present.
I will most likely move to Premier Pro and I would like to see you do training on it as well as After Effects. Thanks.
Wow… very eye-opening article that I’m glad I read. I am a professional editor who recently was thrust back into the freelance and small business owner world after 4-5 years of FT work, and I am about a week away from sinking some serious money into a new edit station. I was ABOUT to go hog-wild for the new FCPX, but to say I’m having serious doubts is an understatement.
I cut my teeth on Avid products, and was a regular devout user of both MC and Xpress Pro (which I had on my workstation at home), and when I started my FT gig (with a pro sports team that may have just won a 35lb trophy named Stanley), we had one top-of-the-line Avid MC workstation and two Matrox machines running Adobe Premiere, which I avoided like the plague whenever possible, but occaissionally would need to work with (mostly since those machines were also our After Effects workstations, which I also used very frequently).
About three years ago the decision was made to go to an all-FCS workflow for video editing, as Avid did not support Prores422, which all of our “highlight” clips were encoded as on a nightly basis by our tape ops on EVS systems, and my beloved Avid was sold off. I had roughly three weeks to learn FCS and edit our opening night video. But, after getting thrown into the fire, I came to love and even prefer Final Cut. Within a year I considered myself more capable in FCS than I had been after 8 years of working in Avid.
When I found myself suddenly underemployed and needing to drag my dormant video business into the HD world suddenly, I found myself looking for low-cost options to make do until the cash flow started coming in, and ended up souping up my newer PC laptop and giving the newest version of Pinnacle a look (hoping that, under Avid’s ownership, it had become more powerful than it was in the past). A few weeks later, I heard about a new product, Avid Studio, which was a step up for the higher-end consumer editor, and felt, again, this may be the way to go and purchased the $99 upgrade. What a collossal waste. I had hoped for “Avid Lite” and instead got an abomination of a “edit” software that behaved and operated both slowly and unlike any other system I’ve worked on. Things that should have taken me two hours took two days.
So, here I am today about to make a huge purchase (for my small business budget effectively starting over from scratch), and I was trying my best to maximize how much machine can I get for my money, knowing I’d need both Adobe’s creative suite and either FCP or Avid… and of course the PC option was continually cheaper… but I still found myself drawn like a moth to a more-reliable flame to Apple (I also have yet to find a suitable PC equivalent to DVD Studio Pro). The initial words I had read about FCPX thrilled me, as I saw the possibility of getting an Apple workstation at a price point that meant I’d have more to spend on the machine. But now… ugh…. no DVD Studio Pro, a watered down editing system with a name I once respected, and a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach that buying an Mac might very well be buying one of the last generations of a dying breed.
From the feedback I’ve seen, FCPX looks much more like Apple’s answer to Avid Studio than a useable tool for the professional editing community.
And to “True Professional” I have to add… I’m one of those professional editors who has had to learn how to edit across multiple platforms and systems, and I still am seriously dissapointed in FCPX and see it as a serious blow to actual true professionals out there. Maybe Apple pulls off a miraculous about-face and gets very public about the issues and finds a way to service this community again, but I feel like their efforts to cater to the masses is a not-so-subtle middle finger to the rest of us.
Here is the Double Whammy that is one of many reasons to despise what Apple has done.
Adobe and Apple were pioneers in DESKTOP EDITING applications that took us into realms as video editing solutions that were getting very close to what proprietary hardware based editing systems were doing.
The promise that Apple helped fulfill and gave much support to was a much cheaper alternative than Avid that enabled editors “professional features”, some of them actually ahead of Avid capabilities.
However, the requirement to enter the newly formed club was an Apple computer with Apple software. Okay, well, expensive machine but Apple seemed committed to also giving us the best hardware and operating system.
I bought an 8 core MacPro BECAUSE it ran the software, Final Cut Studio, that I had selected as the best investment for my fairly modest needs. But with the input and output formats to make it possible to upscale production by enlisting other video professioals in color grading and audio sweetening.
What I see is that the Apple Mac Pro line is probably also being phased out by Apple as they see more money in the core Power to the People apps.
Then I look at Adobe, seriously for the first time and I am impressed.
Then I see how many other great, well-known production products are a part of their suite.
I see their video editing product even taking care to also import Final Cut Pro 7 projects and files when Apple will not.
I see Adobe with the ability to natively play .mov, mxf, various HD formats immediately on the timeline.
I see the ability to import all the necessary formats in Premiere Pro.
I see Adobe offering a Windows and a Mac version of the same software.
And, very importantly, I see REAL EDITORS EMPLOYED BY ADOBE who very apparently understand all the needs of professional editors. They give me the feeling that they are engaged with the professional community of editors and care about how to curtail their product to working editors.
They seem much more directly engaged with the professional editing community and more focused on talking to it and responding to it.
Adobe seems to WANT the professional community.
Right now they only support 4 multicam windows, but, hey, now that they have more FCP 7 editors come sniffing around seriously kicking their tires I bet Adobe comes up with what professional editors want long before Apple.
I think Steve Jobs does not really respect the financials from such a niche. His product, his actions speak all we need to hear from Apple.
Right now I feel better than I did last week as I get to really look at Adobe. I feel another Windows machine in my future.
But for now I will introduce my MacPro to the Creative options at Adobe.
Maybe it’s time to switch to Pepsi. It might taste a little different, and need a bit of getting use to, but you know what you are getting and you know they won’t change the receipt on you.
I tried the New Coke but switched to Pepsi. I don’t like the taste of FCP X either. I have FCS 3 and Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 on my Mac. I won’t be upgrading…. errrr, switching to FCP X.
Nice Coca Cola analogy. Apple should now be like Coca Cola and bring back FC Studio “Classic.”
Hello Larry,
I am glad to see you have to guts to come out and voice criticism. A lot more of that should be heard, not just from the users but in print and news media. The way Apple handled this is unbelievable from start to finish. First their showing off with the sneak preview; in hindsight clearly taking the piss out of the user base, now followed by complete silence. They couldn’t care less. I am certain there won’t be a statement from them.
I have seen Apple up high, then take a deep fall and now they are on top of the hill again. But these are cycles and it is only a matter of time untill they take a dive with their increasing arrogance and propriatory brick wall mentality. Back then, their dedicated user base stuck with them and saved their butt. Not the hip lifestyle crowds. Now they spat in our face. I wonder how much of that dedicated user base beyond the glitz and glamour will be left when the time has come that not everything “i” is cool anymore. I am confident Apple in turbo capitalism mode will roll over many more people in the future and betray their trust.
To Loye – “As high and nightly as Avid has behaved in the past even they have never pulled such a blunder.”
Oh yes they have – at NAB in 1998 or 99 (I can’t recall which) Avid announced they would no longer support Mac, and would be exclusively PC (see Media Composer Meridian v9, never shipped on Mac). The Hollywood post community responded angrily and insisted that Avid go back on their statement, and support Mac too. Avid relented and released MC 10, but the impact of Avid’s arrogance took more than a decade to overcome.
One other note – back in the day, Media100 announced a new FX/edit platform called the 844X. It could not open any projects created on any of the existing Media100 edit systems, and the company had effectively ceased to develop other existing edit platforms. Media100 had effectively abandoned their customer base – deciding that it wasn’t important to offer their users the ability to bring their projects forward to the new platform. It didn’t help that the 844X cost 2x the price of a Media100.
This Apple FCPX situation feels very similar, albeit the cost of the tool went down. But still, the older and more-capable product won’t get future enhancement or compatibility support. Can’t go forward if you can’t use what brought you here.
A lot of people are saying “final cut X has potential” …
— well, just imagine what would happen if I go to my landlord and tell him. “Hey I don’t have the money this week, but I am looking for a job and have some potential” —
My question is: potential to what? be a professional editing software?…let me remind you, it wasn’t till FPC version 3 that FPC started to be considered a pro editing software.
This has happened many times in Apple’s history, from the time the floppy disk was eliminated, OS9 was replaced with OSX, to the time right before Livetype first came out. In the long run after the dust is settled I believe everyone forgot all about and loved the step forward.
Plus updates are coming soon. ( google search: apple updates in 6 months )
The mobile community still needs awesome content creation. That is where we the “pros” come in, those who get paid to communicate.
For now, I will keep using FCP 7 until all the kinks get worked out, I will play and learn with Final Cut X so when the issues get worked out into the new Final Cut X I will then be ready.
Let us not forget FCPX just came out a few days ago so I am sure we will get some surprises soon.
I feel Final Cut 7 still rocks! Especially Motion 4?
Seems I spend more time in Motion now than in FCP7.
In my opinion we get an awesome editor ( FCPX, Motion and Compressor ) for less than $500.00 that integrates with imovie which can get you more collaboration with imovie users ex; producers, directors and clients, it takes full use of your 64 bit system, and a nice fat GUI ( huge multi-touch potential). I personally think it will be well worth the wait for them to answer or needs.
Apple for all that they do is still a small company.
They are providing not only sleek content delivery, but also a way to create it, more reason for them to provide great tools.
Until now they have had a pretty good track record in my book for being forward thinkers and I have grown to really to like them and trust them.
My 2.5 cents 🙂
P.s. I believe there is a reason why they did not replace Final Cut 7 when we update, in the past when we updated; the old version of FCP got deleted. This is the first time I remember that a new FCP did not replace the old, must be for a reason I think.
Let me know what you think.
Have an awesome day!