[ Updated April 18, 2012, to clarify some wording after a second conversation with Apple. ]
I had an on-the-record meeting with Apple this morning in Las Vegas, the day before the start of the 2012 NAB Show — along with a preview of future FCP X features, which I’ll talk about at the end of this blog.
NOTE: We also covered some amazing third-party announcements coming at NAB this year. I’ll have more on that later this week, after the NDA expire at a variety of press conferences later today and tomorrow.
SOME BACKGROUND
When Apple was preparing to launch FCP X, they told me that the new architecture of the software, combined with the flexibility of the Mac App Store would allow for much more rapid updates to the program. However, while the releases were planned well in advance, there is no significance to the alternation of feature (10.0.1 and 10.0.3) with, essentially, bug fix (10.0.2 and 10.0.4) releases. In other words, don’t read too much into this alternating pattern of features and bug fixes. However, do keep in mind that Apple has updated FCP X four times in less than a year since its initial release.
Apple stressed that FCP X is a long-term project and that they are fully committed to it. (In other words, because I asked, there is not a Final Cut Pro 8 waiting in the wings.) Apple views Final Cut X as the future of video editing.
Also, if you look at the features Apple has added since FCP X first released, Apple has almost exclusively focused on adding features for the professional market: Roles, Multicam, broadcast monitoring, etc.
I asked what the benefits were to using the Mac App Store for distribution of updates, and was told that the biggest benefit was that the Mac App Store license allows Apple to deliver both bug fixes and feature updates, unlike Software Update.
NOTE: The benefits of using the Mac App Store for updates to video editors are something I want to learn more about in a future conversation with Apple. I’ll have more to share with you then.
Apple also highlighted the workflow at Leverage which uses FCP X.
* The show shoots on RED in Portland, Oregon.
* Ships hard disks down to LA for editing.
* RED files are transcoded to ProRes Proxy for editing.
* The show is edited in FCP X
* X2Pro (from Marquis Broadcast) converts the files to ProTools for audio sweetening.
* XML exports from FCP X are sent to DaVinci Resolve for color grading
* Final conforming of audio and video is done in FCP X
* Final delivery is a ProRes file.
Apple also said the 10.0.4 update significantly improved broadcast monitoring performance, so they have removed the term “beta” when describing it. I specifically asked if 10.0.4 now has sufficient performance to support multicam monitoring and Apple said “Yes.”
THE GOOD STUFF
Then, Apple shared their plans for Final Cut Pro X features coming later this year (2012). Apple began providing “advanced looks” as part of the roll-out to the launch of FCP X and wanted to continue letting us know what’s coming. (I think this is a great idea, because it helps us plan.)
Here are the bullet points (none of this was demoed):
Audio mixing in FCP X is still weak. I’m looking forward to seeing what the new tools provide.
Dual Viewers is analogous to Source and Record monitors; though Apple stressed that when they implement a feature they try to do it better than it has been done before. A good example of this is their recent multicam addition. This feature would allow us to easily compare two clips.
FCP X has been able to read MXF files (think XDCAM EX), but not the native MXF wrapper that contains them. In the past, it needed to convert MXF to QuickTime. In the future, FCP X won’t need to make this conversion. Apple was quick to stress that this was not a move away from QuickTime, instead it was adding support for a common video format.
While Apple did not provide any details, I interpret “RED camera support” to mean that we would be able to edit R3D files natively, as opposed to editing R3D files as QuickTime proxies.
I asked when Apple would support retaining In and Out (Start / End) markers in clips in the Event Browser. They refused to comment, but stressed that while these were the four features they were announcing, these four would not be the only features released. Retaining Ins and Outs on clips is SO useful, I will continue to bang the drum for Apple to add these.
I asked if Apple would commit to WHEN these features would be available? They politely declined to speculate. (Sigh…)
SUMMARY
It was an interesting meeting. Apple clearly wants it known that FCP X should be considered a professional application, that development is on-going, and that they are listening to comments from users.
I tried to get them to provide hints on upcoming hardware, but no hints were provided.
I also got a sense they are working on another application to join FCP X, Motion, and Compressor. (There are several that would be very useful, we shall have to see what develops. I don’t expect anything announced immediately.)
All-in-all, it is always fun to meet the FCP X team and get a sense of what’s coming. And I wanted to share what I learned with you.
Larry
P.S. For the latest in Final Cut Pro X news, please sign up for my weekly, free newsletter: www.larryjordan.biz/newsletter/
108 Responses to Future Features in Final Cut Pro X
← Older Comments Newer Comments →-
Allynn says:
April 18, 2012 at 3:37 pm
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Craig Seeman says:
April 18, 2012 at 4:41 pm
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Alex says:
April 18, 2012 at 5:28 pm
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Lester says:
April 19, 2012 at 11:32 am
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LeoHans says:
April 19, 2012 at 1:29 pm
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Jeff says:
April 19, 2012 at 3:05 pm
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Larry says:
April 19, 2012 at 3:32 pm
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LeoHans says:
April 19, 2012 at 3:45 pm
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Marcus Moore says:
April 19, 2012 at 5:28 pm
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LeoHans says:
April 19, 2012 at 9:12 pm
← Older Comments Newer Comments →Cool that Leverage has finally been able to make the switch to X. I’ve been pestering John Rogers (http://www.kfmonkey.blogspot.com/) about this on blog since the second half of last season!
Keep on ’em about persistent I/O’s, Larry! That is the one thing about X that bothers me every time I use it (other things only bother me sometimes!)
Jason, we’ll have to see what Sony’s plugin does in practice as per the announcement below.
http://fcp.co/final-cut-pro/news/800-sony-launch-their-pdzk-lt2-xdcam-import-plugin-for-fcpx-and-upgrade-xdcam-browser
I understand it is a rewrap but if it works the same way as it does for AVCHD (if you check in the Events folder you’ll find it shows as .mov) it would be seamless. In other words it would just import and work. We’ll have to see. Maybe Larry can post if he’s tested.
@ Floris,
I was an FCP editor exclusively for 6 years in LA. FCP never lead anything. It was the only real other NLE after Avid. But Avid has always been the only real player in town.
Wether Avid is better or not is irrelevant. It’s the industry standard and if you really want to make a leaving here you gotta have Avid in your toolbox. I always new Avid, but preferred FCP. After years of supporting FCP (more than Apple has ever supported me I should say), my income has certainly gone up since I was forced to switch back.
FCPX has come a long way. And I’m glad they’re bringing back the dual monitoring. Ill give it a spin eventually. But as with the Imovie X debacle (which was also designed by Randy Ubilos), Apple is bringing back some of the feature they took back. I’m pretty sure they will eventually bring back the numbered tracks as a preference.
Apple got ride of it because they wanted people to mix sound in FCPX. But the fact the Apple is now showcasing a workflow using X2Pro to Protools prove that they got that wrong. Maybe it will lead them to reconsider getting ride of Soundtrack and Color as well.
The one big thing that FCPX is still missing to really be considered by big post house is a good server solution and the possibility to share media and projects over a network.
I’m sure they’re working on it, but until then, you wont see major shows done on FCPX. And the problem is that while that issue is not being addressed, the few big post houses that were FCP based are now investing in other NLE and other server solutions (BMP), and because of the size of those investments, they won’t switch back for another 10 years.
Tom is right, It’s a little too late.
@ Marcus Moore:
I have, indeed, attempted to use FCPX in our post department. First on a doc shot in many locations worldwide, second on a RED commercial. In all regards, the workflow and data management were subpar. The ability to speak to other editorial stations (color correction, sound) and manage assets across stations is non-existent.
Look, if it works for someone, that’s great. But in my world, we can’t wait for two years for a program to work professionally. Apple assumes that we are all it’s minion, and we must do as it says. We dared to think otherwise and moved to Avid, who understands that completed work today is more important than wearing a crazy hat and being different.
@Lester:
It’s not true that FCPX can’t talk to other stations. You can go to Da Vinci, ProTools, AE, Smoke, etc.
Updates delivered through Mac App Store? Seriously? I think I’ll be at the Avid counter.
Updates thru the Mac App Store are no different than updates using Software Update for both are fast and easy.
I’m not sure what your concerns are here.
Larry
Larry,
You are missing the point. Updates over Mac App Store only works with legal copies of Final Cut Pro. In previous versions if you had a valid serial number you were able to get updates using software update.
If you have bought FCPX via Mac App Store you shouldn’t have any problem.
Leo,
I don’t understand either. What situation could you be in and not hold a valid licence?
As to your other points. As someone else noted- interoperability to both CC and audio finishing tools is now no longer an issue.
Look, you’re absolutely right in that no one should be on the hook to wait for functionality for the work they do. Apple didn’t communicate this at all, but I always inferred that FCPX was a developing program. So in workflows where it doesn’t work, I continue to use FCP7, but where it does I’ve been very happy to move over to X. And as it’s functionality expands my need for FCP7 will shrink.
If FCPX were a house, I think it’s only about 30% finished. But I think that the 30% that’s there is stronger in some key ways.
I’ve been meaning to write a longer post about this, but I keep thinking about the INSANE advantages of the connected clip structure. In a complicated FCP7 sequence, if someone asked you to add 5 seconds out of a single shot. You’d have to:
1. SHIFT-T select everything down the timeline
2. manually deselect all the video and audio that crosses over the edit point that you DON’T want to move.
3. move that material 5 seconds down the timeline
4. select and expand the shot 5 seconds
in FCPX this process is:
1. put selection tool over end of shot and enter +5 on the keyboard. Everything linked before they edit stays where it is, and everything after moves down 5 frames. Wonderful!
I think that finding a single shot in a properly key worded Event is equally faster than a complicated folder-within-folder structure of bins.
Its the new processes that I legitimately find compelling. If I move to any other NLE, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ll have to do the same basic steps as with FCP7. No?
Marcus,
I was answering about what reason may have somebody to prefer software update over App Store updates.
I like how Mac App Store works.