I've Seen The New Version of Final Cut Pro…

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Larry

… and it’s a jaw-dropper.

Last week, Apple invited a few folks, including me, to a short meeting in Cupertino where they previewed the up-coming version of Final Cut Pro.

While I am under NDA and can’t talk about what I saw, I CAN tell you the meeting happened and that it showcased the new Final Cut Pro.

While the invited crowd was small, it was a Who’s Who of leaders in the post-production community. I felt like I was standing on the red carpet at an awards show, watching all the stars walk past.

There will be LOTS to talk about as this project gets closer. For now, I recommend you subscribe to my monthly Final Cut Studio newsletter – because I’ll share all the news that I’m allowed to share in there first.

Tell your friends … its gonna be a great year.

Larry

P.S. If you feel the urge to email me for more information, keep in mind that Apple’s lawyers are bigger than your lawyers. So, until Apple lifts the NDA, I’m telling you all I can … for now.

92 Responses to I've Seen The New Version of Final Cut Pro…

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george manzanilla says:

February 28, 2011 at 8:50 pm

I’m excited. Look forward to faster editing and an inspiring facelift to the application (user since V1.2). The low-level architecture changes I hope imply basic added functionality like setting capture scratch and render folders at a project level rather than program-wide. Would love to see better, more accurate and less glitchy KEYFRAMING.
Peter Cave says:

February 28, 2011 at 9:30 pm

I’m hopeful that many existing shortcomings will be addressed. I would like a 3D canvas so I can do things that I could do 25 years ago on linear systems. Reliable keyframing interface, scaleable text in the GUI, metadata support and some asset management features. Also a proper media management interface and background processing would be nice.
I don’t want more bells & whistles, I want more speed, reliability & interface improvements.
Dennis Petoff says:

March 1, 2011 at 2:01 pm

I guess its good news.
Question..in your travels has anyone asked this of FC
“How is it possible..that they advertise motion pictures “Edied with FC pro”
And we here at our studio..can work more than 20 min or an hr before FC quits or locks up..the whole spectrum of Apple Tech can’t figure it out..
Maybe with your knowledge and contacts..like the red carpet you were invited to can find the answer.
Believe me..myself and alot of other disgruntled FC users
Thank you
Larry says:

March 1, 2011 at 2:10 pm

Dennis:

I am sorry you are having problems. I know that I, and many, many, many of my clients edit on Final Cut all day, every day with only very minimal problems.

This is not to diminish your frustration, but simply to let you know you are not in the majority. I’m happy to give you a hand, if I can. Just contact me directly.

Larry
OrinHD says:

March 1, 2011 at 5:51 pm

Hi Larry, I read this morning that the new FCP Studio MAY be introduced as soon as tomorrow with the iPad 2 announcement. My most sincere hope is that there is ANY basic 3D functionality. Even a simple anaglyph would be GREAT!! Three-D AND a non autodesk / Quantel based UI for Color would be awesome! I just can’t wrap my head around splines and rooms no matter how hard I try! I’m functional on Color but it’s always like taking your first steps almost every time!!

I too am sorry to hear of Dennis’ predicament as I suffered much of the same problem for a while in one of my bays.

The solution was pulling all the memory out and testing pairs in slots one and two. If ALL combinations of the chips worked (keep a list!), I ruled out not only the chips being bad but the memory slots too. Once I ruled out the chips and first two slots, I started adding chips to 1,2,3 and 4. Then, 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, etc. I eventually found a bad memory slot in position 6. Because I only rarely used the amount of memory that leads into slot 6, I only rarely got “out of memory” errors which can be indicative of a bad chip or slot. If the RAM in a bad slot isn’t accessed, you won’t get an error BUT the bad slot WILL cause crashes and freezes without an obvious or reported reason. (Good luck Dennis!)

Great newsletter! Looking forward to reading more from you!
Rob says:

March 1, 2011 at 6:31 pm

Looking forward to the new fcp package.
Marcus R. Moore says:

March 1, 2011 at 8:49 pm

@ OrinHD

It would be wonderful, but I can’t see any circumstance under which Apple would announce Studio 4 what is by any measure a consumer device oriented event. iPad- Yes. iOS5 preview- Yes. MoblileMe enhancements- sure. FCP- that’s a stretch and a half.

Unless they just happen to use the opportunity of the Apple Store being down to throw it up on the website, I think we’ll be waiting a bit longer…
Peter says:

March 2, 2011 at 8:49 am

Sounds like a good time for an OS upgrade with entirely new system required, no? My MacPro will undoubtably hit the refuse pile shortly thereafter. Apple likes to package forced technology “improvements” with their releases. My iPhone 3g still reels from all the “newer” versions, and barely functions at all.
sbvideo says:

March 2, 2011 at 2:59 pm

If they update the whole studio. Blu ray authoring would be real nice. Since DVSP was never updated last time around. Compressor could use better single batch handling and previews. And hopefully FCP will better utilize the hardware Apple sells. Its a shame when a editor buys a new Mac only to find out later not all the cores can be used by FCP.

sb
alexmolly says:

March 3, 2011 at 12:08 pm

Larry, I have a 2 x 2.93 Quad-core intel Xeon mac pro

12 GB 1066 MHz DDR3

ATI Radeon HD 4870

Will the new fcp…take advantage of what I got now…..or do I have to go to the new 12 core….