I received the following email today from someone who needs to remain anonymous. However, I trust them and their opinion and wanted to share their thoughts with you here as a way to continue our discussion.
While I don’t agree with all of this, it does spark an interesting chain of thought.
Larry
P.S. I did not write this, nor did I ask it to be written. I have obtained permission to share it with you.
– – –
Apple says that FCP X is about the future of NLE. After thinking about it, I think they are right.
It’s not just about the GUI or features per se… but the fact that our culture is going mobile and our work along with it. A new generation is growing up and moving them from iMovie to FCPX will be easy. Also the new generation will invent their own workflows and their own content and their own way of doing things. Apple may have jumped the gun in a way that made it impossible for a percentage of the current editing community to go along, but those folks are not the future. Not in the same way a 16-year-old iMovie whiz is.
Look at the big picture. Sales of standard PCs have fallen while portable products have been flying off the shelves. This is no fad, it’s the future.
Watch as the system requirements for NLE on the Apple side look more and more lean. Apple owns both hardware and OS, my bet is that they will leverage that to guarantee they are ahead of the curve in performance requiring smaller and smaller hardware overhead. It’s in this way, as the new generation of editors comes up, FCP will take back it’s place as the de facto platform for any level of project. I’m absolutely convinced (as is Apple) that sooner than you think, a teenager today will be working on an episode of “Extreme _____ Makeover” using an iPad__ with lots of storage on board. I already saw someone using an iPad as a 2nd display for FCP X and how some functions were already touch screen enabled. Those pissed off edit suite owners may be pissed off at what Apple has done, but just wait till all those up-and-coming digital kids start to see those very expensive edit suites as dinosaur grave yards.
That’s where Apple is headed and a powerful, sleek FCP that uses iCloud technology along with all the other new technologies is where the future really is. Does anyone remember those $250,000 edit suites that got replaced by a $1,300.00 Final Cut Studio, back in the day? Well, Apple is doing it again with one major change, this time they are obsoleting themselves before someone else does.
It really is the future, or at least it’s headed in that direction.
109 Responses to The Future of Non-Linear Editing?
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Floris says:
July 30, 2011 at 8:06 am
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Bernhard says:
July 30, 2011 at 9:32 am
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Phil Davison says:
July 30, 2011 at 6:08 pm
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Don B says:
July 30, 2011 at 11:06 pm
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Bill Dawson says:
July 31, 2011 at 11:35 am
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Nivardo Cavalcante says:
August 1, 2011 at 1:18 pm
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Bruno Borello says:
August 1, 2011 at 6:09 pm
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Dick Applebaum says:
August 1, 2011 at 6:29 pm
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Leo Hans says:
August 1, 2011 at 7:53 pm
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Frost says:
August 2, 2011 at 1:58 am
← Older Comments Newer Comments →Word is that a new build of the SDK with XML will be send to developers within 2 weeks (source Atlanta cutters). Magic Bullet will release products in august/september.
I think the discussion is getting meaningless now. Apple will soon prove who is right or wrong with updates. A new Mac Pro is rumored to be released late august… I guess we will know soon.
Hello,
up to a certain degree Apple’s concept does make sense to me.
But perhaps apple is not consequent enough at all!
At the one hand they get rid of some old paradigms.
Excellent! Good thing! Move on!
But at the other hand they failed to introduce new ones …
e.g.:
The 100% file-based paradigm would make sense if:
+ the AV/Foundation core led to full compatibility with all
native camera files. Much of FCP’s power belonged to the
power of quicktime as a core system. Once quicktime handle,
all quicktime related apps were able to handle those files.
With A/V-Foundation this could move on the next level in
getting rid of re-wrapping media files into *.mov
– Apple’s answer is a divided import function for files and cameras?!?
And XDCamEX still requires to be rewrapped?
The current incompatibility with I/O-HW would be acceptable if:
+ there was a reliable video-correct (field emulation, etc.)
display-port output signal, capable in making a hp dreamcolor
or equivalent to a perfect grading monitor;
+ or if Apple’s own displays (MacBook, iMac, etc.) were all
class A 10bit calibrated, or had an in-build calibration-hw like Eizo,
or equivalent workflow to provide accuracy
– Apple’s answer is an insufficient video-preview to a second monitor
A paradigm shift is a good thing, but with FCP-X Apple has
shifted into nowhere.
Kind regards
How about this for a somewhat facetious timeline –
– 2011 Apple fixes FCPX, new Mac Pros
– 2013 Apple buys Time Warner & Sony; EOLs all delivery systems except iTunes
– 2014 Apple buys Microsoft and Google; EOLs You Tube and Windows
– 2018 Apple expands into food production
– 2020 Apple EOLs all governments in western world, becomes a benevolent dictatorship where everyone is both well fed and entertained.
OK, the above is a bit silly, but Apple is a huge corporation. Apple’s loyalties are to the shareholders, not ‘us’. Once upon a time we liked Apple because they were the underdog compared to Microsoft, but this is no longer the case.
LOL Phil. And not all that far from truth:
“U.S. balance now less than Apple cash”
http://natpo.st/pJxO5D
Yes, todays 16 year old is tomorrows pro movie editor. I am also making a safe assumption that all editors were at one time the age of 16. I also think that computer devices will continue to get faster and smaller. FCPX on iPad? Maybe, but could also be the wizbang edit app on the XYZ handheld device. Can we trust Apple?
Apple has demonstrated they will ignore the pro edit community (and other communities for that matter). What makes the 16 year old think that Apple will not ignore them tomorrow?
The Future of Non-Linear Editing?
Who decides? us, not Apple.
The biggest insult in this FCPX fiasco is that Apple has treated the professional user the same as the consumer user. Consumers don’t rely on their software or hardware for business and to make a living. Apple has shown complete disrespect for the professional by not being clear about their new product, not showing the road map of what is coming or where it’s going, being secretive or deceptive, and not addressing professional concerns. Why can’t they just address the professional questions right now? What do they have to lose? Their silence causes this widespread speculation and mistrust. Are they so arrogant (because of their financial success) that they just don’t care? The fact that they have been silent is disturbing. Again, the professional market should be treated differently than the consumer. They can stop all the rumors and speculation by just speaking out. Silence is quite revealing.
We have used FCP7 and love Apple products. But this has been disturbing as a professional user.
@Nivardo
The simple answer is neither… technology will decide — in the larger scheme of things!
If you have creative talent, the tools are important, but do not define the product you deliver.
If you are a technician, you will adapt to the tools which allow you to be competitive and survive.
I do not have creative talent, nor am I a good NLE technician…
But, I entered the computer field in 1956 — when there were less than 50 computers in the entire world. I have participated in, and observed the effects of, applying [computer] technology to processes. The processes included everything from payroll, selling carloads of oranges, “growing silicon” for electronic chips, Army war games… and, yes even a little NLE editing.
Here are the “big lessons” I have learned:
— Some will seek out new technology, embrace it, then exploit (what they can) to their (and others’) advantage.
— Some will resist technology until it overtakes them.
— Some will do nothing.
@Nirvado
“The Future of Non-Linear Editing?
Who decides? us, not Apple.”
I love FCPX approach, so why should I can’t go there? Just because you don’t like it?
There are some people bashing FCPX, but they are not all the pros. There are a lot of pros that find FCPX foundations really impressive.
I would bet that more than 90% of the people here that are bashing up FCPX havnt spent more than 2 weeks actually giving it a fair go. I admit after being a long time FCP user it was very frustrating taking the jump. But now that i pushed through that barrier i love it, my edit times has dropped, but still keeping the quality up if not better. When ever i jump back to fcp 7 i am frustrated by it.
This is the future.
and also i bet that half of the editors out there are just wedding video editors, corporate film makers ect. i bet that there are only a handful of people here that actually work on holiwood films or anything of that level that requires something better than fcp 7 and x.
So for the so called pro’s out there that are dissing this out, actually give it a fair go, take some tutorials and stop dissing a great product.
Sure jump to more unstable softwares like your cs5.5 and your avid. But your not going to be anywhere near as happy and impressed as this.
if anything you will spend more time installing those programs, re-learning them, getting all your effects turned over. only for the fact the timeline looks the same. yeh smart choice.
and who said you have to go to fcpx, last time i checked it didnt delete fcp7, so shut up and just use fcp7 until a few improvements have been made.