Re: Final Cut Pro X: What's Missing for Some Pros

Walter,

Thanks for writing this. Spent 4 hours today that I didn't really have opening up FCP X, going through the emotions of "trying" to get excited about it in some way, all the way realizing, at my shop which has five purchased FCP Studio work stations, this is NEVER going to work for me. THank you for writing out the true deal killers - "sharing projects" between editors is something we do CONSTANTLY in our work flow. Using Photoshop layers - CONSTANTLY used. Sending projects to audio guys via OMF. THese emotions, with XML, are enough alone for any responsible business owner or even semi-pro editor with clients to appease, to step back and seriously contemplate a switch.

I bought 1.0 in 1999, and have been a freelancer editor ever since. IT would be wrong for me to be a snob about the focus of this release - I was a novice, would-be editor then, and that release gave me the means to go do what I really wanted to do. So, I'm a-okay with changing paradigms. I'll even cede that the idea of a timeline is something I've questioned over the last years, and I don't HATE using the magnetic timeline - could see myself getting to a place of enjoying that.

But I think as so many 3rd party software designers have really rocked anxillary solutions for FCP - Intelligent Assistant's amazing PrEdit which takes Avid's script based editing idea into an amazing direction, AV3's Get app which helps content editors find words and phrases with an instant search of the waveform, color tools for Red Bullit that make color not only easy but truly fun - it's amazing to me that innovation, as evidenced by FCP x, amounts to speed over precision.

No matter how many times people try to defend this release - unless you are an editor who works in the world and in which this is how you make your living, you will NOT get how amazingly sad the last 24 hours has been.

***

But now...what are our choices for moving forward? Surely, many of us will first make a list of the plug ins and hardware we have. I have CS5, and I've enjoyed Premiere the handful of times I've gone inside it.

Right now, I honestly need a "Premiere" or "AVid" for former Final Cut Pro users. I'm FINE learning a new app. I'm not happy about it, and I'm REALLY not happy about the money I'm going to have to spend to move my shop. (and yes people, we realize we don't have to move today, or tomorrow, but it is official, FCP as we know it is gone.)

Perhaps it's time to start a new thread - BEST PRACTICES FOR MOVING FROM FCP.

I'd like to punch Apple right now.

Byrd McDonald

Byrd McDonald