Re: Smoke is changing- into Final Cut Extreme- New Features Page?

[Andrew Richards] "There will continue to be a vocal group of spurned FCP7 users"

What I find bothersome about that group is that many INSIST FCPX is not "Professional." I've been working in post for over 30 years, used Avid for over 10 of those and knew it well enough to be both engineer and trainer, used FCP legacy for a decade as well and I find FCPX workflow a major improvement (and a belief that Apple will improve it further).

[Andrew Richards] "legacy workflows like tape and film (and yes, those are legacy when virtually all core manufacturer support for them has ended)"

Admittedly there are facilities with vast tape libraries. It's not difficult to bring things in as files with today's video i/o devices and accompanying software. Those same tools can get you back to tape (HDCAM) for delivery. I might guess a few are grumbling about the inability to batch capture from tape to timeline or go back to tape from timeline with an insert edit to replace a shot for example. For the former I'd personally recommend that one should consider bringing in tapes and archiving as files as needed. I can understand the latter being an issue when you need to replace one shot in a 90 minute show being delivered on HDCAM. I don't think it would be worth Apple's R&D to implement that when, I believe, in a couple of years, file delivery will be taking hold in broadcast. It makes more sense for Apple to focus on complex file export.

[Andrew Richards] "FCPX still has a lot of room for improvement, but not even one year later it is a viable tool for a great many working editors and apparently even a few facilities."

I'm impressed with the speed at which Apple is developing features. I understand the impatience (and some practically can't wait). Even these scant examples are impressive given FCPX's youth.

[Andrew Richards] "The best thing about all this is the big three A's can all be installed on the same system, use the same hardware, and work with the same formats, all without breaking the bank."

It's ironic how it's not longer and either/or situation and people still complain. Even the "one person band" can buy all three.

[Andrew Richards] "Now if we could just get a new Super Mac to host them on...."

I suspect that's coming but, once again, many will likely grumble because they'll come up with a situation were it wont work. More recently I'm thinking that the "pizza box" I had been describing might not be the way Apple goes. It could be an iMacPro much like HP's Z1 with Xeon's in an all in one. I'm not crazy about the Z1 specs though at the moment.