Re: Did they make FCP worthy yet to upgrade from 7?

I as most were shocked about going to the one window fcp screen. And everything they did for X. So stuck with 7 like everyone else. But rumor has it this year is the year everyone is going back. It's apparently close enough to 7 we can use again? Is this true? If I have to learn a new program with 10 I'm not interested. If I can go from 7 to the current X and still edit like I always have I'm interested. Thanks Ken and gang! Miss you guys! And is it true it's only $300? Is that the whole program or just the upgrade price?

also does it have the two screens again. Viewer and browser? Instead of the one.

uh oh reading the reviews on Mac App Store. people still don't like it. damn. what should I learn then? Premier? I want fcp 7 back but if they are not going to bring it back what is next best thing?

If you think people don't like FCP X you are dead wrong. There was a strong opposition to it when it was released three years ago, because at first sight it looked so different from any existing NLE. But people got used to it, beautiful films and commercials were cut on it, major television operations such as TF1 and BBC adopted it, a major Warner Bros studio movie was cut on it, and today most of the strongest vocal opponents from years ago have left FCP7 for FCP X.

No matter what NLE you go to from FCP7, you will have to learn the application. And it is absolutely incorrect that learning FCP X is any more difficult than learning Premier or Avid. From my experience with all four NLEs I would say exactly the opposite. If you don't want to learn anything new at all, stay with FCP7.

There are two viewers in FCP X. But the funny thing is that no-one uses that second viewer. Simply because it is much easier to work with only one. Although you can use the second viewer in FCP X as a Browser viewer, just like in 7, people don't want to do that anymore. They only open it to compare shots for color correction or for match-framing. Once you get used to the single-viewer mode you don't want to go back to the clumsy Preview/Canvas workflow.

As you may know I have always been a fervent proponent of FCP7 because I really liked working with it. But since we switched to FCP X there is no reason in the world I would ever want to go back to 7, nor to any NLE that looks like it. I have included a screenshot of a recent poll where people were asked what NLE they preferred. I think the figures speak for themselves. FCP7 is dead and former FCP7 users are loving FCP X, get over it.

Best wishes,

Ronny

I used to hate FCPX. I think most people do when they first start using it. It can take some time to grow on you which it will once you learn it. I use both FCP7 and FCPX mainly because there are a couple of things that FCPX does not have the ability to do that FCP7 has been able to do since probably 2007 and it will never have that ability (at least nowhere near as easily implemented). But most projects I use FCPX exclusively. FCPX is more fun to use once you get used to it and I love many of its features. Use it and learn it while you keep FCP7 as safekeeping. And yes it is only $300 and they will probably not charge you again until FCPXI comes out.

That's reassuring folks. But I gave them my soul from day one and I feel like they robbed it of me. Now I have to buy another soul? From the same people? How do I know they won't do it again? And I can't even use anything from before? It's a totally new game? I may stick to directing. But I will miss FCP forever. Sons a bitches in corporate.

You do not need another soul. No soul is required to use FCPX.

hope not.

Looks like Jack Nickolson.

Looks like Jack Nickolson.

That's Jack about 40 years ago.

Part of the early dislike of FCPX was that a lot of features/abilities of FCP7 were not in the original release(s). It also required that you forget most of what you learned in FCP7 and start fresh. After around 10.0.6 or so, the new X starting taking off in allowing much faster edits.
I purchased but did not use X for maybe a year, but once I started in, I really liked it. Gone were many of the frustrations of 7, like audio sync issues.
Instead was a faster more responsive program. Smaller file sizes without duplication. Amazing improvements like multi-cam syncing, compositing, instant editing on import and scrubbing of clips. Fast rendering. Lots of other improvements.
However, if you are dead set on legacy FCP workflows/UI's, etc…, then look at Premiere. Apple will not go back to 7-8….
Not only is FCPX $300.00 but all updates are Free. Same with the $50.00 Motion and Compressor. Improvements are under active development all the time. Can't say the same about any other NLE.
Yes, I still have feature requests. There are still bugs. But I really do not like when I have to revert to 7. Mainly to re-edit some old project.
30 day free trial available, try it, you'll like it!
Hope this helps, Greg

An editing application is a tool we use. If we gave our souls to our tools we still would be cutting film with a razor blade. And I really don't want to go back there (-:

Best wishes,

Ronny

Been there, done that (-:

Fortunately the transversal recording heads on the Ampex Quads were quickly replaced by helicoidal heads, which enabled to do some basic automated editing: manually put the recorder at the spot where you want to assemble the picture, put the player at the start of the picture you want to add, then press the Assembly button. Both machines do a 12 second pre-roll, the hydraulic pumps press the tapes against the heads and the machines start rolling. If you are lucky both machines are stable by the time they reach the edit point, if not you start over again. Ten stop the recorder where you want the added shot to end and play both the recorder and the player to find a new assembly point. If you are very lucky you can assemble 40 rough cuts in one day. Those were exciting times (-:

Best wishes,

Ronny

Was that you in the video, Ronny? LOL

Of course, I was kidding, Ronny. I love looking back at these old machines. I'm old enough to remember the 3/4" U-matic offline tape editing decks. I started on 16mm. & 35mm. KEMs and Steenbecks and, of course, the upright Moviola which offered the steadiest film registration. See attachment.

P.S.
That's not me in the picture. ;-)

Bottom line all this is academic. Ronny and other hard core x users will most likely be speakers at NLE conventions in a decade or so discussing how a once popular NLE system became pretty much extinct due to the monetary insatiability of Apple.
I have had four freelance jobs last six months. One of fcp 7 rest on PP. Ronny has success in europe with his post production business and sure its very robust. However, here in HOLLYWOOD, I know of not one post house that has ever even tried to install x. You can say its dismissal prior to investigation, but the TRUTH is that here perception is king and the perception is that x is not a serious editing system and that Apple only cares about the bottom line and future of iPhones, and has shut the door on the professionals. Personally sad for me on personal note cause I relished the FCP community, Ken' sites and the shared exp of making our narrative fantasies come to life by using a once great NLE system.
Now FCP users are similar to the dinosaur and will be expect for a few brave souls, obsolete.
Maybe my experience is not then norm, but i highly doubt it.

Sadly I have to agree

You really should not fall in love with the tools you use. If I had ever done this I would have had my heart broken hundreds of times in the past 37 years (-: The film and television world is changing rapidly, much faster than it ever did. And both studios and editors will have to adapt to the emerging new technologies or, just like the dinosaurs, they will indeed be unable to survive in this changing world.

In a larger setting such changes are not done overnight, it's not as simple as saying: now we are going to use a different NLE. In fact in a setting like ours the choice of the NLE is the least significant factor in the production workflow. We went for FCP X with no regrets at all, but we could have chosen any other option as well because our editors are not limited to any given software and they have no problem with learning something new. Simply because they are very experienced, and they have been learning new stuff all their life.

But the changes are happening, even in the large setups. Major television operations such as BBC and TF1 have already adopted FCP X. At this moment I am consulting the largest production company in Denmark (Metronome Productions) during their switch from Avid/FCP to FCP X, which is now nearly completed. And last week I received an e-mail from another major television production company based in Finland, asking for advice in making the switch from a 20-editor FCP7 setup to a new shared storage and media asset management system based on FCP X. So I hope you can imagine that it makes me smile every time I hear someone say that "no-one uses FCP X".

Although Hollywood has long lost its dominant position in the film and television world, I see those changes happening over there as well. I have regular contacts with editors in LA, exchanging our experiences with FCP X. People like Mike Matzdorff who has worked on the latest Warner Bros blockbuster, edited entirely on FCP X in Hollywood. Or Charlie Austin who cuts movie trailers on FCP X in Hollywood on a daily basis. And many others who produce television shows on FCP X for ABC, NBC, Fox or any of the other major networks. So if you wrk over there I really advise you to broaden your circle of contacts, because you indeed seem to suffer from a very limited and outdated perception of what's really happening in the world around you. As a freelance editor you have to know all major NLEs, certainly including Avid and FCP X. If your knowledge is limited to FCP7 and Premiere I'm not surprised that's the only job offers you will get.

Best wishes,

Ronny