Final Cut Pro X

Wow. I have never read such vile reviews of a product in my life. An awful lot of people seem to be singularly unhappy with Apple right now over the new release of Final Cut Pro, which became available as a download in the App Store just yesterday for $299, a heavy discount from the previous version's $999 price tag.

First, you can (and should) check out Apple's FCP site at http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/

Then you can read Walter Biscardi's review at Creative Cow, which does a good job listing the problems that have made so many FCP users upset: http://magazine.creativecow.net/article/final-cut-pro-x-whats-missing-for-some-pros

Then, before you get TOO upset, you should read David Pogue's responses to many of those complaints: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/professional-video-editors-weigh-in-on-final-cut-pro-x/

He ends his article with these words: "Professional editors should (1) learn to tell what’s really missing from what’s just been moved around, (2) recognize that there’s no obligation to switch from the old program yet, (3) monitor the progress of FCP X and its ecosystem, and especially (4) be willing to consider that a radical new design may be unfamiliar, but may, in the long term, actually be better."

We will be keeping Final Cut Pro 7 in the lab for the coming school year (this was already the plan, even before the release of FCP X, because Apple's release date was too close to the beginning of classes to allow us adequate time to learn and test the new software), but we will have the new version available on at least 1 or 2 workstations for those who wish to start using it or play around with it. We'll re-evaluate the state of FCP in the Summer of 2012.


Updates: It's been several days since the release of FCPX, and there's a growing body of good material on what's going on:

Jeffrey Harrell has an excellent post on why FCPX is wrong for professional editors:
http://jefferyharrell.tumblr.com/post/6830049685/what-went-wrong-with-final-cut-pro-x

Thanks to Ellen for pointing me toward this response to David Pogue from video editing guru Rich Harrington: http://library.creativecow.net/harrington_richard/Pogue_Answers/1

Also, if you have an hour and half to kill, and this topic is of particular interest to you, you may want to check out Rich Harrington and Walter Biscardi--both long term professional video editors and longtime FCP users--discuss their concerns in this "podcast" at CreativeCow.net called "Why We Can't Use Final Cut Pro X at Our Companies": http://library.creativecow.net/harrington_biscardi/FCPX/1

Most significantly perhaps, David Pogue has since downgraded his recommendation on FCPX in his third article on the ongoing debacle: "Final Cut Pro X may indeed be ready for the future. But for professional video editors, it’s not yet ready for the present."

Man, I'm glad I'm not Steve Jobs right now.