Apple released its long awaited update to its professional and widely used video editing software Final Cut Pro on June 21, and has already incurred a very vocal and very angry backlash from the program's early adopters.
The majority of users, including those in the professional video editing world, are crying foul, saying Apple sold them a $300 supped up version of iMovie, Apple’s free and much maligned “consumer” video editing software. The ever wired John Gruber has a nice post highlighting the backlash.
Like many others I waited anxiously for this new version of Final Cut, dubbed Final Cut Pro X (the last version was Final Cut Pro 7). It had a strong debut showing at this year's National Association of Broadcasters conference in April. Many of the new features shown during that demo wowed those in attendance and promised a more fluent and responsive editing experience, and 64-bit capabilities, allowing users to take full advantage of all the RAM in their Macs.
This version offers new “magnetic” and always in-sync timeline and much improved audio waveforms. It features a media viewer/manager that optimizes your footage and tags it with keywords such as wide shot, medium shot, close up shot, and makes organizing and finding footage easier and faster. Everything they showed looked like it would prove to be amazing. The problem as it turns out, is not what they showed but what they didn’t show, but we will get to that more in a bit.
When word hit that FCPX was available for download in the Mac App store on the morning of June 21, I, like many other video editors and filmmakers, quickly snatched it up. This is the first version of Final Cut to be available as a digital download, in fact it is only available through the App store, and downloading and installing it was as easy as could be.
Unlike FCP 7, which took minutes to open, FCP X opened in a matter of seconds, taking full advantage of my MacBook Pro’s 8GBs of RAM. But once the application opened and filled up the 13 in screen of my MacBook Pro the problem became immediately apparent. The new completely redesigned Final Cut Pro user interface looks almost nothing like that of older versions but instead looks incredibly familiar to that of iMovie.
Indeed the influence of iMovie is immediately apparent. Not only does it look and feel like iMovie—with skimming video and photo, effect, music, transition and title browsers— but one of the first things this new Final Cut Pro asks you is if you want to import any iMovie projects. Excuse me? When was the last time a professional, or even semi-professional, video editor used iMovie? The answer: Never.
Other notable iMovie features that have moved into this iteration of Final Cut include a “share” menu with options to export directly to Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook and even CNN iReport. It lacks in-depth media management; all your projects and media get stored in folders called Final Cut Pro Events and Final Cut Pro Projects.
This will be incredibly frustrating for users who share editing duties. No longer can you hand off an FCP project file to another editor; they would have to use the same computer as you to edit. Like iMovie, there are media browsers for pictures (but only if they are stored in iPhoto or Aperture), music (but only if it is stored in iTunes or a folder called “Final Cut Pro Sound Effects”), Titles, transitions and even templates (most of which are painfully tacky and unusable, unless of course you are editing your cousin's wedding video).
With Final Cut Pro X drawing so heavily from iMovie, the question that begs to be answered is, “Who was this designed for?” It being called Final Cut Pro, and being unveiled at NAB would certainly imply that it was being designed for the same professionals who have made FCP the premiere editing software out there. These are the same professionals that have used FCP to edit films like “True Grit,” “X-Men,” “Tetro,” “Cold Mountain,” and countless more Hollywood and independent films over the past decade. But FCP X does away with many of the crucial features that these professionals rely on daily and has instead replaced them with “consumer” friendly options and features.
As stated earlier, the problem with FCP X is not so much the new features—most of those work phenomenally and are much appreciated. The problem is with what FCP X has left out. One cannot open FCP 7 or any older FCP files, rendering years of work useless unless you want to house two versions of Final Cut Pro on your machine.
There is no support for working with Multiple Camera shoots—an absolute necessity in the broadcast and live production world. There is no support for XML files, either import or export, so you can’t edit the piece in FCP and then hand it over to a composer or colorist to finish up with their software.
If you are working with tape you are out of luck. There are no log and capture options; you can only capture a tape in linear fashion (press play to start and escape to stop). As stated earlier, media is stored in one place and can’t be easily moved, so multiple editors can’t really work on the same project.
As of now there is no support for third party plugins, so none of your expensive Red Giant plug-ins will work. Neither is there support for second monitors. Instead users are confined to one screen and one set-up. Support for custom layouts has also been removed, a move that seems completely unthinkable and almost malicious. Indeed Apple has removed almost all of the basic functionality that, although not flashy, is necessary for professionals and semiprofessionals.
Perhaps the problem is that the lead designer for Final Cut Pro X is also the lead designer for iMovie. Perhaps the problem is that after Final Cut Pro 7 was released Apple laid off roughly 40 seasoned veterans of the FCP team. Or perhaps the problem is that FCP X is another example of Apple thinking they know what people need better than the actual people.
Final Cut Pro X is a great update to iMovie. It works well; it is fast, fluid, efficient and even fun. But Final Cut Pro X shouldn’t be a great update to iMovie. The reviews on the Mac App store and around the Internet are resoundingly negative. Professionals, and even those who just take their video production and editing seriously, feel as though Apple has betrayed them and insulted them, and honestly, they have every right to feel that way.
FCP X is not Final Cut Pro—it’s not even Final Cut Express. It’s iMovie X. Unless Apple works quickly to rectify the mess it has made, the company will find that the same people who made it the leading platform for video editing have jumped ship.
Sources
- Apple Inc, Final Cut Pro X. June 21, 2011
- Jonny Evans, Apple's "jaw dropping" Final Cut Pro X hurts Adobe. Computer World. June 21, 2011
- John Gruber, Final Cut Pro X Backlash. Daring Fireball. June 22, 2011
- Stephen Shankland, Report: Apple cuts some Final Cut staff. CNET. February 19, 2010.
Joshua Williams - I am an independent writer and filmmaker doing what I love and trying to love what I'm doing
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