Are the “Pros” at the tipping point with Final Cut Pro X?

The present and future of post production business and technology by Philip Hodgetts

It’s the end of the month and, as do most small business folk, I look at how the month has been, and how the year is going. Looking at the end of the March quarter, I noticed that our Sync-N-Link sales had tipped from our Final Cut Pro 7 version to favor Sync-N-Link X (for Final Cut Pro X).

Sync-N-Link is very specialized software, used only by “the pros” because it batch synchronizes separately recorded audio and video by using matching Timecode. This type of setup is not cheap and not simple, and generally only used in the higher levels of production where its efficiency tips the balance. Traditionally, Sync-N-Link for Final Cut Pro 5-7 has been our most profitable product for Final Cut Pro (Classic).

We figured that we’d do the version for Final Cut Pro X in November 2012. Instead we were strongly encouraged to move it up the schedule, so that Leverage and Danni Lowinski could be some of the Final Cut Pro X success stories. We were happy to be part of those successes, but – as predicted – sales were very sluggish, until November 2012, when sales started to improve.

Like I said, Sync-N-Link and Sync-N-Link X serve a very specific, and very much a “pro” market – episodic Television, Studio Movies, and the like. It doesn’t sell well to creators of “cat videos”. So, it can be used as a reasonable proxy for the use of both versions of Final Cut Pro in new shows. (People tend to buy Sync-N-Link as they start a workflow on a show or movie.) read more...