Learning to Love Final Cut Pro X

OnLineVideo.net by Scott Strimple

I’m always amazed at just how fast the hands of time move when we are sitting at our edit suites. It seems like yesterday that Apple stock was $17 and Michael Dell was speculating on what he would do if he were in charge of Apple: “I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” It was Oct. 6, 1997, and Apple had recently purchased a pro video editing software package called KeyGrip from Macromedia. In 1998, Apple changed that name to Final Cut Pro and a revolution began. Over the next decade or so we would see Final Cut Pro evolve through version 7 and become the edit platform of choice for professionals everywhere.

Fast-forward to April 12, 2011. I wasn’t at the NAB SuperMeet where Apple had promised to unveil its new NLE, but like countless editors around the world, I waited with schoolboy excitement for the announcement from Apple that Final Cut Pro X (pronounced 10, not X) had arrived.

A 64-bit application completely rebuilt with a new interface, workflow enhancements, and automation … we all pored over every word of that announcement, so there is no need to repeat it all here. As an FCP user myself since version 2, like so many of you, I could taste the native H.264 processing that promised to rescue me from the time-sucking black hole of transcoding DSLR footage. read more...