Sanity in the FCP X Debacle

Final Cut Pro is important. It’s important in my life, perhaps in yours, and in many people I know. I get why people are freaking out. I do get it. Apple has made some serious mistakes here. But this isn’t a post about what’s missing out of FCP X, or what’s wrong with it, or why it’s useless to you. I think that the discussion over FCP X online and in the circles of people I talk to has gotten, well, ridiculous.

I do not understand how anyone could be under the impression that Final Cut Pro 7 was going to be replaced on June 21st. If anything, the supermeet was a forewarning by Apple saying, “this is coming, it’s going to be different, but we think this is the way to build a foundation for the next-generation of non-linar editing.” And that’s exactly what FCP X is, a foundation. Hell, the underlying architecture is called AV Foundation.

The inner workings of FCP 7 are based on decisions made made in the 90s. What made–and still makes–Final Cut Pro 7 amazing is the powerful features and ecosystem that surrounds that core; XML, OMF, EDL, APIs to interface with capture and output cards, flexibility… I could go on.

Over the past three nights, I’ve spent about a total of 20 hours in FCP X. I jumped head-first with a client project I began cutting in FCP 7, not a decision I normally make on a project but it just so happens I have a little time to spare between now and the deadline. It is DSLR-shot product demos and talking heads. Seemed perfect to get my hands dirty with FCP X. read more...