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Final Cut Pro User Group Supermeet – LiveBlog (Updated: Final Cut Pro X Officially Unveiled)

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[UPDATE: Final Cut Pro X is now available in the Mac App Store here.]

This will be a live blog feed – with the newest updates at the bottom.  (Hit the ‘Refresh’ button for updates.)

There is a crowd growing outside of the conference room of the Final Cut Pro User Group Supermeet right now.  We’re all waiting to take our seats to see what everyone at NAB 2011 has been talking about for the past couple of days . . . the unveiling of the next generation of Final Cut Pro.  (Let’s just say that better be what happens or their will be complete anarchy here.)

As you probably know by now, the anticipation has seriously been building since the initial reports of a secret showing of the new Final Cut Pro to a select group of industry pros at Apple’s campus earlier this year.  If you somehow missed those reports, you can check them out here and here.

I’ll have the latest news in about from the Supermeet soon.  The presentation kicks off at 7PM PDT / 10PM EDT.

UPDATES BELOW (Newest stuff at the bottom.):

8:44EDT: It’s getting a little crowded in here.  Still 45 minutes to go before the doors open for seating…

9:00: Spotlights in the shape of an ‘X’ on the curtains…  Perhaps there was something to the ‘Final Cut Pro X’ name rumors?

9:36: In and seated.  Show starts in 24 minutes guys.  Images will be slow coming once the big announcement starts.  I’ll focus on the details first and then add photos after all the important stuff is out.  Oh, by the way . . . front row.  (Can’t believe I actually ran to get a seat.  But I did it for you guys.)  More soon.

9:50: 10 minutes to go guys.  Looks like the Mac Pro on stage is ready to rock.  The room is utterly electric.  I’ve seen grown men giddy like school girls with excitement here.

9:58: Lights just dropped and now the screen is black with only an Apple logo.  Cue dramatic music.  We’re a go in 2 minutes.

10:01: Just confirmed.  Next version of FCP to be unveiled.  “Something as revolution as the first version of FCP when introduced in 1999.”

10:04: Talking about current version of FCP.  How it has shaped a shooting ecosystem. Popular in indie film community.  Essential for broadcast community.

10:05: People love FCP. 2M FCP users. 94% user satisfaction. FCP growing 2x as fast as the NLE market.

10:06: Just slammed Adobe and Avid. “In a race for 2nd place.”

10:08: Peter Steinauer, Architect of FCP.  Rebuilt from ground up.  “Final Cut Pro X”

10:09: 64-bit confirmed. That got a huge applause.

10:11: Just revealed a screenshot.  It’s sexy. Will have pics soon.

10:14: “Fully color-managed Final Cut based on colorsync.” “Resolution-independent playback system” Up to 4K formats.  To be able to deliver that, “we’re leveraging Grand Central Dispath.”   You can use all 8-cores. Background rendering built into application.

10:16: No more waiting for ingest.  Media is ready for editing even before ingest is completed. On the way in, media can be analyzed for stabilization.  Deal with rolling shutter on the way in.

10:17 People detection. Shot detection.  It will find medium shots, CU shots, etc. on the way in.  Automatic non-destructive color balance as it is being ingested.

10:18: Automatic audio clean up on the way.  Options to rid hum, rumble, etc. on the way in.

10:19: Range-based keywording.  You can select ranges inside your clip and apply keywords to those ranges instead of just keywording the clip.  No subclipping necessary.

10:21: Smart collections: Categorizes things like media types (audio, stills), how many people are in shots and how those shots are framed.  Smart collections looks very iMovie-ish.

10:23: Clip connections.  Primary audio and video are locked synced together.  There’s no way to accidentally knock it out of sync.  Same types of relationships can be established with secondary audio clips that are maintained through the editing process.

10:24: Magnetic timeline.  If you slide a clip down the timeline, long clips (i.e., secondary audio) won’t collide with other clips. The other clips will drop down to a new track and nothing is pushed out of sync.

10:27: Compound clips. You can combine multiple clips into a single clip to make sequence easier to understand.  Everything that is associated with compound clips is still accessible, but moves together with later edits.

10:30: Inline precision editor. You can double-click on the seam b/w 2 clips and the timeline opens up to show what’s outside the handles.

10:32: Auditioning. How to compare edits and effects…  During the organization process, you can throw effects or b-roll into timeline.  Non-destructive….

10:33: Randy Ubillos, Chief Architect, Video Applications on stage.  Demo FCP X live now.  Beta version.  “We hope it behaves.”

10:35: Audi R8 commercial spot cut on FCP X…

10:36: Demo’ing it live now.  Showing off the keywording ability of the sections of the clip instead of the whole clip.

10:37:  Offers filmstrip view for content.  Looks just like iMovie’s functionality.

10:38: You can highlight sections of content in the filmstrip view and add keywords that way.  The keywords show up as items in event library.  Selecting those keyword items brings up just those sections of content.  Looks like subclips, but it’s not.

10:41: Auto-syncing audio waveforms.  Like a built-in PluralEyes.  Holy crop.  Big applause.

10:42: Playhead scrubs to audio-sample level for aligning audio in between frames.

10:45: Pitch-corrected audio skimming is slick.  Makes audio scrubbing very smooth.

10:47: Fade heads are built-in to audio wave forms.  Sick.  No more keyframes.  You can range select to do audio level adjustments in the middle of the clip.  No more keyframes.  Right click lets you see type of fade to audio head and tail.  Again, no more keyframes.

10:50: Retiming clips is built-in and simple.  Once you’ve retimed, you can adjust parts of the clip and make adjustments to ramp up/down the time.

10:53: Color matching just got a huge round of applause and wows.  Click and clip and pick one to color match it to.  Click and it’s done instantlys.

10:54: Mix and match footage.  No more transcoding before import.  It just takes care of it.

11:18:  Sorry guys.  Wasn’t expecting that big of a hit tonight.  You guys apparently crushed my dedicated server so hard that my tech support was in tears.  Kidding . . . mostly.

Ok.  The final big scoop is that FPC X will be available in June 2011 for download from the App store for $299.

Pics coming soon.

12:09AM: Ok. A couple of other updates that I’m remembering during the flurry info.

Localized adjustments.  You can select, say a face, and then make adjustments to only that part of the image.  You can also adjust the area and feathering of the local adjustment.

5:45AM: Very rough video of presentation now online here. Sorry for the poor camera bag framing, but you’ve got good audio and hopefully will have a better understanding of the program with the deeper explanation and the above screenshots.  I’m going to bed now.  Play nice.

 

Comments

      • The only reason you want it to be expensive is so that you can feel better about yourself.

      • You do realise that FCP7 is probably about $299 if FCS3 was sold a component parts right?

        If your skill as an editor is spending $$$ then you are a pretty shit editor, I’ll cut a better version of your projects in iMovie for iPhone if you like, show you how to edit, then maybe you can work your way up to the $299 toys.

      • No problem. When you are ready to buy, I’ll sell it to you for $699. Just give me a ping.

    • Hey just give me 400 bucks and we’ll both be happy you will have spent 699 and feel better and I can buy more Mac toys!!

  3. Glad you are doing a live blog for the supermeet! Couldn’t make it to NAB this year, so your live blog is the next best thing to actually being there for the rumored FCP reveal. Thanks!

  8. Hopefully my jaw will dislodge…

    TOTALLY AMPED!!! Usually Apple announces products in the morning…today has been a TORTURE. 35mins to go!

  10. BTW, thank you so much for taking the time to do this!!! This is wonderful for all of us that weren’t able to make it this year.

    THANK YOU

  11. Bless you! Very excited. Got an email saying I could migrate to Avid for $1k. They must be nervous. Looking forward to seeing what Apple has for us.

  13. Thanks very much for taking the time. I am very excited.

    I hope it’s (FCP) not too similar to imovie style. I kind of like the way it works but I agree that it needs a refresh!

    So ready for this!

  16. Apple is going to present for several hours i hear. They should be doing a live stream they are not which means they are embarrassed no.. it probably rocks lets hope so.

  17. LOL, sweet that you got a front row seat!!! We’ll be able to follow along with a great view!

    Thanks once again.

  20. LOL grown men giddy… I am guilty, the thought of not having to press apple r, every edit makes me giddy like a 17 year old at the prom!!!

  25. biscotti just said they told everyone we dont need tape, good thing since we cant get any from japan

  26. Thanks and please keep it coming. Talk about giddy. I’m shivering like a shaved wiener dog.

  27. Perhaps we may see final cut with 3d capabilities (no 3d geometry bad 3d picture)

    Faster render times with 64bit or perhaps no rendering is a win for me :D fingers crossed people!

  28. Perhaps we may see final cut with 3d capabilities (not 3d geometry but 3d picture)

    Faster render times with 64bit or perhaps no rendering is a win for me :D fingers crossed people!

  37. Wow!
    For only $299???
    Are you kidding me???
    This is cheaper than Photoshop or Microsoft Office!
    Every one, every kid, every budding director can have Final Cut Pro X!
    This just kills the competition.

      • Whatever, dude.

        The audience that gave the HUGE applause where all SUPER-PRO users, industry top o’ the line, –and they didn’t have that more-pro-than-thou attitude.

        Maybe it’s time you stop confusing price points and advances in usability with professionalism…

        • BRAVO foljs!!!
          I’ve been in the business for over 20 years and EVERY TIME it’s the same ol’ same ol’… pathetic. The “if I DON’T think it’s way cool and too cheap, then I’m that much more PRO in my attitude!” bullshit. SO annoying.

          Get over yourselves. Go be PRO and buy yourself SMOKE for Mac… oopsy, too EXPENSIVE??!! Oh gee… wait… but that’s PRO!!

          *facepalm* to all you posers defining yourself by the look and price of your tools as opposed to by your CRAFT (which you most likely have no clue about either).

    • It doesn’t matter what tool you’re using (or how much it costs) if you don’t have any skill at using it.

  40. Cheap price tag worries me. All this reference to Imovie. IMoive is for soccer mom’s FCP and IMiove should never be used in the same sentence.

    • I think it’s just that clean look of iMovie. It’s definitely a very “pro” application. However, it does simplify some “ordinary” NLE tasks and that gives it a less intimidating look than the current FCP and just about any other NLE. It truly is a revolutionary interface. It’s clear that Apple has done its homework on this one.

    • Do you measure your professional skills with the price of your tools?

      I guess writers with expensive typewrites where better than those who wrote with pencil paper…

      • Damn straight!
        Writers with IBM golfballs were *way* more talented, creative and professional than those with the old Remingtons…

    • The soccer mom has a 21″ iMac

      The pro might have a 2 chip, 16 gig, twin array of SSD’s, tri monitor get up.Or they might have a MBP and just be really hard core.

      I too question this “low cost” is not pro bollocks.

      From Apple’s perspective the software sells the system. They want you buying systems, they want there to be no barrier for you to come over. The TCO story gets rewritten by making the software cheap.

      I am grateful. I cannot justify FCPStudio so have lived with FCE, I would never use Motion and all the other bits, a total waste. It has been frustrating due to image size/frame rate limits. I can’t do 24fps. Now with this I can, it is really the only reason I need FCP.

      Why not buy it before? Cause it was saddled with all the other stuff I don’t need and priced accordingly.

    • Yes, because two products that perform the same basic tasks developed by the same software company for the same platform bear no relevance to one another.

  42. Thank you for the great coverage!

    Do you know if there is more stage time scheduled for tonight?

  43. Is it just me or is this thing really an amp up iMovie, dont get me wrong i love iMovie but come on the current Final Cut Looks even more professional than this. 64bit is not a new thing, Image stabilization is not a new thing, Audio sync is not new, wheres the second video monitor window. Color correction is not a new thing, where is Stereoscopic 3D editing, Hardware acceleration, Audio mixer(surround sound),Blu-ray support,Multicam editing,OFX plugin support,HDSLR editing. This should be a new iMovie not final cut. I’ve already seen and used these features i was expecting more from apple. You have not wowed me with any new innovative thing.

        • Umm you realize what they mean is when a software is compatible with a codec, you dont need to convert to another codec to use it like The current final cut does, All other Editors have extensive codec support already and you dont need to transcode to another codec to use.

    • I’m confused at what you are looking for them to make. The life of an editor is filled with horrible mundane and difficult tasks. The objective is to be able to create a professional look quickly. All these things you list as “not new” are things that take tremendous amount of time. Step 1: Ingest the clip while trying to organize, Step 2: Organize some more. Step 3: start a rough edit. In just these 3 basic step of editing, Apple has worked magic in the background. In just step 1: Apple has provided better organization, image stabilization, labeling, color balancing, audio sweeten. Don’t forget the biggest deal. NO MORE RENDERING AT THE END. Have you ever rendered a clip in FCP? A simple 30 movie took me 4 hours to render with the latest greatest machine. I’m sorry, to have these done in step one when today they are several steps beyond is time saving. This is not about reinventing the world. I don’t want to relearn a new process. This is about being easier. It’s about being faster. It’s about making it better. BTW: Blu-ray support, HDSLR editing?, Multi cam editing were either mentioned in this announcement or already exist in current FCP.

    • You’re talking about innovation and you ask for Blu-ray? Now that’s just embarrassing.

      • Whats wrong with having bluray support, after editing a High Def Video i dont want to convert it to dvd to view it on my tv, it reduces the quality SIGNIFICANTLY. Now with bluray you still have Everything intact. For the innovation, i was talking about how apple is known for its innovation, those features i mention are sort of standard in most Video editing softwares. So i dont get your point and FYI bluray is one of the best innovation in data storage since dvd. Fitting 50gb on a single rubber disk the size of a dvd, now tell me thats not innovative.

  44. anyone know if they’ve mentioned meta-tracks to tag shots on screen? That would be super-useful for what I do.

  45. I work in commercial post-production in Los Angeles, very much a pro- environment and I don’t see anything from this keynote that would lead me to believe this is geared towards our PRO industry. This looks like consumer garbage and I’m initially very disappointed. Drag and drop, pen and mouse, click click click doesn’t lead to the best cuts fastest. The best editor I assist all use their keyboards extensively. I think the next intimation of this FCPX is gearing towards iPAD and touch gestural non-sense. Apple can mark today as the start of the mass exodus from FCP.

    • My point exactly, this looks like iMovie 11, i think they must have mis-labeled the apps.

    • Keith, you raise a very good point. The fact that they didn’t announce this with the studio has me skeptical the most of whether this is a replacement of Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro. My guess is Express. I think they will use this to work more of the bugs out before they bring on the rest for the Pro market. However, like Eric commented. I don’t see them giving up on what is most commonly used. I just hope when they do roll this upgrade across the suite they standardize all shortcuts. I hate having to know different short cuts for FCP, Motion, Color, Compressor… It’s bad enough there are more to memorize with the Adobe suite on top of that too.

    • All keyboard shortcuts still work. And they even said specifically that they revamped the keyboard support too.

      And the hugely better workflow and organization tools are not geared towards “pro”? Whatever…

      Either your “commercial post-production” is not as pro as the top of the line Meetup audience that cheered for the app, or they carry a lot of heavy cargo-cult pseudo-elitist bs about their toolkits…

    • What a load of bogus comments! Not “pro” enough and too “iMovie”.. puhlease. If you want to spend HOURS and DAYS doing stuff because it’s “pro”, then hope you enjoy the editing suite. I personally would like to get the job done and move on to other projects or the golf course. Funny how you “editors” see things from pictures and cam make judgements without even trying the software first. Morons….

    • Let’s wait for the final release. But for shure you’re too negative. I’m sceptical too, but see the Videos Eric has shot and you’ll get an idea that they really want to improve editing itself. And this is at least one of the things a “Professional” can wish for. Isn’t it? Does democratisation scare you? Business will be harder for shure if “Pro”talent only makes the difference – not the “Pro”tools any more. http://www.photographybay.com/2011/04/13/final-cut-pro-x-annoncement-video/

      I hope they’ll adress also Collaboration (also with NON-Apple Users) and Media Management/Distribution/Archiving. That will make a difference too (Pro/NonPro)!

    • At least Shake is dead. Like Color as we know it. Maybe in parts meltet together with a MotionX.

  48. What of TRIM???? What about a COLLABORATIVE PROJECT ENVIRONMENT? SERVER BASED TECHNOLOGY???? And MEDIA MANAGEMENT???? Weakest parts of FCP I can tell you first hand, the lack of media management in FCP is an assistant’s nightmare. I’m dealing with it on a daily basis.

    Oh but it will sync the sound for you. Have you seen what it can do with iChat? So lame.

    • Very interesting question which make me curious about something. I wonder if this possibly spills the beans on “OS X Lion” release. TRIM is already slated to be in 10.7. I don’t think it would need to be included at the application level. I could be wrong. Your point about media management is very real. This is yet another reason I think this is more of a replacement to Final Cut Express than Final Cut Pro.

    • Couldn’t be agreeing with you more on all levels Keith. I work on feature films and tv in Los Angeles and am a HUGE Apple lover, but this new FCP is such a step backwards. While I primarily use Avid now, I’ve been using FCP since version 2. Apple has gone completely consumer. Piggy backing on what you touched on…what about EDLs? Change Lists? Cut Lists? ProTools support? They’ve taken away Tracks?! So you just drop your clips in and make a pretty rainbow of colors? How is an EDL generated? And I can only see Media Management getting even worse with their new system.

      My feeling is that Apple realized that Avid IS and ALWAYS will be the industry standard for editing and they couldn’t beat it. Sure, Apple has made great headway with reality TV (perfect place to use the ridiculous face recognition), Bloggers, indies, and wannabes, but they have now completely lost all ground with the professional industry for film and TV.

      And anyone saying that editing is about creating a professional look quickly just doesn’t have a real idea of what film editing is all about. Maybe video editing, but with all the smack talk FCP users have been saying over the years about Avid…you cannot talk anymore. FCP is a non issue with this new version because it is no longer a professional editing tool. The interface doesn’t even make sense.

      FCP is officially a toy for anybody to play with and has lost all credibility with me. The only thing good coming out of this is the hope that Avid will take the ideas of FCP (background rendering/exporting) and implement them FLAWLESSLY into Avid WITHOUT changing the interface.

      • So, because they didn’t show it in the “sneak peak” you’re automatically assuming it isn’t in it. Do you really think they’re going to demo edl’s and cut lists in a short demonstration? Calm the f*** down people.

        You’re saying the ui doesn’t make sense based on a couple of screen shots? I mean seriously. Why do people automatically go for worst case scenario every time Apple does something different?

      • Dear Scott,

        I’m working for the BBC in London and we produce at least 50% of all broadcasted footage on FCP, Apple listens to their clients needs and will not leave these requests out.
        The demo that has been shown will just brush over the main changes, don’t worry about basic functionality being lost because FCP became very big in the industry. I do agree that there is much room for improvement, managing over 400 TB of media is for me a daily nightmare, specialist formats such as RED or Phantom media takes a long time to render before we can work with it. It would be ideal if FCP has got a better Log and Capture abilities for native media. Looking at what Apple is offering in terms of support in this new version (4K resolution) hints at better support for RED cam footage.
        There is the whole media management suite for FCP which is quite poor at this moment, Final Cut Server, I hope Apple will have much better XSAN integration in the new version of Final Cut Studio X and integrated Media Management. So watch this space!

      • Okay. Have fun overpaying for inferior, harder-to-use software as talented people surpass you because they don’t need to waste an eternity learning how to use AMC.

    • Exactly Keith! If something makes a difference between “Pro” and “Consumer” i would say it is Openess, Collaboration, Exchange. Not only different Formats you can put in, but also how it communicates with the Rest of the World when it is finished.

      And Media Management! Oh yes, couldn’t agree more. At least one can hope that they adressed that because “metadata stored in clip not only in the project”

      BTW: you did mean by “TRIM” the Operation of trimming Footage, not the ATA Command TRIM for SSD Devices, right?

  49. I’m on the other side of the globe and I was waiting for your blog like a child waiting for Santa.
    Thank you very much Eric, God bless you!

  50. Eric, can you describe more about the “Magnetic Timeline?” I’m not sure I understood what you were describing during the blog about sliding clips.

    • Ok. “Magnetic Timeline.”

      If you are dragging footage in the timeline sequence, audio that’s tied to the video as a connected clip will not affect other audio in the timeline if it collides with another clip (e.g., it won’t overwrite or ripple it in the timeline). Instead, the audio of adjacent clips will “drop down” to another track (excepted it’s not really another track as it is shown in the timeline) and remain attached to the track to which it is connected.

      I hope that explains it better. If anyone who was at the Supermeet wants to chime in with a better explanation, feel free to jump on in.

  52. With so many changes to the core of the app, was there any mention as to how FCP X will deal with earlier FCP Project files? I have loads of media managed projects from earlier versions. Will they be DOA seeing as the effects/plugins/controls may all be different in this new version?

    • I don’t recall that being mentioned. I would hope that would be supported. I imagine that the floodgates will open soon with more info leading up to the release.

  53. Improved Speed is #1 in my opinion. It would be nice if the interface was customizable in terms of contrast, much like the adobe apps?

    Never really cared for soundtrack, all pro mixes usually take place in ProTools anyway or are sent out of house, so if that’s not a part of it, I won’t miss it. I just want the audio tools in the editor to be as good as they can be. Motion is useless, After Effects and Cinema4D are the Kings there. If compressor is faster, then woo hoo! what else could you ask for?

    All in, Seems pretty great for an upgrade of $300… I’ve been a FCP user since 1.2 and will miss the box though.

  54. Ok, so Apple have given us iMovie Pro X, erm Final Cut Pro X. I’ll have to swallow that interface…I think my mouth is big enough! I use alot of AVCHD and if I was to work natively, I’d have alot of clips with the same name, I hope will FCPX resolve that- I’d like Apple to have shown a demo on a basic workflow. From the screen shots it looks like audio can occupy the whole timeline – that looks cool. Tagging people – I like that too. Colour correction looks nicely refined and automation for quick jobs – that’s useful. Finally, export…I said, ahem…EXPORT! So, like ingest, I’d be happier if I knew what export features are built in to FCPX. Where is Compressor, or the other FCS apps. If I was given the full picture of FCS suite, then maybe my jaw could actually drop. I’m still stoked to thrash the app at my local Apple store in June tho!

  55. I think I’ll reserve judgement until I see the actual product. This was just a teaser showing some of the features that editors have been asking for. As for the interface, well I think I could get used to it if it makes editing easier. I have been using FCP since version 1, and there have been reliability problems and silly issues with the interface that were never addressed. I’m hoping that there are many more features in the final product. The final feature set will determine whether it can be considered ‘Pro’ or not. It’s still too early to start slamming it.

    • It wasn’t funny the first time. And it’s just plain stupid…

      I can’t beleive people are making sweeping judgements of a product based on blurry photos of a screenshot of a beta release shown in a very short demo…

  57. Well marketing isn’t a matter of blurry pictures, so:
    At least in Germany you can’t get a VAT-including bill from the App-store and foremost: You must not use Software purchased from the App Store in a commercial production.

    For me that is a no go on the app store option.

  59. ..wow, i’m happy to have sold my FCP packet month ago for 600 ..i’ll do a re-entry for 300 now. Color and Motion was hard to believe ..no real-time previews on 8 cores was a pain :-)

  61. Anything at all about FCP Studio 4? Or is this it: FCP X replaces the whole studio package?

  62. “Me too. I wish they would make it at least $699 so it wouldn’t feel like a toy” you could always buy it for 699 and let me keep the change.

  64. Thanks so much for your dedication.. I was having a pretty average day .. TILL NOW!! WOW Man, can’t wait to get my hands on it!!

  65. seems like an ultrapomped imovie…….. -.-” i hope is good for professional users!!

  66. What about Motion? DVD Studio? Are they going to be stand alone also? I’m sure as hell not using Idvd to create DVD’s

    • DSP isn’t being developed anymore; it died in 2005. I think it’s fair to say Compressor and Soundtrack Pro are dead, too. Motion may yet live; fat chance on Color, but maybe.

  68. Sony Vegas. Not a Mac app, but doing many of these features for years. Nice price though. Wow.

  69. Its iFinal Cut! Horrah! That’s just saved us £15k for a new edit suite. I’m going to replace our suites with iPhones.

    Can someone suggest a good 4k workflow app for the iPhone?

  70. My guess is that they’re going to split up the suite on the App store as they’ve done with iLife and iWork. Which is fine with me, I can keep using my existing DVDSP app until the last remaining holdouts give up on DVDs.

    They make 1000 copies of a DVD, and then ask for a web version “just in case someone wants to view it that way.” Then they’re all surprised when the web version gets all the views but nobody cares about their DVD, and then 6 months later they do it again.

    • Preach it. I could write an effing dissertation on this subject. I blame two things:
      1. People hate change (duh).
      2. The film industry. I think a combination of DRM & DVD menus really boned us. If video DVDs were like audio CDs, if DVDs didn’t essentially HAVE to have menus, and if DVD ripping had been standard from the inception of applications like iTunes, a lot less people would’ve stayed attached to the stupid things. But since DVDs and files aren’t interchangeable, people were forced to choose between one or the other, and became invested in DVDs.

      I also think the development of Blu-ray & HD DVD further screwed us on this score, because it got millions of people further attached to a worthless physical format that was going to die in the cradle.

  71. I’m hoping you can customize the UI to resemble the previous versions. That’s the one thing that is making me a bit apprehensive about this. It *looks* like iMovie from the pics, but I’m hoping that it will actually be better. Otherwise, I’m pretty excited about this version.

    And this pretty much explains why Avid is trying to entice FCP users with a pricepoint of $999 for Media Composer 5.5 if you have proof of purchase of FCP.

    BTW, I use Avid at work and it’s constantly crashing on me. FCP at home? Maybe 3 times in the last 2 years.

  72. When they added Aperture to the App Store they dropped the price from £173 to £45. It has been the highest grossing app since it’s release. They easily covered the price drop with volume and subsequent market share. Very feasible they will do the same with the new Suite.

  73. Note that it doesn’t mention anything about the pricing of Final Cut Studio?

  74. Why is everyone so hung up on the price? Personally I couldn’t give a crap about the price, I’m not the one who will be buying it for the edit suite, the production will be. I’ll be using it, not counting change.

    Surely everyone should be more interested in how this is going to change your workflow, style, setup, the core way you edit, etc etc?

  75. I don’t think I realized how douchey a lot of video editors are these days since I got on this page and started reading the comments.. I am an amateur editor, and so far I’ve worked with FCP7 and Adobe Premiere. I think that with this complete redesign of the interface and new features will make editing a different sort of task. I think the workflow in FCPX will be ridiculously streamlined compared to before, with all the tedious bullshit.

    Everyone keeps saying it’s a “pro imovie”, and the change Apple made basically turned it into that, but that’s okay. The availability of pro software to average consumers is amazing. $299 for a profession editing software isn’t much, especially since it’s from Apple and it has always been bundled with the $999 Final Cut Studio 3. I think everything Apple did here was great..

    I say, if you think $299 is “not enough” for a pro-editor. Then you should go drop $15K on Autodesk SMOKE if you want a “PRO” application..

    I will be buying this from the Mac App Store in June. And I CANT WAIT!

  76. I’m not concerned about the price, but I can see why some might be. With the cost of entry into this business falling over the last decade, there are more and more small-time operators changing the competitive landscape, and that can be a blessing and a curse.

    I’ve had clients come to me and say, oh we’ve found someone who can do this for half your price. We’ll see more of that as the software price drops. And that’s fine, we politely let them know that there’s no hard feelings and that if they have any questions or concerns, or need someone who can ramp up to a bigger project, they know where to find us, and we’re always willing to help them. And under our breath we say “See you next year!” And they always come back. Sometimes they come back for the next project, and sometimes they come back and ask us to fix the project the cheap guy did for them. But they always come back.

    The point is that while we’ve adjusted our pricing downward, within reason, to accommodate the market with all of its smaller companies buying in cheap, we also know that our biggest clients will pay for a skilled production team, even if they have to stray a bit to learn that.

  81. Does Final Cut Pro X still support multiclips and multiclip editing? I am an event videographer and rely on this feature for most of what I do… I would really be interested to hear more. Also does the built in Soundtrack still allow for the advanced manual features such as spectrum editing?

    • And video scopes? How about my other timecode fields that show total duration as well as current position? and Where is my Viewer? — Is it built into the filmstrip view now? I like change, I just don’t like losing tools.. I noticed there is no “tools” in the menu up top… did we lose those tools or are they built into the GUI?

  82. Cheers! Thanks for taking the time to post this, a great insight, looking forward to details becoming available on their site.

  83. Saying: “Primary audio and video are locked synced together. There’s no way to accidentally knock it out of sync.”
    And what if I want to knock it out of sync, to underline a beginning of the audio in the clip , but use the audio from the previous/following clip. Like just a few seconds, to bring audio in before video, while the previous clip still haven’t finished??
    96% sounds amazing, like selecting face and just tweak that part of the image, that is like pro-colour correction, but some things seam to become locked too much, like the freedom of drag squares-selecting footage is gone:)
    Nice work dude!

    • “And what if I want to knock it out of sync, to underline a beginning of the audio in the clip , but use the audio from the previous/following clip. Like just a few seconds, to bring audio in before video, while the previous clip still haven’t finished??”

      You can still unlock footage video and audio, it’s just that you can’t “accidentally” jack up your synced clips by moving stuff around on the timeline. He didn’t demonstrate the process of un-syncing clips, so I can’t speak to the manner in which that is done.

  84. A whole lot of blahblahblas again…..STILL no bluray support, but the long burried HDDVD, not one word about 3D editting or 1080P50. I have seen cheaper toys then this. Welcome Imovie XXL

  85. I have maybe a newbie question… Does the syncing of the audio using the wave forms now mean that it’s easier to sync video from multiple cameras?

    Thanks!

  86. At first the caveman was upset because his job of cracking two stones together to start fire was threatened by this thing called a match. A few of the other cavemen took a liking to the match and decided to build a camp fire, while a few others decided to put matches into their buffalo bags and venture into undiscovered lands without worry about warmth. Others shunned it altogether as voodoo and black magic. “I spent a lifetime perfecting this technique. Now what do I do with my life?” This new match thing is really insulting to the stone cracking profession. Now any idiot can start a fire. The caveman sat long and hard in his dark cave. When he finally came out to claim the meaning of life, he was instantly devoured by a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

  87. This new version of FCP will make it easier for the students to use because they won’t have to wait a lifetime for rendering which has always been a problem during a 1 hour period.

Trackbacks

  14. […] sports a feature that prevents audio and video tracks from being pushed out of sync by accident. Photography Bay also reports that Final Cut Pro X will come with feature that automatically matches color between […]

  48. […] Bay körde en suddig liveblog á la Keynote som går igenom händelseförloppet ytligt här. Titelbilderna kommer från skärmdumpar LoopInsight tjatat till sig från […]

  59. […] The software has been re-written from the ground up to incorporate core Apple technologies like Cocoa, Core Animation, Open CL, and Grand Central Dispatch, which allows programs to use multi-processer Macs and multi-core processors. The numerous high-end features are summarized well at  The Unofficial Apple Weblog, CrunchGear and at Photography Bay. […]

  90. […] O programa tem várias funcionalidades novas, como a análise do conteúdo dos clips, que permite detectar a quantidade de pessoas no quadro, o enquadramento e o tipo de mídia. O FCPX também faz a limpeza automática do áudio, é capaz de classificar os clips e seus trechos por palavras-chave, cria uma biblioteca inteligente (categorizando os arquivos por tipos de mídia, número de pessoas no quadro, e enquadramento), linha do tempo magnética e muitos outros recursos surpreendentes. O visual e alguns recursos lembra a versão mais recente do iMovie, segundo o Photography Bay. […]

  105. […] ??: ???? ????????? Final Cut Pro X??????????????????????? Final Cut Pro X ?????????????????????? iMovie ????????????????? 64-bit ????????????????? 4GB ??? RAM????????? 4K ??????????????????????????Grand Central Dispatch????????????????????????? iMovie ????????????????????????? ?????????? ColorSync ????????????????????????????????????????????????? 299 ????????????? Mac App Store ??????????????????????? Final Cut Pro X ????????????? | ????? | ????? | ?? […]

  130. […] All sorts of other features are coming too, including the ability to detect people in shots and the type/distance of shots, automatic audio clean-up, range-based keywording (apply keywords to sections of clips) and the ability to handle 4K resolution, among others. Check out a lengthy live blog of the announcement over at Photography Bay. […]