Thoughts on new FCP X Sneak Peek

[Heath McKnight]

It's official and it sounds incredible!

I'm following a bunch of live tweeting from the event. This is what we wanted. Image:

http://twitpic.com/4k70em

heath

[David Knaggs]

I'm following a live tweet:

"you can visually mix audio"

"Ramping and changing speeds of clips can be done right within the timeline, doesn't damage the timeline."

"Instant render in the background all the time, does not at all affect editing."

"Instant color matching, unbelievable grade with 1 click."

Well, my credit card is ready and waiting. I hope they give a clue as to when it's available for purchase.

[David Knaggs]

"INSTANT Ken burns effect with the swipe of a mouse."

"forget everything you know about FCP, this is something completely new."

"Shipping in June, downloads directly down to your mac. Price... $299!!!"

I think I now understand why Apple has set up a separate App Store (a few months ago).

I don't know where this is going to leave all of my plug-ins. Maybe I won't even need them anyway, depending on the full list of features with the new FCP X.

[John C. Chu]

For $299, I can justify upgrading my G5! Very exciting stuff!

[Heath McKnight]

Apple dropped the price of Aperture 3 from $199 to $79, put it on the Mac App Store and made a fortune (and hurt Adobe Lightroom 3). It wasn't "iPhoto Pro," just like Final Cut Pro X isn't "iMovie Pro." both use high-end, super-fast features and borrow from the consumer end.

Guess Final Cut Express is done. No wonder they didn't have a version 5 ship in 2010 after FCP 7 shipped in 09. (FCE 4 shipped in 2008, after FCP 6 shipped in 07.)

heath

[Randy Johnson]

o.k. I obviously wasnt there and from what I see im very skeptical it looks like i-movie on steroids. To anyone who was there What about the rest of the workflow? DVD authoring? Blu ray? Titles? Anywhere to get full info yet?

[David Knaggs]

My bet, Randy, is that this is purely an FCP release. I think that their new business model is to separate everything and sell it purely through the App store at a reduced price to the customer (by eliminating the "middle man" vendor). Whether that's right or wrong, I think it's just the way it's going to be.

I suspect that upgraded Color, STP, DVD SP, etc. will follow later for separate purchase through the App Store.

My biggest question is whether the $299 download can still be put on both your desktop and laptop (as per the recent FCS versions) or whether this download is for one computer only, requiring $600 for those who have been editing on a desktop plus a laptop?

[Randy Johnson]

So I wonder if they will announce a complimenting authoring app by June. Thats what I need. Or a composting tool like motion or a titler?

[Daniel Weber]

Below are my thoughts that I wrote down blog style from the NAB 2011 Supemeet tonight. Sorry for the misspellings. I was trying to keep up on my iPad while sitting in a cramped seat.

Daniel Weber


SuperMeet Notes April 12, 2011

6:40 crowd settling in. walked the booths, nothing new or exciting to look at that I didn't see already on the big show floor

Predictions on new software: new interface, native editing of H.264 files without need for conversion.

My wishes: new text tool, maps integration like iMovie, better background processes and rendering, revamped Color interface, better integration between Motion and FCP, improved Compressor.

Cell coverage is slow with all the cell phones and laptops in here.

10 minute warning....

Lights just dimmed and the Apple logo in on the screen.

7:00 seats disappearing now...

7:01 show starts. confirmed, sneak peak at the new FCP. Going over 12 years of FCP starting in 1999. Now talking about the future, mentions Arri and the Alexia shooting ProRes. A whole ecosystem has been formed around FCP.

94% customer satisfaction ratio, over 2 million FCP users.

We want to create great software that you want to use.

What's next?

Time for the sneak peek...

Peter Steinauer - Architect, Final Cut Pro - A brand new version of FCP. Built from the ground up. Final Cut Pro X. 64 bit application. Can take full advantage of all the RAM that you have. Takes advantage of all the modern code in Snow Leopard. Core Annimation, Grand Central Station, etc.

New interface. Better media organization. Three windows, Media Bin on top left, Viewer on top right, Timeline on the bottom. Utilizes Colorsync for accurate colors and rendering. Resolution independent playback system. This take huge processor resources. Grand Central Dispatch lets you use as many cores as possible. Background rendering built into the application. No more render bars. (huge applause).

Organization. Auto content anlyasis. Media detection, image stabiilization, people detection - identifies single person, groups, etc, shot detection - medium shots, closeups, etc., Color balance upon import, Audio cleanup

Range-Based Key Wording - select segments of a clip and assign key words to just that part of the clip.

Smart Collections - clips organized by multiple key words

Editing - Clip Connections - Magnetic timeline, Compound clips - select multiple assets and have them appear as a single clip. Inline Precision Editor - , Auditioning - assign multiple asses (b roll) to a clip before you put it in the timeline. Then when editing you can quickly access the clips that you previously assigned to the clip.

Randy Ubillos to show FCP X in action...

FCP X can play the clip in the media bin, lots of metadata!! This is an editors dream. You footage can be organized beyond belief before the edit starts. You can double click on a clip and get a full filmstrip of the clip without having to slide your pointer through the clip. Very useful. You can select segments of clips and add keywords. Showing Magnetic Timeline and linked clips. No more butting up of ends of audio clips, the audio will move down a track to make room.

No more need for Plural Eyes, FCP X will automatically sync you secondary audio upon import.

Audio skimming, L cuts and J cuts are very easy in a quick visual manner. Easy keyframe and adjust audio. Use Range Select tool to auto adjust sections of a clip. Awesome use of waveforms.

Easy speed ramping in realtime. Very easy and powerful.

Color matching in the timeline. No rendering. Select clip to correct and then select the clip to match. FCP X then matches the colors. Awesome.

Native Editing, no transcoding!! Bring in anything and just edit. Color correction built in, no more need for Color, built into FCP X. You can do secondary color correction built right into the application.

To much stuff to try to describe!!! Amazing. Crowd goes nuts when Randy is done.

Shipping in June, via the Mac App Store. $299!!!! Standing Ovation!!! Wow....

[David Knaggs]

Here's a fantastic link I found which gives a step-by-step of every single point of the release with a high-quality photo for each point:

Final Cut Pro User Group Supermeet – LiveBlog

[Floris van Eck]

I like what I saw but have many questions:
- Mac OS X Lion only?
- What happened to the other apps in the suite?
- Will it be available in stores too?
- Can you share this app on 5 Mac's like other apps in the app store?
- What are the system requirements?
- Will it support GPU acceleration (like CUDA in CS5)?
- Where's all the official information on Apple.com?

I do like the price though, $299! About right for what you get. Adobe and Avid are unbelievable with their prices, so I love it that Apple slams them in the face hard. Adobe brags about their subscription pricing model, but I think they charge far too much per month.

[Daniel Weber]

It will run on Snow Leopard. Full 64 bit support.

No one knows what will happen with the other FCS apps. My guess is that they will be broken out separately. It looks like there will be no more need for Color since you can do full grading and CC in FCP X.

There are still lots of questions, but with the native format support, analyzing of clips upon ingest, the incredible key wording and organization tools and the simplified yet more powerful editing timeline, this is a powerful new app.

Daniel Weber

[Kirk Candlish]

Leaving questions unanswered is a great marketing tool. Look at the buzz it creates on all the public forums like this one. Apple does it consistently.

[Mike Paterson]

Originally Posted by Floris van Eck

Adobe and Avid are unbelievable with their prices

Adobe and Avid are unable to subsidise their software development from a massively profitable hardware business

[Dom Stevenson]

Sayonara Plural Eyes and Rendering? There goes my cigarette breaks.