Thoughts on new FCP X Sneak Peek

[Adrian Frearson]

Daniel,
Thanks for the update. I suspected the price would drop for inclusion in the App Store and was really hoping there would be improvements in audio handling, native file handling and media management. I'll reserve judgement until I see it in action myself, but so far, sounds good.

cheers

[Floris van Eck]

Originally Posted by Mike Paterson

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

As far as I know, Avid sells hardware and servers so I don't agree. And if you offset the Media Composer price against the new Final Cut Pro (and perhaps 1 or 2 $99 apps, i.e. dvd studio and/or motion), it saves you $2000 to spend on Apple hardware. Good deal if you ask me.

I find Adobe one of the most greedy companies in the world if you look at their pricing model, including their new subscription model. I also do not believe that Apple subsidizes development with hardware that much. The future of software is with lower prices, bigger volumes but also free open-source software (look at LightWorks) and cloud based subscription services (EditShare). The App Store introduced the higher volume business model to the software world, and it seems to work judging their success with the iPhone, iPad and the whole world following them. Avid and Adobe target the elite working class while Apple wants to reach out to the masses. Nothing wrong with that, but you need to offset the lower selling price against a higher sales volume... that's how they do it, not by subsidizing it. If you are a start-up company, both Avid and Adobe are likely out of your budget while Apple is not. Also, if you are an aspiring filmmaker but not in school, how can one afford such monstrous prices? I also feel that with Avid, you pay for 'the industry standard' award. Businesses have no problem paying the licence costs, so why lower them, as they make up your biggest group of customers?

I am not an Apple fanboy. I am not even sure if I like everything in the new Final Cut Pro. I just don't think your assumption is right.

I just read Larry Jordan's blogpost about the event, I can recommend it to everyone:
The Sound of 1,700 Jaws Dropping http://t.co/L0Q1WDF

It looks like Apple has a lot of work to do before June, and the competition even more to catch up.

High-res screenshot of the UI:

[Adrian Frearson]

Speculation, but Apple might not even have a DVD SP replacement. It will probably become a niche product over the next few years and so could just leave it to smaller app developers to fill the gap. Either way they get a slice of the pie.

[Jonathan Palfrey]

Funny how many of those features are already in Sony Vegas. It almost seems like a hybrid of Vegas, FCP and iMovie.

I'm glad other NLE are starting to include features Vegas has had for years such as real time rendering, audio waveforms, "magnetic timeline" and excepting multiple file formats.

Price is very good as well, although it will be interesting to see if they provide the other programs such as color and motion, maybe they will be add ons for an additional price.

If it works as well as it sounds and hasn't lost its pro features then this version of FCP will tempt me towards maybe getting a mac in the future.

[Jason Lowe]

Originally Posted by 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.

1) Since it's sold through the App Store, I assume it's Snow Leopard compatible. There might be some super-special feature that only works with Lion, but they're not going to limit it right off the bat.

2) They'll probably be released separately. I think I read on one of the blogs that they said on stage that this was just a taste, and there was more to come.

3) I'm betting no on that one. Apple just dumped a gazillion dollars into a massive data center.

4) I think that's part of the terms of service Apple set up for all App Store apps. Aperture works that way, no real reason to think this won't too.

5) Probably Core 2 Duo or above. I can't imagine this will work at all on PPC equipment.

6) I'm pretty sure they said it did. Hopefully you won't need a $1000 card to benefit from it.

7) This wasn't a product announcement, but a "sneak peek". Hopefully, they'll offer discounts to people who unwittingly buy FCS 3 now that they've announced a new version.

[Heath McKnight]

If anything, I think we'll see Soundtrack Pro and Motion as separate apps, but why not keep all color grading/correction and DVD/BD creation and mastering within the app? I'd love to see FCP X become an all-in-one app, but that might be tough since Motion is such a large app, plus the loops in Soundtrack Pro are huge.

heath

[Matt Gottshalk]

Originally Posted by Daniel Weber

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.


Daniel Weber

From what I saw in the demo, that "color correction" interface in NO WAY replaces Color.

[Charles Newcomb]

Apple Announces Final Cut Pro X

Sigh. Three years ago I switched to a Mac so I could use both Final Cut Studio and Sony Vegas Pro on the same machine. Final Cut was $1,200.00, then. Two months later Final Cut Studio 3 came out... $300.00 for the upgrade, but the price of the program came down to $1,000.00. So I had $1,500.00 invested in software that was now worth $1,000.00. I whined to Apple and they gave me a free Mighty Mouse. Now, to get the new FCX, I'll have to cough up another $300.00, giving me a total of $1,800.00 invested in software that's worth $300.00.

I'm not feeling very appreciated, Apple.

[Jeff Troiano]

I'm curious $299 for the software, and chance of a discounted upgrade fee? I understand in the past, the upgrade cost was $299. Maybe a $199 for current users?

[David Chapman]

Charles, I wouldn't keep track of money invested in software. It's the same as machines. When new products come out, the old become obsolete.

Keep in mind that Final Cut Pro X was a beta they were showing. They still have the rest of the suite to present and include in the store. I'm not sure if they're cutting some apps or not, but check out these prices:

1. Final Cut Pro X $299
2. Apple Motion $199
3. Soundtrack Pro (maybe?) $99 (or maybe it's just a Logic for $199)
4. Loops, effects and other downloadable goodies: $29-49 each totaling: $199

That's about $699 for the suite. Maybe there will be a Disc Studio Pro or something. Don't feel like the whole suite has lost value at this point. We have only seen 1 piece of the pie so far.

PS: iWork was $79, and now $19 each in the App Store. Not a huge value loss, but you don't have to pay for hard media, packaging and books which can lower overhead and reduce costs.

[Galen Rath]

How about free use for one year to all licensed users? Apple is turning their back on an established product. Better yet, and more appropriate, just make it free to all current users.

[Charles Newcomb]

I'm watching the comments from the announcement on other blogs and forums. Many "pros" are wailing that Apple has just announced they're not interested in the pro market, anymore. I don't get that attitude at all: Why would anyone think something is more "pro" just because it's more difficult to use? If it makes my workflow easier, I'm all for it.

My disappointment in my investment return aside, I see this as a smart move for Apple. And it just might make me use it more than I have in the past.

[John C. Chu]

Found a great video on the presentation!

Supermeet Apple Final Cut X presentation on Vimeo

[Andy Wilkinson]

Thanks for that video. After watching it "I'm in". I held back on the last, in my opinion lame, Final Cut update and waited for something like this. I'm now very happy with what I've just seen in the last 25 minutes.

Sure, I've lots of questions (haven't we all!) but those will get answered in the next few months.

At least I'll now start looking for a window of opportunity in my corporate video work schedule to upgrade my 8 Core early 2009 Mac Pro... maybe back end of the summer. I may keep FCS2 on my 2008 MBP until I feel totally comfortable with FCX - but I doubt that'll be for long...I usually learn pretty fast.

Great, great news. Phew, it was worth the wait! And $299 is OK. For the amount of time it will save me in my day to day stuff, then it's certainly worth $299 - which might end up being £299 over here. I hope not - but if it is, so be it.

I guess I might look hard at doubling the RAM in this Mac Pro soon too - it's going to be worthwhile now.

[John C. Chu]

Yeah.. make sure to watch the second part. :)

Supermeet Apple Final Cut Studio X presentation 2eme partie on Vimeo

I'm a FCP newbie.. but the ease of doing things that were just unintuitive or intimidating with the current FCP is amazing. [I like the color matching/grading and the sound editing features]

For Macintosh users wanting to edit 24p and not able to cough up almost a thousand for Final Cut Studio.. your ship has come in!