Can Final Cut Pro X be considered professional?

[Andre Pimentel]

I've been using FCP X since it came out and upgraded from FCP 7. Would you guys consider FCP X a professional editing program? Some industry people like to think FCP X is for amateurs now.

[Noa Put]

Since you have been using fcp7 before, which was regarded as a pro nle, what do you think about fcpx?

[William Hohauser]

Everybody loves to take absolute sides which is unfortunate. Those industry people are free to dislike the program, as I dislike Premier, but FCPX is not for amateurs. Some people think that difficulty and esoteric operation is the sign of a professional program but that's more likely a sign of poor GUI design than anything else.

[Craig Seeman]

While it's a minority, it's already being used in broadcast work on major network broadcast and cable stations.It wouldn't get there if it wasn't. It's still missing a key feature for bigger facilities. It's weak in the collaborative workflow many facilities need. Other than that, it's certainly professional.

Anyone who thinks FCPX is not professional is extremely ignorant or immature. Sorry if being that harsh offends but if people make money using it, it's professional. If it's good enough to edit broadcast program content it's professional even if some don't like it's feature set or user interface. Some not liking it user interface or features doesn't make it "not professional."

[D.J. Ammons]

In addition to Final Cut Pro X itself what do you X users consider essential add ons one must purchase for it to compare to the capabilities of 7 ?

[Eric Emerick]

Event Manager X, it's on the App Store.

[Craig Seeman]

If you need to move FCP7 projects to FCPX then 7toX would be important. Event Manager X to enable/disable Events and Projects.X2Pro would be to send projects to ProTools. These aren't plugins though.

FCPX already exceeds FCP7 in many respects. Collaborative workflow will require work from Apple. Other features still need improvement but those aren't improved on with plugins though.

A great plugin might be SliceX Mocha but this didn't exist in FCP7. It allows drawing a selecting and planar motion tracking.

There's a variety of color grading plugins for X but FCPX's own color board is very good although some would find the User Interface odd.

If I'd pick one plugin "system" that covers a lot of interesting things it's FXFactory.
FxFactory – Visual Effects for Final Cut Pro, Motion, After Effects and Premiere Pro

[Dmitri Zigany]

If you're getting paid for editing video with FCPX it's professional.

If you're using AVID, FCP7, Sony Vegas or Premier to edit clips of your kids, they are not professional.

It's just a tool like any other. Just choose the one you're most comfortable working with.

[Jonathan Levin]

I agree with Dmitri.

[Andre Pimentel]

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

While it's a minority, it's already being used in broadcast work on major network broadcast and cable stations.It wouldn't get there if it wasn't. It's still missing a key feature for bigger facilities. It's weak in the collaborative workflow many facilities need. Other than that, it's certainly professional.

Anyone who thinks FCPX is not professional is extremely ignorant or immature. Sorry if being that harsh offends but if people make money using it, it's professional. If it's good enough to edit broadcast program content it's professional even if some don't like it's feature set or user interface. Some not liking it user interface or features doesn't make it "not professional."

Didn't know some broadcast stations use FCP x. I come from the broadcast and live event world and all around audio visual multimedia specialist. We use AVID in the studio as well as Adobe Premiere. People like to clown FCP X like it's a joke, or like its iMovie on steriods. I like FCP X and will still use it. Also use Premiere and Avid but FCP X is my go to.

[Paul R Johnson]

Some people are short-sighted, snobbish or simply uninformed. If you use it, are happy, and it does what you need, then it's professional enough! The joke of course is that all editing software is so expensive, that amateurs rarely can afford it!

[Craig Seeman]

Originally Posted by Andre Pimentel

Didn't know some broadcast stations use FCP x. I come from the broadcast and live event world and all around audio visual multimedia specialist. We use AVID in the studio as well as Adobe Premiere. People like to clown FCP X like it's a joke, or like its iMovie on steriods. I like FCP X and will still use it. Also use Premiere and Avid but FCP X is my go to.

While FCPX isn't dominating any single broadcast station, there's programing on BBC, PBS, MTV, Discovery, MLB (used during last year's World Series for highlights that aired between innings), a few national brand TV spots, TV series "Leverage" (recently canceled) amongst others. There are a few independent post facilities that do broadcast work that have moved completely or near completely over to FCPX.

[William Hohauser]

Just like FCP7 (or Premier), FCPX is great for the single editor or the small production company. Once you need sharing of projects on a large scale, tv series or elaborate feature films, AVID is the way to go. There is a lot of professional work being done with FCPX but even now I can get clients coming in aghast that I am editing their project on it. Once they see how well it works they usually quiet down.

[Steven Davis]

My observations so far.

As a 9 year Sony Vegas user (that's before Sony bought it and killed it), I bought FCPX a month or so ago. Like any software, Apple/Sony and I'm sure Adobe don't do the best job of making the software intuitive to a new user. So that means lots of youtubing. Since I never used FCP anything, there is a steep learning curve a decent amount of head scratching while learning FCPX. For instance, why in the world can't I save a final render to any folder I choose, why does FCPX insist on creating 4billion folders for one rendered/shared file. It's mind boggling.

One big difference I've noticed is Sony has amazing audio tools, filters and functionality. This ofcourse is no thanks to Sony, it's been there since Sonic Foundry. And when a breath, sigh, or a whisper can mean all the world with a moment in a wedding video, I like to get very detailed with my audio. Keyframing in FCPX is clumsier IMO.

I know APPLE is doing updates, but it seems to me, they made FCPX a little too dumb, trying to make things easy for consumer use, but that's my opinion. It reminds me of Pinnacle software, I used it when I first started 10 years ago.

Needless to say, the reason I decided to transition some of my video work to FCPX is because Sony has done nothing but kill Sonic Foundry's Vegas, Sony has horrid support and can't seem to fix the simplest of errors from version to version. And formatting your computer is their answer for everything.

So here I sit, in front of a iMac, hopeing Apple will buff up FCPX so in a year or so, I can make it my main editor.

That's my opinion. Thanks for listening, who do I pay on the way out?

[William Hohauser]

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

Since I never used FCP anything, there is a steep learning curve a decent amount of head scratching while learning FCPX. For instance, why in the world can't I save a final render to any folder I choose, why does FCPX insist on creating 4billion folders for one rendered/shared file. It's mind boggling.

Quite frankly even if you used FCP before, FCPX is a learning curve. That does't mean that it's bad, just that the program is in it's own league at the moment. Once you get the hang of it, the older programs seems clumsy in ways you never thought of before.

I am curious about your "final render" issue. Are you talking about the final output or the render files stored within a project or event? The render files are considered part of the project. As I usually never render while editing (except to see very complicated effects/filters in real time) I don't accumulate files but you can clear out unused render files easily. Final Cut Pro X: Delete render files to free up disk space