Apple Puts Legacy Final Cut Studio Back on Sale

[Dave Gosley]

Having admitted their failure/s, will they now go away and work on a "proper" multi user / multi camera - pro end version (with all the other things I've not mentioned) instead of the toy they first touted..?

I think if they did put right all that is immediately wrong with it they'd have a winner. Lets face it - it's not a shortage of funding preventing it - and they do have the skills - so why didn't they do this right first time around?

Shame of it is I still love Apple and their products and will continue to buy them.

[Robert Lane]

Clearly Apple heard the uproar from the community about this debacle. Along with allowing tele-sales for FCS they also released an FAQ page about "X" outlining what FCP X can and can't do:

Apple - Final Cut Pro X - Answers to common questions.

If only they had been this up-front prior to the release of X this whole scenario would never have blown up in the first place.

As mentioned above, Apple considers the previous Final Cut suite "end of life" and those in the know are saying that Apple has not - and will not - be producing more copies, they're simply selling off old inventory.

Maybe now that Jobs is no longer handholding day-to-day operations we'll see less of this "I know better than you..." arrogance from Apple and more direct-customer response.

One can only hope.

[William Hohauser]

FCPX was a big bold mis-step (it still is a decent program) but quite frankly I rather have Apple try something this brazen and fail then go thru the results of corporate cowardace that this country is mired in. I am still amazed at the lack of professional input Apple had in the development of FCPX, the little things they could have included and charged an extra $100 for would have made a whole difference.

[Marcus Durham]

Originally Posted by Robert Lane

Clearly Apple heard the uproar from the community about this debacle. Along with allowing tele-sales for FCS they also released an FAQ page about "X" outlining what FCP X can and can't do:

If only they'd done that in July. Talk about slow moving! The damage is done, Apple have been caught off-guard. 2 months to get out a FAQ and ensure that people who need extra seats can get FCS? Pathetic. They could have done that right away.

I still don't think they understand how much they've soiled their reputation. Not only are people moving away from their software, but with the crossgrade opportunities offered by Adobe, people will have the freedom to move to a Windows platform that has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. Windows 7 is worryingly good, so Apple need to provide good reasons why I should be paying a heavy premium for their hardware.

[Andy Wilkinson]

I agree 100% Marcus. I've been musing the CS5.5 Production Premium switch ever since Adobe announced the half price offer. After spending the last day or so viewing various on-line video tutorials I've more or less convinced myself I'm moving over to Adobe too. I will phase out my use on FCS 2 (with FCP6.0.6) once I'm up to speed/may then just use FCP for quick edits on some legacy projects where clients ask me to update the video a year/18 months after first completion (in corporate videography this happens pretty often I'm finding).

In my case, I'll use CS5.5 on my 8 Core 2.66Ghz Nehalem Mac Pro running OSX 10.5.8 (although I also have a Windows 7, Core i7 box which runs Vegas 9E well). Both have RAID0 and a big chunk of RAM. In 2-3 years time I'll probably ditch the Mac Pro and move completely back to Windows boxes (as you rightly say, Windows 7 is so good now - let's hope 8 is even better!)

I only went with Apple hardware to run FCS. Its been an enjoyable, rock solid and stable (albeit expensive) journey up to this point. However, my video business is now 3 years old and because of this FCPX mess I really can't trust Apple anymore for my professional tools. So it looks like the've lost me as a future hardware purchaser too. Sure, I could sit tight for a couple of years and just keep using FCS2 but I feel uncomfortable with that (and I really want to see all those cores on my Mac Pro finally (NOW!) put to effective use with a proper professional 64-Bit NLE. Sure, if they turn FCPX into something I want I might take another look - but it'll need a keen price and a huge feature hike (i.e. put back a lot of what they took away) to make me even want to consider switching back again.

The damage is done - Adobe CS5.5 here I come!

[Marcus Durham]

It is indeed quite nice to see all 8 cores of my own box being used for a change (Compressor aside). The additon of a Quadro video card has meant that editing has sped up even more. A memory upgrade also helps as you can allocate more RAM per processor core. More memory also helps After Effects immensely.

But I've been running both FCS2 and CS5.5 side by side and they seem fine. Still using Compressor for now as it has all my presets and although After Effects many times more powerful than Motion, Motion can be far quicker for certain things.

My overall impression a month on from getting CS5.5 is that using it is no big deal. Sure in the long term I'll have to start grappling with Encore but actually most Final Cut users could dive straight in and feel at home in Premiere.

Apple putting FCS back on sale only helps those who need the extra seats. Apple now offer either a package not fit for purpose or an outdated 32 bit package. Those looking for a top quality editing package for 2011 can either buy CS5.5 or Avid.

[Harry Bromley-Davenport]

Does Apple have an upgrade path from 6x to 7? Anyone know if that is available?

Harry

[Harry Bromley-Davenport]

I called Apple. They are not offering an upgrade path from 6x.

Harry.