Final Cut Pro X released today! 6/21/11

[James Steele]

Posted this in OT and nobody seemed to noticed. I purchased it immediately even though things are tight. Seems like it would be very useful. Also after you install you can run Software Update and get supplemental content including 1300 royalty-free sound effects and some other goodies.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FWIW, I was concerned that it wouldn't run on my Mac Pro 1,1 with my ATI Radeon HD 3870 card, but apparently the App Store in Snow Leopard will tell you if your system is incompatible and not let you purchase. It let me go ahead, and it seems to be working fine here.

[labman]

Hey James. Please keep us posted in your progress. Especially interested in how it speeds up your workflow.

[James Steele]

Hey James. Please keep us posted in your progress. Especially interested in how it speeds up your workflow.

Haha... please don't wait for me to respond. I am not an experienced editor and only bought this because I anticipate doing some editing in the future. I will be learning Final Cut Pro more or less from square one here.

[mikehalloran]

Oh my... I have no need for this any time soon but I want it.

[barreltone]

After researching on some other sites, I have gathered that this new version doesn't support OMF or XML export. I don't know if these features will be added back at a later date, but it will make it difficult for those using DP (or anything but FCP X) for audio post applications if video clients start using this exclusively.

[zed]

Damn. I bought Final Cut Express a couple of years ago, and have still never gotten around to using it.

I think Final Cut Pro, at that time, was around $1000, so at $299 it has come down considerably. I think I paid $200 for Express.

I really need to stop spending until I actually need something.

[David Polich]

Is $299.00 the actual retail price, and not an upgrade price? I still
can't determine whether it is..

[billf]

After researching on some other sites, I have gathered that this new version doesn't support OMF or XML export. I don't know if these features will be added back at a later date, but it will make it difficult for those using DP (or anything but FCP X) for audio post applications if video clients start using this exclusively.

It's worse than that apparently:

While FCP X is very promising, it still lacks key features for professionals. (I'm cutting it some heavy slack because I'm taking into account this is essentially a version 1 product built on an entirely new foundation). But the fact remains that there is no professional audio editing capabilities. With many of the features of Soundtrack Pro now rolled into FCP X, I still long for a full featured waveform editor to perform bread-and-butter audio editing chores. This coupled with the fact that there is no built-in way to collaborate with sound editors using ProTools or other DAWs is problematic.

Also there is currently no support for 3rd party effects plug ins. This is something that most likely will be addressed in the future. That said, Motion 5 is now much more that a motion graphics application. It's now a motion graphics publishing application and you can easily "publish" your own titles, effects, generators and transitions for any Final Cut Pro X editor. This is such an important development, that Mark Spencer and I produced an entire Motion 5 tutorial called Rigging & Publishing in Motion 5 to teach people how to "roll their own" FCP X visual content.

Also, your FCP 7 projects will not work in FCP X. Which begs the question, who is the target market for this thing?

[barreltone]

Also there is currently no support for 3rd party effects plug ins.

To be fair, and since we talk about audio plugins here, that quote is talking about video effects plugins. FCP X will accept 64-bit Audio Unit plugins from third parties. But I'd rather use those plugins in DP. After exporting an OMF. From Final Cut. grrr.

[billf]

Also there is currently no support for 3rd party effects plug ins.

To be fair, and since we talk about audio plugins here, that quote is talking about video effects plugins. FCP X will accept 64-bit Audio Unit plugins from third parties. But I'd rather use those plugins in DP. After exporting an OMF. From Final Cut. grrr.

I know he is talking about video plugins in the article. The point is if you are invested in GenArts or Trapcode, be careful about FCPX right now.

[barreltone]

I figured you knew, Bill. My wife's invested in some, too. Just wanted to head off any possible confusion since almost all plugin talk 'round here is about audio.

[billf]

I figured you knew, Bill. My wife's invested in some, too. Just wanted to head off any possible confusion since almost all plugin talk 'round here is about audio.

True, and thanks for the info on the audio plugins barreltone. I hadn't seen that info posted elsewhere. But what worries me most about FCP X is the lack of backward compatibility. That is a major concern for those with a substantial project library.

Edited to Add:

Here's more about FCP X:

Compressor 4 is still 32-bit and doesn't look like it's received an overhaul, meaning that the problems many of us have suffered are likely to continue. I have already had several issues with Qmaster.

• No multicam. This is a massive oversight in my opinion.
  No XML import / output. Another huge oversight.
  A lot of plugin developers have been left out in the cold with no answers from Apple.
  No support for old FCP 7 projects.
  No credible broadcast monitor output. The current solution is to mirror your desktop through a capture card, which does not result in a broadcast-quality output.

Final Cut Pro, Motion and Compressor are $400 combined. This is a great price, however if you need features that are not in FCPX, you're going to end up paying more. If you need OMF output, you need to pay $500 for Automatic Duck. You will also most likely need to pay to upgrade any plugins once support for FCPX has been added. Rumors have suggested that Apple may be offering these missing features as additional applications for a fee, which also contributes to the overall cost. When you consider all of these potential costs, FCPX doesn't seem as cheap as it does on the surface.

[Dan Worley]

Posted this in OT and nobody seemed to noticed.

Hey, no double posting! I'm telling!

c-ya,

Dan Worley

[James Steele]

Is $299.00 the actual retail price, and not an upgrade price? I still
can't determine whether it is..

It's the full price. It's only available through the App Store in Snow Leopard however. No boxed retail versions.

[James Steele]

Who's their target audience? I don't know. Me perhaps because I'm not a pro editor. I don't have a bunch of projects sitting around from earlier versions of FCP so that's not a problem. I'm coming at it fresh.

I suppose people can always sit out the upgrade until Apple addresses some of those issues. My understanding is that it's all new code from the ground up. It's possible Apple decided to release as-is to generate some revenue from (new?) users for whom 1.0 would be adequate, rather than put release off for another year to release 1.0 with ALL functionality from the get-go. For all we know, maybe they're timing a second more full-featured release to happen with the new tower models and Thunderbolt?