About a month ago Apple released their highly anticipated update to Final Cut, called Final Cut Pro X. People either immediately loved it or hated it. Actually, most hated it. In the Mac App store, it has more negative reviews than positive. And this coming from the Apple faithful.
I decided to ignore everything I’d heard about Final Cut Pro X, both good and bad, and spend some time with it before offering my own opinion. And rather than repeat what everyone else has already said about it (yea, there are plenty of reviews out there) I figured I’d give you a brief rundown of what’s positive, what’s negative and what the final verdict is…for the average web video producer who currently uses the “old” Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express.
The Good – Final Cut needed updating and update it they did. The interface is slick, modern and intuitive, a load of effects are at your finger tips and it’s easy to find or figure out what you want to do. In other words, the interface is now like just about every other video editing app out there. There are no “breakthroughs” here, it’s just that now Final Cut is an application that the average person can figure out how to use from the get-go.
The Misleading – There were two big improvements touted for Final Cut Pro X; the ability to preview your edits in real-time without having to render them first and the ability to add footage from just about any camera without having to transcode it into another format first (again, something other video editing apps have offered for years).
For the real-time previews, this is a bit misleading because it’s not actually real-time…stuff automatically renders in the “background” while you continue working. That means instead of manually rendering edits like you had to in the old Final Cut, the new Final Cut does it for you automatically in the background…and you can continue to work while this is going on. But pre-rendering is still going on…and it’s not fast.
For accepting footage from all cameras, again this is misleading. You might think that means you can copy files from your memory card to your Mac and then drag them onto the timeline (I did). That won’t work if for example you have an AVCHD camera. Instead you have to choose the import from camera option, where you footage is then copied from your camera into Final Cut. And during the import, you usually have to have Final Cut transcode the video into a different format anyway, if you want decent playback in the timeline. It’s a disappointment…I was hoping Final Cut Pro X would behave like it’s competitors on the Windows side of things. It doesn’t.
The Bad – Apple decided to change the way people edit video in the timeline. That’s to say instead of doing it like the old Final Cut (and like virtually all other video editing software), they want you to have most of you stuff on a single track in the timeline (like iMovie). Want to say exactly what video or audio clips go exactly on which tracks in the timeline? Sorry, can’t do it. This is a deal-breaker for most video editors, as their freedom has been stripped.
Additionally, Apple decided to do away with the freedom people have always had (both in the old Final Cut and virtually all other video editing apps) when it comes to organizing the media to use in their projects. Again, instead of having a choice or freedom in how you organize and import your media, you’re forced to do it the Apple way. And the Apple way is essentially a big library in Final Cut Pro X that all your media gets dumped into. Then you can access it for any project, whenever you want.
This isn’t a bad idea (Avid has pulled this library concept off brilliantly in Avid Studio), but Apple’s implementation isn’t quite there yet. For example, in Avid Studio, you can store your media wherever you want on your hard drive and Avid keeps track of it for you in the library. You always know where your media is and Avid Studio always knows where your media is. In Final Cut Pro X (at least by default), Apple buries your imported media in hard to find system folders. That means Final Cut Pro X always knows where you media is, but you don’t.
And finally there are the bugs. This is the first version of first generation software, so I’ll give Apple some leeway here. I’ll ignore how it routinely locked up while importing video and occasionally locked up while editing video. I’ll even ignore the few times Final Cut Pro X just vanished from my screen. But the old Final Cut never did this…ever. This makes Final Cut Pro X almost seem like a beta product that they rushed to market. Which leads me to…
The Verdict – I wouldn’t recommend Final Cut Pro X. At least not yet. Apple has some things to fix with it. Stay where you are with the old Final Cut until things improve. Or install Bootcamp and Windows on your Mac and run Sony Vegas or Avid Studio instead.
Hard to find system folders? You mean the folder that you can choose to import into when importing?
Nice review in parts but details are everything. I’m not sure whether you actually used this program or not.
@ Steve – Yes, I actually own and have used Final Cut Pro X. As I mentioned in the opening paragraphs, there are plenty of detailed reviews available on it already (just Google it or check out the Mac App store), so instead I was just going to briefly highlight the good and bad and give a verdict.
I had originally planned on doing a video review of it, like I did with Avid Studio here. However, after using it, I was so disappointed that I decided not to bother investing the time.
Apple knows they got this one wrong. That’s why they are doing something unprecedented; they are giving people refunds.
But if you really want to see a video review of Final Cut Pro X, that pretty much sums up the software in about 60 seconds, check out this bit Conan O’Brien did on his show.
Great review Dave…
I agree with most of it. But you’re not right with some of it…
You can actually add more tracks/layers – but it’s just done differently than before. The tracks aren’t immediately visible.
You select the clip you want to bring down, click “Q” or the button that says “connect” primary clip to story line – then it shows (above the “primary” storyline).
You can keep doing that to add more and more layers, and you can even create “compound clips” by highlighting all the clips above the storyline and right clicking and choosing “new Compound clip” or clicking option G.
Exact same thing with Audio.
It’s awesome.
Get the hang of some of these new features and FCPX is WAY faster than FCE or adobe PP.
You can adjust any of the importing and rendering preferences in 5 seconds to speed things up if your computer can’t handle things. You can still “see” and play things real time, they’re just not rendered.
With regards to storing your media… You have full control over how you do this with FCPX. It’s all in the settings. You can easily connect outside clips and associate them with the project.
Just make sure that if you’re moving files around, do it from within FCPX.
I’d say the deal breaker (so far) for professional FCP 7 users isn’t so much the timeline thing, but more things like the fact that FCPX autosaves everything, and you can’t go back to a previous edit (if you stuffed something up), the inability to add other play screens, and more difficulty in having a server based system where other editors can work on the same project sharing the same source files. That’s what was in the previous version. Plus other XML stuff I’ve got no idea about.
Yes – I agree there are bugs (as usual) but I’m one user who would actually give this 4 or 5 stars. That’s just me.
It’s just so much faster and easier (with AVCHD) than FCE or Premiere Pro.
I did get tutorials from Larry Jordan though. Yes he drags on a bit (Compared to your tutorials which get straight to the point), but the info there still saved me HOURS of time.
And granted – upgraders to FCPX from FCP7 SHOULDN’T have to go through this type of learning curve for an upgraded product – and those users SHOULDN’T have certain features stripped.
Anyway – thanks for posting!
Cheers
Dave
@Dave – You’re 100% right in the things you pointed out. And when I first started using FCPX I thought “This is cool and so much faster”. I really wanted to love the software and prove the naysayers wrong. But then when I began really putting together projects, I became one of the naysayers (which is to say I became frustrated). In short, had they just updated the things that needed updating (which they did) and left everything else alone, it probably would have been a homerun.
And I’ll have to admit that I’m also spoiled by Sony Vegas on the Windows side, where none of the old FCP’s or new FCP’s issues, have ever been issues. But I think the Conan video I referenced in the comments summed up everyone’s frustrations best, in a humorous way.
I use FCP7 on a high spec’d Mac and it works great. I do not want the V1 of FCPX after careful consideration. It may be OK for a hobbyist but to change for Broadcast level operations is a massive no,no.
Apple appear to be trying to appeal to all levels of video editing as they feel they arew missing out on the YouTube market and other amateur clip makers. Maybe they should stick to improving imovie and leave FCP alone. (except for 64bit improve).
I bought and DL’d the new version of Motion and that was a big mistake. It wont cross talk to FCP7 and there’s littler change to the version apart from Apple moving the control icons to different areas and that creates a new learning curve for the veteran user and it working in a 64b enviro.
@Dave (the guy who left a comment (not the reviewer) – I am a VERY amateur video producer wannabe, which means my everyday work has nothing to do with editing videos, BUT I do want to move into that field and I actually did buy a MacBook Pro and Final Cut Studio, but (I have to admit) from the lack of practice and the Final Cut interface is such a monstrous interface that it did (I admit again), it did intimidate me a lot and I never got around to really editing things fast, so I kinda stopped messing with it. But I want to get back into learning how to edit and not just YouTube quality, but good enough for Webisodes or decent Web content.
Sooo, my question is, now that I get the feeling that FCPX is a re-designed program and more intuitive and easier to use, would you recommend that beginners like me who have no clue or experience with FCP7, start with FCPX? I mean, since I dont have any things that I would “miss” from the FCP7, would me purchasing FCPX make it easier for me start editing video?
Also, I own a Canon Vixia HF S11, and you mentioned that FCPX “is just so much faster and easier (with AVCHD)” do you think I’ll have an easier time since my camera is one of these? Or do I have to use 3rd party converters and things like that?
I REALLY REALLY appreciate your advice, or anyone else who wants to give their opinion.
GRACIAS!
I think that
@Luis – That is a really good question.
It’s just a pity that you have outlaid a bunch of cash on FCP 7!!
If you’re literally just starting out – I’d go FCP X. Especially when dealing with AVCHD.
It just works – albeit a little “dumbed down”.
I’ve got the exact same camera & it really is easy to set things up. Give yourself about 3-4 hours of watching some basic tutorials (you’ll find them on youtube) of how to set things up.
THere’s a guy who calls himself “Final Cut Pro King” (or something like that) – google him – he’s got great free tutorials & some paid ones…
It’s worth getting tutorials for this stuff – all non Mac users – they should buy Dave’s Sony vegas courses!
I did for FCE a few years back. Saves so much time.
Cheers
Dave
@Dave (the guy who left a comment (not the reviewer) – THANK YOU SO MUCH for your reply and advice! Yes, I know, FCP7 was an investment, but oh well, I’ll have to put in the extra effort to learn FCPX. I’m going to go as you suggested and let you know my progress. I’d like to stay in contact with you, any way possible? Look me up on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/luisdecolombia
Thanks so much for your honest advice.
-Luis
Dave,
Thanks for the review. I’m a recent convert to Mac, but also a Sony Vegas user for the past 10-plus years. I used Final Cut about a decade ago when I worked in a Mac shop doing some television work. Based on my good experience back then, I was getting ready to bite the bullet and buy FCPX.
Thanks for saving me the money. Instead, I’ll be installing Virtual Box and Windows XP SP3 on my Mac and running my faithful copy of Movie Studio 10, which has consistently been making me money and NOT giving me headaches for some time now.
You rock!