Honestly I have never seen performance like this
Sure adding an effect on a second clip basically slowed it down too much and I had to render, but I never thought it would work that well. Wow!
Got My Refund!
I did have a disturbing thought though, is Apple doing this to remove some of the worst reviews on their site? Every refund should be one 1 star review they get rid of!
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Dear Jonah,
Thank you for contacting iTunes Store Customer Support. My name is *****
I'm sorry to hear that the application you recently purchased is not functioning as expected. I know how eager you are to get this issue resolved. I will make sure that this issue is resolved at the earliest.
Jonah, I have reversed the charges for the purchase of applications "Final Cut Pro X", "Motion 5" and "Compressor 4". In five to seven business days, a credit of $399.97 should be posted to the credit card that appears on the receipt for that purchase.
If you require further assistance, please feel free to reply to this email and I will be happy to assist you.
Have a good day!
Sincerely,
*****
Color me impressed
I just ran my first Premiere Pro 5.5 Cuda test with an NVIDIA QUADRO FX 4800. I imported some RAW Canon 60D H.264 footage, and put it in a timeline, scaled it 50% and added 3 more shots, and it played back smoother and fast than any timeline I have ever seen. Color me impressed.
Premiere might not just replace Final Cut Pro, it might blow it out of the water!
AVID may work with AJA!
AJA releases Premiere Pro 5.5 Drivers for Real Time
I installed them and a small test looks like it’s running fine with good performance for the Mercury Playback Engine with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 for Mac. Once installed, you get a full set of AJA presets:
If Adobe is really serious about competing in the pro video editing space (and I think they are), they’ll get on their hardware partners like AJA, Matrox and Blackmagic to be as quick supporting Premiere Pro as they have been about supporting Final Cut Pro.
My request for a refund from Apple
I am writing you about my orders for Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and Compressor 4. Order numbers M3NT1XYK15, M3NT1XYK7J and M3NT1XYLSB. I want to get a refund on these because the products do not function as advertised. Today you released a FAQ on Final Cut Pro X and it’s very first entry states that I cannot open Final Cut Pro 7 projects into Final Cut Pro X (it should not be named that, what if Adobe had made Photoshop CS5 not able to open any previous Photoshop docs when it became 64 bit) and as a professional editor, that is a good 75 percent of my business, working on variations of old projects and fixing projects for other people. Without this features the program is useless to me and the FAQ says it will never happen. If this FAQ had been out when the app was released I would not have purchased any of these 3 apps. Honestly I can say I am furious! I have already paid money for Ripple Training, and have also upgraded AUtomatic Duck, and since every statement after FCP X came out was that features were coming I expected that opening FCP 7 projects would be the first priority, but since it will never happen I must get an editing suite that can open FCP 7 sequences like Premiere Pro or Media Composer with Automatic Duck (which as I said I already own).
I also never saw any documentation that said that the magnetic timeline could not be turned off and that you can’t assign tracks. I work on 28:30 long infomercials often with 20 tracks of video and must put different graphics on different tracks in order to organize so that any editor can open it and understand it, with the magnetic timeline I might be able to make a sequence that looks the same visually, but it would not be organized so any editor could see it or so that I could easily turn texted on and off. This is another reason that this suite is not usefull to me.
As for Motion, I only got it to edit effects within FCP X, and to me it does not vastly improve over the previous motion. I don’t notice any major speed increases, and I see it as a downgrade since it is missing the send to features in FCP X that made it a good companion to final cut pro.
And Compressor 4 is not even 64 bit, and I am fine with having Q-master seperate, and since it won’t get video sent from Final Cut Pro 7, it is useless to me.
Please refund my money ASAP because these apps do not do as advertised, and you have only made these shortcomings aware as of today. I tried to learn and use FCP X, and did the ripple training, but found it is not at all a replacement for FCP 7, and instead feels like a consumer downgrade.
Apple released a FCP X Faq
Can I import projects from Final Cut Pro 7 into Final Cut Pro X?Final Cut Pro X includes an all-new project architecture structured around a trackless timeline and connected clips. In addition, Final Cut Pro X features new and redesigned audio effects, video effects, and color grading tools. Because of these changes, there is no way to “translate” or bring in old projects without changing or losing data. But if you’re already working with Final Cut Pro 7, you can continue to do so after installing Final Cut Pro X, and Final Cut Pro 7 will work with Mac OS X Lion. You can also import your media files from previous versions into Final Cut Pro X.
Basically being unable to open FCP 7 projects or sequences (though it can open the consumer iMovie ones) is a huge part of my business, and I would rather move to Premier Pro 5.5 or Media Composer 5.5 which can open my FCP 7 sequences via XML (Media Composer with the help of Automatic Duck, which I already own).
The FAQ did have some good answers, but this above alone was enough to send me to try to get a refund.
Does Final Cut Pro X allow you to assign audio tracks for export?Not yet. An update this summer will allow you to use metadata tags to categorize your audio clips by type and export them directly from Final Cut Pro X.
Of course this feature as well, not being able to assign tracks means my 20 video track infomercials would be so confusing it would hurt! And mixer’s will still hate the exports of audio, even if things are tagged!
So I am going to fight for a refund!
Magic Bullet Suite 11 and short film Plot Device
Cosmo is an effect to clean up skin in your video, and has some pretty amazing results, and they have updated Magic Bullet Looks to 2, with a much improved interface and better functionality.
This is a suite I have used for years and couldn’t recommend more highly.
To see some of the effects in action Red Giant has created a short film called PLOT DEVICE to showcase the effects, and it is fun and well worth checking out.
Now that FCP is dead, let’s hope Stu manages to make this suite for AVID Media Composer in the near future, though I am OK with it being in Premiere, as that is probably my next edit system.
Google+
It is basically a Facebook designed so you can limit what different groups of your friends can see about it, basically a Facebook with much better privacy settings, though of course Google is not the best on privacy either. I hope that it is decent, because it is a good idea, though it certainly won’t make money like Facebook as that makes money by basically selling the user data, but google can integrate search into it to make money.
I also hope they integrate Buzz, which hasn’t taken off, but I always makes notes in my google reader account on a ton of stuff that I read about in RSS feeds.
Looks interesting, and I hope to eventually get chosen for the beta.
Two Articles on FCPX mirroring my thoughts
The release of Final Cut Pro X was the defining moment for many. In my line of work, I get to interface with a lot of video editors and other video professionals. I have spoken at numerous user groups and conferences. As a forum leader and podcaster for Creative COW, I have been hearing complaints for years. I also get to sit in edit suites with clients. The waiting for transcode on import as well as the 32-bit nature of Final Cut Pro 7 has caused a lot of impatient waiting in edit suites around the globe.Final Cut Pro X was supposed to fix this. At least that was the belief most held. It would be “awesome” we were told. I guess that can mean different things.People are not breaking up with Apple because of what Final Cut Pro X is. They are ending their relationship because their fears have been confirmed. I present to you a summary of the issues that have people freaked out. Please pass this list on to anyone who asks you what the big deal is. These are my 10 reasons that people are switching. These are just opinions. Opinions formed by my interactions with many and my professional experiences and connections.
This is a must read article, and all his reasons are spot on.
Richard also links to the second article from OneRiver Media on Is the Trust for Apple Gone for Good, and I would have to say that it is.
In the blink of an eye, the release of Final Cut Pro X has caused a ripple in the Matrix so huge, I’m not sure Neo could even fix this catastrophe. But it’s much more than good software gone astray, it’s deeper than infrastructure changes; it’s about the loss of trust, faith and even livelihoods.
and
But switching non-linear editing applications is only part of the problem, and in some cases, only a small problem by comparison. There are many people that have devoted the last ten years in direct relation to Final Cut Pro, and as a result of Final Cut Pro X, are going through a major life/career change. These include certified Final Cut Pro trainers, value added resellers, user group organizations, third party software/plugin developers, and many more. There are many people that are questioning their livelihood because of this radical shift that Final Cut Pro X has taken. I wonder if Apple knew they were going to directly cause such an issue, or if all they were looking at was nothing but their bottom-line. To me, it shows an enormous amount of arrogance, ignorance, and selfishness from Apple, which is not the Apple I once knew.
and finally
So all of this begs the big question, “Can Apple be trusted from here on out?” For me, I will no longer buy any kind of pro app from Apple for my facility, knowing their EOL history is very strong—even if an updated Final Cut Studio 3 (based on FCP7) was released. It amazes me that all of my favorite pro apps from Apple are all EOL’ed. Literally. For me personally, I no longer care about FCPX or even FCP7 updates. I’ve already started passing up articles on FCPX how-to’s or work-arounds, as I will not be using FCPX in my facility, and since FCP7 is EOL’ed.Because I’m switching to Avid Media Composer, all I care about at this juncture is integrating my current hardware and software with it, and what else I need to change or buy in order to make that happen. It’s a domino effect really, and all because of a 2.5-star, $299 downloadable app from the App Store. Seriously, that $299 app is costing me thousands of dollars, but luckily, none of it is going to the App Store. Just keep making powerful desktops, Apple, so I don’t cut my ties from you completely.
This is another must read article and really is much of what I have to say on the subject, though in the future i will talking more about individual features and what I do and don’t like about them.
The title of the article says it all!
And I completely agree! This app is just not for pros in any way shape or form!
Apple has put back the FCP Studio 3 Downloads
The updates are available at Apple. So you can download and archive the updates or FCP Studio 3, which is a good idea, since the program has been end of lifed!
FCP Producer is pushing a web petition
Apple recently introduced a completely new version of Final Cut Pro that immediately replaced the previous one. Although modern and revolutionary in many ways, this new version X lacks at least 10 main features required by any professional who uses Final Cut on TV studios, Feature Film editing, Production and Post-Production houses. In order to keep expanding the numbers of Final Cut Pro editing suites on these places we request that the Final Cut Pro 7 application should be temporally available for free as a download to all of those who bought Final Cut Pro X, while these 10 features are not addressed in the X release. They are: Add ability to import and export XML files natively;Add ability to import previous Final Cut Pro projects natively;Add ability to export OMF files natively;Add ability to change a project’s frame rate after it’s been created; Add ability to read and write projects stored on an network or SAN volumes; Add ability to switch the Final Cut Pro X layout to a more traditional 2-monitor setup; Add ability to preview true video signal, independent from the 2-monitor setup; Add support for Multicam editing; Add support from capturing and recording to tape, not only via capture now but also via batch capture and print to tape natively; Add support for importing image sequence files such as DPX and OpenEXR;
Some very true facts.
Planet 5D rings in on FCP X
Apple/Steve Jobs also realize that there will be a group of editors who leave and go to Adobe Premiere Pro or over to Avid – but they believe that the video editing market is going to be huge in the future and they have positioned iMovie to be the basic editor – and FCPX is the pro editor (which by the way imports iMovie assets – get the hint?).They will sell tons of copies of FCPX in the next 10 years and are not afraid to lose a few old fans along the way. They would have sold even more if they were to have gotten ownership from the editing community instead of taking it away. They’re going to have to go into major recovery mode or they’re going to lose a big hunk of the community – bigger than they were willing to lose in the first place.But I still believe that in the long run, in a year or so, FCPX will rock. I’m certainly using it now and will continue to explore and learn from those who have tutorials ready (more on that shortly too).
I still just don’t believe it can ever get as good as people think it will, too many fundamental problems!
It was to be a companion to FCP
From that experience, First Cut was born which would let you import your raw footage and quickly skip through, organizing and building a rough edit. The intention originally was to then export to Final Cut Pro. At some point, Apple officially latched onto the project and turned it into the new iMovie '08.
I just wish it had stayed that way!
High Definition has an article on FCP X
Which brings us on to the timeline – another massive bone-of-contention in the FCP community. The notion of tracks has completely disappeared, principally because of the new ‘magnetic timeline’. Instead of FCP 7’s old ‘Clip Collision...’ message that either drove you mad, or was a useful warning (depending on your point-of-view) clips now move themselves out of the way – essentially creating new tracks as they go. There is no track routing so, for instance, you can’t control where your audio goes when you insert a clip. This is pretty horrible – for example, if you want to mute your sound effects you need to hunt through the timeline and disable each one individually, rather than just muting the track you put them all on – you can’t even rely on them being where you last saw them, as editing in the magnetic timeline may have moved them somewhere else. I’m not sure that the benefits of losing the Clip Collision dialog outweigh the problems the magnetic timeline causes though Apple says it’s working on a solution – I suspect this may just be a way of assigning audio to output tracks which won’t solve the layout problem I’ve just described. They also claim that Automatic Duck Pro Export will allow you to create and assign output tracks as a workaround, but I’m not sure that’s true…Editing is a little weird too, if you are used to the standard 3 point edit paradigm. It sort of still exists, but only as the illegitimate offspring of iMovie and FCP.
and
It feels, somehow, like Apple have taken the iMovie code and grafted three point editing onto it. I can see the point of the magnetic timeline, and it’s arguably better than a tracked timeline, but there was no need to replace the FCP 7 three (and four) point paradigm. FCP X’s implementation isn’t better – it seems to be a bit of a mess.
and
At the moment, you can’t set the start timecode of the timeline, so the usual broadcast requirement of programme material starting at 10:00:00:00 isn’t possible. Similarly, audio track assignment is a real problem until Apple releases an update that solves the issue. You can’t use a broadcast monitor or audio PPMs until there is a professional I/O unit supported and you’ll need the Automatic Duck software to interface to ProTools/SADiE for audio work and, potentially, your finishing solution (if you don’t finish picture in FCP X)
And the final thoughts.
The funny thing is, if Apple had released this as a replacement for Final Cut Express (which has also been discontinued) then the reviews would be glowing. They could have continued to sell FCP 7, and then release a ‘Pro’ version, with all these problems solved, in a year or so. I would certainly be surprised if any of next year’s Oscar nominees will be cut on FCP X.
Personally I think I like the program less, but I do agree with most points, and the should have saved some of this tech for a true pro Final Cut Pro instead of making it completely prosumer.
Richard Harrington's Response to Dave Pogue
He really hits almost everything, so this article is a must read.
Well I guess he should know better then
What I think happened with Final Cut Pro x
Randy Ubillos created early versions of Premiere, which worked, but was too low end to do anything powerful, and never became huge like AVID. He was brought on by Apple to change iMovie, and his version was seen as a huge step backwards and Apple had to back track and re-release the previous version that had more features. People who were new to editing liked the simplicity of the new iMovie, but previous users didn't like it. Somehow that version of iMovie kept going and got more features, and Ubillos was given the task of updating final cut. I can only assume Steve Jobs liked what he did with iMovie, and got sold on his idea of making an iMovie Pro that would make it easier for everyone to edit.
The thing is, Ubillos is obviously not an editor, and didn’t consult with any professional editors in the production of Final Cut Pro X, which is really iMovie 10, made to be 64 bit, and have some new Pro features like 4K support (and yet no Native RED support?!?!?!?!?). Steve must have gotten sold on Ubillos’s ideas of how he could revolutionize editing and how they could make it ‘easy’ for anyone to edit amazing high end videos, but Ubillos has no idea what a professional editor needs, he really only knows how to make a program easy for the masses, with some high end features.
This product should have been iMovie Pro and been for the masses!
I think Ubillos convinced Steve, and they call it Final Cut Pro to cash in on the cache in the name that they had built up over the years, even editing features. Everyone has now heard of Final Cut Pro, and they would cash in on that name and make a program for the average Joe, who would now think since they could use this program that they could even edit features, of course this ignores the fact that the program is so constrictive that almost no professional editors will use it, and with this feature set, it will never be used on another feature, or TV show, but it will be used for web delivery, which seems to be all it is suited for.
If Apple really wanted to revolutionize editing they should have also consulted with a high end professional editor, Walter Murch comes to mind. He and his first assistant Editor Sean Cullen were really the first editors to start using Final Cut Pro to edit features. They know what professional editors need, and what Final Cut needed to move from Final Cut Pro 7 to a 64 Bit Final Cut Pro 8. Including how to make it have better multi-user abilities and what high end features would make their lives easier, and every professional editor’s lives easier.
Now they still would have needed a good engineer to figure out new features they could add, but those would need to be run by the big editor, like Murch, to see if it is wanted or needed.
And even better would be to get some big TV editors that use Final Cut and a few commercial editors, and concert and music video editors, and talk to them all about what they needed to make Final Cut Pro even better!
And I don’t buy their excuse that it was a 64 Bit re-write, so they had to start from scratch, because I don’t even believe they started from scratch. They obviously started from iMovie, because while it doesn’t open final cut pro projects, it opens iMovie projects! And Adobe had to completely rewrite their entire suite for use on Macintosh 64 bit as of CS5 (CS4 on Windows), and they managed to do it with almost all the features, and in fact add new features. Sure you would have to get updated plug ins to work with 64 bit, but that is a small price to pay for amazing performance gains!
Now maybe Ubillos really does believe that his way is so much better than what any other program edits, but honestly I have never met any 2 editors who edit the same way, and forcing them to do it one very limited way is not a way to create better editors, but to hamstring editors. We like to edit how we edit, and have the tools that can conform to our ways.
If there way is so easy and so great, why am a third of a way through the Ripple Training Videos and still clueless and how to get the program to do many things? It is not easier, it is just another way, that I don’t think makes for as tight an edit as easily. Honestly if you have a new way to edit, why not add it on, as an additional method, instead of replacing all other methods?
I really do think Apple was ready to sacrifice their professional market to have bigger sales with more people. We already know that they will kill huge and successful programs, they killed Shake after all, and it was literally the standard for compositing for high end features, and was what they used on the Lord of the Rings! They bought it, released 2 versions, one at a high price, one at a low price, and then killed it, stealing some tech for other programs (notable Q-Master for Compressor). Though it seems they must have either thought the professional community would just follow them, even with out all the features they needed, after all why else did they show this at the Final Cut Pro user group meeting in Vegas during NAB 2011. That was for Pros, and some one obviously though that this would work for Pros. Ubillos must think his ways are so much better than what editors are doing, that he could do what he wanted and people would just do it, but I think that their market share will drop significantly in the editing world as Pro Editors pass on FCP X, and the cache of the name Final Cut Pro loses it’s luster.
In fact it may be too late for Final Cut Pro now completely. This release has so damaged their name that basically I the program might be done, as professional editors jump ship, either back to AVID or over to Premiere Pro, which will let them continue to use their AJA or Black Magic cards. And while FCP X will continue on, and may even do OK, it will never be as big as they want, as it is too expensive for the casual editor (and honestly more expensive than the Final Cut Pro Suite Upgrade would have been for most of us, as you basically have to have Motion and Compressor to have full Functionality with Final Cut Pro X and that puts it at $399 and the upgrade price was $299).
If they don’t do something soon, professional editors will leave in droves, and the sales after this version will not be what they wanted, so to make it worth developing, they will have to drop iMovie, and make this iMovie, free on every new computer and part of iLife so it will continue on, and probably get more powerful, but professional editors will have moved on.
More on Final Cut Pro X
In FCP X, Apple got some things amazingly right. But they also got key features amazingly wrong. And if they don’t change course, this software, which has significant potential, is going to spin further and further out of control. At which point, its feature set is irrelevant, its reputation will be set. We’ll be looking at another Mac Cube.
And what they need to do immediately
1. Immediately return Final Cut Studio (3) to the market. If it is not compatible with Lion (and I don’t know whether it is or not) label it so. But put it back on store shelves so consumers have the ability to work with the existing version until FCP X is ready for prime time.2. Fund the development of a conversion utility – either at Apple or thru a 3rd-party – and announce the development with a tentative release date.3. Publicly announce a road-map for FCP X that just covers the next 3-4 months. Apple needs to be in damage control mode and the best way to defuse the situation is to communicate. Answering the question: “What features will Apple add to FCP X, and when?” will go a long way to calming people down.
And his conclusion:
This launch has been compared to Coca-Cola launching New Coke – resulting in a humiliating loss of market share.With Final Cut Pro X, however, the situation is worse — with New Coke, only our ability to sip soda was affected. With Final Cut Pro X, we are talking losing livelihoods.
Thanks for getting this out there Larry, I really appreciate you saying what needs to be said.
Final Cut Pro X
For years we have been waiting for a true 64 bit version of the program, but instead they kill the old suite including Color and Soundtrack, and released what is basically iMovie Pro.
Final Cut Pro X can’t open old Final Cut Pro sequences, only iMovie sequences.
It’s magnetic timeline doesn’t allow for any track organization. It doesn’t import or export XML so you can’t finish in anything else. The viewer window is gone, and has not been well replaced. It is not designed for dual monitors. The organization is awful. You basically have to do titles in Motion now, and it doesn’t even have a build int drop shadow!
You can do text in templates created in Motion, but have to go to Motion to do anything like you could previously.
It has no XML import and output, so you can’t leave the program to color correct, or finish in another program. In fact to get the Audio out, you have to buy a $500 Automatic Duck plug in, and you have no control over where all the clips go.
It also is not made for versioning, as it autosaves, and basically has one sequence per project, or event as they are now called, so you will have lots of Events.
The lack of Multi-Clip is insane, and sure it can sync audio to one track, but won’t work with multiple tracks.
The loss of a dedicated viewer monitor makes less room for organization, and means you see the audio waveform much smaller than you used to. Also if you want to move your Events to a second monitor, your scrubbing of the clips moves to, so it is very far away from what you are seeing in the one Viewer. This was not thought out well at all. And it really seems setup for a single monitor, sure you can move one segment to another monitor, but not how you want.
For organization, it is all geared toward keywording, which is great, but you lost so much of the old organization that you could do with tabs.
The new in Timeline Trim feature feels like old Premiere 4.2.1 where you had to A B roll clips, and is a huge step backwards.
The fact that you can’t make chapter markers for Quicktime movies and DVD’s is a huge step backwards!
The auto color matching works terribly, the clips come out looking pretty awful!
I tried it with Canon 60D raw H264 and it was as sluggish as can be, as though it can play it back it is basically a ProRES only app. Going back to AVID which converts everything, now you must convert to ProRES to get the real speed out of the program.
No drivers for AJA or Black Magic video cards!
The forced organization is not made for multiple drives.
There is no way to share projects without copying everything.
Even the Title safe is messed up, there is no centercut markers on it, and I often have to do an HD edit for 4:3 SD delivery!
Sure it is 64 bit and has some cool new features, but this program is a slap in the face.
Still, being able to scrub over effects and see them on your clip is very cool. I like the new customization, where you can set keys for even every menu control. Background rendering is cool, but the fact that while it is happening you can’t organize your project is not.
Time to move to AVID or the other 64 bit program Premiere Pro, which will work with Black Magic and AJA cards.
I don’t know what Apple was thinking, but they have completely alienated a user base they spent 10 years cultivating, and made a program that no professional editor can ever use!
So far my favorite article on this is the one by Richard Harrington which I have linked to. It really goes into much of the frustrations I feel, though not about the damn magnetic timeline.
Welcome
If you don’t know already Apple is discontinuing Mobile Me, so I am losing my hosting site for JonahLee.com and I decided to give RapidWeaver a try to develop a new site (I could have done it in Dreamweaver, but really did not want to take the time).
This site will host the Foam Hedz, The Misadventures of Bear and some of my own thoughts as can be seen here.
I am hosting this at bluehost along with Whale of a Tale, but this is a totally different domain.
I hope you enjoy it.