Monday, June 27, 2011
Have you ever had something great happen but then moments later you wonder if it really lived up to it’s full expectations only 10 minutes later? On Tuesday of last week, Apple finally released it’s long awaited update to Final Cut Pro and that very situation came across many of the users who have been long time Final Cut Pro editors. Now, just to start this off, I am not here to defend the people who are claiming Final Cut Pro was ruined in the upgrade but I am also not here to defend those who say the ones complaining are full of un-rendered knowledge. I am simply here to give my stand on Final Cut Pro X in this massive firestorm of love and hate.
First thing is first: it is what I really do love what the product has given us as a whole upgrade. The new Final Cut Pro X has been completely rewritten from the ground up in whole new lines of code, whole new platforms, and whole new levels of operation. The UI is now completely different that it was before and the entire application has taken on a unified look that closely resembles it’s distant cousin iMovie. It now no longer needs to waste time rendering different sections as all tasks are now taking place in the background as you edit and work. The people who come over from iMovie wanting to grow their advancements in movie editing will feel right at home in Final Cut Pro X. And that truly is a great thing for everyone. The fact that Apple wants to advance everyone to a certain place so that way it will be far easier for everyone to advance when future generations of Final Cut will then come along. And for the rest of us, it is kind of like our reward for working though the difficulties of earlier generations of Final Cut softwares and we now have a huge burden of rough editing tasks removed from our future.
Now to my next point: addressing the overflowing hate. Yes, Apple took out quite a number of features that existed in Final Cut Pro 7. Yes, Apple made it a much more lower standard of knowledge needed for editing. And yes, every single person who used Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro for all those years (including myself) will need to relearn everything you ever thought you knew about Final Cut Pro. The thing about this is that when Apple updated their software they needed to start clean but at least kept a few key features they knew EVERYONE used. Not just the James Camerons of the world. When a new software like this is released for the very first time, most people will notice things missing. Most may not like what they see or can do. But in the end you know that after a few versions of the software are released and enough people want it back, then Apple will put it back for everyone who wanted it.
And finally: why both sides have the right to be right. The people who complain about what it lacks have every right to be angry but it doesn’t mean that Apple single handedly ruined your entire operation of video editing.The Pro-editors have the opportunity to keep on using their 1000 dollar editing software that none of us could afford in the beginning. It isn’t going anywhere and you are not being forced to upgrade to anything. The ones who are on the side of having this software be brought down to consumer level have almost gotten their way. At the price of this software it cannot easily be considered consumer level so much as Pro-Sumer level. I really do believe that Apple attempted to bridge the gap between pros and consumers with this latest update and they frankly did a great job. Being able to go from iMovie to a jump like this and not have to worry if you can easily learn then it will be a breeze for you to jump in head first into Final Cut Pro X. And for the nay-sayers who oppose the good within, then you may just want to open up a bit and you may be surprised how professional has just gotten much more simple with this one upgrade from Apple.
