Apple dumping Final Cut Pro for professionals?

Monday May 16th, 2011

By David HAGUE

In the latest edition of Auscam Online, senior writer Steve Turner makes the statement that the latest version of Final Cut Pro X has lost any ‘professional’ status and that Apple seems to have abandoned the professional and broadcasting market.

He suggests that some wags are in fact calling it iMovies HD.

Certainly, in the last week whilst revamping the online forums for Auscam, I folded the Final Cut forum into “Other Editing Packages” along with Pinnacle Studio, Magix, Corel Video Studio and others as there has been little or no action in their individual forums for months.

Thinking this may be peculiar to Auscam or even Australia, I got in touch with a good mate, known expert and video ‘evangelist’, Douglas Spotted Eagle. Douglas runs VASST in the US which produces video training DVDs worldwide, and he tells me that they are discontinuing their range of Final Cut titles because of lack of interest. (Auscam is their Australian distributor)

Some will leap to Apple’s defence immediately and say something like “well FCP is so easy to use, like all Apple applications and products so no training is needed” and you are of course allowed to hold that belief. But until I hear or see to the contrary, I am of the opinion that Apple is moving more and more to the consumer market where the large turnover dollars are and that the broadcast market they simple cannot retain at a profit.

Adobe moved back into their market with Premiere a while back, I know of dedicated Mac users who use Sony Vegas (and others) under Windows emulation and AVID still has a major slice of the market at the high broadcast end (the ABC just upgraded all their AVID suites for example).

Famously, Apple don’t comment on subjects such as this (or much else for that matter), so we may never know the real reason for the massive downsizing of Final Cut Pro. If ever I’d like to be a fly on a wall, this would be one of them.


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12 comments

Comment from: Geoff Dills [Visitor]
Steve Turner clearly has no clue what he's talking about. Anyone familiar with Apple's history in professional products would understand where they are going with this new product, and it is aimed at where the industry is MOVING, not where it's been. Just because they added optional automatic features, people are jumping to the conclusion it's been "dumbed down." Just wait. Mr. Turner is going to look very foolish when this product is released and purchased by EVERY "pro" using the current final cut (over 2 million) as well as a lot of folks who will try it simply because it's priced at $300 U.S.

I've seen the sneak peek, and this software is going to be HUGE.
16/05/11 @ 21:31
Comment from: Geoff Dills [Visitor]
I just ran across a great blog from Philip Hodgetts addressing the misguided view that Final Cut Pro X is not for "pros". Go to philiphodgetts dot com and you'll see it posted May 15.
17/05/11 @ 00:45
Comment from: Neil Samuels [Visitor]
I really believe that our Aussie neighbor has lost his way. Like so many folks before him when change is at their front door they run of yelling" the sky is calling the sky is falling I must run and tell the king. Well my friend...change is at your front door in a big way and it seems to scare you. First of all Avid retains only the smallest piece of the pie in the editing world. Which explains their rebranding of Digidesign. Without protools their contribution would be small indeed. Avid lost the great share of the market well on their own by making their customer second class citizens. Apple has for many years built easy to use software at least in the first impression area and has dominated the market. Many express indifference toward service which is not offered up by apple but much must be blamed on the "editors" who don't learn how to use the software.
This like the introduction of Avid Media composer and Apple's FCP marks the dividing line between what was and what shall be. Since none of us really know what this new editing software will do, we should be taking a wait and see approach. What has been shown takes a few design ideas from a lesser software package much like Mercedes Benz also uses a steering wheel a device of the lowly VW Beetle. Does that mean the Mercedes Benz is an inferior product? I don't believe so. Perhaps we should all reserve judgement till the release of this product in a few short weeks. Remember Chicken Little? he too thought what he saw was the end of the world. Good thing we all didn't switch to linear editors ....
17/05/11 @ 01:45
Comment from: JFox [Visitor] Email
Another ignorant article based purely on looks and not the specs of the tool involved, opinions of others over the first-hand experience.

Apple hater Dvorak wrote awhile back that Apple was making "Hello Kitty" purses with their laptops because computers came in "pretty" colors other than beige--without regard for the fact that they were very competent computers. The same thing is happening in the editing world where Ivory Towers of movie editing were once separated by the amount of money it cost to acquire the tool and the level of difficulty in interacting with the interface. One tendency of democratizing technology is that it tends to flush out all the fakers. Just because we invented the mass production of pens and word processors doesn't immediately make everyone a writer. On second thought, it does produce a lot of junk like this article.

John Dvorak had made a career out of hating Apple because it generates traffic for his articles. David, do yourself a favor and make yourself more useful for society. This is like writing a movie review without having seen the movie. The real purpose of this article is to generate controversy to generate traffic in order to display advertising so that somebody can pay rent. Utter nonsense.
17/05/11 @ 09:34
Comment from: Rory Bain [Visitor]
So the reality is...

they are discontinuing their range of Final Cut titles because of lack of interest.. and..."dedicated Mac users who use Sony Vegas..."

PLEASE.

17/05/11 @ 09:43
Comment from: Mike [Visitor]
I don't understand the people griping about the new look and features. Either switch to a different editor or embrace the new version. Apple will not change it back I'm sure. Once we get our hands on it people will realize how useful it will be.

People think that the low price reflects its level of professionalism. Wrong. once they release the rest of the suite, it will be the same approximate cost as before. Excited to see what will be new for Motion.

I for one will embrace it and learn it through and through. I cant wait.
18/05/11 @ 05:32
Comment from: bbettan [Visitor]
If Apple was going the route of reaching the consumer market over the broadcast market with Final Cut X, then why would the make the big announcemnet at the NAB (National Association of Broadcasting) instead of a consumer electronic show? A lot of the online screen images of the new Final Cut X show that Apple is making a lot of changes so FCP is closer to Avid.
19/05/11 @ 09:43
Comment from: Adam Loretz [Visitor] Email
Is Apple really going to dump on professionals? No. I think the kudos of Academy award winning filmmakers and licensing their own professional video codecs is still important business to Apple. As editors we all have to keep growing. I used DV, then HDV, authored DVDs, today I mostly encode for online streaming etc. What's the problem with a new interface of FCP if it works better? even if it does look like iMovie. I work largely on my own, so some automated tasks are welcome - I'm sure I can switch them off if I have time to kill. We saw a Demo at NAB, that's all, not a finished product. I'm sure Apple will have saved plenty of fireworks, extras and whatnot for the release. Video production/editing is a complex process, no matter how simple the interface is. There will be a massive demand for training DVDs for FCP X. There will also be a deluge of crap editors too making our lives more difficult. With every day comes a new problem - what's new? Educators of FCP will have to go back to school for a bit and then reproduce their training DVDs.
20/05/11 @ 07:54
Comment from: Nick Presley [Visitor] Email
I have to say, as a FCP based television station and production house, we have a keen interest in seeing where this next version is going. I won't comment as to the "non-professional" direction of a product I haven't yet seen.

But anyone who claims Sony Vegas running under Windows emulation is a viable professional option... Well, your credibility comes into question right away. Things may be drastically different in the Australian market than the US, but to lump FCP (Version 7 or X) in with Pinnacle? That is silly. FCP is a still widely used professional platform with a huge userbase of professionals, amateurs, and students.

I know some editors in the US who have made the jump to Adobe with the last major update. I know others who are questioning a move from FCP to Adobe or Avid if this next update doesn't dramatically improve the underlying system. That being said, the price reduction of FCP and the promised upgrade in rendering power will ensure the number of customers, professional and/or amateur, will certainly grow.
27/05/11 @ 03:35
Comment from: Sean McGee [Visitor] Email
Seriously?

Sony Vegas under Windows emulation?

Is this website like the Onion or something? This is a joke, right?
03/06/11 @ 11:41
Comment from: Marcus [Visitor]
Having stumbled upon this it's amazing how some of the posters look foolish given that FCP X has turned out to be not pro ready at all.
Apple has taken us for a nasty little ride I am afraid.
26/06/11 @ 16:25
Comment from: Steve T [Visitor]
Geoff Dills....
"I've seen the sneak peek, and this software is going to be HUGE"

Ha Ha ha ha, priceless.
13/07/11 @ 17:19