Final cut pro X

[jarrodmcwatkins]

This may have been discussed before the site got hacked, but I was new so I never saw it. Looking for some general thoughts. Has anyone used it? If so, is it worth the price? I currently use imovie and I think it's pretty good, but limited. I like to think I have enough ideas to warrant it, but I'm not sure. I don't make vids for the subs and I don't monetize, but I think we all probably put more effort and money when we think people are interested. So that's my dilemma. Is it worth $300? What alternatives are there for mac users. Also I'm willing to hear the pro PC arguments, but I'm pretty happy with the mac.
And... not much of a computer guy so don't assume I know anything. You may have to spell it out, or use crayon.

 

[Ducman69]

I like CS5 (well they're up to 5.5 but haven't tried it yet) since everything is integrated into one suite, and reviews seem pretty unanimous that lately the development edge on ease of use and performance has handed the crown back to Adobe. You don't need a new computer either, it runs on OSX, and a LOT have been jumping ship since they have to more or less learn something new one way or another. Only affordable legal way to get it is the student and teacher edition though.

http://vimeo.com/14110589

http://www.reelseo.com/final-cut-pro-x- ... miere-cs5/

 

[ariderslife]

i went from mac to pc, and will probly end back up on mac.

 

[kryten]

If you've never used Final Cut Studio you'll probably like Final Cut Pro X. Going from Studio to X was a pain but going from iMovie should be a breeze.

Final cut can do a lot of things that iMovie can't. You can have multiple video and audio tracks so it makes switching camera angles much easier. It also makes it easier to do picture in picture and other effects. Final Cut X is a lot cheaper than Adobe Premiere but less people use it so tutorials are harder to find. There are still quite a few Youtube tutorials if you look around but since Final Cut X is new most of the tutorials are very basic. One good place for tutorials is http://www.youtube.com/finalcutking

 

[jarrodmcwatkins]

If you've never used Final Cut Studio you'll probably like Final Cut Pro X. Going from Studio to X was a pain but going from iMovie should be a breeze.

Final cut can do a lot of things that iMovie can't. You can have multiple video and audio tracks so it makes switching camera angles much easier. It also makes it easier to do picture in picture and other effects. Final Cut X is a lot cheaper than Adobe Premiere but less people use it so tutorials are harder to find. There are still quite a few Youtube tutorials if you look around but since Final Cut X is new most of the tutorials are very basic. One good place for tutorials is http://www.youtube.com/finalcutking

Thanks, I'll check it out.

 

[jarrodmcwatkins]

I like CS5 (well they're up to 5.5 but haven't tried it yet) since everything is integrated into one suite, and reviews seem pretty unanimous that lately the development edge on ease of use and performance has handed the crown back to Adobe. You don't need a new computer either, it runs on OSX, and a LOT have been jumping ship since they have to more or less learn something new one way or another. Only affordable legal way to get it is the student and teacher edition though.

http://vimeo.com/14110589

http://www.reelseo.com/final-cut-pro-x- ... miere-cs5/

What is CS5?...I just want to see if you know what it is.

 

[Ducman69]

Click on the links, it will explain it. CS5.5 is just the latest version of the Adobe Suite (Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects, etc).

Final Cut Pro X is so universally hated in the industry right now that Conan O'Brien even made a parody of it:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/24/cona ... -they-don/

Here's the two highest rated comments on Engadget:

Don't worry, Apple will be bringing out those features. But it will be one at a time, regarded as "revolutionary" and "magical" and you will have to cut off your arm to afford them (246 likes)

FCP X is really bad. Period. (146 likes)

And a professional's review:

"This is my quick analysis of why people are freaking out about Final Cut X.
This tool is how we make a living for a lot of us. We have been waiting 2 years for fixes and updates, while competing software got all the bells and whistles.

You know something is wrong when the first thing you see when trying to import a project is "import from iMovie" and nothing about Final Cut.. strange, isn't this final cut ?! No option to actually "Open" a project, as the project has to reside on your machine, split into a bunch of different areas. So forget about having multiple editors passing the project around, like most studio. (The save structure is a clone of iMovie's...)

Work with the Red camera, an industry standard, nope not supported. Need to do Color grading, for your movie or commercial, nope, can't output to anything. (And this one is a killer, no more color grading, no more outputting your sound to pro tools or other sound design tools) Are we all supposed to accept that quality should takes a serious drop?

Use it on a TV show, like Conan's, nope doesn't support multi-cam edit.
The footage changed location, because you had to copy it to a raid or whatever reason, nope, copy it back or it won't work, no "find footage" option. If it moves, you're fucked.

Have an HD broadcast monitor to make sure everything is perfect, nope can't support output on a secondary monitor. Need to use the basic color correct to correct something, tough, use you main work monitor for that.

Have a Black Magic design or an Aja card for video display, too bad, won't work anymore. Work in a TV station and need to output to tape, no way.

This tool is NOT Final Cut Pro, it's iMovie on mild steroids, that's it. If you do Wedding videos, it might be fine, but if you do Movies, Commercials or any TV show work, this soft is useless.

All I know is that Avid and Adobe must be jumping for joy right now. Apple had the leading software when it came to editing, and they've just killed it. Yes it will sell and will be used by some people, but anyone doing any serious work won't.
Strangely they did the same thing with Shake. It was THE industry standard for compositing and they simply abandoned it at it's peak of popularity ?!"

 

[jarrodmcwatkins]

Click on the links, it will explain it. CS5.5 is just the latest version of the Adobe Suite (Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects, etc).

Final Cut Pro X is so universally hated in the industry right now that Conan O'Brien even made a parody of it:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/24/cona ... -they-don/

Here's the two highest rated comments on Engadget:

Don't worry, Apple will be bringing out those features. But it will be one at a time, regarded as "revolutionary" and "magical" and you will have to cut off your arm to afford them (246 likes)

FCP X is really bad. Period. (146 likes)

And a professional's review:

"This is my quick analysis of why people are freaking out about Final Cut X.
This tool is how we make a living for a lot of us. We have been waiting 2 years for fixes and updates, while competing software got all the bells and whistles.

You know something is wrong when the first thing you see when trying to import a project is "import from iMovie" and nothing about Final Cut.. strange, isn't this final cut ?! No option to actually "Open" a project, as the project has to reside on your machine, split into a bunch of different areas. So forget about having multiple editors passing the project around, like most studio. (The save structure is a clone of iMovie's...)

Work with the Red camera, an industry standard, nope not supported. Need to do Color grading, for your movie or commercial, nope, can't output to anything. (And this one is a killer, no more color grading, no more outputting your sound to pro tools or other sound design tools) Are we all supposed to accept that quality should takes a serious drop?

Use it on a TV show, like Conan's, nope doesn't support multi-cam edit.
The footage changed location, because you had to copy it to a raid or whatever reason, nope, copy it back or it won't work, no "find footage" option. If it moves, you're fucked.

Have an HD broadcast monitor to make sure everything is perfect, nope can't support output on a secondary monitor. Need to use the basic color correct to correct something, tough, use you main work monitor for that.

Have a Black Magic design or an Aja card for video display, too bad, won't work anymore. Work in a TV station and need to output to tape, no way.

This tool is NOT Final Cut Pro, it's iMovie on mild steroids, that's it. If you do Wedding videos, it might be fine, but if you do Movies, Commercials or any TV show work, this soft is useless.

All I know is that Avid and Adobe must be jumping for joy right now. Apple had the leading software when it came to editing, and they've just killed it. Yes it will sell and will be used by some people, but anyone doing any serious work won't.
Strangely they did the same thing with Shake. It was THE industry standard for compositing and they simply abandoned it at it's peak of popularity ?!"

Thanks man.

 

[MisterX]

If you've never used Final Cut Studio you'll probably like Final Cut Pro X. Going from Studio to X was a pain but going from iMovie should be a breeze.

Final cut can do a lot of things that iMovie can't. You can have multiple video and audio tracks so it makes switching camera angles much easier. It also makes it easier to do picture in picture and other effects. Final Cut X is a lot cheaper than Adobe Premiere but less people use it so tutorials are harder to find. There are still quite a few Youtube tutorials if you look around but since Final Cut X is new most of the tutorials are very basic. One good place for tutorials is http://www.youtube.com/finalcutking

^^Well stated

I have Final Cut Pro X and it's great! So far, it does everything that I need and then some. Since I've used video editing software in the past, getting used to it took no time at all. For what I do, the extra features of the editing software were well worth the $300 price tag. I am always using the provided effects, speed up/down tools, color/audio adjustments, and a whole load of other features that the software provides. Additionally, there are finally some add-ons coming out, many of which are free or low cost.

Out of curiosity, which version of iMovie are you using? iMovie '11 should have quite a few new tools and features that weren't available in the prior versions. If you don't have that, you might consider looking into it before dripping big $$$ on some of the pro tools. Especially if you're looking to save money. The upgrade is $14.99.