Apple's new Final Cut Pro X 'not actually for pros'

Apple released a completely overhauled version of its Final Cut Pro software yesterday, much to the chagrin of some of its users.

The early response to Final Cut Pro X is at best mixed, with some complaining that the film editing application lacks XML support, and worse still, is bereft of backward compatibility with previous versions of the software.

Others who use Final Cut Pro are saying it's too early to be moaning about the application, which Apple said yesterday had been "rebuilt from the ground up".

The complete re-write of the software has left many film and video editors perplexed by the radical changes to Apple's Final Cut Pro, which competes with Avid in the film editing software market.

A steady stream of insults against and in support of Apple is currently flowing around the blogosphere.

One forum over at Creative Cow has fanbois waving handbags at each other about the new look application.

Some have questioned why it is that Apple released a product that lacks adequate "professional" elements.

Apparently, an update to make FCPX more "professional" is expected to be released in the coming months via Apple's App store.

"I know Apple can make great products, however much I may dislike the way they go about it, but do I invest now in the blind hope that they will actually make their 'pro' product actually work for 'pros' at some unknown point in the future?" asked one poster on the Creative Cow forum.

Creative Cow offered a measured response to Apple's decision to ditch Final Cut Pro 7 and re-write its product "to meet the needs of today's creative editors", pointing out that there are some major improvements to, for example, the GUI and overall performance.

But some editors who chose to go with FCP years ago beg to differ.

"Mostly, I can't believe X won't be supporting older versions. 'REVISIONS' are a fact of life. I deeply regret using FCP for some of the complex things that have been created in my studio. FCP 7 goes into a coma with its lack of 64 bit support, and this has been a damning failure on the late workstations that are terrifically underused," noted Charles Mouyat.

"I've been waiting anxiously, hoping I could upgrade some agonising projects into a new version that was 64 bit friendly. I made the wrong bet on FCP.

"The fact that X won't open projects from FCP 7 is ludicrous. I've been depending on FCP for about 5 years, and as my needs grow, it just falls short. Now, think I'm gonna have to jump away from Apple to explore other software options." ®