[Don_S]

I thought I saw some posts complaining the new software sucked big time.  I could not find them so I am posting this link here in case anyone is interested.  Apparently Apple is issuing refunds to dissatisfied customers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-Starts-Issuing-Refunds-siliconalley-4257635249.html?x=0&.v=3

[nathanm]

I thought Conan O'Brien's mockery of it was awesome.  I don't think it's that different a situation from any other new software, if you're a working pro you're going to be more cautious about upsetting your workflow.  If it ain't broke…  The early adopters will deal with all the bugs and eventually it will stabilize over time.  My experience has been that professional users of any given piece of software are usually not on the cutting edge, they're usually a bit behind, but what they're using is more reliable.

[Pez]

Apple is fncking up software lately. iPhoto 2011 is freaking terrible, like a huge step backward from 2009. I am losing faith in Apple software in general. If Lion isn't game changing I absolutely will not spend a dime on another Apple software product again.

[Don_S]

Maybe it was iPhoto 2011 I saw the gripes about.  Maybe Apple will issue refunds there as well.   

[bunnyma357]

As someone who uses FCP to make my living, X was an extreme disappointment on many levels - glad I held off on buying - much more lost than gained in the new version for my workflows.

Any program that can't open files from previous versions is just plain broken.


Jim C

[Pez]

It's almost comical given that Jobs went crazy when the MobileMe fiasco happened. Lol probably the same team built FCP

[bunnyma357]

If anyone is interested, here are two blogs that provide a pretty good explanation of how the pro community feels about Apple's new "version" of FCP. Fortunately, the prices for Adobe CS5.5 and Avid have come down, and they right now look like far safer bets for the professional.

http://blogs.creativecow.net/blog/5187/the-final-straw-that-was-fcpx

http://www.onerivermedia.com/blog/?p=322

But, if you are a prosumer or one-man band event type video producer, it looks like there may be some neat stuff in FCPX.

I hope Apple fixes the program to at least be a competent pro tool, but my guess is that the Pro market has been dumped for good.


Jim C

[jqp]

It's another sad thing in the world of technology economics...Apple probably makes more money selling iTunes to little kids than they ever did with all the Desktop Publishing/Video/Photography market.

Another sad thing, it looks like the new Macbook Airs when they come out will only have the generic Intel Graphics 3000 that are a part of the new SandyBridge chips (as with the 13" MacBook Pro)  - instead of something like the NVidia GeForce 320M graphics that they now have. Granted generic Intel Graphics are much better than they used to be, but still this limits the Macbook Air, and probably lots of other laptops, to whatever the intel Chip can do.

[nathanm]

Thanks for those links, Jim C.  It's a grim thought that Apple will completely abandon the pro market, I really really don't want to go back to using Windows full-time!  But that's surely where Apple seems to be going, it's all about cute consumer gadgets.  Can't we go back to the days of a senseless lust for speed in our desktop computers? *sigh*

[bunnyma357]

FYI-

If anyone is interested - in response to FCPX, Adobe is offering CS5.5 Production Premium for half price with the Promo Code "SWITCH"  $850 instead of $1700 through Sept. 30th. If you need more than one or two of these programs, it is a pretty awesome deal.

Includes:

Premiere Pro CS5.5
After Effects CS5.5
Photoshop CS5 Extended
Illustrator CS5
Audition CS5.5
Flash Catalyst CS5.5
Flash Professional CS5.5
OnLocation CS5
Encore CS5
Bridge CS5
Device Central CS5.5
Media Encoder CS5.5

http://success.adobe.com/en/na/sem/products/creativesuite/production.html?kw=p&sdid=ILOLZ&skwcid=TC|22175|production%20premium||S|b|7154655802

From what I've read you aren't required to document that you use FCP or Avid, but if you decide to purchase it might be worth googling to be sure that's the case.

The other side effect of this, is that Avid and Adobe are both cross-platform, so there may also be some people dumping their Apple hardware for PC's, rather than upgrading their Macs.


Jim C

[skunark]

It's too early to tell if FCP X will ever take off with the hardcore professional crowd, perhaps most will take advantage of the AVID and CS5.5 discounted offers.  Sadly whenever a company does a complete revamp of software it's rarely accepted initially, Apple should have known that and shouldn't have dropped support so quickly on the old version.  Releasing it without multi-camera and Red support seems like a fatal flaw as well...  I would expect a few heads to roll or at least a reshuffle of leadership.

If one is interested in FCP, they could care less about iPhoto.  It's like comparing Microsoft's Wordpad to Microsoft Word. For anyone that had Final Cut Express, FCP X is a huge upgrade for the same dollar.  Only the Final Cut Studio users are rightly upset.    For other examples, Snow Leopard was a huge improvement over Leopard, it was faster, consumed less disk space, but of course dropped support for certain things.  Lion will be the same, no more support for PowerPC, much harder push on 64-bit processors, and for a $30 upgrade, it's not going to be a drastic improvement but free cloud storage...  Your other option is Windows, but with each new Microsoft Windows release it's been nothing but a performance hit and will cost you at least $150 to slow down your computer.  XP SP3, ~10% slower, Vista ~30% slower, Windows 7 ~10% slower than XP SP3, your only option left would be Linux, which is fine by my book.   

Out of all of this, it's very clear that large corporations can really screw up but what's important is how they handle it.  So far Intel with the whole SandyBridge chipset issue has been the only large hardware or software company that seemed to handle an issue properly by admitting to the issue, issued a recall and replaced defective products.  Now if we an get Toyota to do that....  Apple at least offered refunds, I don't seem them recovering from FCP X, but for any early adopter, you didn't lose any more money. 

[dB Cooper]

Multicam support reportedly due in the first major upgrade, but really, was there that big a hurry to get this out the door?

[WerTicus]

they should have just called it "final cut" and dropped the pro and they would have had a perfectly acceptable piece of mid range software.

[jkelly]

Looks like Pro is back...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/04/final-cut-studio-on-sale-again-via-apple-telesales-video-editor/