Should I buy Final Cut Pro X if I...

I cannot imagine doing much of anything with iMovie.

Personally, I've been extremely disappointed with Final Cut Pro X. It is anything but stable. But if you like waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting while the spinning beach ball tells you something is happening, then you'll love FCPX. That is, until the first time you've done a day's worth of work, only to see the program crash and you lose your whole day's work because you find out (too late) that auto save never auto saved.

Other than that, it's a dandy program.

Still, for simple editing of web videos, it's good enough, and has a little more horsepower than iMovie.

I just can't imagine using iMovie for anything.

Why all this discussion about this matter. Download a trial version and try for your self for 30 days. You are best to to judge if you like it or not

R&B wrote:

I cannot imagine doing much of anything with iMovie.

A creative professional (or amateur) can get fantastic results from most anything.

"An artist never questions his/her tools"

-Miles Davis

p.s. I've seen extremely well done corporate presentations done in iMovie, it depends on who's behind the wheel.

Fair enogu 😉 It's listed as a Desktop, and it functions like a Destop so I guess it is? 😉 Either way, I love it and I'm so glad I switched to Mac, Have wanted to for over a year now, so I eventually have! 🙂 Thanks Mum 😉 haha

R&B wrote:

I cannot imagine doing much of anything with iMovie

I just can't imagine using iMovie for anything.

Personally I think iMovie is very good. At the moment I'm switching between iMovie and My Final Cut Pro Trial. I think it's very powerful, but if you need the extra then get Final Cut. I will consider getting Final Cut in the future, I just can't afford it yet. A lot of people who are now "Famous" and YouTube Partners Such as iJustine started out using iMovie, and they sometimes still do. People like them do a lot in video editing and use a lot of power. They usually switch between iMovie and Final Cut. But that's just me and them. 🙂

innocentius wrote:

Why all this discussion about this matter. Download a trial version and try for your self for 30 days. You are best to to judge if you like it or not

I'll sorta second that 😉 I love discussions. LOL! 🙂

There is no question but that FCPX was released far too soon, it is still in Alpha and hopefully getting ready for a beta version. That said, the time for whining is over. There are a great many good things about FCPX and I only see it as a growing application that one would be good to start with from the beginning. Its media management is far superior to legacy versions and it is fast and powerful. Yes, you do need to be able to see your CC on an external monitor, in my case, the MXO2 box, you do need to see the multicam feature back, you do need to do be able to set ranges within the import window for more than one clip at a time before import, and I would prefer the 3 way color corrector returned and a way to reset white balance, and there are many bugs that need to be worked out. However, FCPX, once properly re-released will eventually be a blessing.

Steve

So, everyone should be happy paying $300 to Alpha test? This is listed as a "Pro" App. It's anything but professional.

The more people that complain to Apple directly or indirectly the better. Personally, I don't want Apple to make this the new norm for software releases. Also, some of the small annoying bugs that should've been fixed in the incremental upgrades are still there. People should not let Apple off the hook, customers should not pay to test "pro" software.

Final Cut Pro X isn't the problem, really. We low income, unable to afford expensive editing education folks are lucky to have it to work with, intro bugs and all.

At the risk of presenting myself as a target from those hard working people who make a living in video editing, I think Apple is in the process of redefining what is professional, who is professional. In just three years half of my video watching is web oriented vs. traditional tv/movies made by professionals.

And I think they are also making a statement that, just as blogging and other internet text services are replacing much of the traditional print media, they are saying video will be viewed in (simply edited) mobile form overwhelmingly in the future. And FCPX, in its present form, can do that pretty well.

Look at those ( of us) who purchased FCPX on the Mac App Store...look at our comments. We score it overwhelmingly as a 4 or 5. We don't mind, or at least I don't mind, being part of the first stage of the new era...(Anyone else hear strains of Babylon 5 in that last sentence? Geez, I miss that show).

If I were a pro video editor I would be frustrated beyond belief, but then, that is the same frustration that newspaper pros must be feeling. But what if, in ten years, 95% of video watching is mobile/web oriented, made by a new class of video professional? I contend that FCPX is in fact pro-ready, for that new class of professional. Not sure how the heck they get paid. But I was watching a tutorial on Motion 5, by Kevin PMcauliffe, and saw that combining Motion 5, FCPX in its present form, and Compressor, one can do some great work. Beta if you compare it to the mature FCP7 for making movies or tv shows, but mature as to my view of the future. Pros writing for the Huffington Post need different tools than Pros writing for the old NY Times.

And please don't see anything in here that is disrespectful to the pros who are making a living putting out complicated tv shows and movies. But if the future is the iPad, rather than large screen theaters, for 90% of video viewing, then that is where the ad dollars will be going.

Hugh

Excellent written comment, hughmass

Stick with iMovie and save yourself some cash.

I got my money back on FCP X also. I still use FCS 3 (FCP 7) but it's painfully slow.

I'm slowly making the transition over to Adobe Premiere Pro on a Windows based computer ... really no need for my MacPro anymore, and given the MacPro has been EOL (end of line) I see little to no point in owning a Mac computer.

I invest in the future, clearly Apple don't see their future in video editing and/or have NO intention of keeping the Pro hardware/software alive, they killed Shake and now they've killed FCP and the death of the MacPro line has the writing on the wall.

If you looking for an easy to use, casual editing product there are plenty of options that cost less than FCP X. Heck, even Microsoft's Movie Maker (free with Windows 7). But there are a slew of products <$100 that will probably meet your needs for entry level (Adobe Premiere Elements, CyberLink PowerDirector, Corel VideoStudio Pro, Magix Movie Edit Pro, ...)

FCP X was/is the biggest Mistake Apple has made in a long time ... the "promised" fixes and restoration of features never surfaced and no signs of them either ... sadly, you best option isn't with Apple when it comes to video editing.

The Photo Ninja wrote

I content this video could not have been edited on FCPX without much frustration, crying, and agony. http://youtu.be/qTVfFmENgPU

Rubbish, a professional Editor who has actually bothered to learn FCPX could easily cut something like that

hughmass wrote:

Final Cut Pro X isn't the problem, really. We low income, unable to afford expensive editing education folks are lucky to have it to work with, intro bugs and all.

At the risk of presenting myself as a target from those hard working people who make a living in video editing, I think Apple is in the process of redefining what is professional, who is professional. In just three years half of my video watching is web oriented vs. traditional tv/movies made by professionals.

Actually, what Apple is doing is selling their hardware. That usually means going for the user base that presents the most prospective customers. Not that this is a bad thing, it is what it is. Your post have some good points but it is nevertheless one-sided in terms of you, the user. Apple is a hardware company first and foremost, they make their money selling hardware, the software they sell is part of the continuous hardware upgrade process.

All you have to do is look at the price of the software being sold to understand not much (if any) profit is being made. Apple's premier audio program (Logic) went from $999 before Apple purchased it, to $499 when sold as a boxed set...and is now $199 in the app store. The idea is to get the software out there so the hardware sells.

(The Apple Logic forums are now overrun with people who ask questions like "what does this software do, I think it is very good but I'm not sure how to use it") I kid you not, very disappointing.

It's a lot more than just "those hard working people who make a living in video editing" who are getting slighted.

The fact that you don't mind working with flawed software and are gladly willing to pay to do so speaks volumes.

Apple is happy with customers who will take what they offer and not complain, which is a form of pandering to those with less experience. Companies need to be held accountable for everything their selling, not just hand-picked items.

Rob A. wrote:

I'm slowly making the transition over to Adobe Premiere Pro on a Windows based computer ... really no need for my MacPro anymore, and given the MacPro has been EOL (end of line) I see little to no point in owning a Mac computer.

There is no proof that the Mac Pro is EOL. There are reports of new video cards that would only work in a Mac Pro, which would indicate the opposite. But with no proof, you shouldn't claim that it is EOL.

And yet if they do cancel the Mac Pro, I will cling to my Mac laptop but would join you in getting a Windows desktop for the heavy work.

As for the original post, it sounds like Final Cut Pro X would work well for you if you have the $300.