Is FCP X worth it?

Well, one suggestion is to download the 4K YouTube clip that Sony uploadedand try it in what you have now. That is the only place I have seen 4K from the ax100.

I downloaded the 4K clip, put it both into FCPX and the latest iMovie and was blown away by the quality of the Sony FDR AX100. Heck, I put it in the Apple TV theater from iMovie and it was simply the best 1080 on my tv I have ever seen. Sony can't be too unhappy with me for downloading clip as I then placed my preorder figuring it will be another month before my bank account needs to pay for it.

No idea if what you have now will handle 4K.

Hugh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-adJNOcrjg

Is a link that works.

And here is a page where if you scroll down a bit you can find how to download a 4K file from Vimeo. Be sure to Capitalize the password.

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/10/first-4k-footage-sony-fdr-ax1/

As far as I can tell it it all legal. The Vimeo footage is 4K at 100Mbps and the ax100 does 50Mbps Max.

Hugh

REAL 4k test footage:

http://www.elementaltechnologies.com/resources/4k-test-sequences

http://www.harmonicinc.com/resources/videos/4k-video-clip-center#4k-clip-center

BlackMagic:

http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16615

GoPro:

http://wideopencamera.com/cameras/gopro-hero-3-black-4k-video-demo-cineform-1-3- 2-update-link/

Go to the links on the above site to download real 4K files. The ones on YouTube & Vimeo have been compressed for streaming and the downloads are not actually 4K.

Have Fun...

Download the free 30 day FCP X trial and test it out for yourself.

http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/trial/

Fortunately, the FDR-AX100 from Sony compresses the video quite a bit, at least from the perspective of this home user who looked at the file sizes of other 4K camcorders. It is a compromise that works for me, but I suspect will turn off others (below from Sony site).

The FDR-AX100 records HD movies in the XAVC-S format, which uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 for video compression and linear PCM for audio compression, while saving files in a MP42 wrapper. The highly compressed files allow extensive record times. The camcorder also records in AVCHD, ideal for quality video for HDTV and Blu-ray disc burning. Additionally, the camcorder can shoot MP4 HD video, which is ideal for sharing over the internet at up to 28Mbps. Having the ability to switch between all three of three formats makes this camcorder an ideal tool that is versatile for creating content to live in a number of different environments.

I do not know how much more compressed YouTube video is than the raw camcorder video, but I suspect fcpx will love it.

Hugh

David,

Although I sometimes get warnings that my iMac is not up to task, the linmited 4K tests I've done, worked well.

I loved working in legacy FCP versions; a very comfortable and dependable "user relationship". But increasingly, I've used X as the go-to NLE and while there are many things that Legacy can do that I wish X could do, I don't miss all the rendering, the clunky titler, and more. The past week I had an unexpected project drop with an incredibly tight turnaround requirement. I was able to work with mixed footage, including hundreds of un-resized stills – effects, CC within the app, etc– export it in several formats from an unrendered timeline…and it all came together very, very fast. Never would have happened with FCP7 and earlier.

One last thought: you may find that it's not your cup of tea. but I'm guessing you'll find getting acquainted with the app interesting and enjoyable. There are so many really good instruction videos on this app it's hard to make a recommendation. But try watching some of them; IMO, they really make a big difference in whether a potential user has a fun experience or not.

Russ