Final Cut Pro X

Description:
I spend a lot of time editing. In fact, it’s where I spend most of my work time. I’ve been using Final Cut Pro since the year 2000. I’ve seen it grow bigger and bigger over the years. But, now with the soon to be released FCP X, I think I’ve not only seen a dramatic change in the user interface, but also a seemingly profound thought process behind those visual changes.
The program now looks like the guys that designed the interface for Logic got a hold of it. That’s not a bad thing. I always hated that I couldn’t change the background color of my timeline. I wanted a dark environment to work in so I could focus on the images. But, what pleased me was not only were they improving the software in areas that I’ve hoped they’d change for years, but I was shocked that they fixed issues that I thought I’d always be dealing with in some form as an editor. For instance, the timeline instantly renders in the background so you can continue working elsewhere. When I make small adjustments to a LiveType file in FCP, I then have to wait for it to render before I can continue working. This one change just saved me a ton of wasted time at the desk. Then you add to that the Color tools they’ve implemented. Color as a program was a bit unwieldy, and I was waiting until they put out a new version before I really dug in and learned it. Notice they didn’t update Color or LiveType much after their release. I think they moved on to Motion where LiveType was concerned, but I get the feeling like more of these programs will finally be FCP-inclusive. I really just want to stay in that editing environment as much as possible; Slight speculation on these inclusions, but here’s hoping.
It’s hard to even call it a timeline anymore because it’s more of a workspace, slightly like Shake in a way. The new timeline is “Magnetic,” meaning nothing ever comes out of sync, nothing gets chopped off by having another clip overlap it. Very sexy.

The automatic color correction is very cool. The auto audio clean on import may be fantastic, but I need to hear it in practice. This aspect definitely seems to borrow from what they’ve learned from Logic and Soundtrack Pro. I skipped truly learning Soundtrack Pro because I would always go with ProTools or Logic for external sweetening. Editing the audio on the timeline has also gotten easier, much easier. With sub-sample keyframing you can do exactly what you want with your audio, and the simple task of having a fade in or out just borrowed an excellent tool from the likes of ProTools and Logic. It’s as simple as click-drag. Super simple.

There’s just too many new, great features to get into but here’s a few: pitch-corrected audio skimming, built-in time remapping, resolution-independent playback up to 4K, assign searchable keywords to parts of clips, auto audio syncing [like built in PluralEyes], instant color-matching, and background transcoding. And it’s been quoted that what we saw in the video demo of the software was “nowhere near” the final version’s capabilities.

Video editing and graphics are super CPU intensive, so 64-bit software really is essential to having a friendly work environment. Being able to have so many aspects automated to your tastes, along with so many processes now in the background, it becomes the work environment that works with you and not intermittently against.

I’m curious to see this run on my two year old G5, but this surprisingly affordable software will make me want to upgrade my G5 for sure. FCP X can finally use more than 4 gigs or RAM. I’m hoping it can also import higher bit TIF images, as well. In June, for $300 and simply downloadable from the App Store, this update will deal quite a blow to competing software. This much power for that price is unheard of. We live in great times, my friends!

You add to all this, the new-to-market Thunderbolt spec and more support for external editing surfaces like the iPad, and the near future for editing is very bright indeed.