Apple updates FCP X, QuickTime codecs for Pro Apps
There’s a real divide vis-a-vis user reaction to Final Cut Pro X and the haters have been getting all of the headlines. Nevertheless, there are users that absolutely love the speed and efficiency FCP X offers and this latest update addresses most of the outstanding issues they have with this benchmark app and suite.
Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 appears to be a mere point update, yet there are some major functional and under-the-changes in this release that address many user complaints:
• Rich XML Support for project import/export
• Support for Projects and Events on Xsan
• Support for media stems (or audio channeling)
• Custom starting timecode
• Mac OS X Lion fullscreen view toggle
• GPU-accelerated export
• New “Tribute” theme
• One-step transitions on connected clips
The last big items on most people’s list are Multicam Editing and Broadcast-Quality Video Monitoring are coming in 2012.
Free is good
Additionally, Apple’s offering a 30-day Final Cut Pro X Trial, which requires a Mac with OS X 10.6.8 or later, an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better, 2GB of RAM (4GB of RAM recommended), and an OpenCL-capable graphics card or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later.
ProApps QuickTime Codecs (download) — This update is recommended for all users of Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, or Compressor 4 as it adds the following video codecs for use by QuickTime-based applications:
• Apple Intermediate Codec
• Apple ProRes
• AVC-Intra
• DVCPRO HD
• HDV
• XDCAM HD / EX / HD422
• MPEG IMX
• Uncompressed 4:2:2
Again, this update is recommended for all users of Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, or Compressor 4.
Liking what you see in these updates? Enough to change your mind about Final Cut Pro X? Share your thoughts below…
I’ll definitely download the FCPX trial to see if it runs on my 2007 Mac Pro. I wasn’t willing to buy it on the chance that it might work on my hardware, and could never get a definitive response on whether it would or not. The only way to know for sure is to try it, and being able to do that without buying it is a clear plus.
If it does run well enough to be usable, FCPX will still not open my existing projects, nor will it permit me to do things that I’ve become used to doing in FCP Studio. Those are deal-breakers, regardless of whether FCPX runs on my setup or not. I’ll appreciate being able to experience the reality of FCPX rather than just reading about it. Adobe CS5 Premiere runs well enough on my hardware, though it wouldn’t be my first choice over FCP Studio. And from what I’ve read about it, neither will FCPX.
More important, a new high-end Mac Pro purchase is on indefinite hold until I see what happens with OS X Lion, FCPX, and Logic Pro. They’ll all have to be sorted out before I decide whether to buy another Mac – something I’ve done regularly every four or five years since the first 128K model in 1985. Until FCPX and Lion were released I was all set to grab a 32-core Mac Pro as soon as they became available. No longer.
If someone had told me a year ago that Apple would release an OS as poorly conceived – and received – as Lion, or that it would “update” an industry-standard piece of software with something as professionally hobbled as FCPX, I’d have bet the farm against it. And I’d have lost the farm.
Apple has placed me in a situation where, for the first time, I have to consider whether Windows has realistically become the better alternative. And not long ago I’d have bet the farm against my EVER saying that. I have substantial investments in third-party Mac software, almost all of which does not run under Lion. The costs of upgrading that software – supposing Lion upgrades are ever released – are not dissimilar to the costs of obtaining Windows versions of that same software. And the cost differential between buying a high-end Mac Pro and fabricating a comparable Windows box (once the new CPUs become publicly available) would probably cover those software costs with money to spare.
And I’m simply stunned that Apple has created circumstances where I am able to say these things and mean them. In my former career I HAD to use Windows, and my disdain for it became huge. Now I can envision a path where Apple cultivates those same perceptions, and it really disheartens me. I’m unwillingly at an unexpected crossroads, and Apple is no longer the clear choice.
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