Apple is no stranger to controversy, and one can only assume that they were bracing for plenty of it by introducing Final Cut Pro X on Tuesday. The completely rewritten application has received both praise and outright hostility from users, with the older version -- along with Express and Server versions -- no longer available.
AppleInsider is reporting that early reaction to Apple’s all-new Final Cut Pro X is decidedly mixed. At this writing, the $299.99 video editor has received 684 ratings on the Mac App Store, with nearly half of them one star. Another 190 users have given the app five stars, with everyone else falling nearly equally in the center.
Among the user feedback collected by AppleInsider, one review compared Final Cut Pro X to Windows Vista, calling it “no longer a professional application,” while others praised the daring new interface and speed, despite plenty of missing features that users are used to, including multicam, exporting for further work in audio editing software and most shockingly, the inability to open projects from previous versions of Final Cut Pro, while having no problem with opening iMovie projects.
These issues wouldn’t be so problematic, perhaps, if Apple continued to make legacy versions of Final Cut Pro available during a transitionary phase. Not only has Apple discontinued the existing Final Cut Studio package as of June 21, but the “prosumer” Final Cut Express as well as Final Cut Server have both been axed as well, according to ArsTechnica.
“When Final Cut Pro cost $999 or more, Final Cut Express offered users looking for something more powerful and flexible than iMovie with an affordable option,” ArsTechnia reports. “With Apple aggressively pricing the new FCPX at $300, it appears Apple saw little reason to maintain an additional $200 product aimed at a small number of ‘in-between’ users.”
Of course, Apple has been here before -- iMovie received a radical redesign in the same manner a few versions ago, and only with the recent iLife ’11 did the “lite” video editor finally start to deliver the goods. Apple has indicated to video professionals that they plan to upgrade Final Cut Pro X more aggressively than in the past, with new features and tweaks being added every six months… but will it be fast enough to lure those users away from their Final Cut Pro 7 comfort zone? Time will tell.
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fuzzynormal
June 23, 2011 at 8:30am
"the inability to open projects from previous versions of Final Cut Pro"
Staggering.
I switched to Macs a long time ago because they were aggressively pursuing the professional-media-creation market. Sad to see it go away.
Obviously there's lower profits in that section of the marketplace, but it's a prestigious segment. Committing to a higher end market is beneficial, I think; not unlike auto manufacturers that have race car teams. They do it not for the money, but for the marketing and techno-lust it generates.
