Thanks!
Avid kicks Final Cut when it's down. [Update: FCP still kicked and down.]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffk8Fg6XMak ] So this week at NAB Avid released details about their upgrade to the Media Composer editing system. Talk about gamechanger. Avid now allows for dragging and dropping in the timeline, native Quicktime AND RED support (and I'm not talking about Quicktime Proxies here), solo and mute buttons in the timeline, a much stronger user interface, I could go on... Hey Apple and the uninspired team at Final Cut Pro: now that Avid has co-opted all your awesome features, what about you maybe making some of your own innovations?
It's been a long time coming for Avid. Granted, none of these improvements would have ever come had Apple not entered the market. The Cupertino computer giant does deserve that credit. But when it comes to making decisions about what software I'd use on my next job, any argument against Avid has officially been nullified for me. I used to have an expression: Final Cut Pro is a great editor on top of a crappy media manager, and Avid is a so-so editor on top of an awesome media manager. Today I officially put that to rest because Avid has proven that they are willing to change.
As for Final Cut Pro, I can't say the same. It's been months since I purchased my upgrade to Final Cut Pro 7, and I have to say, I'm not about to open the box and install that POS on my computer. Sure, there are quality cosmetic changes to the editing system, like the introduction of ProRes Proxy and 4444 and the colored locators that trim with your edits, but that masks the fact that Final Cut Studio 3 actually runs SLOWER than Final Cut Studio 2 [link 1] [link 2]. And Avid already has the best project-sharing functionality, so tell me what I should choose Apple next time around?
Apple entered the market strongly and has done great things to bring professional editing to the people. But the truth is Avid has responded by doing laps around Apple while Apple is distracted by their innovations at the consumer level. It's high time that Apple either sh*t or get off the pot when it comes to Final Cut Studio. Sell it or fix it. I'm tired of dealing with this.
UPDATE: Ask and ye shall receive. No sooner than I write this post do I see and article from MacSoda that quotes the almighty himself Steve Jobs as saying "The next release will be awesome." Scanning through the comments, there's a mixture of excitment and true disbelief as to whether that is indeed true or simply spin. Color me undecided, but at the moment, I'm still waiting for something more than Steve's curt emails.
If you disagree with me, please comment. Check out the first comment left already by Zach Fine, who presents an excellent rebuttal about the FCS3 upgrade and makes some great points about workflows and benefits. I still disagree about the state of Final Cut Pro, but hey, he's a smart guy and he makes some great points.