[bonniescotland]

Just having a vent here, but wondered if others feel the same.
I just got a new macbook pro (got a few posts going at the moment) tried to install my Final Cut Pro 5.1 and got a message saying Power PC applications not supported. Considering I was quite happy with my version of Final Cut was annoyed because now I have to go and buy the upgrade. That was the first annoyance, because honestly I am not made of money and fed up of having to buy very pricey software every few years because of the pace of technology, but anyway I accepted that's what I'd have to do. So next step was buy the upgrade but to my shock the latest version - Final Cut X apparently has radically changed, so if I do buy it have to learn the software again, when I was perfectly happy with the software I had, then huge shock it doesn't recognize old edits so any previous work I've done bad luck! (this is probably the worst shock), then I discover that they have discontinued DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack etc, so how am I supposed to author my DVDs and do the fancy menus. The apple guy told me iDVD well I used that years ago and had massive problems with it (though maybe it's been improved since then?). Or I guess I buy some competitor DVD authoring and once again have to learn new software. As much as I love mucking around with the computer, if I have spare time I'd like to go on a picnic or something not spend time learning new software when I was happy with the old stuff.

I think the worst thing they did though was not giving it legacy support, did they think that people who were working on projects for years where just going to chuck them out or re-edit from scratch!

Anyway I managed to track down a version of FCP 7 from a reseller (as apple told me they don't sell it anymore) that had one last copy, so I snapped it up, out of pocket so not real happy but least relieved that I have got it and will still be able to work on old projects, not have to learn new software and will still be able to DVD author.

I noticed a number of threads (whilst googling) re unhappy Final Cut people, so I guess I'm not the only one, but no one seems to be mourning the loss of the software that comes with it, e.g. DVD Studio Pro and Soundtrack Pro, am I the only one shocked about that too?

[Spheric Harlot]

You've completely missed the last six months of your chosen industry buzz?

Including the fact that Apple DOES sell Final Cut Studio again (upon request only; you have to call them directly)?

[bonniescotland]

I called Apple this week and I asked them if I could buy FCP 7/Final Cut Studio 3 and they said they don't sell it anymore, (I did mention this in my previous post) I asked them how I could get it and they said they couldn't sell it to me and all I could do was try and find a second hand copy somewhere.

As for keeping up with industry buzz yes you're right I don't always keep up with every change in technology, because there is quite a lot of technology that changes on a regular basis, I could spend all my time on the internet reading about every change but no I don't, so yes I just found out about this recently. Does this make me a bad person? Does it make me unfit to edit my projects?

[Spheric Harlot]

Well, with all due respect: This thing was HUGE. There was even a satirical "review" of FCP X on Conan O'Brien (yeah, US television, but still). This was not obscure interna, but pretty mainstream news.
At any rate, the problem with the pro attitude of "never change a running system" and "I don't have time to keep up" in the digital production world is that if you don't, it may be too late for a straightforward migration.
Of course, this should be obvious to you now and probably won't happen in this form again, so don't take this as pointing fingers.


That Apple flat-out refused to sell you FCS is oddd, though:
Apple explains decision to start selling Final Cut Studio again

[bonniescotland]

Thanks for the reply.
I see your point, I've become aware this week how much news this generated, and have since viewed the Conan footage, but prior to this week have been very uninvolved in editing for some time now as had other interests on the go, so editing etc has been on the backburner. Regardless I do find it hard to keep up with all the changes in technology though, I realise many are for the better, but sometimes I do feel like it's just so much extra work to keep up with everything constantly changing, and the amount of money that everything costs having to upgrade so often some times I look at the purse strings and think that's money I could be spending on something else, anyway that's life. Well I know now, and in any case got it resolved.

[Kensington]

While FCP X is a complete remake of Final Cut, it is waaaay cheaper than Final Cut 7 ($999) and way more efficient. Once you start using the software for new projects then you'll start to understand how much better it is at handling footage, especially if your working in HD. I don't know if this will be very useful now, but Apple is also offering a 30 day free trial of FCP X. Apple - Final Cut Pro X - Trial