Ironically, maybe the biggest news from NAB this year, wasn’t actually at NAB. The big wait is over, Final Cut Pro X was announced at the FCUG Supermeet in Las Vegas. It will be released in June, downloadable at the App Store for only $299.
There were several new features demonstrated and workflows explained, but the presentation may have actually generated more questions than answers for the future of FCP.
1. Has FCP been dumbed down to iMovie Pro? This was the big question on everyone’s mind, and the answer seems to be: yes and no. I may be in a minority, but there were a lot of editing features in iMovie that I really liked, and wished that could be brought over to FCP. Probably the biggest shift in FCP X, is getting rid of the source viewer. The whole 3-point editing paradigm seems to be phased out for a more click and drag type of experience. The new trimming tool looks interesting, and the magnetic timeline should be amazing, if it works properly (How can you maintain sync when all your clips are moving around independently?). The compound clips looked like a very advanced nesting feature, which will be exciting to see in action. Face detection a lot of people dismiss as a “consumer” function, but I find it incredibly useful and always wondered why we didn’t see more of it on professional camcorders and software, the uses for it are many.