Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3

Well, cool. Today Apple released an update to Final Cut Pro X that adds multi-cam support, improved XML support and "beta" support for Broadcast Monitoring, amongst other things. Perhaps just as important, with the new XML support comes a third party tool, 7toX for Final Cut Pro which promises a smoother transition of projects from Final Cut Pro 7 to Final Cut Pro X.

I'm just downloading the update as I write this; the first part - about 300 MB - took only nine minutes, and I was excitedly thinking that I'd have this thing running quickly; but now it's downloading another 1.47GB and it thinks it will take 1 hour and 6 minutes to finish, so I might not get to spend any real time with it until tomorrow!

Of course, this latest release and new features shouldn't really be a big surprise; Apple promised multi-cam support in early 2012, and they actually delivered it!

Will this be enough to sway the people who jumped ship to Adobe and Avid after the initial release of Final Cut Pro X? Probably not. I think Final Cut Pro X's new interface, way of doing things, and the botched original release, really soured things up amongst the professional community, and Apple will continue to have their work cut out for them there.

But that doesn't mean that Final Cut Pro X won't be a success, and won't sell more copies than Final Cut Pro 7. It's just that the audience will skew wider and less professional than Final Cut Pro 7. But that's been the story of nearly every successful creative application; from Page Layout onwards.

Check out announcements from AJA and Genarts too:


Final Cut Pro X for Final Cut Pro 7 Editors [PDF]
Apple has updated this document to reflect the new features in 10.0.0

AJA: AJA Releases Drivers for Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3

7toX for Final Cut Pro | Philip Hodgetts | Blog
Philip writes about 7toX for Final Cut Pro, the product he developed for translating Final Cut Pro 7 projects to Final Cut Pro X:

Yes, it works. It does an amazingly good job of translating Final Cut Pro 7 Projects (Bins and Sequences) into a Final Cut Pro Event. Clips from a FCP 7 project become clips in FCP X, Bins become Keyword Collections and Sequences are translated to Compound Clips, which can be:

opened directly in a Timeline; a
added to a new Project as a Compound Clip;
broken apart to make a FCP X Project.

Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 | Philip Hodgetts | Blog
In a separate article, Philip offers his thoughts on the other features in the new release:

Multicam, like so much of Final Cut Pro X, is a rethink that considered what would make multicam more accessible to more people by eliminating the “hard parts”: let the software adapt rather than forcing a certain level of knowledge on users. (Sorry for those who had this somewhat hard earned knowledge, but that is the way things move.)

GenArts: GenArts Sapphire Edge Brings High-End Visual Effects to the Final Cut Pro X Creative Community

GenArts Inc., the global leader in specialized visual effects software for the media and advertising industries, today announced the availability of Sapphire Edge for Final Cut Pro X professional video editing application from Apple. Sapphire Edge empowers Final Cut Pro X editors to efficiently apply cutting-edge visual effects in a streamlined editorial experience without compromising the quality of the final result.

AppleInsider: Apple releases free update to Final Cut Pro X with multi-cam editing

First Look: Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 restores professional features; adds notable new ones | Gary Adcock | MacWorld

With FCP X 10.0.3, the ugly ducking feel of the first version of this app seems to be receding, as the app’s swan-like feathers begin to emerge. While there are still many improvements needed, especially for those who work in multiuser environments, the current update indicates that Apple is listening to the complaints and concerns of the working video community that put Final Cut Pro on the map.

Apple Releases Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 | Larry Jordan

First, thanks to the hard work of Philip Hodgetts and Greg Clark, Intelligent Assistance has released a utility with Apple’s blessing that supports transferring projects from Final Cut Pro 7 to Final Cut Pro X called “7toX.”

As Philip told me: “We worked very hard to offer a very high fidelity conversion, so that editors can take their Final Cut Pro 7 projects forward to Final Cut Pro X’s efficient working

Don’t Call It A Comeback – Apple Releases A Big New Update to Final Cut Pro X | Neil Matsumoto | HDVideoPro

The low price point and new features should lock up many users who are new to the editing process, not to mention the millions of low budget DSLR users. But in order for FCP X to truly matter, the mighty Apple still needs to shift its focus back to its professional base in order to lure them back. They have a lot of work to do convincing the base that FCP X is indeed suitable for professional work.

iTunes: 7toX for Final Cut Pro - Assisted Editing
iTunes: Final Cut Pro - Apple

On Twitter:

@ronsussman ronsussman
lets put an end to all this FCPX verses the other (pro) NLEs. Im putting up a boxing ring @NAB so we can fight it out like men

@artgug Art Guglielmo
So by today's twitter reaction, multicam was the difference between suck and total nirvana.

@editblog Scott Simmons
finally trying out the #fcpx update. Multicam is cool. might not be perfect but pretty well thought out

@hurkman Alexis Van Hurkman
I'll say something nice, now. You can now squeeze FCPx video scopes to one side, for a larger Viewer. Still only one scope at a time, tho.

@MarioFeil Mario Feil
I know a lot of people still complain about FCPX but if you edit 4k w/titles and export it, you know why a lot of people use it.