When Apple released FCPx in June last year, the response from FCP users was universally (very) bad - well, almost universally bad. While I wasn’t thrilled with the new release, I thought the biggest problem was not with the software, but with how Apple presented it. This was, after all, something completely new and people have trouble with change even when the change is for the good – and whichever side of the fence you fell on FCPx, almost everyone knew that FCP7 was getting long in the tooth and needed a change.
What I said then was that if Apple had released FCPx as a free “time limited beta” – where they would gather user feedback and address problems in the final release, the response from the community would have been significantly different. Today, Apple released FCPx 10.0.3, and from what I’ve seen, this is the release that should have followed the free beta period. Many of the features that people have rightfully bemoaned losing in the 7 to X transition are back – most notably multi-cam editing – with mixed formats and mixed frame rates, media relink (thank whichever deity you wish to thank), broadcast monitoring (huzzah!), and perhaps most importantly (but far less sexy) XML support – which has allowed the big brains at Assisted Editing to release their FCP 7 to X conversion tool, allowing you to bring your FCP7 projects in to FCPX – I honestly think I heard a choir of angels sing when I read that.
Time will tell if Apple has also squashed the most persistant bugs, but 10.0.3 is, so far, is the first version that I think FCP users should have had to pay for. Better late than never, and I think FCPX now is a true contender for professionals.
If you haven’t tried FCPX yet because of all the negative press, I highly recommend it. Once you wrap your head around this new way of working (and you do have to forget almost everything you think you know), FCPX really is a powerful, professional editing tool – at least, NOW it is.