I'm simply stating a fact. EVERY time Apple has ever done a live demo, it has been to show new features. So it was very reasonable, without any wording about anything, for folks to expect the same thing at LAFCPUG. They don't do consumer demos at user groups. So why would anyone have expected this to be a consumer demo?

When has Apple ever done a live demo that did NOT show new features that were coming? Never.

I don't see any arguing going on. We all agree that Apple gave a piss poor demo, an uncharacteristic demo, and as far as I'm concerned, another NAB Show 2011. I don't think anyone is disagreeing on anything.

Anyone think last nights demo was spot on, traditional, and done well?

Time to lock this thread up and move on.

I'm not so sure you're right on that one. Doing a casual google search shows that over the years Apple has road-showed recently announced or released versions of FCP.

This same guy did a presentation in 2008 that was linked above at the Boston UG.

They clearly don't do them often, but they do do them.

I think at this point it's irrelevant what they've done in the past for events, as it's clear from last night they don't even do what they say they are going to do.

It's becoming more clear that there is a divide within apple itself, that is it seems that the upper management team wants to create a easy to use iMovie-pro for the masses, while the FCP dev team wants to build a bad-ass pro-editor, in most respects they have. It kind leaves the PR department and users confused. I know I'm kind of re-hashing last years discussions but it still holds true.

Regardless of what they've done in the past, if they had an iota of awareness of what's going on around them in the professional community and among FCP users in particular, doing this type of presentation at this time is an indication that their marketing is completely clueless.

Exactly my point. Ditto Tom and Splicerman.

I have followed this thread with much interest. AFAIK no-one at Apple officially stated that they were going to announce or show anything really new about FCPX at this meeting. I do understand there was reason for speculation because Apple usually do not appear at such meetings if they don't have anything to announce. But that's just speculation. I didn't have any high hopes about this from the start, thus I'm not really disappointed.

However I do concur with you that their marketing strategy relating to FCPX is below anything I have ever seen. My final decision about FCPX will be made by the end of this year, when we will know if Apple really have delivered the things they said they would deliver in 2012. My hope is still high, the app fits perfectly in our current workflow and the test system with Resolve and Smoke we have put together is very promising. Now back to business and up to another update

this is the best post ....about fcpx..

I strongly disagree. THIS is the best post about FCP X:
http://fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/10542-i-must-have-missed-the-bit-in-the-imovie-manual

Last nights demo by Apple wasn't a complete waste of time. I've used all of the features that were demoed in pro work and wasn't bored. I actually thought the demo itself was an incredibly well crafted presentation.

And if you are fooling yourself into thinking ANY of their presentations are anything but a marketing presentation, I don't know what to tell you. I saw this coming a mile away.

Apple was targeting hold outs in the industry. But it seemed half the theatre last night were indeed hold outs. One editor I spoke with said his post house used FCP7 while he used FCPX on independent work. Another editor used FCPX and was eager to get the RED support coming in the next few months. So it makes sense for them to still be making these presentations to pros.

I remember one very disrespectful editor was almost screaming at the presenter post presentation about FCPX being a trackless editor and that it was too hard for him to understand the interface, while about a dozen FCPX users were huddled around the presenter to request features or tweaks to the interface.

There were hidden nuggets in the presentation if you were listening closely.

I took away one thing I took away that will hopefully dispel all future immediate speculation about an incremental version for FCPX.

FCPX is released using the app store model, so all features and bug fixes that are released will follow the same model used for most of the apps on the app store. Meaning, you won't see a large incremental update in the near future just because that doesn't make sense based on the distribution model.

It used to make sense to release a version of an app with a ton of changes incrementally because apps were on DVDs. The cost and distribution system demanded this.

Now we will get future updates for FCPX, all at a very low price entry point $299. So if you were holding out for the RED support and decide to buy then, you can be sure that Apple probably won't be charging you another $299 anytime soon.

This seems like a no brainer to me. I mean its $59.99/month for Adobe Creative Cloud and a $1499 entry point for a dinosaur in the room Avid.

Um, App Store advantage is not a "hidden nugget". We've known about that model from day one. It doesn't allow for charging extra for updates. That's old news, very, very, very old news.

Sure is old news, but those people speculating about version 11 or 10.1 didn't quite realize this I don't think.

The day before I was told that the LAFCPUG presentation was the same one delivered at WWDC a few weeks ago--it's a presentation they have been giving a number of times lately. So I was told not to expect anything new.

I think our hope/frustration was in the poorly worded announcement and the timing which looked like it could land right around the next update. Until the MPBr .5 update kinda stole the thunder.

So our expectations/hopes got ahead of reality. That said, AAPL keeps shooting themselves in the foot in terms of the PR/Marketing on this. DId the same thing with the "new" towers. Confusing and discomfiting.


One worry I had was that in the Twitter feed on the show, they mentioned that the new multichannel audio was going to be like the inspector but in the timeline. I hope it is much better than that. I find working in the inspector with audio one of X's real shortcomings. I hope they create a new mode of working with audio that makes mixing and effecting easier. Currently, it is crummy.

Plus: we NEED selective copy/paste attributes please!

I asked someone who was there who told me, so this is second hand, nothing of the new features specs was mentioned. So I'm not sure who was tweeting specs on new features. I'd take it as speculative rumor.

robertdee wrote:
Am I the only one that feels a bit of nostalgic when seeing that demo?

You can say what you want, but Final Cut Studio was such a full featured studio package...
It almost makes me sad that we are here with FCP X that has some huge features, but seems so far away from feature-wise being what FC Studio was. It kind of makes me realize that FCP X has a very long way to go (although it does some things very great)
I love the design of the old apps, even if FCP X sometimes looks more modern.
And I miss Color, when I see that video. I love how they put emphasis on color grading RAW there.
The last few years it seemed they have been ignoring that high end market that they are talking to there.

Ow, and it's the first time I saw Final Cut Server in action. It is nice to see that a lot of it seems to be sitting inside FCP X. Powerful Technology. I hope Apple begins to activate some huge potential they have in their app for collaborative editing.