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Next Final Cut Pro at NAB Next Week? Due Spring 2011, Some More Hints


Apple is rumored to be launching a dramatic new version of Final Cut Pro next week during NAB. The rumored venue for the launch is, surprisingly enough, a Final Cut Pro User Group SuperMeet on April 12th. The early rumors claimed that several speakers and sponsors had been shuffled around at the last minute to accommodate Apple.

Philip Bloom just confirmed with me that Canon has canceled his appearance at the Supermeet, though he still may present (possibly as a guest of Apple.) At present he doesnt know if he will speak or not. Canon was told last night that Apple has demanded ALL lecturn or stage time exclusively.
....UPDATE: Avid confirmed that Supermeet (Michael Horton) told them last night that their sponsorship had been canceled. According to Avid, Apple doesnt want anyone to have stage time but them.

The SuperMeet website has been updated with the removal of many sponsor logos and a teaser about a special guest that you won't want to miss:

The Final Cut Pro User Group Network is excited to have a very special guest presentation at the 10th Annual Las Vegas FCPUG SuperMeet. Come to see a surprise sneak peek at something very special - you really do not want to miss this one!

FilmMakerMagazine collects some reaction about the possibilities and also points to this pre-NAB panel discussion with Mark Raudonis, head of post production at Bunim/Murray Productions. Raudonis was actually invited to Apple's preview event for industry leaders and shares some hints about the new product:


Raudonis's part talking about Final Cut Pro begins at 3 minutes into it and he starts off saying that he can't get into details and says this is as specific as he can get: "I was there, many other industry pros were also there, it was 'awesome'". But Roudonis does goes on to use some metaphors to describe Apple and the new Final Cut Pro.

What's Wayne Gretsky got to do with Final Cut Pro? If anyone knows the great one. If people asked him what was the secret to his success, his answer was "Skate to where the puck will be". And that really exemplifies Apple's philosophy, their attitude, their approach to what Final Cut will be.
....
I would say to you that there are few companies in the world that are as good at skating as [Apple is]. Your next question is probably... What the "puck"? Where is the puck headed? Again, I can't speak specifically, but I think the rest of the time here will be very interesting. Filebased workflows, Thunderbolt, iPad, Competition, it's a moving target. Adobe, Avid, Lightworks. There's a lot of other stuff out there. And they are certainly not ignorant of what's going on in the market at the moment.

I would also end with. Henry Ford "If I asked people what they wanted, they'd tell me they wanted a faster horse". So, Apple is very good at going their own way and figuring out where things will be. They may not ask you what you want. They are going to tell you 'we're going to invent something different.' And that's kind of my take away from it. I was very impressed, it was awesome and look out, I believe they say it will be available in Spring 2011. So, that goes all the way up to June 20th. So, that's what I know, that's what I can say, and if there's anyone from Apple out there, I hope you don't sue me."

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15 months ago
Wow. You'd think a FCP Users group would be able to track down a halfway decent graphic artist to make their banner graphic...
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15 months ago
Interesting news, but the bit about booting competitors is downright disgusting.
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15 months ago
Oh, we are totally getting an iPad app to go along with this program. I can feel it.

I would oh-so love the ability to down-rez a Final Cut project and send it to an iPad...do all my rough cutting there...and then bring it back to the Mac and re-link it to the real footage to do the detail work.

I've had a lot of fun playing with iMovie on the iPad. I am drooling for something similar that works as part of a Final Cut Pro workflow.


Interesting news, but the bit about booting competitors is downright disgusting.


I'm a little confused...why was Avid presenting at a Final Cut Pro User Group's meeting anyway? Do they just come in and are like "Hey, you've all made a mistake!" or something?
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15 months ago
This should be interesting.
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15 months ago


I'm a little confused...why was Avid presenting at a Final Cut Pro User Group's meeting anyway? Do they just come in and are like "Hey, you've all made a mistake!" or something?


No idea, but I just don't get those tactics. I mean, other than being ruthless business people. :p

Just show your stuff without having to strong arm...
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15 months ago
Hoping for some better multi-core support(although probably going to have to wait for Lion for the newer QuickTime engine) and a UI that isn't from the 90's:


^ Final Cut on Mac OS 9

Final Cut on Tiger/Leopard/Snow Leopard:
Thumb resize.

Only thing that's changed is the scroll bars.
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15 months ago

I'm a little confused...why was Avid presenting at a Final Cut Pro User Group's meeting anyway? Do they just come in and are like "Hey, you've all made a mistake!" or something?

Long story short, because the people that make up the groups want it and the other companies (Adobe, Avid, Canon, AJA, Blackmagic, etc.,) don't want to pass up a chance to talk to their demographic directly. Although still FCP-centric there are many other tools that editors are interested in learning about and the user groups accommodate that. Apple hasn't really been on the ball the last few years and companies like Adobe and Avid have been stepping up their game which, in my comings and goings, has kicked up the most interest in non-Apple software by FCP users I've seen since I first bought FCP 9 years ago.

Sure, there are die-hard fanboys but most editors realize these are just tools and want the best ones for the job and right now there is more competition in the prosumer price range than ever. For example, Apple Color used the best deal in town by far for coloring grading apps but last year Blackmagic purcahsed DaVinci (the gold standard in color correction) and dropped the price to $1000 for the software-only version. Perviously the lowest point of entry to get a DaVinci was over $200,000, AFAIK. Baselight, another high-end color grading system, just announced a Baselight plug-in for FCP that'll be available this fall for "less than $1000".


Lethal
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15 months ago
Can't wait to see how it works.

Wow. You'd think a FCP Users group would be able to track down a halfway decent graphic artist to make a their banner graphic...


lol. I was thinking the same thing.
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15 months ago
Hey. But there is something to be said for familiarity. We all know how to use it. But I agree an update would be nice.

Hoping for some better multi-core support(although probably going to have to wait for Lion for the newer QuickTime engine) and a UI that isn't from the 90's:


^ Final Cut on Mac OS 9

Final Cut on Tiger/Leopard/Snow Leopard:
Thumb resize.

Only thing that's changed is the scroll bars.

Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
15 months ago

Interesting news, but the bit about booting competitors is downright disgusting.

It's not like they threatened anyone. They likely went to the organizers and said "We'd like to make a really cool announcement at your event but we'd need most of your presentation and sponsorship space to do it." SuperMeet said sure, Apple paid, and here we are. It's not like the other sponsors didn't get their money back (I'm assuming.)
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