Now that the dust has settled from Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) we take a look at what the keynote speech announcements mean for us Final Cut Pro X editors. The new macOS might prove to be very interesting.
A new venue and a slightly different keynote style this time with more individual presenters coming and going. Long gone are the days of Steve talking and demonstrating on his own for an hour. Also we don't think we have seen so many mistakes in a keynote such as the glossed-over Messages failure or had to witness embarrassing moments such as asking a hall full of nerds to participate in Rapper's Delight!
The big disappointment is no new hardware. WWDC 2013 was where we first got a glimpse of the 6.1 Mac Pro that was released just before Christmas of that year. So no dry ice, no fanfare and no updated Mac Pro with USB C/Thunderbolt 3 or 10GigE connectivity. You will also have been disappointed if you are holding out for a MacBook Pro refresh.
The big news for us is OS X. Well, we won't be able to say that in the future as Apple has renamed our favourite operating system to macOS,
And with Apple's location based theming of new 'macOS' they have decided to call the latest version Sierra. Probably named after the mountain range and not the jelly mould car that Ford produced in the eighties. Apple's macOS Sierra preview page. Expect a release in the Autumn/Fall.
The first red flag was the scare of QuickTime being removed from Sierra. Although developers will get notification that it has been deprecated when they try to use it, the frameworks still exist in Sierra to support apps. It is however, probably the last warning to get all your information that you need from any FCP7 projects now as one day, the old faithful won't be able to load.
We know Greg from Intelligent Assistance has put his head above the parapet to try FCP7 out on a beta copy of Sierra. Hopefully he might be able to supply his findings. He's well qualified to sum up the situation as of course he and Phillip Hodgetts are behind 7toX!
On to a few items that may have ramifications for FCPX editors.
The first is about Apple Pay moving to macOS. Although we are a long way from an 'FCPX store,' having Apple pay will hopefully make the purchase of plugins, stock footage and music a lot easier. Rather than entering credit cards into multiple sites, Apple Pay could provide a one click authentication to purchase a product on the web in Safari or through an application such as Fxfactory.
The iCloud drive on Sierra makes all the files available on the desktop across all devices. So what would happen if I stored an FCPX library on the desktop? Would it appear and possibly update on another machine with the same login? Not only would this give automatic backups, it could open the possibilities for more collaborative workflows. Mike Matzdorff please download the beta now!
Would this work for getting iPhone and iPad iMovie projects into FCPX easier? If I render an H264 to my desktop, can I play it on my iPhone? Lots of possibilities.
The Universal Clipboard provides the ability to copy an item on one device and paste it on another. We can see this being handy moving photos and music from web searches or just getting the text of a translation from an email on an editor's MacBook Pro onto their edit machine.
Siri is to be made available for developers. Could this be the start of possible automatic dictation services? Could I actually work Final Cut Pro X with Siri?
"Hey Siri - Play me all the favourites from the conference event" Interesting and mind boggling, but we are a long way from "Hey Siri - edit a promo for me."
The updated Photos looks promising in the wake of Aperture's demise. Building slideshows and short trailers cut together automatically expands the iMove style 'templatisation' of media. Will there be a cross-application transfer of these so they could be fine-tuned in FCPX?
So it is good to see that the keynote gave a lot of emphasis to the new macOS. We think there is a lot more under the hood though. One example here being how does Metal improve the Pro Apps?
We are still dissapointed that there wasn't an FCPX update before NAB and also no new shiny things at WWDC. Hopefully we might be rewarded at IBC for the wait, we do hope so.
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
