Re: Get what you pay for (Final Cut)

[Scott Malkie <ltc.vitc(at)gmail.com>]

I'm sorry that you are so frustrated with the program.   I hope the system behaves for you enough that you can get the project done.

However,  my experiences have been opposite - FCP puts its tools in different places, and calls them different things, and sometimes they're a bit harder to use, but for the most part, they're all there.   Are you using 
FCP4.5 or FCP5? The quality of the video improved dramatically with 32bit floating rendering.  Same thing with system stability, no properly configured FCP system should drop frames unless you are pushing the limits of the RT effects.    Of course, no Avid should ever have given me a buffer underrun error, either. 

In short, FCP didn't/doesn't work for you.  That's fine, that's great - at least you tried and know.  FCP works very well for a lot of other people out there, though, myself being one of them.

I won't get into a debate with you (I've learned my lesson!) but I'm sorry you had a bad experience.  But please don't extrapolate that one bad project on one bad box to mean the software itself, as a whole, is completely unworkable.   Because as much evidence as you can put towards that assertion, I can counter with evidence that it's a very stable, very open, very easy to use system that does everything most people need it to. 

Just remember the G5 is lot heavier than it looks if you go to throw it out the window =)

-malkie

On 12/16/05, Jeff Krebs < jeff(at)serialdigitalpost.com> wrote:

One more thing, someone for the FCP user group just emailed me, stating that I was a paid by Avid to say horrible things about FCP. 

 

To be perfectly clear.

Avid has know idea I was using FCP.  I've learned to hate FCP all on my own with no influence or financial compensation. 

 

I'm now waiting for a render to finish.  Then I'll output the show but of course I'll have to close down the timeline or else I'll drop frames, yes even with 2.5 gigs of ram on a standard def show, even with the latest and fastest version of everything.

 

Geewhiz

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Jeff Krebs

To: DS List

Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 9:21 AM

Subject: Get what you pay for (Final Cut)

Well well well,

I've been cutting my teeth on Final Cut.  Is this a cruel joke from Apple.  I know how editing tools work this has been my life for the last 20 years.

 

My god, there is so much thought missing from this product it;s scary.  I'm incredibly open minded when it comes to software but  I would rather work on Avid Free DV.  Much better productivity.  Seriously...!!!

 

As on online system, forget it.  DS, Smoke, Adobe Premiere, Symphony make sense to me.

The FCP toolset takes you about a third of the way, and then you are left wondering about the rest.

 

Colour correction, forget it, not only are the tools missing but the ones that exist are written backwards.  And the quality of the colour tools are horrible.

I happen to be using a colour finesse plugin and thank goodness for that.  I tested the same setting in 3-way and colour finesse.  Synthetic Aperture knows how to handle color really well.

FCP forget it.

 

I'll report more later, but I've been up for a very long time and I know I could have completed this project on DS in 1 tenth of the time and with a better output.

 

Yes, Avid costs mucho more, but I know I really understand why.

 

Jeff Krebs
Serial Digital Post
http://www.serialdigitalpost.com