Kevin Bostic
Final Cut Pro X debuted in 2011 to groans from many in the professional video editing community, and now Apple is planning a marketing push to win those users back from its competitors' software.
Apple on Thursday is set to launch a campaign aimed at getting pro video editors to take another look at Final Cut Pro, according to The Los Angeles Times. That campaign will feature users like Julian Liurette, video editor for Toronto's Globe and Mail. Liurette says that, having used the software a year after its release — with the benefit of multiple Apple updates — he was satisfied enough with its performance that he began moving his publication's video operations to the new version.
"Its interface is 100 times more interesting," Liurette said. "And it's much, much faster."
Apple's campaign is timed to coincide with the National Association of Broadcasters convention, beginning April 6 in Las Vegas. It will include testimonials from professionals like Luriette on the Final Cut Pro X website. In addition to Luriette, the site will feature famed Hong Kong cinematographer Tsui Hark and editors from telenovela production company TV Azteca.
Final Cut Pro X has seen seven updates in the two years since its release, as Apple has attempted to address complaints from pro users that Apple's changes to the suite's features watered down what had been a professional-level software offering.
Apple's subsequent updates to the software added features that pro users had been requesting, but the effectiveness of those additions is questionable. No marketing company reliably tracks video editing software market share, but Apple's competitors, Avid and Adobe, say they saw increased usage in the wake of Final Cut Pro X's release.
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74 Comments
You need more than an updated Final Cut to win them back. You need that elusive updated Mac Pro. Video editing needs all the horsepower you can get.
You need more than an updated Final Cut to win them back. You need that elusive updated Mac Pro. Video editing needs all the horsepower you can get.
Hopefully WWDC will be interesting from a pro standpoint.
Of course, after it's over we'll have dozens of trolls on here whining about how "all the products were updated at once; that means Apple is failing".
News flash, idiots: Apple doesn't get to choose when the chips come out. If Intel releases them all at once, then Apple should probably update as soon as possible. We'll likely see the Haswell iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air roughly around WWDC, and maybe they'll have the Mac Pro done by then, too. If not, hey, they should take their time.
That sounds cool enough. How about giving us a new Mac Pro? I'm dying to buy 6 of them for my studio. If nothing comes out by the end of this year, I'm moving to Windows.
"News flash, idiots: Apple doesn't get to choose when the chips come out. If Intel releases them all at once, then Apple should probably update as soon as possible. We'll likely see the Haswell iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air roughly around WWDC, and maybe they'll have the Mac Pro done by then, too. If not, hey, they should take their time. " Err.... Sandy Bridge Xeons have been available since last June. It's Apple who chose not to upgrade the Mac Pro with them. There would have been no complaint if Mac Pro updates follow Intel's chip release schedule. It makes things much easier to plan for the pro users.
They'd better focus on higher ed. I know first-hand of multiple universities that have completely dropped Final Cut Pro (the platform they previous taught) to Adobe. That's hundred of video editors being minted every year that are being educated about Apple's abandonment of the professional marketplace in a failed bid to chase the "prosumer" market. Turns out there are hobbyists, there are professionals, and vastly fewer prosumers. I've been saying it for years; Apple's abandonment of professionals blunts the tip of the testimonial spear, and it will cost Apple in the long run.