14 DAY TRIAL // Facing quite a bit of bad press over the launch of a “revolutionary new version” of Final Cut Pro, Apple has officially responded to the most burning questions in a FAQ now accessible on the company’s website.
Before delving into the specifics of what makes up FCP X and its particularities, Apple feels compelled to outline that “Final Cut Pro X is a breakthrough in nonlinear video editing.”
Despite countless nay-sayer reports emerging in the past few days, Apple confidently states that “The application has impressed many pro editors,” but does admit that “it has also generated a lot of discussion in the pro video community.”
“We know people have questions about the new features in Final Cut Pro X and how it compares with previous versions of Final Cut Pro,” says the Mac maker.
Attempting not to let too much Steam build up, Apple proceeds to answer the most common questions they’ve heard regarding the popular Pro video editing software.
On the respective web page, the first question most creatives wanted answered appears to be “Can I import projects from Final Cut Pro 7 into Final Cut Pro X?”
Apple goes to great lengths to justify why the answer is basically “No,” outlining that “Final Cut Pro X includes an all-new project architecture structured around a trackless timeline and connected clips.”
Moreover, the new audio and video effects, as well as the color grading tools are incompatible with older FCP projects, Apple says.
Cupertino seems to encourage those who use FCP 7 to continue using the suite for the features that are not found in FCP X, and also confirms that FCP 7 will work with OS X Lion.
Other questions answered by Apple touch areas like importing videos directly into Final Cut Pro X, editing tape-based workflows, using third-party plug-ins, exporting XML files and support for OMF, AAF, and EDLs.
About the XML export feature, Apple says it's coming:
“…we know how important XML export is to our developers and our users, and we expect to add this functionality to Final Cut Pro X.”
“We will release a set of APIs in the next few weeks so that third-party developers can access the next-generation XML in Final Cut Pro X,” reads the FAQ.
For those who are still interested in buying, Apple also outlines the procedure for purchasing volume licenses of Final Cut Pro X.