I think I agree. It has been a pain to have to export a movie and open it in Compressor to be able to render AND edit at the same time.

I also hope they fixed the bug where clusters didn´t work in Compressor if you exported your file from Final Cut

FCP and EX3
 

Too bad Apple hasn't kept up with Adobe in their support of the Sony EX3 clip format. Adobe Aftereffects accepts the files as native, FinaCut 7 still seems to require the Sony Transfer software ... is there reason to upgrade???

I wouldn't be surprised if EX3 compatibility is built-in.

Heath

Wow! I know some people have expressed concerns about Apple falling behind with Blue-ray and drag-n-drop file based camera formats, but for me this is the best upgrade I could have ever ever wished for.

I'd pay $300 for EACH of the following:

1) finally getting the slow-mo ripple thing correct (like in Vegas). Big one for me, majority of my stuff has speed changes and I was sick of muting tracks or copying clips to blank sequences to apply speed changes all to avoid rippling the sequence to death.

2) Finally a nice big Time Code display (a.k.a. producer can sit further away from me)

3) Easy export without hogging up Final Cut means I can edit and render on the same machine

4) Did I mention the speed changes???

5) iChat Theater will be nice since I work remotely for a few clients

6) Better integration and round tripping with Color means that I might actually use Color now instead of just going in and saying "cool, this looks nice, bye bye"

I'd venture to guess this version or one soon after will be 64bit ready.

to quote the new pro res white paper

"Apple Pr Res (LT) also makes it an excellent choice for transcoding complex camera codecs like AVCHD."

Hopefully we can choose this option for the the HMC151 on capture/log & transfer. Saves a little bit on disc space, very handy for me. I'm guessing this is their solution for us guys who wanted native AVCHD editing.

I think Jeff said it best why the new features make it a worthwhile upgrade.

Heath

Well I like what I see so far. I wonder if it's wise or safe to upgrade to FCP7 from FCP6 while I am still working on a project.

Though I've had less troubles doing FCP and OS X upgrades than in the past, I wouldn't risk doing a full version FCP or OS X upgrade while in the middle of a project. Check this out:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/non-linea...ur-system.html

Heath

Final Cut 7 is out
 

You can go to the Apple site right now and buy it.

Which makes me furious, because well, consider this....

Taking the plunge and switching from PC to Mac, I bought a new Intel MacPro and a 24" iMac in December. I also bought a 15" MacBook Pro just last month. When I bought the first two machines, I purchased I-life or I-Work or something like that. One month later Apple is nagging me to upgrade to the newer version, which was released three weeks after I bought the previous version.

Anyway, initially I bought Final Cut Express to get used to it, and then a month ago I bought Final Cut Studio 2. When I did, I told the salesman I was considering waiting until the '09 version came out. He told me no one really expected it to come out until after Snow Leopard comes out, and at that it's not definite. So I coughed up the $1,200.00.

Now, a month later, Apple wants $299.00 to upgrade.

When I called Apple to complain a few minutes ago, the sales guy said there's nothing he can do. So I asked for a supervisor and got one. He told me he'd give me $30 off the $299.00 upgrade, but that's it, because I bought the software from a third-party retailer (Midtown Video in Miami), not from Apple directly.

My rant. Thanks for listening.

BTW: Jesse at Midtown VIdeo is trying to get Apple to be less anal about this. I can tell you he's been very helpful with every purchase I've ever made from them in the past; so I hope he is this time, too.

I like the speed change improvements. I wonder if I will be now able to do all my slow motion and speed ramps inside FCP instead of having to export to Shake.

Don't suppose anyone else noticed the supposed native file format editing?

I like that new round tripping with Color. Keeps it simple.

Anyone see anything wrong, morally or otherwise, with buying Final Cut Pro 3 or 4 from ebay on the cheap, then using it to get the Final Cut Studio 3 upgrade package?

As long as its an official retail package it should work, right? New Intel machines will run the old PPC program as far as I know.

I have the FCS2 academic package, so updates are off limits for me.

Comments? Will it work?

I see that as being a financially sound plan. Go for it as long as the copy you're getting is legit.

I had to buy Motion used years ago to get FCS 1. It was a legit purchase but I never used that one. That was when you had to have all the apps to upgrade to FCS 1.

Heath

Just got shipping confirmation, mine will be here in the morning (provided there are no hiccups).

Yes, it's mostly incremental, but the upgrades to motion and the FCP updates will all make my life easier and less reliant on 3rd party plugins. When FCP goes wonky and I have to trash prefs and stop using all my add-ons and such it really slows me down. This will alleviate some of the issues.

Migrating from Vegas I gave up a ton of functionality, this regains some of it.

I still expect a far more iMovie/Vegas like evolution of FCP in less than 2 years.

I was just reading that you can burn Blu-ray discs not only out of Compressor but from FCP as well. No specifics though.

Check out the training video (output to Blu-ray)...

Ripple Training

As a new user, I'm just starting the FCS long learning curve of knowledge. Just learning rip/roll, slip/slide tools (hehehe, do you remember your first time?).

I've paid 1200 € few weeks ago the complete suite & this new actualization cost around 300 (I want to die!).

As I have not to enjoy properly the new features as my newbie eye and poor workflow in practice could profit, may ask you guys:

Make sense await to Snow Leopard and a possible complete upgrade (not actualization, maybe 64, full Intel, etc...) properly & save money?

there's usually a 14 money back option if you bought direct from Apple ... if you're within that period then go for the refund, and buy the new FCS 2009 instead ... if not then I would recommend waiting as there is already so much for you to learn in FCS2.

best
Andy

Not in the 14 days period. Just 1 month & half ago.

I think to continue with my practices & forget upgrades till Snow (if so).

If new suite costs 999, I paid 1200 & the actualization is about 300, I have enough hitting the roof with these around 500 € difference.

Ouch!

I did this. I bought FC 3 5 months ago intending to upgrade. I have been waiting for the update, it´s here now AND they dropped the upgrade price from FC3 to about half of what it was. I´m happy

Just purchased mine this morning.
I'm going to wait a little bit before I do an install, to hear about the bugs that are out there.
And unfortunately you know their will be bugs.

It's a shame that you are not able to have multiple versions of FCS on your system, like I can Sony Vegas (I can have Vegas 3,4,5,6,7,8 what ever) on the PC.

This would be less painful for me, as I would be able to try out FCS3, while still working in FCS2. Then if the new version seems stable enough, I could simply uninstall the old version.

BTW, how does one handle installing the upgrade, as I haven't done this before. Do you have to do a full uninstall of FCS2 before installing the new version. Or will the new version simply install and overwrite over the old version?

Having multiple versions of an NLE on your system probably isn't the best thing--I had Premiere Pro CS4 sitting on my system with FCP and I noticed a lot of issues, even when one of them wasn't launched. I uninstalled PP CS4 and things are better.

Heath

All you need is another disc.

Just put a new disc in one of your MacPro slots or use a FW external. I think that still works.

I have 3 different system discs on my MacPro. I always have a backup ready that way and I can try new SW with no risk.

The specs say to run Color you need a "Display with 1680-by-1050 resolution or higher" which would mean that I can't run it on my MacBook Pro 15" which really sucks...

I'm still running Tiger so I think I'll wait for Snow Leopard's release and upgrade everything at once.

Affordable displays plus Display Maestro (Display Maestro — Unlock All Resolutions) and/or Matrox's DualHead2Go (Matrox Graphics - Products - Graphics eXpansion Module - DualHead2Go) and their MXO 2 (Complete HD/SD I/O for the Mac - Matrox MXO2) is PERFECT for laptop FCP editors!

Heath

Cheers Heath, I'll look into that when I get around to upgrading.

No problem, Aaron. Let us know how it goes.

Heath

Has anyone actually seen a retail box of FCS3? I am interested to know what is in the box. The Apple web site says
DVDs with Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, Color 1.5, Compressor 3.5, DVD Studio Pro 4, Cinema Tools 4.5, and Apple Qmaster 3.5
Content DVDs
Printed and electronic documentation
I have ordered the Upgrade & tracking the package on the UPS site it tells me that the weight is 0.6kg or about 1lb 5oz The FCS2 kit weighs considerably more than that as it contains several excellent manuals. Does the FCS3 upgrade short-change us on the manuals or did Apple decide to drop the printed manuals & only deliver them in electronic form? This would be a retrograde step.

Nigel - Mine came in a small box (like the size of 4 compact disc cases). There is a partition with 1 package contain the license, the FCP 7 Booklet (truncated) and the legal documents. The other partition contains the DVD's. The documentation is indeed electronic and Apple must have saved a bundle on creating these books- It's greener but I do miss them.

-C

I remember they did that with later copies of FCP 1 (no books) and there was a lot of uproar and they brought it back.

heath

Personally, firsthand? No. But did see this the other day referenced in a TUAW article:

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/...fcs-shrink.jpg

A very convincing photograph showing the significant reduction in size for both FCS and Logic Studio; the new versions are standing next to the older for ease of visual comparison. The difference is rather striking to behold, from the looks of it.

And I thought the FCS 2 box was smaller than the first one.

Heath

I wonder if there's a difference with the upgrade vs full version with regard to hardcopy manuals?

Boyd,

Maybe not--I'm guessing Apple wants to save money on printing manuals and packaging. They're probably also depending on Diane Weyland's and others' books to help out.

Heath

No hardcopy manuals period, as far as I can tell.
Also no PDF I believe, just a Apple Help Viewer version ... and the online docs of course:
Final Cut Pro 7 User Manual

It overwrites, but you should deinstall FCS before doing a new full install. Otherwise, you may have some problems with Apple Qmaster & Compressor ("Qmaster's file not found" when launching a compression through Qmaster). That's what happened to me and to a lot of guys (Have a look on Google).

Wow, I see the academic version is priced at $899.00. FCS2 academic was priced at $549.00. Seems silly to pay $899.00 and not get any upgrades. Not sure about their new pricing model.

Absolutely. This would save so much time in my workflow when starting to work on projects. I spend too much time forgetting to reset my scratch, then having to re-render once I've figured it out and work at getting rid of unwanted renders in other projects... PITA! And if I import anything during that time...eeks!