It will be the last because from tonight when the ‘new’ FCP is demoed at the SuperMeet, FCP7 will named the ‘old’ Final Cut Pro. Tonight will be a watershed…

We have waited for this day ever since Larry Jordan’s jaw dropped, actually if that is the type of reaction the ‘new’ FCP triggers then I’d gaffer tape yours up because tonight will be special.

Let’s forget the rights and wrongs of how the SuperMeet changed and concentrate on possibly Final Cut Pro’s biggest day since its release.

We are not here to give you a laundry list of the new features expected in FCP8, FCPx, Final Cut Extreme or whatever it may be called. (Actually we are hoping they keep it Final Cut Pro because of a few large letters at the top left of this website). What we are trying to say though is that tonight will be the FCP world divided into two parts.

Think about it, if FCP changes that much then a lot will have to change too. There is a big FCP ecosystem out there.

All hardware will have to be checked to see if it works with the new FCP. Interesting if Log & Transfer survives.

All plugins will have to be checked and possibly completely re-written. Apple might also have had a session of ‘low fruit gathering’ and built in many popular plugins like color correction or complex transitions. Higher cost telecine style grading software is right in the firing line.

Will FxScript be supported? Many great plugins are written in FxScript, Nattress Film Effects being one.

Will the new FCP support 3D with ease? If so then it is the end of expensive third party solutions/codecs. You can’t beat free.

All third party standalone software (like XML programs) will have to be checked & modified.

What about the little things like coloured keyboards, iPhone apps, special codecs etc?

All existing printed training manuals will soon be worthless. However I bet the likes of Steve Martin, Mark Spencer and Diana Weynand are hard at work writing new ones.

All online tutorials will soon be worthless. This has been very noticeable recently by shed loads of old tutorials being dumped on YouTube. As before I expect a variety of ‘new’ FCP tutorials to appear on YouTube/Vimeo the day you can actually buy or download the program.

What about training? Will everybody have to get re-certified? Will the trainers have to get re-certified before anybody gets re-certified? Will Apple move towards an online system of resources, training and certification? Could the training be built into the app like Garage Band? “Let Walter Murch show you how to trash your preferences.”

All the above is complete speculation, what we do know though is the fact that each of us has a lot of learning to do this year. I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.

Half inched from www.fcp.co