What Features Does Apple Final Cut Pro Still Need?
Last week, Apple released a statement responding to a petition from hundreds of Final Cut Pro editors that Apple recommit to continued, active development of Final Cut. Apple answered, in part:
“While we believe we have plans in place to help address your important feature requests, we also recognize the need to build on those efforts and work alongside you to help support your film and TV projects and keep you posted on important updates.”
NOTE: Read their entire statement here.
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For many years, Apple offered editors the ability to suggest features using the “Provide Feedback to Apple” form in Final Cut Pro. However, this form presents several problems:
- Apple never responds to suggestions made using this form. So we have no idea whether anyone in decision-making authority at Apple actually reads these.
NOTE: Apple has told me on several occasions that these are read. However, “read” and “act upon” are not the same.
- When we provide feedback to Apple, we have no idea what anyone else is suggesting. We can neither agree nor disagree with the need for a specific feature.
- There’s no way to reinforce how important – or unimportant – a feature is because we don’t know what’s suggested.
- Apple has a long tradition of “not invented here.” If Apple engineers decide something is a good idea, it gets developed. If a user suggests a good idea, it is frequently ignored.
I created this article to begin an active and open discussion of missing features in Final Cut. If you think something needs to be added, suggest it in the comments. It’s not as good as a web-centered, multi-user database with instant vote totals. But it’s available today and gets us started.
- If you have a feature, suggest it.
- If you think a suggestion is good, reinforce it.
- If you think a suggestion could be better, improve it.
- If you think a suggestion is misguided, comment.
NOTE: All comments are moderated – so be polite. Inflammatory or off-topic comments will be removed.
My hope is to inform the Final Cut community, Apple and the advisory panel they hope to create so that the features Apple adds are actually those desired by editors.
Share this link with your friends on social media. Spread the word. Because, if there’s no interest in adding new features, that tell’s Apple something, as well.
Don’t wait for Apple to convene an advisory panel – let your voice be heard now.
LARRY’S TOP FIVE FEATURES
To get the discussion started, here are my top five feature requests for Final Cut Pro:
- Scrolling timeline. As a project plays, the timeline should scroll to keep the playhead in view.
- Effective speech-to-text creation, integration and editing.
- Either develop an audio application specifically for mixing audio to picture or provide tighter round-trip integration with Logic Pro for audio mixing. The current audio mixing capability in Final Cut is limited and clunky. Audio mixing should be as easy in Final Cut as it is in Premiere to Audition.
- Better, smoother collaboration features when editors are not on the same network. Adobe was so convinced this is an essential feature, they bought Frame.io. Perhaps include better media management and review tools.
- Fix all the bugs in creating both DVD and Blu-ray Discs. The future may be downloads, but thousands of editors make their living creating physical media for clients. Burning DVDs/Blu-ray Discs in Final Cut has not worked properly since FCP X was first released. Support burning multiple movies to disk. Support custom menus. Support stories. Support multiple languages in both audio and captions.
I’m sure you have your own list. Share it in the comments and let’s get the conversation started. Spread the word.
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151 Responses to What Features Does Apple Final Cut Pro Still Need?
← Older Comments Newer Comments →-
Apple responds to the open letter to Tim Cook about Final Cut Pro by Scott Simmons – ProVideo Coalition – ProVideo Coalition – Franksgraphic says:
May 26, 2022 at 7:05 pm
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Ultimate Lower Professional – Apple Replies to Editors Petition - Universelol says:
May 26, 2022 at 7:38 pm
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Norman Pillsbury says:
May 30, 2022 at 7:09 am
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Final Cut Pro – Apple Replies to Editors Petition – serious-deals says:
May 27, 2022 at 12:17 am
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Anne Turley says:
May 27, 2022 at 12:56 pm
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Larry says:
May 27, 2022 at 1:26 pm
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DO-HUN, KIM says:
May 28, 2022 at 2:11 am
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DO-HUN, KIM says:
May 28, 2022 at 2:01 am
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DVcat says:
May 28, 2022 at 2:38 am
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Hartmut says:
May 30, 2022 at 2:34 am
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Ray says:
May 30, 2022 at 2:48 am
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Adan says:
May 30, 2022 at 2:54 am
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Gene Massey says:
May 30, 2022 at 6:12 am
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Larry says:
May 30, 2022 at 6:22 am
← Older Comments Newer Comments →[…] but there are features that have been requested for years that Apple has never delivered.See this ?https://larryjordan.com/articles/what-key-features-does-apple-final-cut-pro-still-need/Yea… but some of those are kinda silly considering the direction that Apple has gone with FCP. […]
[…] Jordan writes right here on what he wish to see be the primary options in an up to date rollout and it appears to be like to […]
Fix all the bugs in creating both DVD and Blu-ray Discs. The current system just doesn’t work regardless of whether using Share to a DVD or to an image, or using Kompressor. What a disaster. The future is not here for most clients and DVD creation will be needed for many years.
Zooming into the timeline is awkward. Many programs use the “holding the option key and scrolling” method. I have to unlearn that method every time I use FCPX.
[…] Jordan writes here on what he would like to see be the first features in an updated rollout and it looks to be highly […]
Please, please make it work on my 2011 iMac with two terabytes of space. Please! Apple gave me a free three month trial, but my computer is too old to even download it. 😢🥵
Anne:
Smile… I ain’t gonna lie – your system is just too old. And, given the state of technology today, there’s no advantage to getting FCP to work on it. Time to start budgeting your pennies. However, that doesn’t mean you need to get a new system – just newer. There are many excellent used computers, say 3-4 years old – that will work great.
Larry
There is a way to use the latest FCP 10.6.3 on iMac 2011 with macOS 11.6 or later by replacing the GPU with a model that supports MXM type Metal acceleration(eg Quadro K2100M) and using the Open Core Legacy Patcher.
1. The compatibility of the transport stream container, including AVCHD, should be improved, and the bugs that operate as a copy to library must be fixed, regardless of the source media.
Apple seems to think that workers are more stupid than necessary.
2. Need to fix , when create proxy media with more than 4 channel audio sources, channels are mixed down to 2 channels.
3. The LOCATION tab of Compressor 4 needs to add the function of registering the custom folder from the Finder to the Drag and Drop.
Ability for colaborating other part; color grading and audio mixing facility.
1. Export AAF for Protools.
Most Mixing Facilities are use protools.
2. improve fcpxml compatibility. When speed changed clips are import as nested clips in davinci.
I have to cooperate very often with broadcasters who are finishing the post-production, e.g. voice over, final sound mixing, color correction. They unfortunately are mostly using AVID-NLEs. Exporting my files to them is pretty complicate. I always have to use the xtopro-app for sending aaf-files.
I would like APPLE to implement an export possibility for aaf-files.
Hartmut
I would like to see much bigger handles for audio editing. Handles are way too small and difficult to grab. I use Sony Vegas for my audio, much…. much…… easier to edit with due to both handles and zooming in functions just to mention a couple. In addition, creating manual smooth fade in/out curves are by far to difficult within FCPX.
• A better way to edit key frames and the motion path
• Improved Titles – Something more like Premiere Pro’s Essential Graphics panel would be great. To me its just easier to do titles in Premiere.
Apple needs to go back to Final Cut 7
Gene:
Sadly, FCP 7 is 32-bit and doesn’t run on Apple silicon. Going back is impossible. The key, I think, is to take the features that made FCP 7 such a hit and move them into FCP (X).
Larry