Apple's big showcase for new hardware and software is the World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco that starts on Monday the 2nd of June. So what do we expect? Yosemite OS X anybody?
If you happen to be in San Francisco early on Monday morning, from about 4 AM onwards, you will spot a lot of people all walking in the direction of the Moscone Centre. The queue to get in to the building and to the front of the keynote presentation starts very, very early, but it is well worth it. We know, we've been there and got the t-shirts!
It was at the WWDC last year that we all got the first glimpse of the new Mac Pro and the famous line from Phil Schiller:
'Can't innovate anymore, my ass.'
So this year's WWDC has a lot to live up to. So what can we expect?
We can only guess from the information that has leaked out. Make sure you take a look at Apple's schedule that features a lot of sessions under wraps with temporary headings such as 'Shh, can't Tell You Yet' and 'Still Our Secret.' So lots of new stuff planned.
Photos are out there of the banners that indicate presentations of iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 (codename Syrah) with its rumoured visual refresh. Will the new version of OS X be called Yosemite?
What won't be of much interest are the rumoured consumer fitness application Helpbook and the iWatch, unless of course we can control FCPX with it! New iPhone sizes sure, but our current ones in the office work fine.
We have to admit to being a home automation fan, with legacy X10 and new Z-Wave products bulging out of dimmer racks and deep pattress boxes. Controlling them all from an iPhone without having to use a third party app like Indigo would be very cool.
Back to the hardware, will we see a Mac Pro update? Possibly, but a retina 4K display would get us more excited and have our hands closer to pulling the the credit card out of the wallet. What has been hinted on the web are a few new iMac models at a lower price point. (Or not!)
So what about a Final Cut Pro X update? We can't see one being released this week unless the new OS X becomes available and certain features within the OS are needed for it to run correctly. That's not to say that we won't get a peek of it on stage or more words from Phil telling us what's in store for later on in the year.
Whatever is released, we will be glued to our Mac or Apple TV to watch the Keynote presentation. If you plan on watching the presentation on your Mac, just make sure you are running Safari 4 or later on OS X v10.6 or later; Safari on iOS 4.2 or later. Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 5.0.2 or later.
The Keynote will start at 10am PDT, enjoy!
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
