An Apple event has been announced for next Thursday October the 27th. We will be reporting on new Macs and maybe the release of an update to Final Cut Pro X.
So things are starting to become clear, it looks like next Thursday the 27th might be a very big day for Apple, Macs and Final Cut Pro X.
We are attending the special event which is being held on the Apple Campus in Cupertino at 10:00 next week. This of course happens the day before the FCPX Creative Summit starts. Good timing or good planning perhaps?
The headline from the invite reminds everybody of the introduction of the Macintosh back in 1984 and the introduction of the iMac in 1998. What do we expect to see?
New MacBook Pros. They have been the subject to heavy speculation on many Mac focused websites. USB C, Thunderbolt 3 and a OLED touch bar seem to be the new features rumoured.
The Mac Pro hasn't had an update since its introduction on December the 19th in 2013. Does the lack of incremental CPU and GPU updates mean we will have a new machine with a new form factor?
As much as we love the Retina iMac, again processor updates would be most welcome. Which leads us on to the subject of displays. We would very much like to see a new range of Apple 5K displays.
Leaving the most obvious to last, will this be the debut of the Final Cut Pro X update that we all know is imminent? FCP.co contributor Tom Wolsey found out that the link to download the trial version of FCPX was broken, only to later have a small file labled 'FinalCutProTrial10.3.dmg. We think we can now assume the update will be named 10.3!
Back to the event, will there be Chariots of Fire playing? Will it be insanely great? We will find out.
You can watch the live stream from the Apple campus on Thursday right here.
Make sure you follow FCP.co and Peter Wiggins on Twitter for updates from the event and the FCPX Creative Summit.
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!
