We are very pleased to announce that FCP.co will be reporting from WWDC in San Jose next week. In fact we will be at the Keynote presentation and the State of the Union presentation. We can’t wait!
We have held off speculating about Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference in San Jose until now, when we can publish the news that FCP.co will be attending.
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We think this keynote will be very important for pro users as we expect the new ‘modular’ Mac Pro to be shown for the first time. So what exactly does Apple mean by modular?
Can you remember when Apple sold different spec machines under the ‘Good, Better, Best’ headings? Will the new Mac Pro be sold in different configurations that will then allow the user to have an upgrade path of CPU, GPU, RAM & SSD etc?
One of the great features of the old cheesegrater Mac Pros was the ability to build a three disk software RAID internally. It had four slots in all, but one was for for the boot drive. Storage has evolved, so could the new Mac Pro contain an SSD RAID? Would it have any storage apart from a boot drive? If the physical case for the new machine is going larger to defeat its predecessor's heat issues, the ability to just insert disks for storage would provide a very welcome cost effective media drive.
Or will the new Mac Pro just be a case that the user has to add modules to? Sure there might be a configurator that could build a custom Mac Pro for photographers & video editors, but it could also build a custom machine for 3D modellers, architects or developers using Xcode. We have to remember that it is not just the creative industries that use high-powered Macs. Every app on the iPhone has been compiled on a Mac for example.
The WWDC 2006 video of the launch of the Intel Mac Pro, a big step from the existing PowerMac, is worth a watch. It is also very interesting to see how they compare the new machine to a similarly equipped Dell. Phil Schiller mentions that there were nearly 5 million different build-to-order combinations!
13 years on, we expect Phil Schiller to bring us the news on the new 3rd generation Mac Pro as well. Lets’ hope he doesn’t just cut and paste his script from 2006! Will it be available to order from Monday? That really would be news.
Will this presentation end the current Apple basher’s favourite line of ‘Has Apple abandoned the pro user’? We would hope so as over the last two years, Apple’s done a pretty good job of releasing fast machines such as the iMac Pro and the regularly speed-bumped MacBook Pros.
Should any die hard PC users be reading this and want to chime in saying that they can build a more powerful PC for the money to run Adobe Premiere on, they really need to recalibrate their performance expectations a lot higher.
We can’t mention a competing NLE without mentioning a possible update to Final Cut Pro X, or maybe a glimpse of a new version? WWDC is traditionally the place and time for new hardware, so we think this is unlikely. However, we will be downloading it instantly if it gets released!
So no more speculation, the truth is we really don’t know. In a few days’ time in a large room in San Jose, hopefully all will become clear.
We can’t wait!
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!
