FCP X or FCP 7 for new user?

I've recently graduated from a Media Production school where fcp 7 was used for several projects. There was no formal class for fcp 7. We had to buy the Apple Pro Training Series book for fcp 7, and on our own, use it to complete the projects.

Now that I'm out of school, I'm currnently working my way through the book. Seeing that I am not too deep into fcp 7 yet, should I continue learning fcp 7 or should I learn fcp x? I'm also seeking a certification in fcp.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

FCP7 is dead. You may not even been able to get it from Apple if they've discontinued the "phone" sales. It's OLD technology as well. I wouldn't even consider it compared to any current NLE and that's especially so given the features FCPX has.

+1 to cseeman.

Is useless to start working on a dead platform, sooner or later you'll have to move away from FCP7 (and it will be sooner than you think).

Just in case you want some practical understanding on why not to use FCP7...

While there's still some demand for FCP7 freelance work, that's on the wane. As a newbie, other NLEs will get you more work going forward.

FCP7 is only 32bit which means it doesn't take advantage of much of the memory. That can be a major source of issues on many projects.

FCP7 doesn't handle H.264 sources common in a wide range of cameras from DSLRs to the AVCHD used in consumer and many professional cameras. FCPX can handle those natively or otherwise transcode to ProRes in the background while you start off with the H.264 files. FCP7 would require you to transcode everything in advance. That's a MAJOR workflow slow down.

While some new plugins support FCP7 there are more being produced that do not as time goes on. Eventually FCP7 will break as Apple advances its OS and as Quicktime frameworks is left behind for CoreMedia and AVFoundation.

Thanks for the advice. I didn't want to get too involved in FCP7 and realize that my time would have been better used in learning FCPX. My course is set: FCPX.

Hello awest77! I'm an Apple Certified Master Trainer, I've been teaching FCP since version 4 as an ACT, and was teaching since version 1 before that.

There is no FCP 7 certification any longer, hasn't been for a long time. Thus, you'll have to learn X for that. Finish your 7 book, then dive into X, get the same APTS book for X and do it. The two versions can live on your system together. The X installation configures it all for you.

For information on certification, I have this doc with a ton of information and resources.

A lot of places are still using 7, but more and more are switching to X, so I'd say learn both. Only advice I'd give you, as I do all my students, when you learn X, take everything you've learned about 7 and throw it out the window. But that is for learning purposes only. 7 is still used in a LOT of commercial facilities, and many of the professional, freelance editors I've taught and work with have and use both on their systems. In fact, I know a good number of facilities who run both, making a slow transition.

FCP 7 is not "dead" yet, still widely used commercially.

If you want to go out and start getting work as an editor you'd better learn 7 plus it will give you a good base of understanding for both AVID and Premiere Pro.

If you want to learn something so you can edit your own projects then definitely learn FCP X.

FCP X will eventually get there but it isn't widely adopted as yet. Hopefully that will change in the near future, but its at least 12 months away or more.

+1 on what Seanus said

The more tools you have in your toolbag the more competitive you are in the marketplace. Learning more than one NLE is best but FCPX is a very efficient tool.

Thanks for all the helpful information everyone. I've been looking at a lot of FCPX videos, and I really like the slick, modern design and layout. I will keep FCP7 on my computer and continue working in the APTS book until I install FCPX. Learning other NLEs, such as Adobe Premiere and Avid Media Composer, will definitely be on my radar as alternative NLEs to learn.