Fred, Avid is a high-maintenance woman. Monica from Friends? "She" makes unreasonable demands of me. FCP X loves me for what I am - just a guy trying to make stuff that connects. If I spent my days editing feature films, then I might need a glamorous partner to impress the studio bosses. But I don't.
Stewart,
I understand the reasons of choosing a FCPX. They are perfectly valid and honest.
That said, I'd also like to stress some nuances about the high-maintenance post-prod partner.
IMO, it's not just about one software, the picture is probably wider than that and not just for High-end productions. FCPX is a Mac platform product only. And if I'm looking at all numbers involved, it's not a money saver nor a timesaver.
If I need power, I mean a serious working tool and not those fancy glossy screens Macs that are inexpensive but useless for me, it costs way more to build a powerfull Mac workstation than a PC one.
The real kids that are doing motion and are not gifted by their parents fancy Macs, use PC because it's cheaper and they tend to use Premiere and After Effect and Vegas as their primary tools and are faster at it that any of us with a FCPX. I don't know any kid here than can have the luxury to be on a Mac workstation. So FCPX the tool for the new kids? Well, I do think it is probably more the tool for the current photographers that love their macs and are moving motion the easy way to be honest.
I know it sounds a little direct but I do think it is truth.
Then, I won't buy anymore a software that is not cross-platform. Avid is, Premiere is too. FCP, Edius and Vegas aren't.
For less cost of a Mac + the inexpensive FCP, I got a powerfull PC and an Avid or PP5 suite that meets the requierements of the current generations (see for ex the Resolve requierements)
I got speed and reliability guaranted, wich is also not the case with this FC because it's not really ready yet.
The time I'd spend to make it works, adding plug-ins and third-party softwares etc...I'd edit right now anything with any media in Avid with the peace of mind that those can also be sent to others.
It's not just about the software and it's not a matter to impress the boss, specially when one is it's own boss and has to make the numbers work. It's a matter of taking all the paremeters into consideration.
Then, the QT wrapper is problematic, the Prores codec is not cross-platform either, and to conclude I'd like to say that many seem to think that Avid is slow and oscur, it is not. It used to be, true, but since the version 5, it is a really much more user-friendly and a dead fast editor. It just needs more training-experience. Do you really imagine that for the active pros working on those NLE time and efficiency is not a concern? Well, it is even more than most FCPX users because they earn money with it and therefore a slow-unreliable solution would be out of question, and they also need to make things that connect emotionally. But they take to time to learn and master their techniques enough so they are really fast. Not a software that would miraculously solve the problem.
This is not aimed to you nor to any particular poster, but I think that a lot of things should be putten in place because there is a lot of mystic circulating everywhere.
In my Avid training, I didn't had so far to join any MC forum because all the issues I've found in the path where easily answered-solved and never had to buy just one third-party stuff because everything you need is already inside and tested-ready. That is also part of the equation in terms of usability wich I personaly call (sorry for the image but it's the easiest I found) a "peace of mind factor".
Honestly, I think that there is too much Apple opium in this industry that sort of blind and rejects whatever is not Apple. Apple is great, is good, but it's not specially the grail. In fact it's far from being ideal in many aspects.
And the addiction is such that many FCP7 users are waiting the guru to send them, nobody knows when-how, the FCPX #2 or 3 that will finally work...
while in the meantime, other brands are also seriously working and also moving things forward with maybe less publicity but certainly more reliability today.