As everyone knows, FCP X 10.4 has been announced. And Apple, uncharacteristically, has allowed people to talk about it. With pictures! In case you live under a rock, here are some links to the most comprehensive roundups from fcp.co and Provideo Coalition.
But this post isn’t about the new features, it’s about the reaction in some circles to these features. Not the usual “This isn’t what I personally wanted! Fail!!” whining that pops up every time FCP X is updated. That’s as predictable as the sunrise, and is laughable at this point. No, the whining I’m reacting to is that Apple has “stolen” these ideas – and others – from Current FCP X plugin developers.
I just want to go on record as calling bullshit on this. I will now provide examples. 🙂
“Apple stole the new color tools from (insert color correction plugin developer here)!!”
Bullshit. Color correction tools are A) not some new idea that these devs invented and B) Apple had their own Color Correction software years before any of these current plugins appeared. They bought the company that developed it, Silicon Color, in 2005 or so, meaning they already owned the tech.
Apple Color
“Apple stole the idea for the “Flow” morph transition from the mMorph transition!!”
Bullshit. Morph transitions are not a new idea. mMorph came out in reaction to Adobe’s Morph Cut transition, which was inspired by Avid’s Fluid Morph transition which came from the Elastic Reality software they bought… in 1996. The FCP X flow transition is just Apple’s version. Honestly, I wish it was more like Fluid Morph and didn’t need to freeze the A and B overlap. 🙂
Elastic Reality
“Apple stole 3D text from mObject!!”
Bullshit. 3D text is not a new idea. 3D environments are not a new idea. Cinema 4D has been around since 1990, and on the Mac since 1996. Motion has had a 3D environment forever, Apple just added the ability to create 3D text objects. Maybe they’ll eventually add in true 3D obj support.
It won’t be “stolen”.
Cinema 4D
Honestly, the idea that Apple “stole” 3D text from anyone is particularly ridiculous. Why? Here’s why:
“3D text app” web search (partial results)
Please.
In reality, if Apple want a technology/software that is truly unique, they just hire the developer or buy the company. The 360 video tools in FCP X 10.4 are from Tim Dashwood, and who knows what Wes Plate is cooking up.
Look, I’m not some “Apple can do no wrong” fan boy – the term “Sherlocked” exists for a reason – but regarding the stuff we’re seeing implemented in FCP X they’re not doing anything shady at all.
10.4 seems to have some very cool new features, and they’re not stolen from anyone. I’m really looking forward to it’s release. Hurry! 🙂
Final Cut Pro X Babbling 
Thank you for not providing the citations because if you did I’d go there and open a can of whoop ass.
Stop your whining and get to editing some really cool shit on one of the most exciting NLE platforms to come out in a long time.
Lol. At this point, *all* the whining is just laughable. This was so ridiculous though, that I had to vent. 🙂
Way to tear down those straw men!
Have links to some of this whining that you’re referring to? Would be more interesting (and relevant) than your made-up quotes.
No links, it was on a couple Facebook threads. The made up quotes are paraphrased, but accurate, I assure you. 🙂
I find it ironic that after reading the article there is a comment box called: “Don’t just sit there… say something”. Why would someone want to do that? You just accused any disagreement as whining and this inhibits free open flow conversation.
That being said, I am an editor who works on FCP everyday. I am looking forward to 10.4 most definitely. And No, I don’t think apple is doing shady stuff. But this blog seems biased. Why would they hold on to Color technology they purchased in 2005 just to release it 13 years later? In the meantime there have been multiple versions of ColorFinale that we have had to purchase as a work around. I am absolutely not impressed with that.
I’m not discouraging disagreement at all. Just pointing out that anyone saying Apple is “copying” anyone here is incorrect. People have been asking for native Curves/Wheels in FCP X since it came out. Apple gave people what they wanted. Did they “copy” Resolve? Baselight? It’s silly.
Great article. I had forgotten that FCP has Flow Transition. Thank you for the reminder, good sir! 🙂
Overuse of the word “bullshit” in this article prevented me from replying to it for a long time but I think it’s important for people to know how really things look like and why the above text is in fact… bullshit 😉
Most importantly, you imply that one will steal from a plugin only if it was based on a completely new idea that hasn’t been seen anywhere else before. Why? Do you know at least one FCPX plugin that does something that hasn’t been done before? Ever?
There are millions of ideas and concepts already being used in various fields, so a lot of the time it all boils down to figuring out which of them could be combined together to achieve something awesome and implement it in a really good way.
The problem is that you never really know which idea will be your jackpot. You may develop a complex plugin that will consume a lot of your time and money, will appear fantastic but won’t sell that well, and you can develop one that will be extremely fast to make (*looks at the companies who create templates in Motion and sell them as “plugins”*) but it will sell really well.
The ongoing uncertainty is the biggest nightmare when creating complex software plugins. Will it be worth the effort and money spent for its development? You never know…
…but Apple knows! All they have to do is ask a couple of their FCPX trainers which plugins are most popular and throw a list of “new features” to their engineering team. Less whining from the users, no uncertainty (but also no innovation on Apple’s part) – management’s paradise.
So does Apple steal? Well, yes and no. Of course they don’t steal your code, but they benefit from the money you had to spend for research and promoting your software… even for the projects that didn’t do so well! Because if Apple finds a plugin that does exactly what they intended to make and it isn’t very popular among the users, why spend money to include it? Double win.
Hopefully this comment clears things up a bit. Please don’t interpret it as complaining, it was only meant to shine more light on the matter.
Totally understand, and agree… to a point. I was responding to what I perceived as unjustified criticism. The particular thing I was responding to was the Color Tools. People have wanted *native* CC in FCP X forever. And yes, 3’rd parties stepped up and developed it. But in this case it should really not be a surprise that this is something they’ve added. And the “morph cut” plugin was also a no brainer. In any case, a 3rd party plugin may be better than Apple’s version too, look at keyers for instance. I don’t expect it’s a priority, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a full 3d environment appeared sometime. In general, if theres something built into another NLE that users want, Apple will probably add it at some point or other.