The de facto standard in video editing software is Apple's Final Cut Pro 7. Many video editors rely on it every day in order to get their jobs done. It is a professional-grade tool, thanks to the professional editors who used it to edit movies like *Cold Mountain* and *The Social Network*.

The software is incredibly powerful, and is a non-linear editor. In other words, editors do not have to scrub through hours of tape just to find the clip that they want. Instead, they can have instant access to their clips at any time.

Final Cut Pro 7

Until late June 2011, Final Cut Pro 7 was the latest version of Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro 7 offered many of the features that video editors need, including multi-camera support, support for a number of different video formats, video effects, and up to 99 audio tracks. While the user interface of Final Cut Pro 7 is very advanced and challenging to understand, professionals who worked with it day-in and day-out quickly gained familiarity with its layout.

Final Cut Pro 7 cost $999.00 when it was still being sold, placing it well out-of-reach of all but the most professional, serious editors. However, for the high-end product that it was, editors were *more* than willing to pay for licenses for the software. The price point, while seemingly-outrageous to some, was a way of communicating to buyers that this was a professional tool for professional editors.

Then, Apple released Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X (pronounced "ten" instead of "ex") is the next generation of Final Cut Pro -- or, at least, that's how Apple wants its users to see it. Many editors, however, have been quite upset at the way that handle has ungracefully handled the leap from Final Cut Pro 7 to Final Cut Pro X. Although Final Cut Pro X has lowered in price from $999 to $299, many video editors believe it is a bad deal at the moment.

Many features that professional editors *rely* on to do their jobs are missing from Final Cut Pro X entirely. For example, multicamera support is not supported in Final Cut Pro X. While Apple has stated that multicamera support is going to be introduced in a new version of Final Cut Pro, many users need multicamera support *now*, not later. Therefore, Final Cut Pro X has even been deemed unusable by many editors.

Who is Final Cut Pro X For?

Professional editor Adam Lisagor, in the popular podcast "The Talk Show", stated that he was unsure who the product was intended for, but he believes it will help introduce video editing to a new generation of editors whose parents will be more likely to drop $300 on video editing software than $1,000. However, that does not help the professional video editors who need a professional tool today, not tomorrow.

Video editors who are interested in trying Final Cut Pro should wait until a later version of Final Cut Pro. They should at least wait until multicamera support is added, as that is a critical feature of nonlinear video editing.