In this video from IBC, recorded at the Creative Pro User Group's Sixth Annual Amsterdam SuperMeet, Final Cut Pro guru Larry Jordan considers the burning question: "Is Final Cut Pro X Ready for Professional Use?"

 

Spoiler: He says it is.

 

But along the way to that conclusion, he mounts a pretty compelling case, starting by naming examples of FCPX being used in Hollywood. He said Mike Fernandes at NBC Universal recently converted his team to Final Cut Pro X to produce the show George to the Rescue. And he notes that Sam Mestman, chief workflow architect for LumaForge in Los Angeles, is on location with a $100 million Hollywood production that adopted Final Cut Pro X "after six months of testing and with incredible resistance from the studio" because they just thought it would help them work faster. 

 

"If you're not converted to Final Cut [Pro X] by now, it's not because it isn't being used on small-, medium-, and large-budget projects," Jordan told the audience. He suggested resistance comes down to a single factor: "Every single one of us hates change." And then he embarked on a FCP X demo aimed at showing what the program can really do with a little help from the third-party ecosystem that's emerging. For example, he cites Intelligent Assistance, which publishes 7toX, a $10 app that allows you to import FCP 7 projects and media to FCPX, and Producer's Best Friend, a $100 app that creates detailed reports on all the elements in a single FCPX project.

 

"There's no one perfect tool," Jordan concludes. "Adobe makes great stuff. Avid makes great stuff. Autodesk makes great stuff. But the future is not standing still, and we can't stand still with it. We need to change. How soon you change is a personal decision that each one of you gets to make. But when you change, Final Cut X is there."

 

Is the case for Final Cut Pro X convincing? Settle back in your chair, watch Jordan put it through its paces — offering lots of tips and tricks along the way — and make up your own mind.