Originally published at: Apple Introduces Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad - TidBITS
Apple is bringing its high-end media creation tools Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro to the iPad. Will they be companion apps for the Mac versions, less-capable alternatives for those who don’t need the power of the Mac versions, or both?
Subscription, gah…
I would have been all over this at a single purchase, but I don’t want an annual subscription of 49 bucks. Lumafusion has taken care of the video editing side of things on the iPad. I heartily recommend it.
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FCPro on iPad? If it’s anything like iMovie on iPad, I don’t think so. Final Cut is accessible high end non linear editing, and I don’t see how it lends itself to a touch interface as an equivalent. Plus an expensive annual subscription? No.
(20 year Final Cut user in both flavors.)
And on further consideration: the question you asked is exactly what iMovie has become — a less capable subset of FCPro’s features whose files can be taken into Final Cut for refinement.
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Same here, I would have thought the primary use case would be assembly on the hoof for syncing to your desktop later. Shorter videos on the iPad alone I can see, but why deal with a subscription for that? LumaFusion handles both, the first via a 20$ add on FCPXML export option, the second by being a capable video editor built for that platform. I’m sure there’s nuances of differences between the two which might nudge users one way or the other.
My suspicion is that the iPad is difficult to justify development for when it comes to Pro apps. We’ve seen a spate of highly capable apps recently, Affinity’s suite includes them in their overall price, Capture One has a $5 a month sub, I suspect the uptake is small.
That or…Apple have seen the benefits of bundles in other areas, subscriptions covering a range of services, we may see similar when it comes to their Pro apps.
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I’m not so sure. I doubt that Apple would have gone to all the effort of developing iPad versions if they didn’t think there were some compelling use cases out there. I think it’s a bit preliminary to write these off without seeing them in action.
As for pricing…shrug. The annual fee is a sixth the cost of the Mac app. Whether this is overcharging or not is, again, a bit soon to tell. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the Mac applications moving to a subscription basis, too.
Whether you like or hate app subscriptions, that’s the way the market is moving. It’s not, realistically speaking, all that different from a “one-off” purchase price followed by endless annual upgrade fees.
Early days indeed, but subscriptions have low appeal for me.
Normally I’d agree, but considering how rarely I do video projects – once every 2 or 3 years – being able to “rent” FCP for $5 for a month’s use sounds far better than paying $300 for a permanent license.
Except, of course, for those instances where it isn’t.
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It turns out that Avid, DaVinci Resolve and Sibelius, Premier Rush, Luma Fusion, etc. have had iPad Pro versions of their high end editing software for years.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90707674/lumafusion-pro-video-editor-ipad-final-cut-alternative
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/release/20221020-02
https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere-rush/video-editing-app.html
Shame on Tim Cook for not developing a iOS version of Final Cut Pro Sooner.
Now do Aperture
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Beyond me why anybody seriously into video editing would want to edit with a fat stylus like a finger.