> The last few months has shown over 70 percent of the finishing work coming in for us is now FCP. I have no control over what our clients use for offline, so I have to work with what they bring in. And this is the LA market.
I'm not sure it's fair to say that the majority of indie docs are now FCP, though that may be true on a market-by-marlket basis. I think if you lump all the non-fiction, unscripted, "reality TV" and traditional docs together, Avid would still have an large - maybe even majority - share. On the other hand, 9 out of 10 Oscars noms this year for doc feature and doc short film were cut on FCP.
The way I see it is that in the past, editing these docs fell into the lap of an editor and producers only concerned themselves with a paper cut. They didn't really use any editing software. Today, almost every director and producer has some version of FCP in their possession. They will often start a doc cut before an editor is on board. The editor is often hired to clean up the mess or finish the project when they get stuck or once the story framework has been established. When the editor comes in, he or she is faced with either continuing in FCP or dumping it all and starting over in Media Composer. If you are comfortable with FCP, then generally you take the first approach. Even in established houses, many have put in FCP, because they think it's easier for producers to also do some cutting.
That reinforces what Terry is saying, but it also points to the fact that the decision has been made one step more upstream from the finishing house. That's where marketing really has to kick in. To get producers, directors, etc. to actually understand that MC might in fact be easier for them in the long run.
I don't know if that's an easy sell, but I am doing my annual editing workshop with a local film school this month. I am once again teaching the labs with FCP because that's what's installed. I am again struck by how deep the app really is and how hard it is to get people to really learn it well. Especially to learn about all the potential gotchas. Yes, in ways it is more intuitive than Avid, but that comes at a cost of learning many bad habits. The good news, is that many of the students are really interested in giving the free Avid trial version a test drive. In the end, these are the folks who will eventually drive those decisions.
A fellow editor who teaches at a local media university faces this same issue. He teaches mainly Avid, yet he still has students come up at the end and say "now I have to buy FCP". When asked why, the students reply, "But aren't all indie films cut with FCP?"
Clearly, marketing must work harder.
- Oliver
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