Final Cut Pro X review: A great prosumer video editor that some pros will like, too

The Mac-exclusive Final Cut Pro X is the very definition of a prosumer video editing program. Descended from a much more expensive professional tool, it attempts to bridge the gap between consumers who want something powerful but easy and affordable, and professionals who can’t bear to lose a single piece of functionality.

The result, surprisingly, is an innovative, elegant, and unusual video editing program that serves most people in both categories—as long as they have Macs. Apple offers a 30-day free trial, and the full package costs $299.99 from the Mac App Store.

Balancing prosumer and professional needs

When the first version of Final Cut Pro X came out in 2011, replacing the more robust Final Cut Pro used in professional editing bays around the world, it was not well received by the professional community because many important features, like multi-camera editing, had been lost in the transition. Many of those features have been added back—often in reimagined implementations—since then. Final Cut Pro X may never be a mainstay in Hollywood again, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. It offers a lot to independent creators of all types.

Final Cut Pro X is not afraid to sacrifice some sacred ideas about video editing workflow. Experienced video editors will be surprised that the timeline is not presented in the way they’re accustomed to, though it shares some core ideas. Final Cut Pro X takes a different approach with what it calls a single track, “magnetic timeline,” but it’s just as functional in most cases.

Keeping your work organized and efficient is made easier with a feature called “roles.” Each video or audio asset can be assigned to a role—say, “dialogue,” or “titles”—and you can apply changes to those assets as a set. Additionally, the latest version of Final Cut now color-codes those assets in your timeline, making it easy to see the elements of your story at a glance.

You can add and remove nearly every part of Final Cut’s interface using keyboard commands or the drop-down menus in the status bar—and you can create custom layouts with exactly the features you want for different situations. That said, you cannot detach specific interfaces into their own windows, or click and drag them freely around the workspace, like you can in most competing software.

Final Cut includes a bunch of effects, titles, and transitions. It doesn’t beat some other software in sheer numbers, but the quality is high across the board, and you can bring in additions from third parties to expand the library.

Importing and exporting are easy. The importing tool is particularly strong: You can preview the video and apply color correction and fix audio problems right from the importing interface. You can apply roles to assets right away, too, or have them automatically assigned. By default, the application can export to 720p, 1080p, and 4K in video formats for Apple devices (H.264), to DVD, and to Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo. 4K is supported for YouTube and Vimeo.

Thanks to a recent update, Final Cut now supports the HEVC video format (also called H.265). This is particularly useful for 4K video because it usually results in smaller file sizes for high-quality videos. Apple recently updated macOS High Sierra to support this format, and it’s now the default format for videos taken on iPhones.

Supporting various other formats will require sending the video to another Apple program called Compressor, which sells for $49.99 in the Mac App Store. It’s too bad you need to buy additional software from Apple to get the full range of exporting options.

A couple of features are conspicuously absent. The big one is professional color grading tools. What Final Cut Pro X offers is just not as powerful as what you’d get in some competing professional applications. Final Cut Pro X also lags behind offerings from Adobe in team collaboration features, though it has just enough to be usable.

This software’s limitations might cause high-end pros working in collaborative teams to shy away, but it likely won’t stop the new target audience of Final Cut Pro X from buying the software. With its one-time price, its stellar performance, easy-but-powerful interface, and assortment of workflow innovations, Final Cut is an excellent option for solo video creators, from YouTubers to event videographers to independent filmmakers.

The Mac-exclusive Final Cut Pro X is the very definition of a “prosumer video” editing program—descended from a much more expensive professional tool, it attempts to bridge the gap or hit a sweet spot between consumers who want something powerful but easy and affordable, and professionals who can’t bear to lose a single piece of functionality.

Pros

Several small innovations in workflow and organization make it a delight to use once you adapt to it
High-quality effects, transitions, and titles
Not sold as a subscription; you buy it, you own it
P3 wide color gamut (Rec. 2020) support
Great importer

Cons