I wrote a recent review that was a pretty harsh critique of Final Cut Pro X and I do have to say that Apple took care of a lot of issues with its recent Final Cut Pro 10.0.1 software update. FCP version 10.0.1 (some people think it is FCP 10.1 but it’s not … not quite yet) is a nice revision of FCP X, which smooths a few of the rough edges of the first release of FCP X.

What we get with Final Cut Pro 10.0.1 is XML capability finally, as well as improved cross dissolve (and other) transitions without having to create a second storyline. This was an overlook in the first version and seemed weird, so I’m glad they fixed that. We also get solutions to other annoying bugs like the lower thirds malfunction that I described in an earlier post. It also feels a bit quicker. I do have to say that I upgraded to a new iMac this week, and FCP X really works slick and quick on this new machine. That hardware upgrade made me a lot happier with FCP X, but I do think that in general Apple is going in the right direction with the software and we’ll see more professionals using it soon.

I’m still on the fence as to whether or not it is the best tool out there, but I am continuing to use it more and more because I don’t have to transcode my Canon 5D mark II footage and I don’t have to wait for Final Cut Pro to render all the time, as I did with FCP 7. It is also a dream to be able to sync my separate audio and video files with one click (without buying an expensive plugin). And all of this costs $300. As the software updates from Apple continue to come, I am going to use FCP X more and more as my primary editing package.