Editing on iPad is Hell

Apple released their professional video editing software Final Cut Pro on the iPad. It shows they're serious about putting the Pro in iPad Pro. And to find out if they accomplished it, we made an LMG editor edit an entire video using it.

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Approaching a challenge
0:36 This should be a dream
1:40 Setting the project up
3:30 A bit of history repeating?
4:44 Thanks dBrand!
5:21 Where FCP on iPad shines
6:12 A few days later...
6:48 Oh no, I feel a list incoming
9:09 Weeks later...
11:03 Who this is for

[BlakeHelms]

I’ve been editing video for over 20 years. I decided to give it a try to edit a pretty simple project (single camera, two audio sources, a few video files). I felt like it was actively fighting me the entire time. I spent several hours working until I reached the point that I was visibly angry. Downloaded DaVinci Resolve for iPad, was finished in ~40 minutes—no issues.

[webluke]

They should have called it "Final Cut GO" not Final Cut Pro, if a pro can't do everything they want.

[Toothily]

Mac Address by far has the best story telling of any of the LMG channels. No surprise Jonathan used to work in journalism, he knows how to set a good pace.

[ap]

"I'm being hyper critical obviously, because I just got through editing a Mac Address video on a Ipad" I felt that pain in your voice my man lol

[owRekssjfjxjxuurrpqpqss]

For real. File management, working with multiple windows/apps, it’s way too cumbersome on iPad OS still.
The slow animations, the limited window sizes, all sorts of other hurdles, it all makes it impossible to suggest as a “pro” device unless you’re an illustrator primarily, procreate is excellent with apple pencil and not subscription based.

[vinnitheph]

"It's 90% there, it gives you the ability to do these things, but then it takes away the one thing that you need to make it actually work the way you want it to" (C)

Honestly, that's my experience with the "iPad as computer" in general, no matter what it is - from video editing to writing essays and composing emails.

[shadowpsc]

Logic Pro on the iPad Pro is in a similarly awkward, if not more awkward position because of how good Garage Band on iOS is. Feasibly, you're only going to use either for writing, arranging, outlining, or other initial steps in the workflow of creating a song. Not supporting VSTs or Plugins outside of what you can get in the correct format on the app store is a severe hinderance that is going to keep it from being the platform of choice for mixing or mastering (even for people who work entirely in the box), and may be a non starter for even the writing/arranging portion if their instruments of choice aren't available (amp sims, synths, EZ/Superior Drummer).

[ajbp]

The sight at 10:41 was so genuine that I felt the immense release through the screen!

[Teddy-rdm]

I really appreciate how "calm" Mac Adress videos are compared to the fast paced and intense videos of the other LMG channels

Even though I am not interested in anything that Apple is offering, I always enjoy watching MA because of how relaxed and correctly paced the videos are.

MA videos are the kind of videos that you can watch while on the train where you have the time to enjoy the view, relax all while not zoning out from the actual video

I kind of wish the other LMG videos were like this sometimes, where instead of focusing on fast paced information were more focused on getting the point through

[bobsteven]

Ive noticed that even if users get mad initially at a workflow change in their software, if it's a good change (not just a tiny improvement), the users will instantly grow to like it. If it takes 5 years to realize that you do like a change, then it means it wasn't a good change, you just got used to it and become faster because of an insane amount of experience.

[theftking]

As a video editor, I'm sorta skeptical that touchscreens are actually beneficial for editing workflows. I feel like mouse-keyboard is the most-efficient input device.

If you're doing one specific task over and over that benefits from an input device (trackballs and color correction come to mind), maybe, but I feel like most video editing benefits from the broadly-useful mouse/kb, and your given task changes so often that switching between it and a touchscreen/stylus and some sorta editing rig ends up losing more time than it saves.

Shame, cuz I have an M2 iPad Pro with the pencil, and there's no reason for there not to be a fully-featured version of Premiere Pro on there.

[DrAnimePhD]

Honestly at this point the iPad Pros should have the ability to dualboot macOS. I know how you said it shouldn’t and did an entire vid about why but it’s clear the limited UI and functionality of iPadOS is a problem. Apple ain’t gonna fix it since every iPadOS update is just sloppy seconds of the previous iOS version, so might as well let us dualboot macOS so we can do more with our higher end iPads. You can do so much more on a Mac that is as fast as the iPad Pro, and cheaper than it

[TheThaiLife]

For fun, I decided to bring my iPad 12.9" Pro M1 to use on some recent Thailand travels. I made sure to have the most updated version of Lightroom on there and thought I was good to go. Spoiler alert, the worlflow was a NIGHTMARE. You can't sort the photos by the top rated so you can easily sort which ones you want to modify. Then, you can't select multiple edited photos to export at one time but have to export individually. Then, if you save them to Photos which is the only place that the iPad Facebook app (which has NEVER been updated) requires them to be for upload, it saves the modified photos next to the originals by time. So, you have to figure out which ones you modified while uploading to FB based on a 1" thumbnail. Then, I pulled open DaVinci resolve to edit my video... let's just say I just decided to wait until I got home. Now, I leave the iPad at home.

[lancehoward]

I got started editing professionally on the Sony PVE-500 tape control unit and some DV/DVCAM decks. I understand the desire for a good touch screen interface for editing, because even though that was linear, there's something about that tactility of moving around video using your hands. I do really miss the big physical jog wheels and those nice clacky play/ff/rewind IN/Out buttons.

[brandonsimoncini]

11:44 I’d be hypercritical as well if I was spending $50 a year when you can get Final Cut on Mac for $300 with so many QOL improvements - pays itself off if you use it for 6 years

[JoeyAlmonds]

Mark's dry delivery was delightful to watch

[marcellkovacs]

Could've been interesting to make Mark try Resolve on the iPad as well

[aokaze-minotaur]

I write music as a hobby. I've never used Logic Pro for iPad, but I cannot possibly imagine composing on it. You can't even install third-party VSTs. If I'm limited to default instruments and plugins, I might as well just use GarageBand (which I've also never used). I'm no professional, but I can immediately tell it's not something professionals would want anyway. The Logic Remote is at least somewhat useful if you're, say, traveling and you don't want to carry a big bulky control surface with you while you're working on Logic on your MacBook. But Logic Pro for iPad? Who the f*** is that for??

[KCIsMe]

From what I remember when Final cut X was first released it wasn't just that it was different, it was also missing a lot of features people were used to. Over the years many of those features were added back in. I've never actually used Final cut though, so this is just what I remember other content creators saying.

[Atrain]

Thanks Mark for your suffering to make this video. I hope you don’t get cold sweats looking at iPads moving forward.

I’ve wanted to try this out because I had a feeling it was intended for hobbyists, not pro editors