Petition seeks to bring back old Final Cut Pro

A new petition making the rounds says that Apple's latest professional video editing software is not as professional as the company makes it out to be, and that Apple should bring back the old version instead.

The petition, called "Final Cut Pro X is Not a Professional Application," was first penned on Saturday night after several users got together on Apple's support forums to complain about Final Cut Pro X. Petition creator Andrew Landini, who's been a professional Final Cut user for the past eight years, told CNET that his three-year-old Apple account was banned as a result, and that the related discussion thread was shut down without notice. The group took to PetitionOnline.com, where more than 1,600 others have since signed on.

Apple released Final Cut Pro X last week, and in the process, replaced the version of the software that was available as part of the Final Cut Studio product. The new version of the video editing application is a complete rewrite from the old one, and is missing a number of features video professionals have been quite vocal about, though mainly the capability to open and edit project files from previous versions of Final Cut.

Landini argues that video pros have invested heavily into those Final Cut Pro workflows, and that the shortcomings of the new software puts their businesses at risk.

"The costly process of migrating studio hardware and software is a major burden, especially on studios that have made recent upgrades to support Final Cut Pro," the petition says. "If many had known of the Final Cut Pro X release prior to investing in expensive hardware and software licenses, most, if not all, would have sought alternative solutions."

So how can Apple fix the new Final Cut Pro's problems in this group's mind? Bring the old version back.

The petition calls for Apple to both "reinstate" and support Final Cut Studio 3, as well as to once again make Final Cut Pro 7 (which is a part of that product) the existing top-of-the-line pro video editing software. And, as a cherry on top, downgrade Final Cut Pro X to a part of the "iMovie family" or put it in the same product tier as Apple's now-defunct, in-between product, Final Cut Pro Express. As an alternative to all this, the petition suggests Apple simply sell or auction off Final Cut Pro 7's source code to a third party so that the product can continue to be developed.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the petition.

Landini says he hasn't heard anything from Apple but has gotten "tons of e-mails" from users, most of which are positive. Interestingly enough, some are very happy iMovie users who find the new software to be easier to use, and are worried that Apple will end up rolling back features or parts of the interface as a response to the criticism.