Good news for Stuart and others who despise Final Cut Pro X: Apple has resumed selling version 7. But you better really want it:
Final Cut Studio can be purchased for $999 (or $899 for educational buyers). That’s the same price the suite was being sold for as of July 2009, but $700 more than its newer replacement, Final Cut Pro X.
To be fair, the older Studio edition includes Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, DVD Studio Pro 4, Color 1.5 and Compressor 3.5, which are now priced separately (or not available at all). FCP Studio won’t be sold in stores at all. It is available only by calling Apple directly.
This is certainly good news for editors who need to stick with FCP 7 for a project.
I maintain my belief that newish editors are much better off starting with FCP X or one of its competitors (Premiere or Avid). Don’t invest time and money in a program Apple wants dead.