As widely predicted, Apple used its platform at a user event within the NAB video industry show yesterday to announce a new version of Final Cut Pro, its professional video editing package.
Although it’s the eighth version of Final Cut, the upgrade will be known as Final Cut Pro X, reflecting the fact that the software has been completely rewritten as a 64-bit Cocoa app, supporting effectively unlimited amounts of memory. It will be available from June as a download.
More dramatically, Apple has slashed the price of the app, positioning it within reach of consumers as well as the industry. The current version, Final Cut Pro 7, is only available as part of the £834 Final Cut Studio, which includes the Motion animation utility, Soundtrack Pro for audio processing, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro 4 for authoring, and Color, Apple’s highly regarded colour grading tool. Final Cut Pro X will sell for $299, likely to translate into a UK price of around £229 inc VAT, and will include at least Soundtrack and Color. The future of the other Studio components has yet to be confirmed.
At £132, Final Cut Express (FCE), the significantly cut-down consumer edition, would be squeezed by this pricing. During the presentation, Randy Ubillos, Apple’s chief architect of video applications, said the pricing structure of Final Cut Studio and FCE needed simplifying, “so we decided we really wanted to do away with that” – perhaps implying that FCE would be discontinued. With iMovie still catering for home users, the jump to a £229 Final Cut Pro looks reasonably manageable considering the enormous power the new app will offer.
Many of the new features of Final Cut Pro X address the efficiency of the editing process. Importing is faster and editing can begin before import is complete; stabilisation, audio cleanup and rolling shutter fixes can be applied at the same time. Shot detection categorises shots automatically as medium, close-up and so on. Sync can be locked between audio and video tracks, and auditioning allows the editor to try out edits and effects non-destructively while organising footage. Sections of footage can be keyworded simply by selecting them in the timeline, without having to create subclips.
The inclusion of colour grading is significant in a product at this price level, since it’s one of the key features that differentiates professionally produced movies – although considerable skill is required as well as the relevant tools. Apple drew applause with a colour matching option that adjusted the tone of one clip to match another with one click.
While some users will be concerned that a lower-priced Final Cut might be dumbed down, Apple made clear during the event that it regarded the app as a direct competitor to professional alternatives from Avid and Adobe, which were in “a race for second place”. Sales of Final Cut Pro into broadcast and postproduction non-linear editing (NLE) had overtaken and were now vastly outstripping its rivals, Apple claimed, with Final Cut accounting for more than half of new purchases.
At the time of writing, Apple has not issued a press release or any further details following the announcement.
