Today at the SuperMeet event, Apple announced Final Cut Pro X. It’s all 64-bit, and frankly, looks great.
Final Cut X is fully-color managed via colorsync, with a resolution-independent playback system. The whole gig uses Grand Central Dispatch, meaning rendering and other tasks can use multiple cores more easily. Color matching can be done between clips very simply. More advanced color correction can be done right within the app.
FCP X has also learned some new importing tricks, including automatic, non-destructive color balance fixing, media and more.
Editing has been overhauled, as well.. FCP X boasts a “magnetic timeline” that allows users to slide clips around the timeline, without disrupting the placement of other clips that might be in the way. Additionally, primary audio and video are locked together, and secondary audio sources can be tied to video clips as well, meaning accidental sync issues should be a thing of the past. Animating Keyframes are done in the timeline, as opposed to an additional window.
Clips can also have keywords applied to single sections, unlike in the past, when an entire clip had to use the same keywords. Clips can also be stored in iMovie-like collections, or be used to create easy-to-handle sequences, called “compound” clips. A new Inline Precision Editor makes editing clips together easier than ever, with previews of unused footage easy to access for trimming.
It is clear that Apple borrowed some things from iMovie for this. FCP now includes a film strip view for easier versioning and keyword tagging, not unlike iMovie.
FCP is more than just video, though. Audio appears to have gotten some love, too. FCP X can automatically analyze audio and sync similar audio clips. Waveform analysis looks like it has gotten beefier, with much better precision editing tools. Keyframing should also be easier in the new version. (See here.)
FCP X has built-in tools making editing b-roll easier. Dubbbed “Second Stories.” Gotta love Apple’s branding for this kind of stuff.
For those who are keyboard lovers (like me), FCP X seems to include far more in the way of keyboard commands. In his demo, Apple’s Randy Ubillos said, “everything can be driven from the keyboard.”
Reports are coming in that the demo is a “beta,” indicating that FCP X might not be quite ready for release.
Reports are also coming in that FCP X won’t require transcoding, which would be huge for DSLR users and others. Everyone who is tweeting from the event keeps saying how fast the demo looks.
FCP X will be released in June of this year, on the App Store, for just $299, according to @fcpsupermeet. The rest of the Final Cut Pro Studio (apps like Color, Motion, Compressor) were not mentioned at the event.
Information via PhotographyBay, @fcpsupermeet, @reximilian, @robimbs
Image via @robimbs, via MacStories
