Apple turns to the creatives, updates Final Cut Pro
Apple has updated Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor, adding a range of features to the products.
Final Cut Pro 10.2 introduces 3D titles, improved masking for colour grading and effects, and native support for more camera formats, as well as GPU-accelerated RED RAW processing.
Motion 5.2 extends the power of 3D titles with the ability to create custom materials and environments and publish them to Final Cut Pro X.
Compressor 4.2 makes it easier to package a movie for sale on the iTunes Store.
"From Hollywood blockbuster directors to first time movie makers, Final Cut Pro X is changing the way we edit movies today," says Philip Schiller, Apple senior vice president worldwide marketing.
"The updated Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor make it even easier to edit, title and package everything from short videos to feature-length films." Final Cut Pro 10.2 caters to video editors with more 3D title options and simple templates which have built-in backgrounds and animations.
Users can choose from a set of text styles to customise the look of their titles with combinations of materials, lighting and edges, and can convert 2D titles to 3D.
Final Cut Pro 10.2 allows editors view up to four video scopes simultaneously for more precision when colour grading, and includes improved Shape masks on any effect that can be saved as presets.
In addition, Final Cut Pro 10.2 natively supports more video formats, including Panasonic AVC-Ultra and Sony XAVC-S, and when working with RED RAW files uses GPU-accelerated transcoding, playback and rendering—including support for dual GPUs on Mac Pro. Video editors and motion graphics professionals can take advantage of Motion 5.2, which offers more options for 3D titles.
The app lets users create titles with multiple lights and cameras, as well as multi-layered scenes and 3D titles that cast shadows and reflections on other objects.
In order to increase features, Apple has teamed up with third-party partners for more 3D title options and 3D templates. These are coming soon from developers including Ripple Training, motionVFX and FxFactory
All templates work in the new versions of Motion and Final Cut Pro.
Motion also includes 12 new generator effects, improved keyframing and enhanced controls for mask and shape creation.
Compressor 4.2 creates an iTunes Store Package, which users can submit to an iTunes Delivery Partner for sale on the store.
Compressor also delivers performance improvements for encoding tasks, including fast GPU rendering when using Send to Compressor and hardware-accelerated multi-pass H.264 encoding on compatible systems.
Pricing and availability
Final Cut Pro 10.2, Motion 5.2 and Compressor 4.2 are available today from the Mac App Store for RRP NZD$399.99 inc. GST, NZD$64.99 inc. GST, and NZD$64.99 inc. GST, respectively to new users, or as a free update for existing customers.
