Apple has released new updates for both Final Cut Pro and iMovie for macOS through the Mac App Store. iMovie version 10.1.5 for macOS includes a few bug fixes and improvements while Final Cut Pro’s update is a bit more detailed. Both Motion and Compressor have also received new improvement updates as well.
I mentioned in my previous Final Cut Pro Diary piece that I attended one of Apple’s free workshops, Final Cut Pro for Storytellers. There was a lot to take in, and as a complete beginner at the time, I knew I’d only really remember some percentage of it.
As the tutor had been really helpful in answering individual questions as well as covering the syllabus of the course, and I was keen to understand how to adjust exposure and boost saturation, I figured that repeating the workshop would be a good plan. This would allow me to get some one-to-one help with my specific questions, while also getting to grips with more of the core material.
As it turned out, that plan worked really well, and is one I’d recommend to any Final Cut Pro novice …
After launching a new Pro Apps Bundle earlier this month that includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro X, and Apple’s other pro apps at a discounted price for education customers, the offer is now available in additional countries outside of the US.
I’ve been a photographer since I was 14, but am very much a novice when it comes to video. I’ve used bicycle-mounted action cams to put together some basic cycling videos, but these were nothing more sophisticated than taking clips straight from the camera, importing them into iMovie and adding cross-dissolves.
In an age when tech writers are increasingly expected to be videographers too, I decided it was time to take the plunge into the world of moving images. Although iMovie is a remarkably capable piece of software, I reckoned I was inevitably going to want to take the step up to Final Cut Pro at some stage, so I might as well make the transition now, rather than have to learn everything twice.
If you’re also a basic iMovie user with ambitions of getting to grips with more professional video production, you may enjoy sharing the journey with me. And if you’re an accomplished FCP X user, I’m sure that I and others in my position would love to hear your top tips …
While I’ve been a photographer since I was 14, when my bedroom became a darkroom with a bed in the corner, I’m a complete beginner where video is concerned. The closest I’ve ever got to video production was putting together a few exceedingly basic cycling videos in iMovie to share with friends.
However, since we live in an age when tech writers are increasingly expected to be video producers, and I love to learn new skills, I’ve set myself a new goal for 2017. At some point in the year, I want to be able to produce professional-looking review videos that wouldn’t look out of place when viewed alongside the output of my extremely skilled colleagues. I’ve upgraded to Final Cut Pro, and I’ll be taking you guys along for the ride – beginning with the demo video for this review.
It’s already clear to me just how much I have to learn, so anything which makes my goal a little easier has to be worth a look. And that’s exactly what Contour’s ShuttleXpress aims to do …
Apple has issued a minor update for Final Cut Pro X 10.3 to squash several bugs. The 197MB update, which comes shortly after the major 10.3 release, fixes issues related to updating libraries, and more.
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Apple has updated Final Cut Pro to allow 4k video to be exported to compatible Apple devices, with sharing support also added for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Pro and 4th-gen Apple TV. The sharing window also now supports multiple YouTube accounts …
Apple today updated Final Cut Pro X to version 10.2.1 with bug fixes and improvements. Apple’s release notes say that this update fixes a bug that would cause Final Cut Pro to quit at launch on some Macs. Support for Panasonic AVCAAM video at 25P and 30P rates has been restored, while Apple also says that dragging through the Timeline view is now more accurate. This 10.2.1 update follows up on the significant 10.2 update from April, which added 3D title support, new editing features, and support for several new cameras and video formats. Today’s minor update is the first to Final Cut since its pioneer Randy Ubillos retired from Apple.
Apple has pushed out an update to its suite of pro video editing tools for Mac today, including new versions of Final Cut Pro X, Motion, and Compressor.
Final Cut has been upgraded to version 10.2, which adds support for 3D titles, improved color grading and effects tools, support for additional camera formats, and GPU-accelerated processing of RAW footage from RED cameras.
Apple has updated Final Cut Pro with support for native import, editing, and export of MXF video files, along with the capability to edit video encoded with Panasonic’s AVC-LongG codec. Several issues are fixed in this update as well, including problems importing certain clips from specific cameras, App Nap stopping long import operations, and errors in handling of 240fps video.
Xcode was also update with fixes for common SourceKit crashes when using the new Swift language. The full change logs for both apps are included below:
Audiovisual professionals may have had a very long wait for a new Mac Pro, and that wait may not be quite over, but from the early hands-on reviews it seems they’re unlikely to be disappointed.
The real performance of the machine is currently only being seen with Final Cut Pro, which Apple optimized to take full advantage of the dual GPUs, but it’s a near certainty that Adobe and others will follow this example.
With a price tag of anything up to $14,000 if you completely max it out, this is not a machine that will be seen gracing too many living-rooms, but for those earning their living from audio and video and where time is money, the early hands-on reviews suggest that the Mac Pro lives up to its promise …
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Alongside the release of the new Mac Pro, Apple has updated Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store to take advantage of the machine’s immense raw processing power. Specifically, Apple says that playback and rendering has been optimised for the Mac Pro’s dual GPUs.
Final Cut 10.1 also adds 4K support, including monitoring across Thunderbolt 2 and HDMI displays as well as 4K titles, transition and generators. The update also adds a whole slew of other minor features and changes to the modern (if controversial) video editing suite.
Apple’s new release of Logic Pro X marks the first time in nearly six years that the company has completely overhauled the app’s UI. It’s been a long time coming for pros like myself that rely on the application, and to make things even sweeter, Apple is promising more than just a fresh coat of paint this time around.
There’s no ignoring the backlash Apple experienced just two years ago with its redesign of Final Cut Pro X and the removal of pro features in return for an elegant, streamlined interface. The question is, does Logic’s slick new interface come with compromises for professionals? Or has Apple learned from its mistakes with FCPX?
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[hulu id=_cdivytk6g8qt3ggv4rw0a width=704 start_time=206 end_time=325]
Vine version 1.0.5: Twitter’s new short video sharing app Vine ran into a bit of controversy when pornography found its way into the Editor’s Picks section due to human error. The developers have since addressed the issues and today’s update not only brings new Twitter and Facebook sharing features, but also the ability to block and report profiles. As noted by The Verge, the 1.0.5 update also increased the rating of the app from 12+ to 17+.
• Share to Twitter or Facebook after posting. Find the post you want to share, then tap the “…” button in the bottom right.
• Report or block a profile. Go to the profile, then tap the newly added “…” button in the top right.
• Fixed an issue that caused a black screen to appear and uploads to fail after creating a video on certain devices
• Miscellaneous bug fixes
ProCutX for Final Cut Pro X: Final Cut plug-in maker & production company Pixel Film Studios is out today with a new app that allows iPad users to control a FCPX session running on their Mac. At first glance the app appears to provide a pretty slick UI and the developers said it offers access to all of the software’s editing tools to “control every step of the FCPX editing process.”
• Precision Timeline Scrubbing
• Quick Retiming
• Auto-Correct Color
• Color Grading
• Compound Clip Editing
• Import, Export, and Rendering shortcuts
• Quick Keywording
• Fast access to Tools
• System Volume Control
• Timeline Zooming
• Audio Enhancements
• Record Voiceovers
Tango version 2.6.36915: The popular text, voice, and video chat app Tango was updated today with a new central gallery for pictures and videos and a number of enhancements:
✔ New! Find all your pictures and videos in a central gallery.
✔ New! Improved call handling makes connect faster.
☂ Bug Fixes
Click image for Retina display resolution
Several of Apple’s popular Mac apps received updates today after the opening keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Many of the updates help apps take full advantage of the new 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro’s display. The details for Final Cut Pro, Aperture, and iPhoto are below.
Final Cut Pro: Final Cut Pro received a small update today that included enhancements for the MacBook Pro’s Retina display and improvements to overall stability. Version 10.0.5 of Final Cut Pro is available from the Mac App Store now.
iPhoto: Version 9.3 of iPhoto was released on the Mac App Store today with a number of new features and improvements, including: iPhoto libraries are now accessible in Aperture 3.3, support for AVCHD video, and new Export options that auto-organize images into event subfolders.
Aperture: The biggest update of all apps today is version 3.3 of Aperture. Other than being “fully optimized for the Retina display on the new MacBook Pro,” the update includes the following new features and fixes:
What’s New in Version 3.3
• New unified photo library for both iPhoto (v 9.3 or later) and Aperture; no import/export required; Faces, Places, slideshows, albums and web sharing work across both applications
•Support for AVCHD video has been added
• Aperture now lets you use camera-generated previews for faster browsing of RAW files immediately after import
• Highlights & Shadows tool has been updated to deliver higher-quality results and work with extended range data
• A new Auto Enhance button has been added to the Adjustments panel
• White Balance tool now includes Skin Tone and Natural Gray modes to simplify color balance
• Auto button has been added to the White Balance tool for one-click color balancing
• Set Desktop command has been added to Share menu so you can set a desktop background from within Aperture
• A new Manual option allows you to drag and drop projects to customize sort order in the Projects view
• New preference allows you to set the background brightness of the full screen browser
• Facebook, Flickr, and MobileMe albums are now displayed as thumbnails in the main window when accounts are selected in the source list
• Minor terminology changes, including “Original” instead of “Master” and “Info” instead of “Metadata”
• Source list includes a new “Recent” section, showing Last Import and recently-viewed projects
•Raw Fine Tuning is no longer displayed in the Adjustments panel by default
• Faces can now be named by dragging them from the Unnamed Faces browser to existing snapshots on the corkboard
• The Faces corkboard now includes a menu that allows you to set the order of face snapshots
• Newly designed monochrome source list and toolbar icons
• Addresses numerous issues related to overall performance and stability
As pointed out by MacStories, Apple recently removed trials for the iWork suite and Aperture 3 from Apple.com. The webpage formerly home to the iWork trial now includes a message informing users that iWork apps, such as Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, are available through the Mac App Store. Apple removed the trial for a short while last year before returning it; however, the company also informed users last month that the iWork.com Beta service would shut down July 31. Apple does not currently offer trial versions of the $20 Mac Store apps.
Avid, the makers of the music industry’s leading DAW called “Pro Tools”, just dropped an iPad version of its pro-sumer Final Cut Pro competitor known as “Avid Studio.” Although the latest Final Cut Pro X update brought multicam editing, broadcast monitoring, and many of the features pro users demanded be re-implemented, the Avid Studio iPad app shows why Apple should and most likely will release FCPX for iPad.
The app is available from the App Store now for $4.99, significantly less than the desktop version that retails for $169.99, but the app will increase to $8 after an initial 30-day introductory period. The Avid Studio app is the company’s first video editing suite for iPad and aims to provide most of the features offered through the desktop version.
Users will get the familiar timeline and storyboard, but new gestures will allow them to pinch and squeeze to scale images and videos, and arrange edits on the timeline for picture-in-picture effects. Users of the desktop software will also appreciate the Precision Trimmer, Razor Blade tool for on the fly cuts, and the ability to export projects easily to Avid Studio on the desktop. Projects can be uploaded to iCloud, and finished projects can be shared to YouTube, Facebook, and by email from within the app. Unlike the desktop version, there is no Flash export option.
Update: Apple has published a white paper entitled “Final Cut Pro X for Final Cut Pro 7 Editors” to detail the differences between the two apps and smooth the transition for professional users.
Apple updated its Final Cut Pro X video editing software this morning with some much-needed improvements. It is a significant update, because Final Cut Pro X version 10.0.3 now appeases to pro editors with two new features, including multicam editing that automatically syncs up to 64 angles of video and photos, and broadcast monitoring. The software also advances XML 1.1 support for better plug-in compatibility, and it supports media re-linking while boasting enhanced chroma keying with edge quality, light wrap and color sampling. Users can also finally import layered Adobe Photoshop files.
Multicam editing is done in a typical Apple fashion, and besides taking advantage of the time code to sync camera angles, Final Cut Pro X can also sync scenes using audio waveforms to provide great accuracy. Users also no longer have to export to a motion graphics application to view results with real-time playback, and the broadcast monitoring feature lets an editor connect to waveform displays, vector scopes, and calibrated, high-quality monitors to ensure the projects meets broadcast specifications. Broadcast monitoring requires a Mac Pro with a PCIe card or a Thunderbolt device. In the case of the latter, customers will be able to monitor their project live while on a shoot.
Interestingly— broadcast monitoring is releasing as a beta feature, which is unusual for Apple. Then again, the iPhone 4S digital secretary Siri is also in beta, so perhaps these features mark a change in Apple toward getting new products out of the gate as soon as possible and smoothing out the rough edges over time.
The Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 update is free for anyone that owns Final Cut Pro X, a $299 download from the Mac App Store. By the way, if you are stuck with a current Final Cut Pro 7 project, there is now a new app called “7toX by Assisted Editing” that is a $99 value and lets you easily convert old files to Final Cut Pro X projects.
Other updates include Compressor 4.0.2 that lets you customize output settings, work faster with distributed encoding and tap into a comprehensive set of delivery features and Motion 5.0.2 which allows users to customize Final Cut Pro titles, transitions and effects, with 2D/3D animations using real-time feedback.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FzHzlMneaeQ]
(adult topics/language: NSFW)
There is a lot of buzz on the net right now on Louis CK’s self-promoted video which he launched this week for $5, DRM free. We love the idea and loved the 1.1GB video. One interesting note, via Reddit interview: Louis CK does his own editing on Final Cut Pro:
You’ve been listed as a video editor on most of your projects. What program do you use to edit and why have you decided to take on this role?link
I love editing. I have used Avid in the past but I exclusively use Final Cut Pro now, though I am concerned about the future… You always have to put three dots after the future… editing is part of the process. It’s how you form everything. In some ways not editing yourself would be like a sculptor dropping some clay off at a guys house and saying “Make a naked lady chasing a bull. and do it nice.”
The experiment seems to be a success…
The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we’ve sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video.
Get the video here (highly recommended).
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Hardware specialists over at Bare Feats ran a series of interesting Final Cut Pro X benchmarks pitting the latest Sandy Bridge-equipped iMac and MacBook Pro against the last year’s Mac Pro. The iMac system rocked a 3.4GHz quad-core Core i7 processor with 16GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM and AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 2GB of GDDR5 video memory. The MacBook Pro was a 2.3GHz quad-core Core i7 system with 8G of DDR3 1333MHz RAM and AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics with 1G of GDDR5 video memory. The 2010 Mac Pro desktop had a 3.33GHz six-core Westmere processor with 24GB of ECC DDR3 1333MHz RAM and AMD Radeon HD 5870 graphics with 1G of GDDR5 video memory.
Summing up, in two out of four benchmarks involving blur sharpen and blur directional effects the iMac came in first and the MacBook Pro outperformed or matched the Mac Pro. It is in the remaining two GPU-intensive tests – exporting a Final Cut Pro X project in H.264 (transcoding) and encoding a Blu-Ray stream in Compressor 4 – that the Mac Pro shined. Although the benchmarks are far from conclusive, they give away the false impression of Apple favoring the newer Sandy Bridge architecture.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgXUh1HrYOw]
TheNextWeb reports that Apple has begun returning the $299 purchase price of Final Cut Pro X to customers who are unsatisfied with the product’s features and capabilities. Cupertino has begun issuing refunds to those who have filed an official request using Apple’s Mac App Store Customer Service form.
Some customers have received sympathetic email responses from Apple support staff, including:
“Moving forward, I understand that you are not satisfied with the app “Final Cut Pro”. I can certainly appreciate you would like a refund, and I would be more than happy to help you out with this today. In five to seven business days, a credit of £179.99 should be posted to the credit card that appears on the receipt for that purchase.
Please note that this is a one time exception because the iTunes Terms and Conditions state that all sales are final.”
This is an interesting gray area because Mac Apps purchased through the Mac App Store aren’t usually up for return so long after they are purchased (unless you re in Taiwan). Whereas boxed software, especially Pro level stuff, usually has a longer guarantee even if there are restocking fees.
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There has been a big stink (several actually) about Final Cut Pro X’s lack of ‘Pro’ features. One such glaring omission has been the lack of Final Cut Pro 7 XML imports. MacMagazine.br did some digging and found that the code for doing Final Cut Pro 7 imports is actually inside Final Cut Pro X and for some reason hadn’t been enabled for shipping.
As per usual, Apple will likely enable that functionality (and many others that are missing) in updates to Final Cut Pro X. If you are daring, MacMagazine offers a workaround that might be able to import now (they haven’t yet tested).
Hardmac reports today some of Steve Jobs’ latest thoughts on BluRay.
He admitted that retrospectively he feels ashamed that Apple’s name is associated to Blu-ray, as he thinks that BD supporting associations look today more like Mafia than anything else.
Jobs famously called BluRay a ‘Bag of Hurt’ during a Q&A after a MacBook Event in 2008.
Concerning authoring on Blu-ray, it seems impossible to provide software supporting such format for consumer market. In addition to DRM, here it is the cost of licenses that slow down the entire process; one would have to start paying 3,000 USD to AACS, then 80,000 USD to Sony, 40,000 USD to Sonic, etc.
Hardmac also reports that the next version of Final Cut Pro will come in March or April 2011, which is what we’ve seen in Jobs emails.
Finally, they say that not everyone is happy with the Xserve axing but they don’t know what comes next. We’ve heard some things.
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