Following the controversial launch of Final Cut Pro X in June, Apple has put the former version of its video editing suite, Final Cut Studio, back on sale at $999 and $899 for educational customers, MacRumors reports. Final Cut Pro X is a complete rewrite of the application, rebuilt from the ground-up to take advantage of 64-bit architectures, featuring new video editing functionalities such as Magnetic Timeline, trackless canvas, and Content Auto-Analysis.
The app was first unveiled at the Supermeet during NAB Show in Las Vegas back in April, capturing the attention of video professionals thanks to its redesigned interface, dynamic editing UI, and improved rendering engine. However, when FCP X came out in June at $299, the lack of several features omitted from the first release caused a stir in the pro video community, forcing Apple to post a FAQ outlining the reasons behind the changes in Final Cut Pro X. Apple said they were committed to making Final Cut Pro X ”a breakthrough in nonlinear video editing”, although many suggested the company should put the old version back on sale to ease the transition process from FCP 7 to FCP X.
According to MacRumors:
We confirmed with an Apple telesales representative at 800-MY-APPLE that Final Cut Studio, part number MB642Z/A, is again available for $999 and $899 for educational customers. The product is only available through the 800-number and is not available in Apple Retail Stores or on the Apple Online Store.
Final Cut Studio includes Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, DVD Studio Pro 4, Color 1.5 and Compressor 3.5. The suite was discontinued with the launch of Final Cut Pro X, with Apple preferring a single-app model as Motion 5 and Compressor 4 also went on sale on June 21 on the Mac App Store.
In Cody Fink’s review of the iPad 2′s camera and photo and video examples of what the results look like for the end user, we saw the iPad 2 takes some decent photos and 720p videos for carrying the same cameras of the 4th generation iPod touch, although Cody noted picture quality was suffering from a bit of grain being captured by the lenses chosen from Apple. In spite of a quality clearly inferior to that of the iPhone 4, I still think the average user is going to be more than okay with these photos and media ending up on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.
What we’re seeing now, though, is the iPad 2 being used as a video capturing tool in professional environments. This video for the song “NEED” by Eddy was shot entirely using 4 iPad 2 units in a low-light set with pro and DIY steadicam rig. Remedy Films was apparently one the first studios to understand the potentialities of the iPad 2 and decided to give it a shot, literally, to see how well it would perform to record a music video and, why not, gain some free publicity from Apple blogs like ours finding this experiment incredibly cool.
We knew it wasn’t designed as a professional videocamera in the slightest, so we would be stuck with whatever results we got. We probably shouldn’t have filmed in a dark setting, but it actually worked well in a “party” environment, plus it fit the song perfectly! We still treated the cameras as “professional cameras.” we had one mounted to a steadicam rig, one was on a Kessler Crane Cineslider, and the other one was on a DIY hand held rig. The fourth iPad was held by Eddy for a few shots of her singing and dancing.
The shooting session took 5 hours, whilst editing required 12. I don’t think Remedy Films used iMovie for iPad to edit the whole thing, but it needs to be mentioned that they spent 8 hours in line to get their hands on 3 iPad 2s. You can check out the video below. Now here’s to hoping someone will release a music video shot with the iPad 2, edited in iMovie, based on a song recorded in GarageBand. (more…)
The iPad 2 isn’t just about new hardware and Smart Covers (which we already love). Apple has been busy building some exclusive apps for it, and a new version of iMovie is the first one. A precision editor with multi-track audio recording, AirPlay streaming to the Apple TV, universal app for iPhone and iPad (free upgrade for existing customers!) and new themes. The new iMovie takes advantage of the iPad 2′s faster processor and RAM to do some crazy video editing and HD sharing.
Over 50 new sound effects are available and music automatically switch with themes. The UI looks completely new and redesigned for the bigger screen which, we assume, should bring way better portable video editing. New sharing options for Facebook and Vimeo as well.
$4.99 0n March 11.
There is some speculation that the next release of Final Cut Pro which is part of the Final Cut Studio suite of video editing applications, will be coming sometime this spring according to sources that spoke to TechCrunch. Some people had been speculating that Apple may stop working on the far more professional-orientated Final Cut Pro and focus on the consumer iMovie program but Steve Jobs sent some of his trademark short and vague emails last year saying to “Stay tuned and buckle up” and also “Next release will be awesome.”
Supposedly Apple recently held a preview of the next version of Final Cut Pro on its Cupertino campus in which a small group of video editors were invited for feedback. This forthcoming version of Final Cut Pro, the eighth, is said to be “the biggest overhaul to Final Cut Pro since the original version was created over 10 years ago.”
A source told TechCrunch that the release would have a multitude of extensive changes from low-level architectural changes to a complete user interface redesign. 64-bit support is also expected to be on the list of improvements, something that its users have been quite vocal about. Those that have seen a demo of the product have said that the changes can be classified as “drastic and ambitious”.
[Via TechCrunch]
