Final Cut Studio 2 shipping

Posted by Dennis Sellers May 18, 2007 at 4:54am

Apple is shipping Final Cut Studio 2, an upgrade to the video production suite that delivers new creative tools designed expressly for editors. It’s available through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of US$1,299.

Final Cut Studio 2 includes: Final Cut Pro 6, which introduces Apple’s ProRes 422 format for uncompressed HD quality at SD file sizes and support for mixed video formats and frame rates in a single Timeline; Motion 3 featuring a 3D environment, paint and new behaviors; Soundtrack Pro 2, with dozens of tools for multitrack editing, surround mixing and conforming sound to picture; Compressor 3 delivering powerful batch encoding for multiple formats with a single click; and DVD Studio Pro 4.2 for SD and HD DVD authoring. Final Cut Studio 2 also introduces “Color,” a professional color grading and finishing application for ensuring consistent color and creating signature looks.

At the core of Final Cut Studio 2 is Final Cut Pro 6, the latest version of Apple’s Emmy award-winning editing software, which includes a new Open Format Timeline that lets editors mix and match virtually any video format and frame-rate in a single Timeline without transcoding. ProRes 422, a new full raster, 10-bit 4:2:2 post production format produces HD quality at SD file sizes, making it ideal for working efficiently across a SAN or on a MacBook Pro in the field, according to Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. Companies including Panasonic, Sony and RED are embracing ProRes 422 as they continue to innovate on the next generation of cameras, he adds.

Final Cut Pro 6 also includes optical flow based SmoothCam technology to remove unwanted or jarring camera movement. Integration with Motion includes the ability to edit Motion templates with video drop zones and editable text fields directly in Final Cut Pro.

New to Final Cut Studio is Color, which puts a task-based color grading and finishing workflow in the hands of every Final Cut Pro editor. The primaries in Color include color correction tools such as gamma, lift and gain adjustments, as well as custom R, G, B and luma curves. The secondaries provide the ability to isolate specific areas of an image with soft- edged mattes and custom-shaped vignettes, which can be tracked. Professional scopes provide monitoring of
chrominance and luminance values via waveforms, histograms and new 3D scopes. Color includes over 20 signature looks that can be customized to create a mood for any given project, and offers a roundtrip workflow where projects can be sent from Final Cut Pro 6 directly to Color for grading, finishing and final rendering with 32-bit float 4:4:4 image processing.

Motion 3, the latest version of Apple’s motion graphics software, takes the familiar Motion tools and extends them to a 3D environment. New camera behaviors add depth and realism via drag ‘n drop. Vector based paint tools allow editors to create brushes with color, particles, video or pictures. A match moving tool automatically maps any image or effect to the path of any other object. New retiming behaviors enable editors to slip and slide retiming effects on the Timeline without keyframes, while new audio behaviors allow users to create animations that respond to soundtrack volume and frequency. Motion 3 includes over 1,500 new design elements, including professional stock imagery, animated line drawings and vector artwork.

Soundtrack Pro 2, a new version of the audio editing application in Final Cut Studio 2, features new multitrack editing and recording tools in a streamlined interface. Soundtrack Pro 2 introduces a heads-up spotting display that lets editors align effects and dialog with pictures. Take management tools enable editors to combine pieces of the best takes to craft performances. Stereo and surround mixing tools enable users to create 5.1 and stereo mixes in the same project.

Editors can work with a royalty-free library of over 5,000 professionally produced foley and sound effects, including over 1,000 surround sound effects and multi-channel music tracks. A new Conform tool enables users to synchronize and track changes between picture and sound editorial.

Compressor 3, the latest version of Apple’s encoding tool, comes with a new streamlined interface and simplified workflows designed to make encoding and delivering in multiple formats easier and more efficient. Batch processing and job chaining capabilities enable editors to create output for a wide range of delivery formats with a single click. Compressor 3 extends support for industry-standard codecs such as MPEG-2 and H.264 to include new drag ‘n drop presets for delivery to broadcast television, web, iPod, the Apple TV, DVD and mobile phones. Dynamic filters applied during pre-processing now support timecode overlays, au-dio/video fade in and out, and animated watermarks that can be applied directly from Motion projects.

Registered users of the current version of Final Cut Studio can upgrade to Final Cut Studio 2 for $499 and registered users from any previous version of Final Cut Pro can upgrade for $699. Full system requirements and more info can be found here.
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