Despite hyperbolic headlines claiming video editors are abandoning Apple’s Final Cut Pro in droves for competitors Avid and Adobe, Apple is still very much hard at work on improving Final Cut Pro X -- including a considerable update released on Tuesday which restores a number of features missing since its release last summer.
Apple Inc. has announced the availability of Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3, a new update to the company’s $299.99 video editing solution which is available now from the Mac App Store. A free update for existing users, the update is significant for veteran FCP editors, since it brings back a variety of popular features that didn’t make it into the first three versions of FCPX.
Despite the modest version 10.0.3 number, the new FCPX reintroduces multicam editing, allowing editors to automatically sync up to 64 angles of video and photos using audio waveforms, time and date or timecode. Multicam Clips can include mixed formats, frame sizes and frame rates, making it a huge leap from the same functionality on Final Cut Pro 7. A powerful Angle Editor allows users to dive into a Multicam Clip for precise adjustments, while the Angle Viewer plays back multiple angles at the same time and seamlessly cuts between them.
Broadcast monitoring also returns to Final Cut Pro X with this update, although Apple cautions the feature is still in beta for now. Waveform displays, vectorscopes and calibrated, high-quality monitors can now be used with FCPX through Thunderbolt or third-party PCIe cards.
Video editors will also be jumping for joy now that media relinking has returned to FCPX, as well as the ability to import and edit layered Photoshop PSD files. On the improvements front, chroma keying is now a one-step affair, with the addition of advanced controls including color sampling, edge adjustment and light wrap. Apple boasts, “you can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback.”
A 30-day free trial of Final Cut Pro X continues to be available from Apple’s website, while the 10.0.3 update is available for purchase or update directly from the Mac App Store.
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