Apple to add multichannel audio editing to Final Cut Pro X this year

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014


Apple is planning a significant update to Final Cut Pro X that will deliver a number of new features, including multichannel audio editing and dual viewers, when it debuts later this year.



The details of the forthcoming, previously unannounced Final Cut Pro X were given directly by Apple to producer, editor and director Larry Jordan. He detailed some of the changes that Apple said are coming later this year on his personal blog.



In addition to multichannel audio editing tools and dual viewers, Apple also said that it would add MXF plug-in support and RED camera support. The new features were listed by Apple, but none of them were demoed.



The details came from an on-the-record meeting between Jordan and officials from Apple that took place on Sunday in Las Vegas, Nev., the day before the start of the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters Show.



Jordan said the new dual viewers are analogous to "Source" and "Record" monitors. This will allow editors to easily compare two clips in Final Cut Pro X.



The new MXF support will allow users to access the native MXF wrapper that contains those files without a conversion. Previously, users were able to read MXF files, but not the native wrapper.



And the addition of support for RED cameras means that users will not need to convert footage to QuickTime in order to edit it. Instead, RED content will be editable natively in Final Cut Pro X.











It remains unknown exactly when the update will be provided to Final Cut Pro X owners. Apple declined to give a specific date, but simply said it would arrive at some point in 2012.



"It was an interesting meeting," Jordan said. "Apple clearly wants it known that FCP X should be considered a professional application, that development is on-going, and that they are listening to comments from users."



Sunday's news isn't the first time Jordan has been among the first to be informed about new details on Final Cut Pro. Last February, he was given a private demonstration of Final Cut Pro X before the software was publicly announced.



When it was released last June, Final Cut Pro X immediately faced considerable backlash from outspoken professionals who believe the new product is vastly inferior to its predecessor. Last September, Apple issued an update for Final Cut Pro X that added some of the most requested features, like Xsan and Rich XML support.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Could this be hinting toward Logic Pro X?



    Just please don't combine the two, Apple. You're not Adobe. And even they can't combine applications correctly.
  • Reply 2 of 35
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Encouraging to see them fighting back to keep and bring back the pro crowd.
  • Reply 3 of 35
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Encouraging to see them fighting back to keep and bring back the pro crowd.



    isn't it amazing? some here keep talking about apple abandoning pros because they keep adding more iOS features to OSX. however if they can do what they are doing, they are doing great! final cut is just amazing.. (but it came out too soon), OSX is getting a facelift and will become easier for those who want it easier, faster, richer.. give them a little tolerance first. everyone is demanding so much from apple. no other company faces this.



    having said that, i just hope they don't go just hd4000 for their pro laptops.. lol that would be so bad.. and i can really imagine them doing it. that's what scares me. i hope i can buy a new powerful mac when i end college, this air is amazing but i will need lots of power when i finish my degree.



    one day i'm going to help sir Ive with the ultimate machine, that will leave all competitoon 10 years behind, again. i know he needs mechanical engineers and i will be the best.
  • Reply 4 of 35
    I hope this "pro" lip service translates into support for the Mac Pro. I'd like to get one.
  • Reply 5 of 35
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post


    isn't it amazing? some here keep talking about apple abandoning pros because they keep adding more iOS features to OSX. however if they can do what they are doing, they are doing great! final cut is just amazing.. (but it came out too soon), OSX is getting a facelift and will become easier for those who want it easier, faster, richer.. give them a little tolerance first. everyone is demanding so much from apple. no other company faces this.



    having said that, i just hope they don't go just hd4000 for their pro laptops.. lol that would be so bad.. and i can really imagine them doing it. that's what scares me. i hope i can buy a new powerful mac when i end college, this air is amazing but i will need lots of power when i finish my degree.



    one day i'm going to help sir Ive with the ultimate machine, that will leave all competitoon 10 years behind, again. i know he needs mechanical engineers and i will be the best.



    You just may be awesome.
  • Reply 6 of 35
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post


    isn't it amazing? some here keep talking about apple abandoning pros because they keep adding more iOS features to OSX. however if they can do what they are doing, they are doing great! final cut is just amazing.. (but it came out too soon), OSX is getting a facelift and will become easier for those who want it easier, faster, richer.. give them a little tolerance first. everyone is demanding so much from apple. no other company faces this.



    Eventually you have to ship. Apparently many of the so called Pros don't realize that. The new Final Cut is actually pretty impressive if you look at it with an open mind. I suspect that by this time next year many people, pros included, will be flocking back.



    Quote:

    having said that, i just hope they don't go just hd4000 for their pro laptops.. lol that would be so bad.. and i can really imagine them doing it. that's what scares me. i hope i can buy a new powerful mac when i end college, this air is amazing but i will need lots of power when i finish my degree.



    They might go that route in the base models with the performance models supporting faster GPUs. The thing here is that they need to support a wide array of users and not all of those Pros are in need of advanced video features. On the flip side if you do need a faster GPU the new stuff from AMD is very impressive.

    Quote:

    one day i'm going to help sir Ive with the ultimate machine, that will leave all competitoon 10 years behind, again. i know he needs mechanical engineers and i will be the best.



    Now that is positive thinking.
  • Reply 7 of 35
    ljocampoljocampo Posts: 657member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Encouraging to see them fighting back to keep and bring back the pro crowd.



    It might be too late for that IMO
  • Reply 8 of 35
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ljocampo View Post


    It might be too late for that IMO



    Poppycock.
  • Reply 9 of 35
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Could this be hinting toward Logic Pro X?



    Just please don't combine the two, Apple. You're not Adobe. And even they can't combine applications correctly.



    I don't think they would combine them into one massive product but I would like to see them do a better job of integrating them for better shuttling of files. it's still rather clunky
  • Reply 10 of 35
    quambquamb Posts: 143member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ljocampo View Post


    It might be too late for that IMO



    The storm is settling... though I do not know of any post house that is using FCPX.



    It's going to be interesting to see what becomes of the Mac Pro. Really hoping Apple has simply taken a hiatus from the Pro market, rather than completely ditching it as it clearly seems. But it's not looking good to be honest, and many of us are going to have to start jumping ship.
  • Reply 11 of 35
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ljocampo View Post


    It might be too late for that IMO



    Who'd have thought the pro crowd would be so fickle. Did that many really jump ship? I wonder.
  • Reply 12 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ljocampo View Post


    It might be too late for that IMO



    It's probably not too late, because most of the pro crowd has invested a ton of cash in Apple software and hardware and would rather not have to rebuild their work stations from scratch. That would mean all new hardware, all new software, and incompatibility with old projects. Apple basically has us by the cajones, and that's why a lot of professionals are upset. And it's not just the addition of iPhone/iPad like cues to the GUI. I'm a professional Logic Pro user and they have left glaring bugs in the software since 2010. I get the feeling that Apple simply has bitten off more than they can chew. I appreciate what they have done for the industry though - buying Logic and... whatever the program was that used to be FCP, and then releasing these powerful software bundles dongle-free and much more affordable caused the competition to have to create more affordable packages. But for those of us who rely on our software and hardware to make a living the bugs are very very annoying. Somebody mentioned that a Mac Pro isn't necessary since a laptop is plenty powerful. That's nonsense - first of all, the single firewire800 port doesn't supply enough power to keep a chain of hard drives connected without occasionally dropping one. It's happened to me more times than I can count. I truly hope Apple has some love for their professional users. I can remember when I was teased by other designers because I was using a Mac when the platform had very little support.
  • Reply 13 of 35
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quamb View Post


    The storm is settling... though I do not know of any post house that is using FCPX.



    It's going to be interesting to see what becomes of the Mac Pro. Really hoping Apple has simply taken a hiatus from the Pro market, rather than completely ditching it as it clearly seems. But it's not looking good to be honest, and many of us are going to have to start jumping ship.



    wasn't well documented before why the "hiatus" took place?



    no advantage in upgrading. only now westmere substitutes are coming out. only now new ram modules (16) are coming out. only now SSDs are cheaper and thunderbolt is taking off. only now FCPX has been started to be seen as the innovative and amazing program it is.



    only now liquid metal tech has been dominated for mass production . etc..



    God, i'm 21 and i have 37 girlfriends. however i can still know why there isn't a new mac pro or at least a definitive answer about it... why can't you?



    also the mac pro is the most important apple computer out there, even if it "directly" gives them 1 billion of damages (hypothetically).

    why? the mac pro single handily makes apple seen as a "cool" powerfully badassely* "pro" company around. the value that this adds to apple's image is measured in tens of billions of profit per year. why?

    thanks to that image people/consumers saw the iPhone and the iPad since the beginning as something much more important than a toy. they grew. same with every iproduct.

    even their toys (iPods) are seen as something toy-like but serious and badass thanks not only for their quality but also for apple's image.



    the mac pro is apple's backbone, even if the rest of their products is protected by individual quality and the ecosystem they create.



    if it's true that maybe apple does not need this sort of "backbone" to generate billions, they need it for adding new members/products, to give that pro/badass image to them before they can "survive" for themselves. so, without it, (that image, ------> the mac pro) in the long term, apple would be losing money.



    this is my interpretation. obviously i'm 21 and knowing that i only read a book of our library called world is one of my biggest qualities.

    if someone disagrees, please tell me why. i would love to learn.



    * does badassely exists?
  • Reply 14 of 35
    conrailconrail Posts: 489member
    I think it's interesting they're taking a step backwards to dual viewers. The first step in abandoning the iMovie layout?



    Of course, if Jobs were still there, it would be touted as "visionary" or some such nonsense.
  • Reply 15 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quamb View Post


    The storm is settling... though I do not know of any post house that is using FCPX.



    It's going to be interesting to see what becomes of the Mac Pro. Really hoping Apple has simply taken a hiatus from the Pro market, rather than completely ditching it as it clearly seems. But it's not looking good to be honest, and many of us are going to have to start jumping ship.



    Here's an interesting panel discussion:



    9th Annual Pre-NAB Discussion Panel March 30, 2012



    It is the same group that met last year prior to the FCP X Preview.



    Lots of good discussion... but the overriding concern of pro editors is how to [continue to] make money as a pro editor...



    A lot of that has to do with lower priced software and hardware "democratizing" the pro editors job...



    But the major concern seems to be outsourcing "pro editing" -- especially to India...



    Bollywood makes more films than anywhere on earth.



  • Reply 16 of 35
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pedromartins View Post




    * does badassely exists?



    It does now!
  • Reply 17 of 35
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by quamb View Post


    The storm is settling... though I do not know of any post house that is using FCPX.



    What difference does that make? These idiots dissing FCPX need to realize that it is an entirely new suite. As such it will evolve rapidly.

    Quote:



    It's going to be interesting to see what becomes of the Mac Pro. Really hoping Apple has simply taken a hiatus from the Pro market, rather than completely ditching it as it clearly seems. But it's not looking good to be honest, and many of us are going to have to start jumping ship.



    The current Pro is dead, I'm reasonably sure of that. As to jumping ship please do, to what I don't know and really don't care. At this point there is only a handful of Sandy Bridge E machines actually shipping. So grab the first piece of crap on the market and avoid informed buying.
  • Reply 18 of 35
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    As is just about any business that can leverage computing hardware in its business. Unfortunately powerful hardware and software puts highly skilled individuals out of work. I suspect that threat is directly related to the negativity expressed over FCPX.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    Here's an interesting panel discussion:



    9th Annual Pre-NAB Discussion Panel March 30, 2012



    It is the same group that met last year prior to the FCP X Preview.



    Lots of good discussion... but the overriding concern of pro editors is how to [continue to] make money as a pro editor...



    A lot of that has to do with lower priced software and hardware "democratizing" the pro editors job...



    But the major concern seems to be outsourcing "pro editing" -- especially to India...



    Bollywood makes more films than anywhere on earth.




    The way Hollywood is going, the entire industry will soon be based in India.
  • Reply 19 of 35
    quambquamb Posts: 143member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    What difference does that make? These idiots dissing FCPX need to realize that it is an entirely new suite. As such it will evolve rapidly.





    The current Pro is dead, I'm reasonably sure of that. As to jumping ship please do, to what I don't know and really don't care. At this point there is only a handful of Sandy Bridge E machines actually shipping. So grab the first piece of crap on the market and avoid informed buying.





    Wow you're a friendly chap...



    I guess wanting professional up-to-date solutions from Apple is frowned upon by certain trolls on this forum.
  • Reply 20 of 35
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member
    I like the new FCPX much better than the old. I'm much faster with the x version.

    Great to see that they're adding these features.

    A pro app needs a pro workstation though. I mean native RED footage with some tweaks isn't exactly lightweight, is it? Perhaps this is an indicator that a new Mac Pro is on its way?



    Btw, I think the new Mac pro (should there be one) will be many cores, many thunderbolts, no PCI slots, and smaller size.
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