It's finally here!

Apple - Final Cut Studio (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/)

Read all about it:

Apple - Final Cut Studio (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/)

Apple - Logic Studio (http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/)

Yea!

Have good read

Michael

Holy shikes.

Edit: It's not available for purchase yet though... maybe they're still getting it updated in the Apple store?

Ouch - I only have just bought and registered FCS2.

New one available to buy now

Just noticed this:

"Upgrade from prior versions of Final Cut Studio, Production Suite, or Final Cut Pro*"

There's hope at last!

Talk about a quiet announcement! Apple wasn't kidding about 86-ing debuting it at a major show, like NAB, etc. But I thought they'd at least do a press conference.

Looks great (Final Cut Studio 3), but this is the third iteration of Final Cut Studio WITHOUT a new version of DVD Studio Pro...

heath

At last! To quote from the blurb directly....

"Blu-ray disc and DVD burning. You can now easily burn a Blu-ray disc or a DVD directly from Compressor. Quickly add a menu to your disc by choosing one of the beautiful Apple-designed HD or SD templates or, to achieve a specific look, import and use third-party or custom templates"

Not only has the price of the whole suite gone down ...

But the upgrade price is much lower than before too ...

Only $299 now to upgrade? I love Apple!!!!

It's always DVD Studio Pro 4 with no Blu-Ray authoring. :-(
However, it seems that it's now possible to burn a very simple BR directly from Compressor 3.5, like those we can burn with Toast, I guess.

That was under Compressor 3.5... However, it's definitely music to my ears!

heath

"Blu-ray–compatible H.264 encoding Compressor now includes a setting that allows you to create Blu-ray–compatible H.264 files that can be imported directly into third-party Blu-ray disc authoring software."

So, DVD Studio Pro 4.x won't do it. That version came out in 2005. Well, good thing I have Encore CS4 and Toast 10 Titanium Pro!

Heath

It's always DVD Studio Pro 4 with no Blu-Ray authoring. :-(
However, it seems that it's now possible to burn a very simple BR directly from Compressor 3.5, like those we can burn with Toast, I guess.

Quick note: Hi guys - first post here. Thanks to Chris Hurd for the privilege, as well as Robert Lane and numerous others here for insightful tips and suggestions. Been reading this forum for most of 2009.

I agree -- was hoping for, but didn't seriously expect, a revamped DVDSP with Blu-Ray authoring. Noticed the Compressor support, so that's something, at least. Noticed a bunch of new features that I could make good use of from the get-go.

A nice summary of the major new features in the new FCS7 suite can be found here:

Apple - Final Cut Studio - Whats New (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/whats-new.html)

(I'm still reading and digesting the list.)

Ordered the upgrade. Done. Very excited!

Will be interested to learn how the new FCS will take advantage of the 8 core Macs.

Will also be looking at how they plan this update to work with Snow Leopard. Are they aiming for any additional performance boost with 10.6, or is this update all the performance enhancements they have lined up? That's my question.

Ordered the upgrade. Done. Very excited!

Will be interested to learn how the new FCS will take advantage of the 8 core Macs.

Yes! Please let me know how you get on (I have an 2009 8 core 2.66Ghz Nehalem Mac Pro). I'm in the middle of some big and very time critical corporate jobs right now with FCS2 so won't risk being a beta tester/bug reporter for FCS3 ...but am very keen to upgrade as soon as it looks sensible to do so - and as soon as it's clear how all this will work with SL (when that's finally released!).

I nearly bought Toast 10 yesterday so glad I waited (to be confirmed... but it seems the Compressor route in FCS3 will be basically the same as the Toast route, as indicated above in this thread, i.e. simple Blu-Ray - but that's all I need for my PS3). Looks like it's been a good day already!

We can compress to Blu-ray right now in the latest version of Compressor (3.0.5) and create BDs with Encore CS4 or Toast 10 Titanium Pro.

heath

Apple has released a new version of Final Cut Studio:

Apple - Final Cut Studio (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/)

I don't see anything under the DVDSP part that says you can author BluRay discs.

The only thing I see about BluRay is listed under the bit about Compressor and says:
You can now easily burn a Blu-ray disc or a DVD directly from Compressor. Quickly add a menu to your disc by choosing one of the beautiful Apple-designed HD or SD templates included in Compressor. Because Compressor uses an open XML-based template format, you can import third-party or custom templates for a specific look.

Someone please tell me I'm seeing this wrong.

nice features, nothing groundbreaking, but nice

I don't see anything under the DVDSP part that says you can author BluRay discs.

The only thing I see about BluRay is listed under the bit about Compressor and says:


Someone please tell me I'm seeing this wrong.

sounds like the previous HD-DVD workflow

The big upgrades for me:

-Optical flow now only analyzes the portion of the clip you are using instead of the whole damn thing

-Speed changes are handled much better now with ease in/out options... much more Avid-like. The option is also there now to ripple the rest of the sequence or not.

-Depth of Field & 3D shadows in Motion! Yeah!

-ProRes4444 for more efficient 4:4:4 workflows.

-Background rendering with easy export

-Multicolored markers

Still no stereoscopic mastering support so I guess it is time to release my plugin (http://www.stereo3dtoolbox.com)!

Apple - Final Cut Studio - Tech Specs and System Requirements (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/)

Looks like I need an intel machine......damn.

Jonathan

Apple - Final Cut Studio - Tech Specs and System Requirements (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/)

Looks like I need an intel machine......damn.

Jonathan
A lot of speculation about not supporting PowerPC leading up to today's announcement.

Heath

I just read through the "in depth" PDF and DVDSP does not offer BluRay authoring. The only way you can burn a BluRay is by using the new feature through Compressor which will be a quick and easy burn without all the bells and whistles you can add by using DVDSP. I'm not happy about this.

I like many of you had hoped that Apple was cooking up a major update that would coincide with the release of snow leopard to utilize it's new features. This is not that.

Tim,

Email me privately about your plug-in; I may have an upcoming project in 2K 3D that I can use to test it!

Heath

I like many of you had hoped that Apple was cooking up a major update that would coincide with the release of snow leopard to utilize it's new features. This is not that.

Intel only is basically Apple preparing for Snow Leopard and the new features it'll offer. I expect next year there will be fairly large update brining 64-bit, OpenCL and Grand Central Dispatch support.

That video with Francis Ford Coppola and Walter Murch on Apple's FCP website is about the best marketing I've ever seen for Final Cut Pro. When Murch said he's been using FCP for 8 years - wow - that could create an earthquake in the Avid community. This is a major campaign from a marketing perspective- regardless of the feature set. Editors don't get better than Murch. What an endorsement!

-C

Murch was one of the first to use Avid (read about it in the latest version of his classic book on editing, "Blink of an Eye") and I remember him talking about it when Cold Mountain was coming out in 02 or 03.

I loved the demos they showed of FCS 2 at NAB 2007 when David Fincher was talking about it. AWESOME!

Heath

In case noone has seen this already, Ripple Training ahs already posted some tutorials.
Ripple Training (http://www.rippletraining.com/provideoapps.html)

I found a few things interesting.
For one, I am finally a happy camper when it comes to speed changes and working in FCP.
Now I can apply speed changes and NOT ripple my timeline. Bout frick'n time. I have missed this sverly since leaveing Sony Veags.
Not to mention, I like the streamlined speed changes work flow.

I am curios though if the speed changes, especially in slow motion are improved, as I have never been pleased with slow motion from FCP, as it was never smooth. So I found myself exporting to Motion and using the Optical Flow for the change. But it is very time consuming to do this.

I also think people should take a look at the tutorial on BluRay burning directly form FCP.
I am able to see why Apple didn't bother integrating BluRay into DVDSP. As it seems one can now, go to export> share, and then select BluRay for delivery options. From there you can select from some templates or insert your own backgrounds and logos.

Granted it's not nearly as customizable as creating a BluRay from scratch, but seems to be very quick and efficient with ones time.

We'll have to wait and see what the results are, but I do like the quick and simple work flow.

I am not sure if these annoyances have been fixed or not...

1. When batch digitizing, FCP fails to relink each clip instead waiting until the whole batch is done. Problem is when/if one aborts the batch digitize, all clips to that point become lost/unlinked.

2. Project based scratch disks. C'mon, Apple!

;-)

I get questionable slo-mo if I use progressive (24p, 25p or 30p), which is why I'll shoot in 60i or 50i (if slo-mo in the camera isn't available) and do slo-mo in post.

Besides, I've always seen a drop in quality when doing slow- and fast-motion in FCP. But I don't see it as much with HD vs. SD.

Heath

I get questionable slo-mo if I use progressive (24p, 25p or 30p), which is why I'll shoot in 60i or 50i (if slo-mo in the camera isn't available) and do slo-mo in post.

Besides, I've always seen a drop in quality when doing slow- and fast-motion in FCP. But I don't see it as much with HD vs. SD.

Heath
The problem I have had is when using 60i footage the image seems to develop a slight strobe trailing effect to the moving image. Especially moderate to faster moving motion, like someone doing a lunge walk while exercising.

Hmmmm... what are you shooting on?

Years ago, I did some 60i work on the XL1 and slowed it down by exactly half in Final Cut Pro 1 (this is about 9-10 years ago), and I could literally see a quality drop. Then again, interlace has less overall resolution than progressive, but trying to do slo-mo with progressive video never looks good for me.

Heath

I am shooting on Sony FX1's in HDV or SD widescreen.
I have found that if I make the speed exactly 50% then the slow motion looks better. But obviously I don't want all of my slow motion to be at 50%, so anything other than 50% looks poor by my standards. As trailing artifacts appear as the subject moves.

When I use motion and Optical Flow, the image looks great at any speed.
But the frame blending in FCP leaves much, for me, to be desired.

- Media "Mangler" didn't get fixed or updated, just added "render tabs".
- No Blu-Ray authoring, just "customized" single menus and tracks-only just as what Toast offers.
- Still no native drag-and-drop compatibility for P2, XDCAM 422, AVC-Intra or RED (Apple claims "native" capabilities but when you read the specs you still have to use Log & Transfer to transcode). Both Avid and Edius has had drag-and-drop for most of these formats for over 2 years now.

This isn't a revamped version of the FC suite at all, in fact it's exactly what many of us were praying *wouldn't* happen, that all we'd get would be tweaked features and a set of new plug-ins. I'm not only not impressed I'm seriously disappointed.

Is it worth upgrading from FCS2? Absolutely not. Should someone considering which edit suite to start out with get FCS3 vs. Adobe Production Premium or something Windows based? I'm inclined to think that Adobe PP will soon surpass FCS - if Apple stays this snails-pace course of product development.

So Apple goes overboard to give the iPhone video editing capabilities, but can't even give their pro users BR authoring. Gee, thanks.

Hey Michael,

Maybe we should start a new topic about slo-mo in FCP.

Heath

Anyone notice that Apple haven't actually called it Final Cut Studio 3? Just Final Cut Studio. I printed off the pdf file on the new software - it's 32-bit.

My hunch is that they will release another version of this final cut studio after snow leopard comes out - final cut studio 64 or something like that. Seems this new version won't fully take advantage of the forthcoming new operating system. I reckon that's why the upgrade price is so palatable.

It's more of an update than an upgrade - bet it won't be another two years before the next final cut release - I'd say less than 12 months!

@Robert Lane:

Did you ever edit a serious project with Premiere?
Features is not all. Stability and workflow is more important.
Not to mention that Adobe charges a ridiculous 2260 euro here in Europe. And then you still have to buy the Cineform coded for a fast HD experience.

I switched to Mac two years ago and never regretted.

Good point, Scott. Perhaps it will be like FCP 4.5 (HD) which was a free major update for existing users (if I'm not mistaken) in 2004.

Or just an update via Software Update. I hope I don't have to mail in my disks like 5.0 to 5.1, but that was a great update and not just for Intel users, but it had more support for HDV cameras, if I remember correctly.

Heath

Anyone notice that Apple haven't actually called it Final Cut Studio 3? Just Final Cut Studio. I printed off the pdf file on the new software - it's 32-bit.

My hunch is that they will release another version of this final cut studio after snow leopard comes out - final cut studio 64 or something like that. Seems this new version won't fully take advantage of the forthcoming new operating system. I reckon that's why the upgrade price is so palatable.

It's more of an update than an upgrade - bet it won't be another two years before the next final cut release - I'd say less than 12 months!

I really like the iChat theatre support. I often work with a director based in Paris and when doing rough cuts I have had to post compressed clips on my web page or iDisk for him to look at. Very time consuming for small changes.
If this works like I imagine it will be a great help to me

Easy Export which will export and do renders in the background is probably my biggest wish list item for FCP:

Apple - Final Cut Studio (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/includes/overlay_export.html#overlay-finalcutpro-export)

"Delivery to your Apple devices, the web, and disc is just a click away. Choose your output format in the Share window, then keep working while your projects are rendered, compressed, and even published to the web in the background.

Use this convenient feature to export your file to iTunes for syncing with iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV; publish to YouTube or MobileMe;1 or burn a Blu-ray disc2 or a DVD, with a choice of Apple-designed menu templates. You can also create custom presets in Compressor for use in the Share window."

Heath

Easy Export which will export and do renders in the background is probably my biggest wish list item for FCP:

Apple - Final Cut Studio (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/includes/overlay_export.html#overlay-finalcutpro-export)

"Delivery to your Apple devices, the web, and disc is just a click away. Choose your output format in the Share window, then keep working while your projects are rendered, compressed, and even published to the web in the background.

Use this convenient feature to export your file to iTunes for syncing with iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV; publish to YouTube or MobileMe;1 or burn a Blu-ray disc2 or a DVD, with a choice of Apple-designed menu templates. You can also create custom presets in Compressor for use in the Share window."

Heath

I think I agree. It has been a pain to have to export a movie and open it in Compressor to be able to render AND edit at the same time.

I also hope they fixed the bug where clusters didn´t work in Compressor if you exported your file from Final Cut

Too bad Apple hasn't kept up with Adobe in their support of the Sony EX3 clip format. Adobe Aftereffects accepts the files as native, FinaCut 7 still seems to require the Sony Transfer software ... is there reason to upgrade???

I wouldn't be surprised if EX3 compatibility is built-in.

Heath

Wow! I know some people have expressed concerns about Apple falling behind with Blue-ray and drag-n-drop file based camera formats, but for me this is the best upgrade I could have ever ever wished for.

I'd pay $300 for EACH of the following:

1) finally getting the slow-mo ripple thing correct (like in Vegas). Big one for me, majority of my stuff has speed changes and I was sick of muting tracks or copying clips to blank sequences to apply speed changes all to avoid rippling the sequence to death.

2) Finally a nice big Time Code display (a.k.a. producer can sit further away from me)

3) Easy export without hogging up Final Cut means I can edit and render on the same machine

4) Did I mention the speed changes???

5) iChat Theater will be nice since I work remotely for a few clients

6) Better integration and round tripping with Color means that I might actually use Color now instead of just going in and saying "cool, this looks nice, bye bye"

I'd venture to guess this version or one soon after will be 64bit ready.

to quote the new pro res white paper

"Apple Pr Res (LT) also makes it an excellent choice for transcoding complex camera codecs like AVCHD."

Hopefully we can choose this option for the the HMC151 on capture/log & transfer. Saves a little bit on disc space, very handy for me. I'm guessing this is their solution for us guys who wanted native AVCHD editing.

I think Jeff said it best why the new features make it a worthwhile upgrade.

Heath

Well I like what I see so far. I wonder if it's wise or safe to upgrade to FCP7 from FCP6 while I am still working on a project.

Though I've had less troubles doing FCP and OS X upgrades than in the past, I wouldn't risk doing a full version FCP or OS X upgrade while in the middle of a project. Check this out:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/non-linear-editing-mac/125182-how-update-your-os-apps-properly-save-your-system.html

Heath

You can go to the Apple site right now and buy it.

Which makes me furious, because well, consider this....

Taking the plunge and switching from PC to Mac, I bought a new Intel MacPro and a 24" iMac in December. I also bought a 15" MacBook Pro just last month. When I bought the first two machines, I purchased I-life or I-Work or something like that. One month later Apple is nagging me to upgrade to the newer version, which was released three weeks after I bought the previous version.

Anyway, initially I bought Final Cut Express to get used to it, and then a month ago I bought Final Cut Studio 2. When I did, I told the salesman I was considering waiting until the '09 version came out. He told me no one really expected it to come out until after Snow Leopard comes out, and at that it's not definite. So I coughed up the $1,200.00.

Now, a month later, Apple wants $299.00 to upgrade.

When I called Apple to complain a few minutes ago, the sales guy said there's nothing he can do. So I asked for a supervisor and got one. He told me he'd give me $30 off the $299.00 upgrade, but that's it, because I bought the software from a third-party retailer (Midtown Video in Miami), not from Apple directly.

My rant. Thanks for listening.

BTW: Jesse at Midtown VIdeo is trying to get Apple to be less anal about this. I can tell you he's been very helpful with every purchase I've ever made from them in the past; so I hope he is this time, too.

I like the speed change improvements. I wonder if I will be now able to do all my slow motion and speed ramps inside FCP instead of having to export to Shake.