Apple starts to fine-cut Final Cut Pro X

Macworld by Serenity Caldwell

Non-linear editing software now offers support for XML and collaborative editing, free trial available

If you’ve been skeptical, suspicious, or cynical over Apple’s ground-up rewrite of Final Cut Pro, Tuesday’s 10.0.1 update may well spur you to give the software another shot: The company has not only restored several much-needed features for professionals, it’s also offering wary non-linear editors a free 30-day trial and a PDF booklet to help transition from Final Cut Studio.

Available as an update through the App Store, Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 adds several much-requested features, including support for full XML import/export of both project and event information; intelligent stem export for both video and audio files using a new feature called Roles; and Xsan integration, allowing editors in different locations to work with the same files, events, and projects.

“The professional [editor] is critical to Apple, and it’s a customer we don’t want to lose,” said Richard Townhill, Apple’s director of pro video product marketing, in a conversation with Macworld. Comparing Final Cut Pro X to Apple’s transition from OS 9 to OS X and the switch from PowerPC to Intel processors, he called the June 10.0 release “the first foundation stone in a building that’s going to be assembled over the next ten years,” with Tuesday’s updates providing the next brick. read more...