At long last Apple’s Time Capsule gets a refresh. The sleek device that serves as a wireless base station and a backup hard drive comes in two sizes: 2TB and 3TB. The 1TB model has been discontinued. But now you get more bang for your buck! While the local storage increases, prices remain the same: $299.99 for the 2TB model and $499.99 for the 3TB model. Besides the bump in storage, Apple claims that “new technologies in Time Capsule and refinements to Time Machine make backing up to Time Capsule using Snow Leopard up to 75 per cent faster than before.” Get yours at Apple’s online store today.
In related Apple news, the company has let loose its totally revamped version of Final Cut Pro. The video editing software is built on 64-bit architecture and boasts a completely redesigned UI which includes a Magnetic Timeline, Content Auto-Analysis, and and background rendering. Jump after the break for more details. Final Cut Pro X is available today exclusively from the Mac App Store (read: no disc) for $299.99. Motion 5 and Compressor 4 are also available for download in the Store for $49.99 a piece.
Update: Watch Conan slam the new FCP in the hilarious clip posted after the break! There’s been public outcry concerning lack of features and backwards compatibility; such omissions could lead one to madness.
[Via Apple]
Apple Revolutionizes Video Editing With Final Cut Pro X
CUPERTINO, California-June 21, 2011-Apple® today announced Final Cut Pro® X, a revolutionary new version of the world’s most popular Pro video editing software which completely reinvents video editing with a Magnetic Timeline that lets you edit on a flexible, trackless canvas; Content Auto-Analysis that categorizes your content upon import by shot type, media and people; and background rendering that allows you to work without interruption. Built on a modern 64-bit architecture, Final Cut Pro X is available from the Mac® App Store™ for $299.99.
“Final Cut Pro X is the biggest advance in Pro video editing since the original Final Cut Pro,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We have shown it to many of the world’s best Pro editors, and their jaws have dropped.”
“I’m blown away by what Apple has done with Final Cut Pro,” said Angus Wall, Academy Award-winning film editor. “Final Cut Pro X is incredibly modern and fast, but most importantly it lets you focus on telling your story in the most creative way, while it actively manages all of the technical details.”
At the heart of Final Cut Pro X is the Magnetic Timeline, a trackless approach to editing your footage that lets you add and arrange clips wherever you want them, while other clips instantly slide out of the way. You can use Clip Connections to link primary story clips to other elements like titles and sound effects, so they stay in perfect sync when you move them. You can even combine related story elements into a Compound Clip that can be edited as a single clip. The groundbreaking new Auditions feature lets you swap between a collection of clips to instantly compare alternate takes.
Content Auto-Analysis scans your media on import and tags your content with useful information. Final Cut Pro X then uses that information to dynamically organize your clips into Smart Collections, so you can easily find the clips you want by close up, medium and wide shots as well as media type and the number of people in the shot. You can also tag parts of clips with Range-based keywords to add custom search criteria to your media.
Completely rebuilt from the ground up, Final Cut Pro X is a 64-bit app that takes full advantage of the latest Mac hardware and software so you never have to wait for the next edit, even if you’re working with 4K video. Final Cut Pro X uses multi-threaded processing and the GPU on your graphics card for blazing fast background rendering and superb real-time playback performance. Additionally, a ColorSync-managed color pipeline ensures color consistency from import to output.
Final Cut Pro X also includes powerful tools for audio editing and color correction, and is complemented by two companion apps, Motion 5 for professional motion graphics and Compressor 4 for advanced media encoding, available from the Mac App Store for $49.99 each.
Pricing & Availability
Final Cut Pro X is available today for $299.99 from the Mac App Store. Motion 5 and Compressor 4 are available today for $49.99 each from the Mac App Store. Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Pro X can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutpro.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
Yup, looks like Apple screwed up on this one big time. Spent some time playing around with it this weekend and while the 64bit support is appreciated (and needed!), most of the rest of the program is terrible. I’ve been using Final Cut and Avid for 6 years now, and beyond the technical issues, I feel like I’ve lost any real precision control between the new “event library” and the time line that’s got more snapping issues than a slim jim factory. I hope they fix it, because the interface is nice and I do like some of the features, but I’m going to be sticking with the real pro software until then.