I installed the latest Final Cut Studio upgrade over the weekend and have been studying it since. Then, I read Scott Simmon’s blog this morning that caused a question to finally resolve itself in my head.

The question I am puzzling over is “Why release this now?”

First, though the colors of the interface seems subtly crisper to me, the interface has not changed. With the exception of three, maybe four, menu items the menu structure is the same. Keyboard shortcuts are virtually identical.

Second, while I’ve been told that there are lots of under-the-hood changes, as Steve Martin told me on Digital Production BuZZ, there are no stop-the-presses new features. In an application this deep and this old, that can be expected. Still, our industry is filled with flash and glitter – so something flashy would not be out of place – look at any recent Apple launch.

I’m sure that this new version will prove to be a workhorse over time, but still that nagging question, why now?

Why in the middle of summer?

Why the day after almost every Final Cut User Group had its monthly meeting?

Why without any supporting fanfare, events, or hoo-hah?

In fact, by releasing when they did, they avoided all the deadlines for the monthly Mac and video publications. This means that by the time the pubs get this reviewed, it will be old news and the coverage will be reduced because of it.

I am struck by how carefully they planned the timing to generate the least amount of coverage — except among the core user base.

Apple would probably argue that they released it because it was ready. And the rest of us would certainly agree that if Apple twitches an eyebrow, the Apple-following press creates paroxysms of front page stories.

For me, the elephant in the room is Snow Leopard (to, um, mix metaphors and animals a bit). Why release this version of FCS two months before a substantial change to the OS? Unless the effort to bring Final Cut into compliance with all the features of Snow Leopard is taking far longer than first thought.

I’m reminded of something Adobe once told me. They spent two years updating their applications to support Apple’s move to Intel processors. During that update they revised millions of lines of code – only to create new versions with essentially the same feature set as when they began; but they needed to do this in order to support the new processing architecture. The time and effort was necessary for the future, but created a lot of disappointed users at the release.

I’ve been told that Final Cut needed substantial reprogramming in order to support Snow Leopard. Apple never publicly comments on its development teams, plans, efforts, or schedules. I know, because I’ve asked many times.

So I don’t know what’s the thinking behind this update.

But to me, this feels like part one of a two act play. There is more yet to be revealed — and probably the bigger half.

I spoke with Richard Townhill, Director of Video Application Marketing for Apple, the day the new version of Final Cut Studio was released.

Not only is Richard the public face of Final Cut, probably no one in Apple has more direct control over the future of these applications than he does. For this reason, it was good to get his take on the latest release. What follows are my notes from our conversation.

Apple’s goal for this upgrade was to integrate user requested features, improve performance, and increase stability for all the applications.

From his point view, the key big features are:

* New versions of ProRes, including support for alpha channels
* Improved export from Final Cut Pro
* Blu-ray support within FCP
* Improved collaboration tools with iChat Theater
* And over 100 new features

Many of these are detailed on Apple’s website, so in my conversation I wanted to dig a bit deeper.

One of the questions I ask Richard every year is whether Apple has improved the interface. This year, Richard’s answer was the same: they did not change the interface because “it works great just the way it is.” However, I finally realized that Richard and I are thinking different things when it comes to the interface. I suspect when Richard hears that question, he’s thinking about the operation of the program; while I’m thinking usability. And, based solely on what I’ve read on Apple’s website, they’ve done a lot to improve usability.

(As a note, I’m writing this after our interview, but before I’ve installed the new software. I’ll have a detailed report on the new version in a later posting.)

The new version is Intel-only system, requiring both OS X 10.5.6 and QuickTime 7.6.2. So, this rules out using my trusty G-5 for editing. I’m already shopping for a new MacPro.

(As a note, I can’t recommend purchasing the new MacBook Pro 15″ for Final Cut, principally because Apple has removed both the second FireWire port and the ExpressCard/34 slot. Yes, you can connect a FireWire external drive, but nothing faster. Why should I limit myself to data rates that AT BEST hover around 50 MB/sec, when an eSATA drive is almost double that and a PCIe drive is four times faster? This is a severe limitation as we move into HD and multi-camera work. I see no reason to reward short-sighted hardware development with my money.)

I asked whether this version supports Snow Leopard. Richard said: “I can’t comment on unreleased products.” I then asked the same question differently; does that mean that editors should hold off upgrading until Snow Leopard is released in two months? Richard replied: “We have been testing this version of Final Cut Studio with current builds of Snow Leopard and we don’t anticipate any significant problems when the new OS is released.”

According to Richard, DVD Studio Pro remains an application that creates Standard-Def DVDs. They have not added Blu-ray support to it. However, FCP and Compressor can create Blu-ray discs — with some limitations. If you need multiple movies and full motion menus, you’ll still need to use Adobe Encore. However, to export and burn a sequence out of Final Cut – say for a client review – you can now do that easily.

Richard made a point to describe how you can create a Blu-ray-playable disc using the red laser burner in every Mac. This is similar to what DVD Studio Pro used to do with HD-DVD, it can now do something similar with Blu-ray. In talking later with Brian Gary, author of the up-coming book on Compressor 3.5, he agreed that the current implementation of Blu-ray authoring in Final Cut Studio is limited compared to Adobe Encore, but there is still value in the new features; especially for creating client-review discs.

The ease of getting files out of Final Cut – what Apple calls “Easy Export” – is very exciting. It now requires only a single click to publish your project to YouTube, or Blu-ray, or the web. You can even establish post-encode options that compress a file, then FTP it to the website of your choice.

Much to my personal sadness, LiveType did not make the cut. However, it is not completely dead. The text effects in LiveType were integrated into Motion and the text capabilities of Motion were significantly beefed up. The good news is that FCP 7 will support existing Livetype projects. This means that if you now own LiveType, you’ll be able to create animations for the new version. However, new purchasers of the system won’t have access to LiveType. Richard tells me that when you install the upgrade, existing LiveType files are not removed.

There is no change in rendering speed or the video processing engine. FCP 7 does not take advantage of the GPU, though Motion 4 does. What I learned is that FCP rendering is codec-dependent and most codecs don’t support GPU rendering.

However, ProRes has been optimized for mulit-core processing. Where possible, transcoding video formats like AVCHD, HDV, XDCAM HD, or XDCAM EX to ProRes will significantly, according to Richard, improve both speed and quality. ProRes now supports both YUV and RGB video, along with 4:4:4:4 (uncompressed Red, Green, Blue, and alpha channels) color sampling.

Apple has done significant work inside Soundtrack, which is a program I use daily, as well as the other applications inside Studio. However, I’ll save that for another report at a later time.

I’m already working on a detailed report for my next Final Cut newsletter – subscriptions are free, so please sign up! In the meantime, as I’m researching my report, please let me know your comments and questions.

Finally, the last Digital Production BuZZ podcast had extensive coverage of the new version with extended conversations with people who have been beta-testing the product. You can listen to it here.

THOUGHTS ON UPGRADING

The new version looks very promising, but it is brand-new. My feeling is that unless a client is rushing up to you, waving a checkbook and demanding you edit using the latest version, you would be fine to wait a month or two to make sure the third-party development community supports the new version. Also, Snow Leopard adds another level of insecurity that needs to be resolved before committing mission-critical projects to the new software.

What I read looks very good. Over the next few weeks, we’ll have a better understanding of how it works. I’ll report back when I know more.

Larry

With the release of the latest version of Final Cut Studio, I’m already working on a detailed look at it for my next newsletter. However, that issue won’t be out for a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, Bruce Nazarian and I are doing the first public preview (that I know about) next Tuesday – July 28 – in Santa Ana, CA, and the following week – Aug. 4 - in Folsom, CA.

Then, in mid-August, I’ll be in four cities in the UK with a series of seminars talking about the new version. Learn more here.

We are devoting the entire day at each seminar to answering your questions and taking a look at this new software. Plus, all this is at the very low price of $79 per day!

For all the seminar details, click here.

And, if you have questions you want me to answer in my next newsletter – please send them to me here.

This software is too new for anyone to understand it well. But before you commit your business and reputation to the new version, it makes sense to take a closer look.

We added a few chairs to all our locations, so there’s room for you. However, time and space are running out — please register today!

As you may have noticed, LiveType is not included in the latest round of updates from Apple.

I spoke with Richard Townhill, Director of Video Application Marketing at Apple about this and he told me that while the new version does not ship with LiveType, FCP 7 will read all current Livetype projects. So, you can use the current version of LiveType to create titles for the new version of FCP.

Plus, he said, Motion 4 has had its text functions significantly beefed up to compensate for not including LiveType. However, people who purchase Final Cut Studio from here on out, won’t get access to LiveType.

I’ll have more from my interview with Richard in the coming days, as well as reviews, tutorials, and comments on the new version of Final Cut Studio. Keep an eye on my blog – which is where updates will appear first.

Because of all the news related to the new Final Cut Studio release, we are changing our coverage for the Digital Production Buzz tonight to focus on all the news.

I just finished talking with Richard Townhill, Director of Video Applications Marketing at Apple, about the latest release of Final Cut Studio. I’ll have a report on what we discussed at the top of the show.

Steve Martin, of Ripple Training, then joins us. Steve has been working with the software for several months. He’ll share his insights on what’s new and improved.

Bruce Nazarian, president of the International Digital Media Alliance, stops by to talk about the new Blu-ray features in Final Cut Pro.

We’ll take a side trip to Australia to talk production with Grant Burton, then, at the end, Brian Gary, author of the upcoming Compressor 3.5 book, joins a round-table discussion with Mike Horton, Bruce Nazarian, and me about Compressor and Blu-ray.

It’s breaking news on the Digital Production BuZZ!

Tune in here: www.digitalproductionbuzz.com TONIGHT or download tomorrow on iTunes.

Send emails with questions here for us to discuss or join us for live chat during the show.

Apple announced the latest version of Final Cut Studio (version 3) this morning!

Consisting of six applications (LiveType did not survive the update), you can get more details here: http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/

From Apple’s Press Release:

Apple today announced a significant update to Final Cut Studio with more than 100 new features and new versions of Final Cut Pro®, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color and Compressor. Final Cut Studio features Final Cut Pro 7 which expands Apple’s ProRes codec family to support virtually any workflow and includes Easy Export for one step output to a variety of formats and iChat Theater support for real-time collaboration. Motion 4 includes enhanced tools such as 3D shadows, reflections and depth of field for stunning motion graphics and visual effects, and Soundtrack Pro 3 features new multitrack audio tools to streamline audio post production. Color 1.5 includes better Final Cut Pro integration and support for full color resolution, and Compressor 3.5 adds new features that make it easy to set up and customize your export options. At $999, the new Final Cut Studio is $300 less than the previous release and is also available as an upgrade for just $299.

I ordered my copy a couple of minutes ago. I’ll have more information about this over the next few days.

I got a note today from Gabe Cheifetz, head crumble at CrumblePop, about a new Final Cut filter that they’ve just released. Their press releases reads:

CrumplePop today announced the availability of CrumplePop Reflector, a set of high quality reflection effects that can be dropped directly onto the Final Cut Pro timeline.

CrumplePop Reflector lets you easily apply reflections to any clip or image — the same effect made popular by Apple’s iPhone and iPod ads — by simply dragging and dropping. Reflections can be applied to full-motion video or still photos, against any background color or video layer.

It’s fun seeing a new company create something different and I wanted to share the news with you. You can learn more by visiting their website: www.crumblepop.com.

Larry

If persistence counts for anything, Michael Cinquin should get an award.

By day, Michael is a free-lance editor and colorist. However, by night, he likes writing Final Cut utilities. Over the last couple of months he’s written me several times about these new Final Cut utilities that he’s created.

These tools, freely available on his website, include:

• Timecode and keycode calculator
• XML file review tool
• Transfer a FCP timeline to RedCine
• A complete subtitle toolset
• EDL repair utility
• Tools to Improve Cinema Tools
• Color utilities

Take a couple of minutes to explore Michael’s website – www.michaelcinquin.com/tools – because nothing beats having the right tool for the job.

Scott Simmons just wrote about this on the Studio Daily blog, but this could be a great service and I wanted to let you know about it.

It’s called Movie Repair. Scott writes:

It looks to operate like this: if you have a movie file that seems to be corrupted and can’t be opened, you download a piece of software called Treasured which can diagnose the file in question. That software helps to file a Repair Request. You are then sent a Repair Kit that will try and repair the file. If you are happy with what you see you then pay for the repair to get the full file.

You can read the full posting here.

Michael Rubin sent me the following:

I don’t know if you know me – i’ve written frequently about editing over the decades… anyway, I recently posted a link to my book DROIDMAKER, (which chronicles, among other things, the birth of nonlinear editing, EditDroid, Avid, etc.) which for a short time i’m making available as a FREE download. I think you will like this book if you haven’t seen it, and i figure your readers and subscribers will also appreciate hearing about the free book.

Here’s the link. Check it out. Your feedback, of course, is valuable. Let me know if you’d like to chat about it.

Larry adds: Michael, I love history and I like free. I’m happy to share this with everyone. Thanks!