Recently, Apple released new updates for Final Cut Studio (3).

Pro Applications Update 2010-01 is a revision to Final Cut Studio (2009). This update includes Final Cut Pro 7.0.2, Motion 4.0.2, Color 1.5.2, Compressor 3.5.2, Apple Qmaster 3.5.2 and Cinema Tools 4.5.1. The software improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues. This update is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, and Logic Studio.

Just as a note, Soundtrack Pro is not updated in this release.

You can find more information here:

www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/download/

As always, whenever Apple releases something new, I wait a bit before upgrading. You know, just in case….

However, there are lots of small bug fixes here that make this seem a worthwhile update – and I appreciate Apple’s willingness to tell us what they are. (For a complete list, see below.)

I installed this update yesterday and things seem to be running fine. If you are running Final Cut Pro 7.0.0, I strongly urge you to upgrade. If you are running Final Cut Pro 7.0.1, upgrade as your projects and schedule allow.

According to Apple:

Issues addressed in this update include the following.

Final Cut Pro

• Fixes an issue with clip duration when removing reverse speed.
• Fixes an issue with the Log and Capture window that could prevent the window from closing.
• Fixes an issue with HDV to Apple ProRes capture via FireWire creating a QuickTime movie with no extension in the Finder.

Cinema Tools

• Fixes an issue with importing telecine logs.

Motion

• Fixes stability issues when using Motion on computers with limited graphics or system memory.
• Addresses issues with filters returning rendered results at lower quality.
• Fixes an issue with the Checkerboard generator rendering incorrectly in 3D.
• Corrects an image corruption problem when rendering complex projects in 32-bit float after applying a motion blur.
• Fixes issues with aspect ratios of shapes in projects created by choosing File > Import as Project.
• Improves the rendering precision of intersecting objects in some 3D scenes.

Compressor

• Corrects disk size limitation messages when burning a project to an AVCHD dual-layer disc.
• Fixes issues with long chapter names and titles not appearing correctly in disc templates.
• Fixes issues when inserting a DVD-R or BD-RE disc with data already present.
• Addresses issues with saving and changing music channels and video using surround sound.
• Corrects color shift when transcoding image sequences.
• Fixes an issue with WAV audio files when transcoding an image sequence.
• Addresses an issue with upload to MobileMe with files containing reserved characters.
• Corrects a problem when burning a Blu-ray or DVD disc from a Final Cut Pro sequence with 5.1 surround sound.
• Fixes an issue with display of password-protected movies on iPhone.
• Addresses a pixel aspect ratio compatibility issue.
• Improves stability when processing large batches.

Color

• Fixes an issue with CFX nodes not being imported when choosing File > Import > Color Corrections.
• Addresses several problems with the loading and processing of trackers.
• Fixes an issue with the green channel on video scopes displaying an incorrect value.

For more detailed information about the changes in an application, choose Release Notes from the application’s Help menu.

Adobe Systems has announced that they will be announcing ALL their new CS5 products on Monday, April 12.

As a note, we will be covering their announcement on our NAB Special Reports, which you can hear as part of the Digital Production Buzz. We’ll have more on that as we get closer.

One of the exciting new features in Adobe Premiere is what Adobe calls their Mercury Engine – a REALLY fast rendering and playback engine exclusively for Adobe Premiere. For those of you wondering what 64-bit memory addressing and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) support can mean for video, you need to see what these new versions can do. This also gives MacPro owners a reason for owning all that horsepower.

Anyway, this morning, Adobe sent me a note about rumors that are floating around about this new version — many of them are not true. So, if you are interested in learning more, check out this Adobe blog posting debunking Mercury myths:

blogs.adobe.com/VideoRoad/2010/03/debunking_mercury_myths.html

Larry

P.S. I’m getting a lot of email asking what Apple is doing. I am sure that Apple is not standing still. However, April announcements belong to Adobe.

Mark Spencer, a wizard at Apple Motion, just released a new collection for Motion.

Motion’s Shape objects are incredibly versatile and powerful. You can adjust their edit points, style them using the outstanding style presets, and animate them with Shape Behaviors to write-on, wriggle, and spread out or assemble – even in 3D space.

Learn more by visiting here: www.applemotion.net/motion-library-expansion-packs/

Mark always does cool stuff. PLUS, you can save 25% by entering LARRY as the discount code! (This special pricing offer expires March 31.)

Larry

PF Bentley sent me the following:

My lastest project, HANA KA HOE (THE PADDLE MAKER) is now online at

http://www.vimeo.com/10354055

In these days of mass production, native Hawaiian Kalani Delovio, founder of Ohana Paddles,
is one of the few who still make Hawaiian racing and koa canoe paddles by hand.

Shot on the Canon 7D on the The Big Island of Hawaii.

Thanks for watching.

PF

As many of you may know, I write a monthly newsletter covering Final Cut Studio. (Sign-up for your FREE subscription here.) We are now in our sixth year of publishing, each issue generally runs around 40 pages.

For many years, when the latest newsletter was published, last month’s issue would be disassembled and key articles were posted to the website. This worked great… until last year, when our wizard of a webmaster left to run a bakery. (Deep sigh…)

At which point, the back issues started piling up.

Well, we finally broke thru the log-jam and have started posting new articles again to the website, within the last week, I’ve posted more than three dozen, with several dozen more to go.

To see the latest tips, techniques, and commentaries, check out the complete list here, in our Editing Library. We currently have hundreds of on-line tutorials – all totally free – that you can access at any time.

Or, for even faster results, try searching for what you are looking for here.

Thanks!

Larry

P.S. You can purchase the complete content of all my 2009 newsletters – over 500 pages! – in PDF form for only $19.99. Click here to learn more.

Recently, Apple released an update to its ProAps frameworks. These are behind-the-scenes utilities that provide shared resources used by all the applications. The new revisions are available via Software Update.

In Apple’s announcement, they indicated that one of the things they fixed was a series of memory leaks, which is something that Soundtrack Pro has suffered from since its initial release.

However, my philosophy is to ALWAYS wait whenever Apple announces a new update – just in case the new version does more harm than good. (You can read an article I wrote about upgrading here.) So, I didn’t install the upgrade until this weekend.

At which point, I immediately began having problems using Soundtrack Pro. After experiencing five or six crashes within ten minutes, and sending a crash report to Apple, I did the usual — Safe Boot, Rebuild Permissions, creating new versions of the project file using Save As — all of which did not solve the problem.

What DID solve the problem was trashing Soundtrack Pro’s preferences — something that we have not had to do before.

So, if you find that Soundtrack Pro is becoming unstable:

• Save your work and quit Soundtrack Pro
• Go to your Home Directory > Library > Preferences folder
• Delete com.apple.soundtrackpro.plist
• Empty the Trash

Reopen your project in Soundtrack Pro and you should be good to go.

Once I trashed this preference file, Soundtrack has been running reliably for hours.

Larry

Over at KenStone.net, David Saraceno has written a new article on “Reinstalling OS X and Final Cut Studio the Right Way.”

The first part of his series has been posted: “How To Create A Bootable OS X Firewire/USB Install HDD”. David writes:

“This tutorial suggests a long term strategy designed to produce a problem-free install, and a quick reinstall if problems should arise again — with the proviso that you spend a one time spare afternoon preparing the necessary files and materials. The strategy is intended to produce long term results and far less down time.”

You can read it here.

In case you missed it, MacWorld ran an interesting article stating that 9 of 10 documentaries nominated for Oscars this year were edited using Final Cut Pro.

You can read the entire article here.

Recently, there’s been a big flutter on the web about whether professional video can be encoded using the H.264 codec. The reason is that the H.264 license agreement essentially states, in part, that the H.264 codec can only be used for personal, non-commercial, use; for professional use, a license fee may be involved.

Can this be true? The license agreement first appeared around 2003 – did we miss something? The answer, as we learned tonight on the Digital Production Buzz, is a resounding maybe.

Philip Hodgetts has been doing some research and tonight we interviewed him to get a better picture of the problem. You can listen to his complete interview here. (TRT: 7:01, 2.4 MB, QuickTime)

KEY SUMMARY – PROFESSIONAL USE

Note: This is not legal advice – for that, see your lawyer. However, this is our understanding of the problem, with a link to learn more.

A license fee for H.264 use is probably required for professional use if ALL the following conditions are all met:

1. The video program must be encoded using the H.264 codec. (Other codecs are not covered by this license agreement.)
2. You sell the program. (If no money changes hands, no license fee is required.)
3. The program is sold to the ultimate end user. (If you are compressing files for use by someone else, say, digital dailies, no license fee is due.)
4. These programs must be in excess of 12 minutes. (Shorter programs do not require a license fee.)

If required, the license fee is very small: $0.02 per disc sold or about 2% of gross revenue, whichever is smaller.

RELEVANT URL

Where to obtain information about a license:
www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/AgreementExpress.aspx

Listen to Philip’s interview and decide for yourself what your next steps are going to be. For me, I’ll be spending time on the MPEG/LA website.

Larry

The Casual Mafia released their newest original sketch ‘The Everyday Ninja’. It’s a common story about the trials and tribulations of a ninja forced from his clan and made to suffer the everyday life of a 20-something guy.

Click here to view: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYE5N9cpwTE

Larry