More Pro

The Mac video community is buzzing. Apple has released a major update to Final Cut Pro X (FCPX), which brings it up to version 10.0.3. This latest update to FCPX brings with it many of the missing features that ‘pro’ video editors have criticized Apple when they dropped the popular Final Cut Studio 7.

The biggest news in this update is the return of multi-camera editing, or multicam. With multicam, you can take video from several cameras and sync them together and edit a master track by selecting different camera views. Multicam allows for post-production to simulate live switching. What is shocking is that this update allows FCPX to use up to 64 cameras. This goes far beyond what Studio 7 could do.

Other welcome new features include media relink. This allows an editor to take a project from one computer and work on another computer. Not possible with the old version, the project was locked to the one computer.

There is also a much-improved chroma keying system. This new system allows for much finer control of the key, which allows for much finer detail in the subject. This can be a big time savings by keying inside FCPX instead of having to use a stand-alone App like Apple’s Motion or Adobe’s After Effects.

To round off this new update are enhanced XML support, which allows for exchanging data from FCPX and other editing or effect packages. Apple also is starting to build-in support for third-party hardware. This included PCIe cards and Thunderbolt devices.

With this new update to FCPX, Apple is showing that it is committed to making FCPX a ‘pro’ level application. They have a bit more work to help rebuild the bridge they tore down last year, but if the new FCPX is look into the future of Apple Video, then things are looking up.