Apple rolls out Final Cut 'Studio 2' and 'Server'

Adding more to its award-winning video and audio production suite, Apple on Sunday introduced Final Cut Studio 2, its high-end video-editing software as well as Final Cut Server, a powerful new server application designed to help broadcasters manage post production, at the National Association of Broadcasters conference (NAB2007) in Las Vegas.

Demonstrating the significant upgrades to Final Cut Pro, Apple said the software now enables editors to edit different video formats at the same time, remove unwanted camera movements, and the software speeds up the process for dialogue replacement.

Final Cut Studio 2 includes six powerful applications, each designed specifically for editors. These powerful, integrated applications are:

Final Cut Pro 6- Aimed at video and film editing, Final Cut Pro 6 features Apple's ProRess 422 format, a tool to help manage uncompressed high-definition video. ProRes 422 format shrinks HD-quality files into standard definition sizes to make it easier to transfer and edit. This application supports mixed video formats and frame rates in a single Timeline.

Motion 3- Designed specifically for video editors, Motion 3 features an intuitive 3-Dimentional environment, paint and new behaviors.

Soundtrack Pro 2- Focusing on professional audio post-production, Soundtrack Pro 2 features dozens of innovative tools for multi-track editing, surround mixing and conforming sound to picture, offering a complete audio post-production workflow.

Compressor 3 - This feature delivers powerful batch encoding for multiple formats with a single click.

DVD Studio Pro 4 offers simple, powerful tools for authoring DVDs. It is designed for digital delivery virtually anywhere including a disc, the web, Apple TV, iPod, or cell phone.

Last but not the least is Color, a new application for professional color grading and finishing. This application enables editors to choose from more than 35 built-in color effects to add visual interest and special color transformations and get exactly the look they want with Color.

"We've been working hard to make this the biggest upgrade we've ever seen in professional applications," said Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of applications product marketing. The number of Final Cut Pro users has grown from 500,000 to 800,000 in the past year, he added.

At the NAB show, Apple also rolled out Final Cut Server, which includes a cross-platform client that enables content browsing, review and approval from within a studio or over the Internet. This powerful new server application works seamlessly with Final Cut Studio 2 to provide media asset management and workflow automation for post production and broadcast professionals.

Designed to manage the flow of work, Final Cut Server automatically catalogs large collections of assets and enables searching across multiple volumes via an intuitive user interface.

“Final Cut Server’s powerful media asset management capabilities simplify managing the thousands of assets that make up a typical edit,” said Schoeben. “And Final Cut Server’s sophisticated workflow automation tools ensure projects flow smoothly through an organization, enabling everyone to be more productive.”

Final Cut Studio Pro 2, due to be released in May, will retail for $1,299, while Final Cut Server will sell for US$1000 for one server and 10 concurrent client licenses. Those wishing to buy a server with unlimited licensing will pay $1,999. Registered users of the current version of Final Cut Studio can upgrade for US$500 and registered users from any previous version of Final Cut Pro can upgrade for US$700.