Final Cut Pro X has been updated to support remote workflows and speed up editing. Improvements in creating and managing proxy media keep editors mobile and quick when working with large resolution formats or collaborating remotely. New social media video tools automate cropping in square, vertical and other custom sizes for the different platforms.
Supporting editors who work remotely across several locations, improvements to proxy workflows make libraries more portable and speed up remote work with large, high-resolution files. Users can create video proxies in either ProRes Proxy or H.264 at dimensions as small as 12.5 percent of the original. They can also consolidate proxy media, images and audio to an external or network-connected drive.
A Final Cut Pro Library can also be relinked to proxies already created, and editors can now link to proxy media generated by third-party applications via XML. Examples include Frame.io cloud-based creative collaboration platform for review and approval, plus asset management tools like Keyflow Pro and PostLab. If proxy media is not available for some clips, users can adapt workflows to display either the original file or an optimised version.
Editorial Workflows
To make Final Cut Pro workflows more efficient, ProRes RAW camera settings such as ISO, colour temperature and exposure offset are now exposed in the inspector. Editors can also apply audio crossfades on adjacent clips in one step. A new context menu is added to close a project or clear timeline history, and clips and projects can be sorted in List View according to the last date each file was modified.
New Metal-enabled plug-ins for Final Cut Pro improve performance for RED RAW and Canon Cinema RAW Light. Apple says transcoding 8K RED RAW video to ProRes 422 is up to two times faster on Mac Pro, and up to three times faster on MacBook Pro, and editors can play and edit 8K Canon Cinema RAW Light.
Editors can apply audio crossfades on adjacent clips in one step.
When working with 360-degree video, users can stabilise stereoscopic 3D video and view the footage in the 360-degree Viewer with separate streams for each eye. They can also start working immediately with remote content as it downloads in the background from web-based asset management applications, such as the Frame.io workflow extension.
Social Media Automation
Social media content delivery is made easier through machine learning. Clips in a project can now be automatically analysed for dominant motion and intelligently cropped with Smart Conform to convert them into square, vertical or any other aspect ratio to work with platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.
Transform Overscan reveals media outside the crop boundary when adjusting scale, rotation and position, which allows the crop to be repositioned. Video editors can also add a Custom Overlay to guide them when placing text and graphics within a non-landscape frame.
Updates in Motion and Compressor
In Motion, the software made for editors to create titles, transitions and effects for Final Cut Pro, now makes it possible to import third-party 3D models, or choose from a built-in library of 3D models in the USDZ format, to use in titles, generators, effects and transitions. USDZ models can be viewed as AR objects on websites. Artists can use behaviours or keyframes to manipulate the position, rotation and scale of a model, and take advantage of existing replicators, emitters, lights and cameras for further looks.
Another part of the Motion update is the new Stroke Filter, a tool that automatically outlines an object or text element using its alpha channel. Motion graphics artists can create eye-catching animations and effects using the outlines, while avoiding the work of outlining elements by hand. Outlines can be customised by animating their offset, applying multiple stroke filters to the same object or using the gradient tools to create multiple strokes with different colours.
Compressor, a customised encoding tool for Final Cut Pro, is also updated with support for custom LUT effects, the ability to use Camera LUTs to convert log-encoded footage to SDR or HDR outputs, and other workflow enhancements.
Final Cut Pro 10.4.9, Motion 5.4.6 and Compressor 4.4.7 are available now as free updates for existing users, and for purchase for new users. www.apple.com
