Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is one of the leading non-linear editing (NLE) applications available for the Macintosh. However, a key drawback of FCP version 1.x was its lack of support for a feature now widely available on PC-based video editing systems: real-time special effects. In a nutshell, RT effects allow you to apply a transition -- say, a page turn or dissolve, it is rendered immediately, without requiring a distracting and time-consuming "render-to-disk" step. This means that you'll spend less time waiting to see the results of an edit -- you're simply more productive.

Although Final Cut Pro 2 addressed this limitation, when combined with hardware such as the Matrox RTMac system, by providing real-time effects previews that work with a Mac's existing video card, the system still requires a time-consuming rendering operation when outputting the final edited DV stream. (Matrox in April 2001 announced The Matrox RT2500, providing a similar single-card real-time effects solution for Windows PCs.)

Apple further raised the bar in Dec. 2001, when, at the DV Expo in Los Angeles, it unveiled Final Cut Pro 3. The new release runs under Mac OS 9.2.2 or OS X and supports a number of new capabilities, including:

• G4 realtime effects done completely in software
• Transitions, titles, color correction
• Scalable, portable; can use FCP on a PowerBook
• OFFline RT: (codec)
  a. high quality high capacity timecode accurate
  b. capture and transcode in realtime
  c. Media Manager transcodes existing projects
  d. first native offline format for DV
  e. also can be used with SD and HD
• Professional color correction
• Primary and secondary color correctors
• Zebra striping

The interface of FCP is something of a mixed bag. Frankly, we find it rather counter-intuitive to use, but many video professional like it, for its easy one keystroke commands to set mark points and perform other common operations. One thing's for sure: it's decidedly un-Maclike. Version 3, despite its compatibility with Mac OS X, does not use Apple's Aqua interface, but adheres to the look and feel established by earlier FCP releases.

For more information on Final Cut Pro 3, visit Apple's FCP 3 page.

For Further Reading:

• Basics of Final Cut Pro: Final Cut Pro v. 2.0, an ambitious beginning...: 'A quickstart guide to getting started with FCP 2.0' - Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group
• How To: Exporting to the Web: From Final Cut Pro to the Web - Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group
• The Basics - Mattes and Masks in Final Cut Pro - KenStone.net
• Reviews: Matrox RTMac - MacUser
• Non-linear editing systems - Video Buyer's Guide
• Review: Final Cut Pro for Mac - Mac Buyer's Guide
• Reviews: Final Cut Pro 2: Superb Upgrade Enhances Performance, Media Handling, and More - Macworld
• Matrox Releases Beta RTMac Drivers for Mac OS X: Final Cut Pro 4 support included in first OS X release - Creative Mac