Apple Updates Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, and Logic Studio

[Hellhammer]

Apple silently updated Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, Logic Express 9 and Logic Studio earlier this day. Final Cut Studio and Server ships immediately but Logic Express and Studio ships in 2-6 weeks.

All can be bought or pre-ordered from Apple Online Store (http://store.apple.com/)

[maflynn]

Sadly Aperture is left out of the mix, maybe there will be an update to it shortly :(

[Zargot]

Wow, education (individual) price for FCS is now $899... :eek:

Education (institution) price dropped to $299 though...

[jessica.]

It is stupid that they left out Aperture.

[hotwire132002]

DVD Studio Pro finally supports Blu-Ray Authoring! :D


You can now easily burn a Blu-ray disc or a DVD directly from Compressor. Quickly add a menu to your disc by choosing one of the beautiful Apple-designed HD or SD templates included in Compressor. Because Compressor uses an open XML-based template format, you can import third-party or custom templates for a specific look.

*Logs on to Apple Store to order upgrade*

[Hellhammer]

DVD Studio Pro finally supports Blu-Ray Authoring! :D



*Logs on to Apple Store to order upgrade*

But where's Macs with Blu-Ray drives? I think BR support is mainly for Mac Pros with 3rd party BR player, but who knows?

[jessica.]

If you give MPs BR support and nothing else hell will have fury on Steveo's day.

[FSMBP]

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I would have never noticed since Apple doesn't like to promote anything that isn't iPhone related.

[hotwire132002]

But where's Macs with Blu-Ray drives? I think BR support is mainly for Mac Pros with 3rd party BR player, but who knows?

Well, it's a start, right? ;-)

For now, I'm happy with an external Blu-Ray burner from a 3rd party... better than nothing!

[xparaparafreakx]

Logic Studio for me. Awesome. Guess the people who got 2009 Mac Pro, this might address the performance issue. Too bad they gotta pay to get a fix that should of came out as an update.

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/23/apple-updates-final-cut-studio-final-cut-server-and-logic-studio/)

Apple today released updates to its professional video and audio editing applications: Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, and Logic Studio.

The revised Final Cut Studio (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/) brings over 100 new features (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/07/23fcs.html) to the application suite including new versions of nearly every component application and is priced at $999, a $300 discount over the previous version.Apple today announced a significant update to Final Cut Studio with more than 100 new features and new versions of Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color and Compressor. Final Cut Studio features Final Cut Pro 7 which expands Apple's ProRes codec family to support virtually any workflow and includes Easy Export for one step output to a variety of formats and iChat Theater support for real-time collaboration. Motion 4 includes enhanced tools such as 3D shadows, reflections and depth of field for stunning motion graphics and visual effects, and Soundtrack Pro 3 features new multitrack audio tools to streamline audio post production. Color 1.5 includes better Final Cut Pro integration and support for full color resolution, and Compressor 3.5 adds new features that make it easy to set up and customize your export options. At $999, the new Final Cut Studio is $300 less than the previous release and is also available as an upgrade for just $299.Apple also introduced Final Cut Server 1.5 (http://www.apple.com/finalcutserver/), offering a number of new features for Apple's media management companion to Final Cut Pro. The new version includes unlimited licenses for $999, and existing Final Cut Server users can upgrade for $299.

The updated Logic Studio (http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/) package brings significant revisions (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/07/23logicstudio.html) to Apple's flagship audio application suite, bringing major changes to Logic Pro and MainStage and incorporating over 200 new features.Apple today unveiled the next version of Logic Studio with major upgrades to Logic Pro and MainStage and more than 200 new features that simplify complex tasks. Logic Pro 9 features new Amp Designer and Pedalboard plug-ins that provide realistic virtual guitar amps and stompbox effects to create amazing custom guitar rigs. A new set of Flex Time tools allow Logic users to manipulate the timing and tempo of audio quickly and easily. MainStage 2, Apple's live performance application, includes the new Playback and Loopback plug-ins to provide backing tracks and creative, real-time loop recording for performing on stage. Logic Studio also includes the new Soundtrack Pro 3, with new multitrack audio tools for video production, and Compressor 3.5 for encoding in a variety of formats.Logic Studio is priced at $499, and existing users can upgrade for $199. Apple will also be releasing an updated version of Logic Express (http://www.apple.com/logicexpress/), a slimmed-down version of Logic targeted at GarageBand users looking for additional tools, in August for $199.

Article Link: Apple Updates Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, and Logic Studio (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/07/23/apple-updates-final-cut-studio-final-cut-server-and-logic-studio/)

[derryquinn]

I wonder if Phenomenon makes an appearance at last?

I'm pretty happy that both of these apps have been upgraded.

Ah and "OMG MARBLEZ LOLOLOL!!!1!"

EDIT: Dear lord, look at what I just found in the "Easy Exporting" video on Apple.com under Final cut "What's New"

[Ade-iMac-177]

Has livetype been discontinued? i can't find anything about it. I am thinking it might have just been merged with Motion

[ACW]

Some nice updates to Logic. Lots of stuff for Guitarists.

[Ade-iMac-177]

Has livetype been discontinued? i can't find anything about it. I am thinking it might have just been merged with Motion

[crisss1205]

I can see the future. Does Apple need to royalties in order to enable Blu-ray burning in their apps? If so then when are we getting it in the computers?

[Oirectine]

Let's hope they fixed all the ridiculous bugs from Logic 8, e.g. the overload errors when only a couple tracks were playing.

[Teej guy]

Some nice updates to Logic. Lots of stuff for Guitarists.

Although they don't seem to be aiming this full version number update at working professionals, at by with looking at the initial marketing. We'll have to see how stable it is. If they haven't done some serious bug fixing and stability work, they might lose some pros with this one.

[techfreak85]

Burn a Blu-Ray Disk Eh?
(http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/whats-new.html):eek:

[queshy]

Random update - it's Thursday!

[zedsdead]

The updates overall a good, but I was expecting a little more, in particular in Final Cut and Color appearance. Native AVC-HD editing would have been nice as well.

In not a Blu-Ray pusher, but it's really pathetic that Apple has built Blu-Ray support into Compressor but you still can't create Blu-Ray in DVD Studio Pro. Even worse is the lack of Blu-Ray viewing.

[Cynicalone]

No Aperture update?

[zedsdead]

No Aperture update?

I said the same thing....blast!

[TMay]

I can see the future. Does Apple need to royalties in order to enable Blu-ray burning in their apps? If so then when are we getting it in the computers?

If you burn to a BD-R or BD-R/W disk you have already paid (a license fee paid by the disc manufacturer).

If you want to Author a disk for commercial duplication, it's something like $4500.

Nice to see that FCS supports AVC HD to red laser (DVD burning) with playback in Blu-Ray devices. I just purchased Toast 10 Pro to do the samething.

I'm happy, albeit I wish that there was better AVC editing support other than log and transfer.

[Igantius]

Has livetype been discontinued? i can't find anything about it. I am thinking it might have just been merged with Motion

Looking at the Tech Specs & Requirements page, I reckon you're right about it being incorporated into Motion.

[Sirmausalot]

Seems like a crap update to me. Yeah, you can color code markers. The buggy Sound Track Pro has some new features, but does it still crash all the time? DVD studio Pro STILL not updated and no indication that compressor compresses any faster.

[crisss1205]

The updates overall a good, but I was expecting a little more, in particular in Final Cut and Color appearance. Native AVC-HD editing would have been nice as well.

In not a Blu-Ray pusher, but it's really pathetic that Apple has built Blu-Ray support into Compressor but you still can't create Blu-Ray in DVD Studio Pro. Even worse is the lack of Blu-Ray viewing.

September iPod/Mac Update Event? Maybe Apple secretly put in an updated slot drive that has blu-ray but isn't enabled on the new MacBook Pros until they push out a new update (Snow Leopard) and then everyone gets blu-ray viewing/burning support.

(Hey, It could happen, Look at the iPod touch and blu-tooth*):eek:

[TMay]

No Aperture update?

September would be my guess, or at one of the upcoming Photography expositions.

[techfreak85]

[snip]...Even worse is the lack of Blu-Ray viewing.


....for now...:D

[CaptMatt12]

No Aperture update?

My question also! I'd go back to Lightroom but it's way too much of a hassle to convert the library. I suppose they know that and aren't too worried about people jumping ship.

[Cynicalone]

I'm a little surprised they didn't wait till Snow Leopard was out.

[UTball]

Yay...Apple has finally updated their Pro Apps. But I tried to read on the apple website if Final Cut was going to be 64 bit or not. Or if that will come with a later update once SL is released. Does anyone know the answer to this

[supremedesigner]

If you're under motion page and click "buy now" http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/motion/

it gives error. I thought Apple is perfect... I guess not ;)

[zedsdead]

September would be my guess, or at one of the upcoming Photography expositions.

I'm thinking August. Apple needs to release something next month. I doubt September, that will be focused on the iPod and hopefully a 1080p Apple TV (fingers crossed).

September iPod/Mac Update Event? Maybe Apple secretly put in an updated slot drive that has blu-ray but isn't enabled on the new MacBook Pros until they push out a new update and then everyone gets blu-ray viewing/ burning support?

(Hey, It could happen, Look at the iPod touch and blu-tooth*):eek:

I don't know. This is either a hint that Apple will be doing Blu-Ray in the near future or it's yet another sign that Blu-Ray simply isn't coming. Come on, DVD Studio Pro doesn't author Blu-Ray discs...you have to use Compressor...that's just screwed up.

There is no secret Blu-Ray slot drive in the pro's, sorry.

[justflie]

Unless I missed something (just looked over the pages very briefly), I'm surprised that there was no mention of the apps (especially Compressor) utilizing OpenCL in Snow Leopard. I would think that would have been a big announcement as there should be some huge gains in the video-based apps. Perhaps they're waiting to announce/update this until after SL is released.

[csimmons]

Although they don't seem to be aiming this full version number update at working professionals, at by with looking at the initial marketing. We'll have to see how stable it is. If they haven't done some serious bug fixing and stability work, they might lose some pros with this one.

Ummm...did you actually READ the new features? Lots of "pro" features (many long-requested) have been added to Logic Studio, such as bounce-in-place and elastic audio in the arrange window (including quantization of multiple audio tracks simultaneously). Logic is now in many ways on par with the latest version of ProTools, and yet costs WAY less. From what I heard, the Logic 9 is supposed to be very stable as well (at least I hope it is).

[Simplicated]

If you're under motion page and click "buy now" http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/motion/

it gives error. I thought Apple is perfect... I guess not ;)

If you go to the "What's new" page, the title bar says "Whats new"... Apple isn't perfect! :p

[balahir]

Anybody know if FC Express also will be updated (like Logic/Express)?

[fiercetiger224]

I hope this runs in 64-bit on Snow Leopard. Can't confirm until I actually have this in hand! Funny how it doesn't mention anything about Snow Leopard. We can only hope that this version fully support Snow Leopard APIs! ;)

[swwack91]

does anyone know how the upgrade purchases work? is it a direct download or do they send you the full box software and it simply requires an old S/N?

i've never purchases an upgrade version before and i'm curious at how it works before making a decision.

[jessica.]

My question also! I'd go back to Lightroom but it's way too much of a hassle to convert the library. I suppose they know that and aren't too worried about people jumping ship.
They should be. They need to kick it in gear with Aperture.
I hope this runs in 64-bit on Snow Leopard. Can't confirm until I actually have this in hand! Funny how it doesn't mention anything about Snow Leopard. We can only hope that this version fully support Snow Leopard APIs! ;)

I'd say it better. Seriously, why release an update if it's not going to make use of your newest OS?

[thevofl]

Education Discount Price went UP from $699 to $899. So Apple want students to switch to Adobe or even *gasp* go to bootlegs?

[FSMBP]

Anybody know if FC Express also will be updated (like Logic/Express)?

I'm guessing most likely. The Express versions usually come out a couple months after the Pro version is released.

[zedsdead]

I'm guessing most likely. The Express versions usually come out a couple months after the Pro version is released.

There's really not much to add to Final Cut Express, outside of the Share Menu.

Logic Express is due in August, and Apple at least released the pre-order information.

Maybe Final Cut Express isn't getting a numbered upgraded this time because there really isn't much to upgrade. Most of the features that came to Final Cut this time were for the Pro crowd.

[paulvee]

Looks cool, but doesn't show up in the Apple Stores for Education, all three that I qualify for. I'm on the phone now with a friendly rep who is checking with his supervisor. Could be that it's just too soon.

Okay, they are running parts numbers and trying to sort it out, will call me back later.

We shall see.

[John.B]

Some nice updates to Logic. Lots of stuff for Guitarists.
I was looking for info about the Apogee GiO controller which is supposed to be a USB-based stompbox switch for the virtual stompboxes in Logic/Mainstage, but it doesn't exist on the Apogee site yet. (I'm hoping to be able to ditch my Line6 X3 Live if possible.)

I guess in this case Apple pre-announced someone else's product. :o

[ppc_michael]

Wow they're really letting DVD Studio Pro just sit there. Not that there's anything wrong with the application, I love it. But it would be cool to have fun new features I haven't thought of. ;)

[andyr2120]

I ordered Logic Express a few days ago, and FedEx says it will arrive today. Looks like I won't be getting v9 since that doesn't release until August, but I am holding out for irrational hope.... August is only a few days away, after all.

Either way, I'm ok. Pretty sure I can get an upgrade free/cheap.

[goodcow]

Education Discount Price went UP from $699 to $899. So Apple want students to switch to Adobe or even *gasp* go to bootlegs?

This is interesting because just last week we put in an order for 20 seats of Final Cut Studio 2 and Final Cut Server 1. ($399 per seat)

Time to call our Apple Edu rep.

[swwack91]

anyone know how the upgrade copies work?

[butterfly0fdoom]

Education Discount Price went UP from $699 to $899. So Apple want students to switch to Adobe or even *gasp* go to bootlegs?

Oh my goodness, either my school was selling Logic at a ridiculously low price or the eduction price went up by a lot cuz it's $449 now (wow, Apple, thanks for the great savings there). Even Logic Express! :( I wonder what'll happen to FCE5.

[wpc33]

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/
"# ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)"

Does this mean that the 9400M is not supported, or is that, erm, somehow not an integrated GPU..?

[John.B]

My question also! I'd go back to Lightroom but it's way too much of a hassle to convert the library. I suppose they know that and aren't too worried about people jumping ship.
Aperture is nice, but Lightroom 2 kicks butt (as much as I hate some of Adobe's other products).

But there is no way I'd try and convert pics from one to the other, you'd basically wind up having to redo all the edits from the original raw files. At least in my case, that's just not gonna happen. I don't worry about whether I used Aperture or Lr originally, I just load the final jpegs from each program into iPhoto for quick reference.

One thing that neither Aperture nor Lightroom does well is optics correction on the scale that DxO has. That would be the "killer feature" IMO that would put one well above the other. As it is now, DxO is a must have, but it makes my workflow too kludgy.

[swwack91]

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/
"# ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)"

Does this mean that the 9400M is not supported, or is that, erm, somehow not an integrated GPU..?

hopefully that just means that they can't guarantee full performance on integrated processors? :o

[John.B]

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/
"# ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)"

Does this mean that the 9400M is not supported, or is that, erm, somehow not an integrated GPU..?
Reread that sentence. :) The 9400M isn't an Intel integrated graphics processor. They are saying the GMA950 or the x3100 aren't supported. (And, by extension, that Intel integrated graphics are the suxor!)

[Sonicjay]

Wow, the upgrade dropped to $299! Wasn't it $599 before? I have the original FCS, and hadn't updated to FCS2. For $299, I think I will now.

[Gilfanon]

No idea if this is just a UK thing, but trying to buy Logic Studio from the website gives a 4-6 week lead time, and the Regent Street store (main store in the UK) also say they aren't getting it for 4-6 weeks. :mad:

[L3X]

I like the background rendering, that helps a lot. We have two mac pros rendering many hours out of the week, so this will save some time for sure. Also like the direct burn to DVD from FC. That saves a step.

We'll prob get 3 copies for work and pray that Snow Leopard provides some enhancements.

[nelmat]

If you're under motion page and click "buy now" http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/motion/

it gives error. I thought Apple is perfect... I guess not ;)

No it doesn't - problem must be with your browser config.....

[DELLsFan]

Reread that sentence. :) The 9400M isn't an Intel integrated graphics processor. They are saying the GMA950 or the x3100 aren't supported. (And, by extension, that Intel integrated graphics are the suxor!)

For use with Pro applications like this, um ... yes, thank you Captain Obvious. Here, let me play too ...

Final Cut and Logic Studio aren't meant for use on Netbooks and the iPhone. :eek:

[wpc33]

Reread that sentence. :) The 9400M isn't an Intel integrated graphics processor. They are saying the GMA950 or the x3100 aren't supported. (And, by extension, that Intel integrated graphics are the suxor!)

Thank you!!

[bagelche]

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/
"# ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)"

Does this mean that the 9400M is not supported, or is that, erm, somehow not an integrated GPU..?


I think they're being specific but clear. The 9400M is integrated, but it's not an intel chipset. Only intel integrated graphics are not supported.

I wonder if this is the same level of non-support that allowed for running FCP but not Motion in previous versions.

Also, the specs mention a minimum of an intel processor. Is our dual processor G5 out of luck? I don't want to have to run two completely separate workstations--on on FCS1 and one on FCS3.

[Kaptajn Haddock]

Where is Apoerture 3??? :mad:

[rick3000]

I am so happy about this update!
I have been holding off on upgrading to a newer version of FCP until they released this update. I will buying a copy in the next few days.

But I have to say I am a little disappointed, while they dropped the regular price to $1000, they raised the education price to $900, up from $700. I am curious as to whether or not the academic price allows you to upgrade. In the past the academic version was not upgradeable. But for $900 it could very well be a full and upgradeable version.

[swissmann]

At their what's new site Blu-Ray is listed about 8 times:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/whats-new.html

The menus it creates in export look very basic - boo! And they mention being able to export to use 3rd party authoring software - boo! Seriously how hard would it be to tweak DVD Studio Pro to take the new codec and offer a few new templates?

However I'm encouraged that Blu-Ray made the cut at all. I was certain that if it didn't show up here that it had 0% possibility showing up in any form from apple ever.

Here is to hoping that we get playback support in the OS soon maybe with 10.6.3 or something. Hopefully we won't have to wait until 10.7.

Seems strange that we can now burn a Blu-Ray disc but can't watch what we made.

[cohen777]

FINALLY, we have blu-ray support with final cut pro!! The question why is DVD Studio Pro being orphaned? I was seriously considering buying Adobe Premiere CS4 because of the lack of blu-ray support in final cut pro, and I was waiting for this update to see if Apple would do anything to allow encoding and burning from Final Cut Pro. I would like to see some more information about Compressor's ability to encode and BURN a blu-ray disk. However, this is a good day for those who wanted native ability to burn blu-ray from final cut pro. Now, I need to get my relatives to buy a blu-ray player.

[teejaysplace]

The education store pricing actually jumped up by $200. WTF is that? Are universities somehow recession proof? I thought they wanted students to be learning on this platform? Isn't that the point of producing a low-cost Avid alternative?

[Tallest Skil]

Seems strange that we can now burn a Blu-Ray disc but can't watch what we made.

OF COURSE you can!

Older versions of DVD Studio Pro could make HD DVDs, but they wouldn't be bound by HDCP, meaning unprotected, meaning you could watch them on your Mac.

Apple will have done the same thing with Blu-ray; now everyone can finally SHUT UP about being able to make Blu-ray movies on a Mac.

And if they didn't do that, that means they have licensed HDCP to BURN the movies, meaning viewing is only a few updates away. It's a win-win.

THE ARGUMENT IS FINALLY OVER. :eek::D

[swwack91]

Wow, the upgrade dropped to $299! Wasn't it $599 before? I have the original FCS, and hadn't updated to FCS2. For $299, I think I will now.

EXACTLY! i'm sorry if i keep asking this question, but— how does the upgrade work? do you need to have the whole suite installed already on your system or do you just need the S/N of your previous copy?

i'm in the middle of transitioning systems and i really don't want to need to install FCS2 before replacing it. i'm OCD like that and i like clean installs. :D

[doctoree]

oh no, they kept this ****** non-Apple patchwork interface in FCP 7. They not even closed the hole on the lower right of the standard workspace....
I guess Premiere Pro will stay on my hdd.

[zedsdead]

OF COURSE you can!

Older versions of DVD Studio Pro could make HD DVDs, but they wouldn't be bound by HDCP, meaning unprotected, meaning you could watch them on your Mac.

Apple will have done the same thing with Blu-ray; now everyone can finally SHUT UP about being able to make Blu-ray movies on a Mac.

And if they didn't do that, that means they have licensed HDCP to BURN the movies, meaning viewing is only a few updates away. It's a win-win.

THE ARGUMENT IS FINALLY OVER. :eek::D

Sorry, but the lack of Blu-Ray support in DVD Studio Pro is just embarrassing. I think it has to do with the lack of playback actually.

I hope the arguments end, but for that to happen Apple needs to add Blu-Ray support to OS-X and it's Mac...maybe that will finally happen, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Small White Car]

Apple will have done the same thing with Blu-ray; now everyone can finally SHUT UP about being able to make Blu-ray movies on a Mac.

THE ARGUMENT IS FINALLY OVER. :eek::D

Wait.

It looks like Compressor can burn a simple disk with a main menu, but DVD Studio Pro still can't make a Blu-Ray disk with other features.

In other words Appld just gave us what Toast was already doing, but I still can't make a full-featured Blu-Ray disk.

In other words, nothing changed today.

So why should I 'shut up' if nothing's different?

[outdata326]

The education store pricing actually jumped up by $200. WTF is that? Are universities somehow recession proof? I thought they wanted students to be learning on this platform? Isn't that the point of producing a low-cost Avid alternative?

The education store has always given just 10% off on software, but the previous version had a special price. I am going to wait and see what my school actually sells it for. I spent 699 for it from the education store, could have got it from my school for 499. I hope that price goes down. :)

[zedsdead]

EXACTLY! i'm sorry if i keep asking this question, but— how does the upgrade work? do you need to have the whole suite installed already on your system or do you just need the S/N of your previous copy?

i'm in the middle of transitioning systems and i really don't want to need to install FCS2 before replacing it. i'm OCD like that and i like clean installs. :D

You only need the Serial Numbers. When you attempt to install the upgraded copy without other versions installed, it will ask for the previous version's Serial #.

[parkds]

Has anybody been able to locate the new FCS upgrade at an Apple Store? The ship time is 24 hours so it seems likely stores might be receiving it today.

[zedsdead]

Has anybody been able to locate the new FCS upgrade at an Apple Store? The ship time is 24 hours so it seems likely stores might be receiving it today.

The Roosevelt Field Store on Long Island, NY did not have it yet, so I just ordered it online. Tried the impatient route first, but since it wasn't there, I can just wait.

[rick3000]

The education store has always given just 10% off on software, but the previous version had a special price. I am going to wait and see what my school actually sells it for. I spent 699 for it from the education store, could have got it from my school for 499. I hope that price goes down. :)

Schools may get a better price, but if the education version if now upgradeable it is completely worth the extra $200. Apple has been slowly moving away from education discounts. I remember when iPods where $50-100 off know their is no discount on them.

[swwack91]

You only need the Serial Numbers. When you attempt to install the upgraded copy without other versions installed, it will ask for the previous version.

thanks! i hate the thought of having any mismatched-installed components! AH!

[parkds]

does anyone know how the upgrade purchases work? is it a direct download or do they send you the full box software and it simply requires an old S/N?

i've never purchases an upgrade version before and i'm curious at how it works before making a decision.

You will need your old serial number when you install the upgrade. Also the upgrade (at least in the past) is sold in a box identical to the Full version.

[Small White Car]

So is there any way to know yet if this will be 64-bit under Snow Leopard?

Or do we just have to wait for someone to try it? Seems like they'd be bragging about it on the site if it was.

[swwack91]

You will need your old serial number when you install the upgrade. Also the upgrade (at least in the past) is sold in a box identical to the Full version.

so essentially it's the exact same product except they're giving you a discount for having a previous-version S/N.

[gmcerveny]

I received Logic Express last night from Amazon. I opened the package to check out the contents with the intent to install on the plane today.

Do I just wait till express comes out next month to see what the upgrade policy is?

[Cynicalone]

So is there any way to know yet if this will be 64-bit under Snow Leopard?

Or do we just have to wait for someone to try it? Seems like they'd be bragging about it on the site if it was.

It would be kinda insulting if it runs in 32 bit on Snow Leopard. It's one of the reasons I'm hesitant to upgrade. I don't want to find out that there is a Final Cut Snow Leopard Version waiting in the wings.

[Powerbooky]

I hope that compressor will get some serious updates on its filters.

Like a serious noise- and MPEG-artifacts reducer in pre-processing.

A much better MPEG Motion Estimation would also be something; currently it's very bad, especially with interlaced video.

Compressor misses pixel-aspect options in MPEG2 and H.264 encoding.

[rick3000]

It would be kinda insulting if it runs in 32 bit on Snow Leopard. It's one of the reasons I'm hesitant to upgrade. I don't want to find out that there is a Final Cut Snow Leopard Version waiting in the wings.

If there is and I wouldn't doubt it, just like there was a Universal upgrade when they switched to Intel, they will probably do the same thing but I serious doubt they would charge more than $50-$100.

[AidenShaw]

THE ARGUMENT IS FINALLY OVER. :eek::D

Won't the argument be over when you can put a Hollywood Blu-ray Disc into the Apple-supplied BD drive in your Apple, and watch the movie on your Apple?

Til then, it's pretty mediocre "support", if you can even use the word "support".

[swwack91]

If there is and I wouldn't doubt it, just like their was a Universal upgrade when they switched to Intel, it probably would not be more than $100.

with the philosophy that Apple is living up to so far with Snow Leopard ("we think it's so great everyone should have it so it's super cheap"), I doubt they would release another major upgrade immediately for Snow Leopard.

i'm pretty surprised that they released a major upgrade this soon after releasing FCS2, even.

[Small White Car]

It would be kinda insulting if it runs in 32 bit on Snow Leopard. It's one of the reasons I'm hesitant to upgrade. I don't want to find out that there is a Final Cut Snow Leopard Version waiting in the wings.

The reason I'm hopeful is that to make FC Studio 64-bit they had to have re-written the whole program in Cocoa programing.

I don't know if they did that, but look at the features. A LOT of them are background technology: New codecs supported, Compressor works with Final Cut without tying it up, and Compressor supports burning.

Those feel (to me) like the kinds of things you'd do during a re-write. Things like 'new timecode' windows can be tacked on as an update, but a lot of these other features suggest that they did overhaul the whole program from the bottom up, which suggests the Cocoa re-write.

Just guesses, we'll have to wait for someone to test it in the real world to know for sure.

[Goona]

So Blu-ray discs are coming to Macs?

[jpine]

OF COURSE you can!

Older versions of DVD Studio Pro could make HD DVDs, but they wouldn't be bound by HDCP, meaning unprotected, meaning you could watch them on your Mac.

Apple will have done the same thing with Blu-ray; now everyone can finally SHUT UP about being able to make Blu-ray movies on a Mac.

And if they didn't do that, that means they have licensed HDCP to BURN the movies, meaning viewing is only a few updates away. It's a win-win.

THE ARGUMENT IS FINALLY OVER. :eek::D

You're kidding, right? A decent menu is required for those of use who want to make a Blu-ray for clients or for educational purposes. What Toast does with Blu-ray menus is very superficial. Blu-ray has the potential of supporting a very immersive interactive experience, sort of like an app authored on Director or Flash. The "workaround" you described might be acceptable for a hobbiest, but not for someone who needs a pro app. So for me, it is a lose-lose. I lost by having to go to Adobe because I really like FCS and Apple just lost a sale.

[Tallest Skil]

So Blu-ray discs are coming to Macs?

No, apparently not. And what do the disks have to do with anything? The drives are more important. :p;)

[rick3000]

with the philosophy that Apple is living up to so far with Snow Leopard ("we think it's so great everyone should have it so it's super cheap"), I doubt they would release another major upgrade immediately for Snow Leopard.

i'm pretty surprised that they released a major upgrade this soon after releasing FCS2, even.

I don't mean a major update. I mean a 64-bit upgrade pack for the current FCS. They did the same thing when they switched to Intel, you got the exact same software but it was a Universal upgrade for $50.
Or they could release 64-bit support through a software update, or when Apple releases SL they will say, "Oh yeah, and FCS has been 64-bit all along and will run perfectly."

They have done all of these things before so it is anyone's guess what will happen.
And FCS2 came out like 2 years ago, it was overdue for an update.

[SiskoKid]

Can you buy the upgrade version when the last FCP Studio you bought was an upgrade?

[swwack91]

The reason I'm hopeful is that to make FC Studio 64-bit they had to have re-written the whole program in Cocoa programing.

I don't know if they did that, but look at the features. A LOT of them are background technology: New codecs supported, Compressor works with Final Cut without tying it up, and Compressor supports burning.

Those feel (to me) like the kinds of things you'd do during a re-write. Things like 'new timecode' windows can be tacked on as an update, but a lot of these other features suggest that they did overhaul the whole program from the bottom up, which suggests the Cocoa re-write.

Just guesses, we'll have to wait for someone to test it in the real world to know for sure.

yeah i guess we should place our bets now. is it already in stores? i wonder when someone will get it home and tell us!

[dimensiondvdrob]

This is either a hint that Apple will be doing Blu-Ray in the near future or it's yet another sign that Blu-Ray simply isn't coming. Come on, DVD Studio Pro doesn't author Blu-Ray discs...you have to use Compressor...that's just screwed up.

Blu-Ray burning is not authoring. They just give you a way to burn an HD(Blu-Ray) encoded video to disc with a menu for small collaborations between people. Just like Adobe's Encore, there is not going to be a sub-$25K BD authoring system for a while, until Sony drops the royalty fees. I own a DVD/Blu-Ray authoring company and we use Sonic's Scenarist software for BD authoring and it costs $25-$30K for the software license. This is due to the expensive royalties needed for adding the AACS files to discs for replication purposes. Once that price goes down, then I am sure Apple will add this to DVD Studio Pro. Not before. Not worth the R&D and ROI right now, especially for consumer/prosumer level software like FCP Studio.

[Durendal]

No indication that they've done a much-needed overhaul of Compressor. What a joke that software is. Slow, buggy, and less effective than a lot of FREE encoders out there. Want to encode for DVD or iPod? Use FFMPEG, because you get far more control and better quality in less time. I would say that Compressor has frame controls for ridiculously good deinterlacing, but it takes an eternity to encode on high quality and doesn't even bloody work right. Every time I've tried a high-quality frame controls deinterlace, I get blocks of combing in an otherwise progressive-looking video. It's inexcusable just how bad Compressor really is.

[RebootD]

Is Livetype dead? Did they integrate it into FC or Motion?

[noodle654]

Good stuff today. I just pre-ordered Logic Express 9. Can't wait. However, like some of you said, where is the Aperture update?

[Hamish]

new final cut studio = amazing

madness....
excellent...

sadness...


new final cut studio = intel only

Goodbye G5 old friend.

And so... a tribute. in pictures:
RIP Quad Core G5 2005-2009 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidmotion/sets/72157621792790496/)

[libertyforall]

WOW! Finally new shiny Blu-Ray movie playback support! :rolleyes:

[balahir]

There's really not much to add to Final Cut Express, outside of the Share Menu.


Disagree. What about native AVCHD editing? Pinnacle Studio, Premiere Elements and PowerDirector (Win) have had it for years... I assume Premiere Pro also has it.

[zedsdead]

Disagree. What about native AVCHD editing? Pinnacle Studio, Premiere Elements and PowerDirector (Win) have had it for years... I assume Premiere Pro also has it.

Final Cut Pro does not have Native AVCHD editing...sadly.

[MrCrowbar]

Where can I find the new features list for Logic Pro? I'd be happy if multitake recording would work without screwing everything up irreversibly and I could do undo on anything else but the arrange window.

Can't use Pro Tools LE because the drivers for the (necassary) hardware cause kernel panics all the time, don't have usable features and need to be attached to work. Oh and you have to buy and install so many plugins before you can do anything with it.

EDIT: Nevermind, found the features list: http://www.apple.com/logicstudio/whats-new/

[jayducharme]

I really like Logic. I use it because I'm not a fan of the Garage Band interface. But now it looks like the new Logic will be just like Garage Band, only with more effects. I guess I'll go back to Cubase.

And why include Soundtrack Pro with Logic? That seems redundant when the current Logic can do soundtracking just fine.

[rick3000]

Just a heads up MacWorld has reviews of all the components of the new Final Cut Studio. They seem to like it for the most part despite the fact that there are still a few bugs and no major redesigns.

[macrumorsMaster]

Color says 32 bit rendering needs card with 256mb ram, with this work with the 9400 of the low end MBP?

What about Motion? Will it work better with the 9400 than the Motion in FCS 2?

The tech specs are not that detailed on this :p

[ryanvalle]

Am I the only one unimpressed by this update?

There isn't even a mention of a performane update or what snow leopard will do to it.

[zedsdead]

Am I the only one unimpressed by this update?

There isn't even a mention of a performane update or what snow leopard will do to it.

I'm not very impressed. It's worth the upgrade now that it's only $299, but all of the Apps should have just received a .5 update. Nothing really seems that dramatically different.

[noodle654]

Forgot to ask in my earlier post...are there going to be speed increases in any of the software, since it drops the PPC stuff?

[Thomas2006]

Final Cut Studio 3
What was just released


Final Cut Studio 3.5
Requires Snow Leopard
Disk Studio Pro replaces DVD Studio Pro, so users can create and burn Blu-ray disks, in addition to DVDs
64-bit only, top-to-bottom


NOTE: Just so no one thinks I am saying FCS 3 released July, 2009, and FCS 3.5 released September, 2009; my thinking was:
release FCS 3, July, 2009
start FCS 3 bug fixing
release Snow Leopard, September, 2009
work on bugs in Snow Leopard and bugs in FCS 3 running on Snow Leopard.
work on FCS 3.5
Mac Pro gets hardware refresh, which now has a Blu-ray drive as a CTO option
release FCS 3.5

[noodle654]

I pre-ordered Logic Express 9, I am really pumped to see what is new and how it runs. But, I want to know where Aperture 3 is??

[swwack91]

Final Cut Studio 3
What was just released


Final Cut Studio 3.5
Requires Snow Leopard
Disk Studio Pro replaces DVD Studio Pro, so users can create and burn Blu-ray disks, in addition to DVDs
64-bit only, top-to-bottom


idk... idk... maybe it's just best to wait until Snow Leopard comes out to see how the dust is going to settle.

[FSMBP]

Disagree. What about native AVCHD editing? Pinnacle Studio, Premiere Elements and PowerDirector (Win) have had it for years... I assume Premiere Pro also has it.

I concur. Apple can add a couple new features; Stabilization (like iMovie '09), maybe a handful of new effects, more support for HD-based camcorders, and possible integrate LiveType into Final Cut Express (so you don't have to leave Final Cut to do nice looking titles).

[broll]

Is Livetype dead? Did they integrate it into FC or Motion?

I hope not. That said, i search the full feature PDF document Apple released today and there is no mention of it. :(

[swwack91]

I hope not. That said, i search the full feature PDF document Apple released today and there is no mention of it. :(

there is mention, however, in Motion of new text features and the Tech Specs still say that several GB are needed for installation of LiveFonts.

personally, i love LiveType and will keep it installed in addition to whatever new version of Motion Apple has for me.

the issue is still out whether or not to upgrade now or wait until Snow Leopard is out.

Dear Apple: PLEASE MAKE A COMMENT AS TO THE 64-BIT NATURE OF FCS3!

[miiles]

Hmm. No mention of 64-bit?

[MacLogically]

I am totally disappointed and let down by the Logic update. Being an electronic music producer I don't begrudge guitar / band producers but the total focus on this area in the new update has been an unbelievable letdown. I have used macs for music since 1993 starting with cubasis and moving to logic which I have championed ever since. Sadly cubase here I come.... it has a bitter taste but for electronic music it is now a better option. Again I am totally gutted by this move.

[FF_productions]

Am I reading this correctly but did DVD SP not get an update AGAIN?

[Ed91]

Straight from Logic 8.0.2 to 9?! :eek:

I was hoping for plenty of free bug updates, not having to buy a whole new version.. Oh well..

[jrlcopy]

Am I reading this correctly but did DVD SP not get an update AGAIN?

I know, :( SAD!

This should have been a 6.1 or 6.5 update, calling it a full point update is sad, not enough new features or fixes.

[FF_productions]

Looks like Blu-Ray has finally been added in too...I'm assuming Mac Pro will have a BTO option soon and OS X update to come along??

[Mr-Stabby]

Some very good new features, and i'm glad they've dropped the price.

A lot of it seems to be under-the-hood updates. A lot of which look like they could save me a lot of time. The change in render management looks very good. A big problem for me is i often spend ages rendering a clip, then i make a small change and it unnecessarily says it needs to re-render the whole thing again. By the looks of it, the new version of FCP fixes that problem.

Motion is always the most exciting when it comes to updates. Motion 2 saw some great improvements, and this version is no different. I really see this as a serious opposition for After Effects now.

However some bad things:

- Still only 5.1 surround editing in Soundtrack Pro. The 5.1 support is brilliant, but those two extra channels would have been nice.

- DVD Studio Pro, they've released a couple of major updates to Final Cut Studio in the last few years, and DVD Studio never seems to be touched. What with all the Easy Export and the Bluray support in this FCS update, DVD Studio is really falling behind the times. It looks like the odd one out in this studio package.

Also, what of 64 bit support? I would have thought Apple would have made a big deal about this if it were there. Also does Final Cut now make more use of GPU and multi-core, or is that still the same. Questions, questions!

The cheaper price means however i'm ordering this right now!

[Queso]

Straight from Logic 8.0.2 to 9?! :eek:

I was hoping for plenty of free bug updates, not having to buy a whole new version.. Oh well..
That is a bit poor it has to be said. However, as a guitarist I'll be upgrading to 9 anyway. Express that is, I'm not that good a guitarist :D

[FF_productions]

End of the road for PPC:

Minimum System Requirements to Install All Applications

Mac computer with an Intel processor
1GB of RAM (2GB of RAM recommended for working with compressed HD and uncompressed SD sources; 4GB of RAM recommended for working with uncompressed HD sources)
ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)
128MB of VRAM
Display with 1280-by-800 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later
QuickTime 7.6 or later
DVD drive for installation

I don't see an academic discount for FCS 4.... I guess $999 is the only price available?

[MrCrowbar]

Straight from Logic 8.0.2 to 9?! :eek:

I was hoping for plenty of free bug updates, not having to buy a whole new version.. Oh well..

Agreed. Let's hope the bugs were fixed though. I'd love to actually use the take folders and quick swipe.

[edoates]

Blu-Ray burning is not authoring. They just give you a way to burn an HD(Blu-Ray) encoded video to disc with a menu for small collaborations between people. Just like Adobe's Encore, there is not going to be a sub-$25K BD authoring system for a while, until Sony drops the royalty fees. I own a DVD/Blu-Ray authoring company and we use Sonic's Scenarist software for BD authoring and it costs $25-$30K for the software license. This is due to the expensive royalties needed for adding the AACS files to discs for replication purposes. Once that price goes down, then I am sure Apple will add this to DVD Studio Pro. Not before. Not worth the R&D and ROI right now, especially for consumer/prosumer level software like FCP Studio.

The license issue is with AACS, required for replicated BD but not for BD-R(W). If one is authoring BD for replication, that fee must be paid; for BD-R, no fee is needed, which is what allows Toast and the new FCS to burn BD-R.

It sure would be nice for Apple to a least fix DVD SP to allow the menus created with the extant system for DVD to be converted to BD-R menus. No, that doesn't live up to the full potential of BD, but it's a "northward" move for us serious hobbyists.

I suspect the other issue with provided full BD menu design software, is that BD menu creation, the Java, et al, is an order of magnitude more complex in design than BD. Apple is no doubt trying to design a system that allows access to more features, but still keep it wysiwyg and fairly simple.

For pros authorize serious contents for replication, access to a more complete set of BD features is needed. I think the licensing should be handled like mpeg-2 decoding in Quicktime: you pay extra for a special key that unlocks the ability to write the AACS files. The price of that license is determined by Sony et al, not by Apple. But at least one could get it.

The question for Apple is whether or not it is worth the investment: will serious professionals use DVD/BD Studio vx to author BD for replication, and if so, are there enough of them to justify the software design and implementation expense?

BD Playback: licensing is not a serious issue: BD hardware players (set top, Playstation, etc.) are not that expensive any more, and the add-ons you must buy to play BD on Windoze are cheap enough.

Eddie O

[fpnc]

Here is my guess about 64-bit and Open CL support (i.e. Snow Leopard or Mac OS X 10.6), it will NOT be in this release. In fact, I'd guess that those features will be in the NEXT major update (Final Cut Pro v8, FCS4?) and will require another upgrade in about one year (hopefully prior to 10.7).

I suspect that the reason they released this new version prior to Snow Leopard is just to get it over with BEFORE they release Snow Leopard. Sure it will look bad when Snow Leopard ships with FCP7 still 32-bit and not supporting Open CL, but imagine how bad it would have looked if they released FCP7 AFTER Snow Leopard but without any real support for the new Snow Leopard features. Thus, they had to release it now or never. Besides I expect that the update to support 64-bit and Open CL will be MASIVE and I'm pretty certain that will take another year or more to be done. In any case, $299 for the upgrade is pretty decent and probably another tip-off that this update won't include support for Snow Leopard's new features.

Interestingly, someone on another website said they called FC7 technical support and Apple told him that this release DID support 64-bit and Open CL. Further, this user claimed that 64-bit support was listed in the "General" section on Apple's FCS website. However, I can find no reference to such support anywhere on the new FCS website. Thus, I think either Apple's technical support is wrong or that this user was just spreading rumors (i.e. messing with everyone).

I'd like to be proven wrong, but we'll just have to wait and see.

[portishead]

This is a nice update. I think the best feature is the background exporting. I have to export so many clips, this will save me a ton of time. Bigger Timecode window is also a welcome addition. We'll see how the new media management is. Also nice to see more ProRes codecs.

I am sad to see no AVCHD native support, as well as XDCAM (MPEG-IMX). Blu-ray authoring would have been nice, but I think it will be coming. It's not a big deal since I don't need any fancy menus anyway. I don't know who is bitching about sending client Blu-rays and how they must have it authored through DVD Studio. Make a simple menu through Toast and you're done.
I'm glad they kept STP at 5.1 mixing. 7.1 is crap and unnecessary.

This is a decent update, and nice at $299.

[Melodic]

End of the road for PPC:

Minimum System Requirements to Install All Applications

Mac computer with an Intel processor
1GB of RAM (2GB of RAM recommended for working with compressed HD and uncompressed SD sources; 4GB of RAM recommended for working with uncompressed HD sources)
ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)
128MB of VRAM
Display with 1280-by-800 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later
QuickTime 7.6 or later
DVD drive for installation

I don't see an academic discount for FCS 4.... I guess $999 is the only price available?

Which sucks my G5 is still a capable computer.

[fiercetiger224]

I am sad to see no AVCHD native support, as well as XDCAM (MPEG-IMX).

You'll probably never see it have native support, since these are both delivery formats, not editing formats. There's just too much processing overhead on these codecs to even try and make it native. Processing raw data (or near raw) is always faster than processing compressed data.

[FF_productions]

Which sucks my G5 is still a capable computer.

Especially the Quad G5's that are capable of 16 gigs of ram and have a lot of horsepower considering their age (approaching 4 years since Quad was first released).

[Willis]

new final cut studio = amazing

madness....
excellent...

sadness...


new final cut studio = intel only

Goodbye G5 old friend.

And so... a tribute. in pictures:
RIP Quad Core G5 2005-2009 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidmotion/sets/72157621792790496/)

Hahaha, amazing pics!

[goodcow]

The education store pricing actually jumped up by $200. WTF is that? Are universities somehow recession proof? I thought they wanted students to be learning on this platform? Isn't that the point of producing a low-cost Avid alternative?

Actually, Edu pricing went down from $399 to $249 per seat, at least on an order of 20.

It looks like Apple is revising actual university pricing downward, which they can verify, while increasing Edu pricing that's open to anyone (i.e. online store with no verification), because people can and will lie.

[fpnc]

A review on FCP7 over on MacWorld says the following:

"While Apple states that there will be performance benefits from running Snow Leopard with Final Cut Pro 7, no new features are enabled by running it."

This sounds to me like 64-bit and Open CL support aren't in this release which seems to confirm my earlier comments and also puts a lie on that "report" from FCP7 technical support (a post from a user on AppleInsider reported that Apple technical support had told him that 64-bit and Open CL were supported in FCP7 -- which now seems to NOT be true).

[portishead]

You'll probably never see it have native support, since these are both delivery formats, not editing formats. There's just too much processing overhead on these codecs to even try and make it native. Processing raw data (or near raw) is always faster than processing compressed data.

That's actually not even close to true. FCP can edit MPEG-IMX files just fine, but they have to be re-wrapped in a quicktime container via Sony's XDCAM Transfer software. There are plenty of plug-ins that allow native editing of this specific flavor of XDCAM, but they are around $1,000.

As for AVCHD, there are several editing packages that already edit this natively. Premiere Elements. I can understand no native AVCHD support because it's not a professional codec anyway. But still would be nice, and FCP can CERTAINLY handle it.

I realize that none of these are typical editing formats, but unfortunately, that is the current reality.

[thunderclap]

STILL no update to DVD Studio Pro? Damn. Apple really needs to again start focusing on their applications and computer line. Every year they fall farther and farther behind.

[swwack91]

A review on FCP7 over on MacWorld says the following:

"While Apple states that there will be performance benefits from running Snow Leopard with Final Cut Pro 7, no new features are enabled by running it."

This sounds to me like 64-bit and Open CL support aren't in this release which seems to confirm my earlier comments and also puts a lie on that "report" from FCP7 technical support (a post from a user on AppleInsider reported that Apple technical support had told him that 64-bit and Open CL were supported in FCP7 -- which now seems to NOT be true).

that's really upsetting that they would release this "major" suite update so close to the release of Snow Leopard and not fully integrate the two technologies.

HOWEVER— FCS3 does have some speed-increasing features and if Snow Leopard is as good an upgrade as Apple is saying it is... the two should compliment one another just fine. I think FCS is pretty snappy to begin with... so I'm not one to complain.

[ChrisA]

that's really upsetting that they would release this "major" suite update so close to the release of Snow Leopard and not fully integrate the two technologies.

How do you know if this is true?

I've written software that looks it it's run time environment and uses services if available and if not just disables a feature. This lets one version of the program run on multiple OS versions.

For all we know this version of Logic and FCP could be as preparatin for Snow Leopard.

But my gues and that is all we can do is guess is that Logic FCP and snow Leopard are all on independent release schedules and the guys working on Logic don't talk the the guys working on Snow Leoard and the only thing they know about Sn is what they see in the beta developer previews just like everyone else.

Software development schedules tend to be very hard to predict. Thinks happen and you just can't get a good estimate for how long it will take. Engineers by definition build things that have never been built before. So it is hard to know how long it will take. So I'm guessing that SN, Logic and FCP development is not synchronized

[arkmannj]

STILL no update to DVD Studio Pro? Damn. Apple really needs to again start focusing on their applications and computer line. Every year they fall farther and farther behind.

I'm feelin' the same way.
Even if they weren't going to allow Blu-Ray authoring in DVD studio, there's still so much they could do with it, to enhance it's abilities and such.

[Halvdan]

I am totally disappointed and let down by the Logic update. Being an electronic music producer I don't begrudge guitar / band producers but the total focus on this area in the new update has been an unbelievable letdown. I have used macs for music since 1993 starting with cubasis and moving to logic which I have championed ever since. Sadly cubase here I come.... it has a bitter taste but for electronic music it is now a better option. Again I am totally gutted by this move.

What did you really expect, though? The new time stretch engine looks up to par with everything else out there, and with a nice gui to boot. The new bounce features is geared mainly towards users who run cpu intensive plugs and instruments, etc etc, and 'guitar' effects tend to be very useful indeed for all kinds of instrumtens and tracks, especially to liven up loops and synths... Did you expect more synths or samplers? Logic's already tricked out in that department IMO.

Anyways, way to go apple. This Logic update is pretty much what the community has been asking for, plus minus a few things. Hope the bugs have been taken care of though. :)

edit: oh, and track importing too. No reason to go with PT anymore for me.

[thunderclap]

Am I the only one unimpressed by this update?

No you're not. I've been really unimpressed with Apple as of late. This "update" is nothing impressive and will be skipping it.

[spritelyjim]

Apple silently updated Final Cut Studio

"Silently" says it all. If Apple feels embarrassed, they should. This is all we get after waiting 3 years? What happened, Apple? Did you steal all your employees for your consumer products and leave skeleton crews for your pro apps?

I'm sorry, but all these new features, except perhaps the Prores update, feel like small work-around plug-ins, nothing near a full update. I expect better. I'm thoroughly disappointed.

Weak.

[huntercr]

Has livetype been discontinued? i can't find anything about it. I am thinking it might have just been merged with Motion

Livetype was dropped for motion a long time ago. It is still present in Final Cut Express however.

[THX1139]

No Aperture update?

No Pages update? :rolleyes:

[aafuss1]

On one of the Apple pages for Logic Express 9 Space Designer is mentioned-does Logic Express 9 now include that?

[jettredmont]

It is stupid that they left out Aperture.

Have any major upgrades of Final Cut Studio and Aperture ever been released on the same date?

I don't see any overlap in historical release dates, according to Wikipedia's release date history, and certainly don't remember them ever coming out around the same time.

On the other hand, FCS has been updated at NAB every time, and Aperture has generally released around Spring or Fall photo equipment shows, so with FCS being released on a random Thursday I can see the line of thought that would expect Aperture to follow suite.

Given the historical release schedules, though, the lack of an Aperture 3 today says nothing about Apple's commitment to upgrading Aperture this year. I'd just expect it closer to September (1.5 years between major releases last time, and coincides with photo shows).

[aafuss1]

Shake is still at version 4.1 and hasn't been updated at all.

[portishead]

Shake is still at version 4.1 and hasn't been updated at all.

Shake is not being developed anymore.

[TuffLuffJimmy]

No Pages update? :rolleyes:

Pages is not a creative professional app. All pro apps were updated today other than Aperture. Which is a little lame. I'm hoping that Aperture comes out after Snow Leopard, is full 64bit and has a plugin architecture similar to Adobe Light Room along with the current set up.

[mixel]

I wish they'd sell these apps separately. :(

I only want motion! I love motion!

[hvfsl]

A review on FCP7 over on MacWorld says the following:

"While Apple states that there will be performance benefits from running Snow Leopard with Final Cut Pro 7, no new features are enabled by running it."

This sounds to me like 64-bit and Open CL support aren't in this release which seems to confirm my earlier comments and also puts a lie on that "report" from FCP7 technical support (a post from a user on AppleInsider reported that Apple technical support had told him that 64-bit and Open CL were supported in FCP7 -- which now seems to NOT be true).
I read completely the opposite from that. By no new features, I assume they mean you don't get any extra features if you run it in snow leopard (which should be the case, since 64bit and opencl should only provide speed increases).

Plus a guy over at Appleinsider apparently called them up and Apple confirmed openCL and 64bit support.

[mandoman]

As a Logic 8 user, I don't feel I need to run out and upgrade to this right away. I already own Guitar Rig, a far superior amp/effects emulator compared to Apple's previous offerings. I will upgrade the same time I upgrade to Snow Leopard.

[jettredmont]

Count me as another loyal Apple devote left out in the cold with this one. My (admittedly old, and starting to show its age with a flakey motherboard) 2003-class G5 2x2 is slated for replacement next, but that won't be happening this year (and it's not necessarily going to happen next either, I hate to say; it's in my plans for next year's bonus, but reality might intervene).

[Side note: I've never had any computer in my house for 6 years; 3-4 and replace had always been our policy. This old G5 has definitely earned its keep! For that, I forgive the fact that it often needs to be restarted twice before it notices there is a video card and often drops network connections during long transfers.]

We just got all the way around (updating my wife's MacBook Pro last week), but the old workhorse still has more get-up-and-go than the newer laptops on disk-intensive duties. I can't see doing FCP work on a MacBook Pro, so this upgrade will just have to wait until the main computer in the house goes Intel (at which time we'll still have one G5 in use as the kids' computer, but everything else will be Intel-based and humming along).

Anyway, by the time I get around to upgrading maybe there will be a Snow Leopard / 64-bit version to upgrade to directly :)

[pixelcruncher]

From a review at another site:

"If this version had shipped within a year after Final Cut Studio 2, I’d be thoroughly satisfied with Apple’s rate of progress. But it has been two years, and at this point I’m a bit surprised at how many long-standing issues haven’t been sufficiently addressed, and how relatively little bold new ground this version explores."

[nuckinfutz]

From a review at another site:

"If this version had shipped within a year after Final Cut Studio 2, I’d be thoroughly satisfied with Apple’s rate of progress. But it has been two years, and at this point I’m a bit surprised at how many long-standing issues haven’t been sufficiently addressed, and how relatively little bold new ground this version explores."

In typical Apple tradition they've been conservative. Snow Leopard is the foundation for the future and Intel hardware is the architecture of choice going forward. I expect more rapid advancement going forward.

[mandoman]

Apogee GiO USB Audio Interface and Midi Controller info now available:
http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/gio.php

[slimpunk]

I know this has been said, but $999 and they can't add one new feature to DVD Studio?

How about a smother UI? How about more templates? How about a "burn multiple copies" option? I could go on...

Bu honestly, it's a great program, much better than the PC authoring software out there. Please Apple, don't let this one die :(

[nuckinfutz]

I know this has been said, but $999 and they can't add one new feature to DVD Studio?

How about a smother UI? How about more templates? How about a "burn multiple copies" option? I could go on...

Bu honestly, it's a great program, much better than the PC authoring software out there. Please Apple, don't let this one die :(

Apple isn't in to spinning optical discs anymore.

[darthraige]

Thank you Apple for not including Blu-Ray in DVD Studio Pro. Appreciate it.

[techfreak85]

Apple isn't in to spinning optical discs anymore.
i have a feeling that we are going to be seeing this (http://indemnity83.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/foxtrot_imac-500x160.jpg)again, in a more recent style.;)

[fef714]

Any word on an FCE update?

[wcalderini]

Hmmm....we (the company I work for) ordered a copy of FCP for me on Tuesday to be delivered Friday. I wonder what my options, if any, will be as
far as getting the new version provided the "old" version shows up.

Anybody have any experience with a situation like this?

BC

[MacFly123]

It looks pretty cool, but I was expecting a little more I think. More in motion with "Phenomenon" and I was expecting new GUIs for FC and Color since they had to rewrite the GUIs in Cocoa anyway. Oh well. :rolleyes:

I hope this is nice and stable and bug free. I have been having LOTS of problems with the whole studio lately crashing etc.

[fpnc]

I read completely the opposite from that. By no new features, I assume they mean you don't get any extra features if you run it in snow leopard (which should be the case, since 64bit and opencl should only provide speed increases).

Plus a guy over at Appleinsider apparently called them up and Apple confirmed openCL and 64bit support.

OpenCL and 64-bit support would definitely be MAJOR new features and something that would be trumpeted from the rooftops by Apple (if it were present in the FCP7 release). I already commented on the AppleInsider post and as I said either FCP technical support is misinformed/wrong (the most likely case) or that user is just "messing with us" (seems a bit unlikely but not out of the question, but to be fair I could be wrong or just "messing" too).

The problem with this assumed support for 64-bit is that it would mean that FCP had been substantially rewritten for Cocoa (a feat that has not been accomplished in the past eight years during which Mac OS X has been shipping, as FCP is widely reported to be a Carbon application). Note this comment from Apple's Mac OS X technical documentation:

"If you want to create a 64-bit application for Mac OS X, you need to use Cocoa to implement its user interface."

Of course, Apple could have converted FCP to a hybrid 32/64-bit application, but I think that is unlikely or if true it would only exist in a limited number of areas. Also note that FCP6 is documented by Apple to be limited to running in only 4GB of memory space (after all, it's a 32-bit application) and if FCP7 was fully 64-bit capable in Snow Leopard then it could use as much DRAM as your system could supply (which would be up to 32GB on some Mac systems). Thus, just the 64-bit address capability would be a major new feature.

Let's face it, this is a minor upgrade and IMO robust Snow Leopard support won't appear in FCP for a good long while.

[nuckinfutz]

a major new feature.

Let's face it, this is a minor upgrade and IMO robust Snow Leopard support won't appear in FCP for a good long while.

Yup. I expect a revision in about a year to FCP 7.5. New UI and Snow Leopard goodness.

Apple clearly is working on Quicktime X and it's still not quite there from the latest beta builds.

We're looking at probably 10.6.5 before the Apple Apps really embrace SL with GCD, OpenCL, 64-bit, QTX and more.

[ILMSTMF]

DVD Studio Pro finally supports Blu-Ray Authoring! :D



*Logs on to Apple Store to order upgrade*

YES!! I didn't see this on the front page blurb, made my day with this single feature, EXCELLENT!

Now...who will be the guinea pig?

EDIT: FAIL.

"Blu-ray–compatible H.264 encoding
Compressor now includes a setting that allows you to create Blu-ray–compatible H.264
files that can be imported directly into third-party Blu-ray disc authoring software."

And Blu-Ray disc from Compressor? Come on...I need DVDSP for architecture and menu design. Ugh.

[MacRumorUser]

YES!! I didn't see this on the front page blurb, made my day with this single feature, EXCELLENT!

Now...who will be the guinea pig?


DVD Studio Pro 4 doesn't author Blu-Ray discs.

Final Cut & compressor can now output directly to blu-ray media, but as for actually 'authoring' Blu-Ray there is no mention of DVD SP4 supporting this at all.

In fact, it looks like DVDSP4 is the least upgraded of all the applications.

[cosmos]

Hmmm....we (the company I work for) ordered a copy of FCP for me on Tuesday to be delivered Friday. I wonder what my options, if any, will be as
far as getting the new version provided the "old" version shows up.

Anybody have any experience with a situation like this?

BC

If they ordered via the Apple Store you will almost certainly get the latest version.

If ordered through another source, and the old version shows up, DO NOT open the shrink wrap and return it after getting an RMA number.

[RunOverProducti]

Hmmm....we (the company I work for) ordered a copy of FCP for me on Tuesday to be delivered Friday. I wonder what my options, if any, will be as
far as getting the new version provided the "old" version shows up.

Anybody have any experience with a situation like this?

BC


Don't open it when you receive and have returned for the new one, when you buy a software you can't return it when it's open.

I purchased FCP withing 15 days, and I found out that the new came out today, I called Apple and ask what they can do for me...

They were really nice, and said even though it was installed they would allow me to return it with no restocking fee and get the new version, they even said I can keep the FCP running till I receive the new one and install it.


I strongly believe that I would not receive the same treatment if it was with another company.

Apple can't please everyone with new software updates, someone is always complaining, but they sure do know how to treat a customer...

Kuddos to Apple :)

[yoak]

I bought a version of FC 3 a few months back for 50$ thinking to upgrade when the next version came out.
That is now, AND the upgrade price is the same no matter what version you upgrade from!!
I just got myself FCS3 for $350, happy I waited.
Dissapointed in DVDSP, but at least I can hand some one a BD to show of the quality of my camera now.
Hope the templates are one step up from Toast though

[fpnc]

Okay, now there are a few new posts over on AppleInsider by users who claim to have spoken to Apple and these sources have confirmed(?) that FCP7 is NOT 64-bit enabled. So, for what it's worth, it appears that today's Final Cut Studio release isn't Snow Leopard enhanced.

[wankey]

I don't use these software of course but in my opinion the interface needs an overhaul and the icons look so dated. If they were by any other company I wouldn't care as much since they are for professionals who care more about how they work than how they look but seriously Apple, get your marble themes in there. It's no longer 2001.

As for the 64-bit problem, I think it's a chicken and egg idea. Snow Leopard needs to come out of beta first before they can release a full fledged 64-bit SL enhanced studio. I'm sure it's in the pipeline.

[H. Flower]

No 64 bit support?

Are you Kidding me?!?!



Premiere is slowly starting to sound more and more appetizing.

[JimmyBob]

Nice to see the Flextime addition in there. I'm a big Logic fan and I'm none too partial to Pro Tools, but I do enjoy PT's warp functions, so hopefully Flex will satisfy some of my urges... :cool:

Other than that, yeah it's looking like guitar central isn't it?!

[nuckinfutz]

No 64 bit support?

Are you Kidding me?!?!

Premiere is slowly starting to sound more and more appetizing.

How long have you been prone to eating your software? :p

[eviltobz]

As a Logic 8 user, I don't feel I need to run out and upgrade to this right away. I already own Guitar Rig, a far superior amp/effects emulator compared to Apple's previous offerings. I will upgrade the same time I upgrade to Snow Leopard.

i'm in the same situation, and with guitar rig 4 on the horizon, this looks even less appealing. my current logic studio is beyond what i need from a recording package so if this aint going to benefit from snow leopard and the guitary stuff isn't as good as what i've got i think i'll be waiting for the next version.

[IronRoses]

Is it intel only.

Thank god i didn't order that copy of final cut studio 2 last night after all.

You would still, even now, be hearing my frantic screams and crys.
This is what really annoys me about apple to be honest. no notie of new products, not even a month before release for christ sakes.

I wish to christ aswell that Apple would just make Motion and shake in to one app and bundle the whole lot as final cut studio. I mean they're all for the same type of genre/media/hobbie whatever you want to call it.

I think you'll find that livetype is gone but the livetype fonts and actions are now in Motion. Personally i thoguht livetype was a pointless application.

I always use livetype gear inside of Motion also..

I also hope to god Apple have speeded up soundtrack pro. I always had slowdown at every point so i would never use it. I used logic express instead or just edit theaudio inside of final cut itself.


All in all, a nice all-around update and at a much lower price too.

I'm gonna buy it. or maybe i'll wait to see wat they do with shake. I'll think about that one for week or two

[Mr-Stabby]

Ripple training have some great videos here demonstrating the new features:

http://www.rippletraining.com/provideoapps.html

Like i said before, i think 'Motion' has the best update in this package.

[M87]

Perfect timing for me. I've been wanting to get Logic for a while, but I figured a new version must be coming soon. And here it is! Nice to hear it has some goodies for guitarists.

[TheAdVenture]

I just bought Logic Studio on monday too... :/

[TripHop]

EXACTLY! i'm sorry if i keep asking this question, but— how does the upgrade work? do you need to have the whole suite installed already on your system or do you just need the S/N of your previous copy?

i'm in the middle of transitioning systems and i really don't want to need to install FCS2 before replacing it. i'm OCD like that and i like clean installs. :DYes you don't need to install the old version. After you enter the upgrade serial number it prompts you for the old version's serial number. Then you're good to go.

[FSBW21086]

surprised they haven't updated the UI in final cut. You would think by now...

[Nicky G]

Blu-Ray burning is not authoring. They just give you a way to burn an HD(Blu-Ray) encoded video to disc with a menu for small collaborations between people. Just like Adobe's Encore, there is not going to be a sub-$25K BD authoring system for a while, until Sony drops the royalty fees. I own a DVD/Blu-Ray authoring company and we use Sonic's Scenarist software for BD authoring and it costs $25-$30K for the software license. This is due to the expensive royalties needed for adding the AACS files to discs for replication purposes. Once that price goes down, then I am sure Apple will add this to DVD Studio Pro. Not before. Not worth the R&D and ROI right now, especially for consumer/prosumer level software like FCP Studio.

This was a great, informational post right up until that last half-sentence.

Final Cut Studio is used by a very wide variety of VERY pro companies and filmmakers, broadcasters, post-production companies, government agencies, etc. etc. No, on the motion-graphics and compositing side of things, there are definitely more pro tools out there. Same for disc authoring, as you've said (although for SD disc authoring DVD Studio Pro is very commonly used by professionals -- I know few consumers and prosumers who can handle tools even remotely as complex). I'd probably take Episode over Compressor for encoding both due to format support and granularity of control over encoding parameters. But all this said, to call Final Cut Studio a tool for consumers and prosumers? That's just not true.

[gunraidan]

Wait you can animate in Final Cut now too?

[Nicky G]

Hmmm....we (the company I work for) ordered a copy of FCP for me on Tuesday to be delivered Friday. I wonder what my options, if any, will be as
far as getting the new version provided the "old" version shows up.

Anybody have any experience with a situation like this?

BC

Do not open it. Check with your vendor about a return. I am Sales Manager at an Apple Pro VAR, and we are being told Apple will offer us (VARs, and likewise our customers) refunds for unopened copies. Then you can order a new one. Bear in mind this info is verbal to me at this point, there is a chance it might not be the final policy. But lay it safe and do not open it, and make your phone calls now.

[John.B]

No 64 bit support?

Are you Kidding me?!?!



Premiere is slowly starting to sound more and more appetizing.
I didn't know Premiere was fully 64-bit on OS X... I thought Lightroom was the only native 64-bit OS X app by Adobe.

[g4pismo]

I personally think native Red support is worth the upgrade price, particularly in Color .. no one excited about that?

[fef714]

Is it just me or does Apple talk about the RED One camera's alot, I mean they are nice, but I will never afford one. :(

[MidiMonk]

No you're not. I've been really unimpressed with Apple as of late. This "update" is nothing impressive and will be skipping it.

Same here, Apple is kidding us with another lame update for the most part-feature wise its finally catching up at best.It would be great if past bugs are fixed in which case I may buy in eventually, but this looks to be 8.5 more than than a new 9.I am sick of companies pulling this crap.

[g4pismo]

Is it just me or does Apple talk about the RED One camera's alot, I mean they are nice, but I will never afford one. :(

Never say never - I said the same thing a few years ago.. For what it does, it is very much in the spirit of FCP - It brings normal folks the tools to compete with million dollar budgets.. obviously so did the sVHS camera, then the BetaCams and Mini DV cams, but the Red or P2 Cam + FCP with Color is a /serious/ toolset for the rest of us

[zedsdead]

Never say never - I said the same thing a few years ago.. For what it does, it is very much in the spirit of FCP - It brings normal folks the tools to compete with million dollar budgets.. obviously so did the sVHS camera, then the BetaCams and Mini DV cams, but the Red or P2 Cam + FCP with Color is a /serious/ toolset for the rest of us

The Red Scarlet hasn't come out yet, has it? Hopefully that will bring the company into the lower end of the Prosumer Market. I would love a Red Camera, but it has to be had for under $4000.

[g4pismo]

The Red Scarlet hasn't come out yet, has it? Hopefully that will bring the company into the lower end of the Prosumer Market. I would love a Red Camera, but it has to be had for under $4000.

Not yet, but I hope soon. Scarlet + nikon glass should be doable at 4k (I hope) - but no real prices in stone yet.

The lowish price (Compared to a Genesis or f950 ) of the Red One is nice for the rental market for the indies, so IMHO, this bump helps the renters out quite a bit

[rick3000]

I just read another review of the new Final Cut Studio. It mentioned something interesting.
So for everyone all hot and bothered over the lack of Blu-Ray support. The reviewer said you can create custom menus with Motion and use them to burn a custom Blu-Ray disc through FCP.

From the Blu-Ray support section of the review:
Apple includes five HD menus. You can build your own in Motion, or customize in the Share menu by inserting a custom background image, logo, or title graphic.
http://digitalcontentproducer.com/desktoppost/depth/final_cut_pro_7_723/index2.html

[Teej guy]

Ummm...did you actually READ the new features? Lots of "pro" features (many long-requested) have been added to Logic Studio, such as bounce-in-place and elastic audio in the arrange window (including quantization of multiple audio tracks simultaneously). Logic is now in many ways on par with the latest version of ProTools, and yet costs WAY less. From what I heard, the Logic 9 is supposed to be very stable as well (at least I hope it is).

Yeah, I'm talking about the marketing out of the gate, not the feature set itself (which looks great). I paid $220 Canadian after tax for Pro Tools 8 M-Powered Academic...way less than Logic Academic.

The stability remains to be seen. I really hope they've gone on a bug-fixing spree...both Logic and Pro Tools have places in my life and both are buggy as hell.

[TripHop]

Hmmm....we (the company I work for) ordered a copy of FCP for me on Tuesday to be delivered Friday. I wonder what my options, if any, will be as
far as getting the new version provided the "old" version shows up.

Anybody have any experience with a situation like this?

BCYou call Apple to cancel the order and they send you a return paid shipping label. Then you order the new version.

[Jono Hayes]

isn't most of Final Cut Studios still in Carbon ?

and isn't Snow Leopard droping the 64bit Carbon API's ?

So wouldn't apple have to rewrite all of the applications in Final Cut Studios (Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, Color 1.5, Compressor 3.5, DVD Studio Pro 4) with the cocoa API's for them to be 64bit ?

AND

does any one know if Login Studios is a Carbon of Cocoa written application ?

i did think it was Cocoa but my friend seems to think im wrong. but it did come out in 2007 so i think its to new to be Carbon. . . . .

[TuffLuffJimmy]

isn't most of Final Cut Studios still in Carbon ?

and isn't Snow Leopard droping the 64bit Carbon API's ?

So wouldn't apple have to rewrite all of the applications in Final Cut Studios (Final Cut Pro 7, Motion 4, Soundtrack Pro 3, Color 1.5, Compressor 3.5, DVD Studio Pro 4) with the cocoa API's for them to be 64bit ?

AND

does any one know if Login Studios is a Carbon of Cocoa written application ?

i did think it was Cocoa but my friend seems to think im wrong. but it did come out in 2007 so i think its to new to be Carbon. . . . .

I don't think there are any 64bit carbon API's... and FCS3 isn't and won't be 64bit.

[Jono Hayes]

I don't think there are any 64bit carbon API's... and FCS3 isn't and won't be 64bit.

cool thats what thought.

do you know if logic, mainstage etc are cocoa ?

[er2429]

Let me get this straight...

You can now burn a blu ray disc on a mac, but you cannot currently watch blu ray on a mac? Are you freaking kidding me?

We need to see blu ray drives offered as a hardware option on all macs and macbook pros at the very least, and fully supported by mac os x. This is just completely ridiculous. Whether or not you like it, blu ray WILL be the industry standard and account for the majority of video disc sales by 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jono Hayes]

Let me get this straight...

You can now burn a blu ray disc on a mac, but you cannot currently watch blu ray on a mac? Are you freaking kidding me?

We need to see blu ray drives offered as a hardware option on all macs and macbook pros at the very least, and fully supported by mac os x. This is just completely ridiculous. Whether or not you like it, blu ray WILL be the industry standard and account for the majority of video disc sales by 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!

im hoping by 2011 all physical media will be dead.

[rick3000]

Let me get this straight...

You can now burn a blu ray disc on a mac, but you cannot currently watch blu ray on a mac? Are you freaking kidding me?

We need to see blu ray drives offered as a hardware option on all macs and macbook pros at the very least, and fully supported by mac os x. This is just completely ridiculous. Whether or not you like it, blu ray WILL be the industry standard and account for the majority of video disc sales by 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!

Burning and Playback both require extra equipment so it is not a one way street as you suggest. Personally on the playback side of things, I do not see the point in Blu-Ray on a 15" screen and doubt that it will be a majority of video sales by 2011, considering it has been out for nearly a year and has hardly dented DVD sales. This is just my opinion and is not intended to start an argument, but realistically you need screen that is larger than any laptop to see an actual difference.

Also, I am wondering where every stands on this update. Should I buy it know or wait until after they release Snow Leopard to see if they add 64-bit support? I would prefer to get it sooner because I am still using FCP 4.5.

[AidenShaw]

im hoping by 2011 all physical media will be dead.

I'd love that the vast majority of worldwide households had 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps download speads in 2 years.

But, I don't think that will happen - so I'm happy with buying Blu-ray movies....

[nard]

i wonder if they fixed the issue where exporting to compressor through FCP, and having it set up as quick cluster would fail. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1099

this bug is seriously retarded, and it's annoying having to create a self contained movie, before loading it in compressor to get it to process using qmaster.

[Jono Hayes]

I'd love that the vast majority of worldwide households had 50 Mbps to 100 Mbps download speads in 2 years.

But, I don't think that will happen - so I'm happy with buying Blu-ray movies....

that is true. . . . . but streaming h264 1080p. witch i say is just as good and most people would be happy with and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between blue ray and h264) works good on a 5 - 10mbs connection.

[MagnusVonMagnum]

91% of the $1000+ market and they're not "significant" enough to warrant the Psystar anti-trust suit in so many people's eyes? :rolleyes:

[fpnc]

that is true. . . . . but streaming h264 1080p. witch i say is just as good and most people would be happy with and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between blue ray and h264) works good on a 5 - 10mbs connection.
I kind of doubt that "5 - 10mbs connection" statement. Apple's iTunes Store HD downloads are about 4.5Mbps and they definitely suffer some from that bitrate. Let's try some calculations. If you assume 4.5Mbps for 24fps 720P (usually not even 16:9, more likely some even wider aspect) then:

(30 fps X 1920 X 1080) / (24 fps X 1280 X 720) = 2.8 conversion factor

thus:

2.8 X 4.5Mbps = 12.6Mbps

However, if you're going to stream that content then you need some additional headroom to allow buffering so that you don't get dropouts so let's say 1.5X that (which is still pretty aggressive) and you might need:

1.5 X 12.6Mbps = 18.9Mbps, but let's just call that 20Mbps which is still beyond most of the current coax cable delivery in the U.S.

[eviltobz]

plus it's fine to say that streaming will work on such a connection, but will it work whilst someone else is also gaming on xbox live, and someone else is hitting youtube, and the latest seed of snow leopard is downloading in the background etc all at the same time? as soon as you add a family to an internet connection things can become far less predicatable.

[hvfsl]

Let me get this straight...

You can now burn a blu ray disc on a mac, but you cannot currently watch blu ray on a mac? Are you freaking kidding me?

We need to see blu ray drives offered as a hardware option on all macs and macbook pros at the very least, and fully supported by mac os x. This is just completely ridiculous. Whether or not you like it, blu ray WILL be the industry standard and account for the majority of video disc sales by 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well since they are unencrypted, you probably can watch them with VLC. But BluRay playback support is meant to come in snow leopard.

[thunderclap]

Also, I am wondering where every stands on this update. Should I buy it know or wait until after they release Snow Leopard to see if they add 64-bit support? I would prefer to get it sooner because I am still using FCP 4.5.

If it fully supported 64-bit I think Apple would be talking that up. They're not, so I doubt it. Either FCS3 now or if you want to save yourself a couple of bucks see if you can find FCS2 used. That's what I have and after reading what's new here I don't see enough to warrant an upgrade.

[thunderclap]

im hoping by 2011 all physical media will be dead.

I don't think this will happen. People like their physical media. Besides, for true videophiles there just is no comparison to Blu-Ray. iTunes HD stuff is 720p. Blu-Ray is more than double the resolution.

[jimmyonassis]

contrary to what the apple store says about 2-3 week shipping, I ordered it yesterday over the phone from UK apple store and it was delivered today... all that remains is to see if the backup to mobile me function is going to be the godsend for synching projects between my machine that it looks to be!

[Truffy]

MobileMe is where it's at baby! B-)

(yes, I am being sarcastic)

[Messineo]

I ordered my upgrade yesterday afternoon and just received it this morning. I can't believe how fast they got it to me - especially since shipping was free.

[zedsdead]

I ordered my upgrade yesterday afternoon and just received it this morning. I can't believe how fast they got it to me - especially since shipping was free.

So did I...but mine is still showing FedEx just received the info, not pickicking it up yet. I was all excited this morning, then nothing seems to be moving:mad:

No biggie, didn't plan on it getting here till Monday anyway.:p

[Sonicjay]

Ran out and picked it up at lunch; looking forward to getting it installed and trying it out

[THX1139]

that is true. . . . . but streaming h264 1080p. witch i say is just as good and most people would be happy with and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between blue ray and h264) works good on a 5 - 10mbs connection.

Not without a huge buffer. In todays "I need it now" society, most people are not going to be willing to wait 30+ minutes to watch anything close to the quality of 1080p. Not when the can just pop a disc in and start watching right away. Plus there are many people who like to collect shows and if they store them on their hard drives, it's going to take a lot of space. If you have a library equivalent to a couple hundred Blueray disks, how much space is that going to take up? And no, I don't think the average family is going to want to stack a cluster of terabyte firewire drives just to store movies. Not when discs are available and easy to store.

[yoak]

Not to mention what happens to Orwell over at Amazon. A physical copy gives peace of mind. Specially when the quality is way above.
I stopped buying songs from iTunes because of the poor quality, but I know I probably represents the minority

[sarge]

I usually upgrade my software suites every other release so I am still working with FCP Studio2 I guess it is. For me this is a huge upgrade as I will be working with Color and Motion for the first time. I ordered yesterday and it should arrive Monday.

[sarge]

whoops -

[cesar]

pretty cool new features. The ichat feature is a cool one. :) ... DSP is still in the shower! :-/ ...

Also, I was expecting a new GUI for the for all pro apps. ( i will have to wait for the next version...)

Apperture 3 still listed as M.I.A.?

[0310macfreak]

I tried downloading the videos on the whats new in final cut studio. "http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/whats-new.html". I'm using firefox Download Them all and download helper. My friend is having the same trouble.:mad: Has anyone else had this problem? Any tips or programs that might work better?:confused: Thanks

[rick3000]

Just ordered the new Final Cut Studio. It should be here in the next week, but I am hoping it shows up sooner. I am looking forward to trying it out!!! :)

[slackpacker]

I don't think this will happen. People like their physical media. Besides, for true videophiles there just is no comparison to Blu-Ray. iTunes HD stuff is 720p. Blu-Ray is more than double the resolution.

I don't know all I can say is Apple looks more and more like they are trying to promote D/L video by still not supporting Blu-Ray.

[slackpacker]

Is it intel only.

Thank god i didn't order that copy of final cut studio 2 last night after all.

You would still, even now, be hearing my frantic screams and crys.
This is what really annoys me about apple to be honest. no notie of new products, not even a month before release for christ sakes.

I wish to christ aswell that Apple would just make Motion and shake in to one app and bundle the whole lot as final cut studio. I mean they're all for the same type of genre/media/hobbie whatever you want to call it.

I think you'll find that livetype is gone but the livetype fonts and actions are now in Motion. Personally i thoguht livetype was a pointless application.

I always use livetype gear inside of Motion also..

I also hope to god Apple have speeded up soundtrack pro. I always had slowdown at every point so i would never use it. I used logic express instead or just edit theaudio inside of final cut itself.


All in all, a nice all-around update and at a much lower price too.

I'm gonna buy it. or maybe i'll wait to see wat they do with shake. I'll think about that one for week or two

If you just ordered it Apple would let you get 3.0 and they would have to refund you. But by not ordering you saved some worrying that would naturally occur.

[milo]

It turns out that Logic is UB and still runs on PPC machines, NOT intel only. Apple just isn't supporting PPC.

Has anyone actually checked the FCS package to see if the software is intel only or universal binary?

[Rowlander]

i wonder if they fixed the issue where exporting to compressor through FCP, and having it set up as quick cluster would fail. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1099

this bug is seriously retarded, and it's annoying having to create a self contained movie, before loading it in compressor to get it to process using qmaster.

You took the words out of my mouth!
None of the new features make this a must-buy for me but if they solved that issue, I would buy the upgrade instantly. I hate that I have to export into a separate file just so that I can use all of my 8 Cores! It´s rediculous. I would have saved me some money and bought a single-processor mac pro if I had known about that back then.

Let me know if you hear anything about it, nard!

But I´m not getting my hopes up. :(

[Chaos123x]

You took the words out of my mouth!
None of the new features make this a must-buy for me but if they solved that issue, I would buy the upgrade instantly. I hate that I have to export into a separate file just so that I can use all of my 8 Cores! It´s rediculous. I would have saved me some money and bought a single-processor mac pro if I had known about that back then.

Let me know if you hear anything about it, nard!

But I´m not getting my hopes up. :(

I doubt it, that bug has been in there forever.


Called apple a few years ago, they told me it was not a bug but a unsupported feature.

[twoodcc]

nice! and glad to see the price drops as well

[xbjllb]

Ha... the day after I finally went to the HP workstation website and spent several hours.

You almost lost me this time, Apple.

Hanging in there a bit longer, and I guess I can finally quit griping and all the Blu-ray naysayers can finally ****.

You know who you are.

Geez. It'll be nice to be a fanboi again. It's been a long time.

:apple:

[xbjllb]

But where's Macs with Blu-Ray drives? I think BR support is mainly for Mac Pros with 3rd party BR player, but who knows?

Most people who need it (like me) already have the burner/drive.

But bto along with full support of playback in MacOS has to be right around the corner, finally.:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

:apple:

[xbjllb]

OF COURSE you can!

Older versions of DVD Studio Pro could make HD DVDs, but they wouldn't be bound by HDCP, meaning unprotected, meaning you could watch them on your Mac.

Apple will have done the same thing with Blu-ray; now everyone can finally SHUT UP about being able to make Blu-ray movies on a Mac.

And if they didn't do that, that means they have licensed HDCP to BURN the movies, meaning viewing is only a few updates away. It's a win-win.

THE ARGUMENT IS FINALLY OVER. :eek::D

Yes it is. And nowhere NEAR 2012, either. :p

:apple:

[blur35mm]

Just got my Final Cut Studio upgrade (I had FCS 1 and skipped FCS 2).

Working through the install...but WOW, clocking in at 39GB total with all the content installed. Only requires 2GB without all the content files.

I will say that I am disappointed they did not include Shake...

[Bubba Satori]

Wow, education (individual) price for FCS is now $899... :eek:

Education (institution) price dropped to $299 though...

Apple needs the money.

[zedsdead]

Apple needs the money.

The education price is not worth it anymore since it cannot be upgraded (unless of course, going forward, given the price increase, upgrades will be allowed on EDU).

[xbjllb]

Blu-Ray burning is not authoring. They just give you a way to burn an HD(Blu-Ray) encoded video to disc with a menu for small collaborations between people. Just like Adobe's Encore, there is not going to be a sub-$25K BD authoring system for a while, until Sony drops the royalty fees. I own a DVD/Blu-Ray authoring company and we use Sonic's Scenarist software for BD authoring and it costs $25-$30K for the software license. This is due to the expensive royalties needed for adding the AACS files to discs for replication purposes. Once that price goes down, then I am sure Apple will add this to DVD Studio Pro. Not before. Not worth the R&D and ROI right now, especially for consumer/prosumer level software like FCP Studio.

Well thank you for the FIRST valid explanation of why Blu-ray is a "bag of hurt" in over a hundred ridiculous rationalizations of all stripes and from all over the map.

That said and done, if Apple wanted to cut a deal with Sony for cheaper software licenses for Blu-ray on Macs, I'm sure they would be able to in short order, and have either done so or are close to doing so. Because in order to establish Blu-ray as a viable format, it would only be to Sony's advantage to having drives on every Mac and more people using them as opposed to downloading inferior quality films and videos.

I'm encouraged by this interim measure and for now, it fits my in-house and immediate delivery needs as I would go to a company like yours to author a commercial Blu-ray release anyway. Well, almost like yours (we do music videos and pilot TV shows).

So thanks again!

:apple:

[John.B]

I will say that I am disappointed they did not include Shake...
Shake was discontinued.

[rick3000]

Shake wasn't discontinued it just isn't in Final Cut Studio anymore. You can still buy it separately.

[LethalWolfe]

Shake wasn't discontinued it just isn't in Final Cut Studio anymore. You can still buy it separately.
Shake was never part of the the suite and in 2006 Apple ceased development on it and made the source code available for licensing. Even though it's been a dead product for three years it's still widely used and regarded as 'too cheap not to have' if you do FX work since it's only $499.


Lethal

[lilnyc]

Wow, education (individual) price for FCS is now $899... :eek:

Education (institution) price dropped to $299 though...

It's a rip off. Plus there's NO support for the academic version.

I bought the academic FCS 2. Now in this recession, my freelance income has dropped 90%!! I went from making thousands weekly to getting occasional work and going months without work. I regret not having bought the commercial version when I had more money.

I took the risk and bought the full version of Final Cut Studio 3 today anyway though. I have to remain competitive, and I can write it off, so oh well. I'll probably keep FCS2 on my laptop and FCS 3 on my desktop.

*sigh*

[zedsdead]

It's a rip off. Plus there's NO support for the academic version.

I bought the academic FCS 2. Now in this recession, my freelance income has dropped 90%!! I went from making thousands weekly to getting occasional work and going months without work. I regret not having bought the commercial version when I had more money.

I took the risk and bought the full version of Final Cut Studio 3 today anyway though. I have to remain competitive, and I can write it off, so oh well. I'll probably keep FCS2 on my laptop and FCS 3 on my desktop.

*sigh*

Apple allows you to install FCS on one desktop and one laptop, so you might as well upgrade both.

[oban14]

Apple allows you to install FCS on one desktop and one laptop, so you might as well upgrade both.

Also, I don't think you are technically allowed to profit from an academic version.

[yoak]

Can someone confirm that the package don´t contain any printed manuals (and there for is smaller and greener)?
I do like to have printed manuals, but I can see why they do this

[JFreak]

Logic is now in many ways on par with the latest version of ProTools, and yet costs WAY less. From what I heard, the Logic 9 is supposed to be very stable as well (at least I hope it is).

It is *supposed* to be stable, but it is not. Has not ever been, although it has always been supposed to be. It is a MIDI sequencer, not an audio editor. Try to do serious audio work with it, and the thing collapses.

Compared to Pro Tools, that is, there's your benchmark for stability. (And I mean the big money HD with dedicated DSP cards, not the native solution that can be bought for a price of a single plugin.)

[monster620ie]

Can someone confirm that the package don´t contain any printed manuals (and there for is smaller and greener)?
I do like to have printed manuals, but I can see why they do this

I just bought Upgrade from apple store today and there is no manual. Just a small box enough to hold the discs. That's it.

[thunderclap]

I just bought Upgrade from apple store today and there is no manual. Just a small box enough to hold the discs. That's it.

Personally that's fine by me. I've got manuals from Final Cut Pro 5.0 - FCS2. That's a lot of frickin' manuals and wasted paper as I've never opened them.

[techfreak85]

I just bought Upgrade from apple store today and there is no manual. Just a small box enough to hold the discs. That's it.
you can always find manuals online. and honestly, if ur buying FCS, u probably have some idea of what ur doing..:rolleyes::p

[yoak]

you can always find manuals online. and honestly, if ur buying FCS, u probably have some idea of what ur doing..:rolleyes::p

He he, true.
I know Final Cut and Compressor, but I haven´t started with Color. I do like to read manuals on the plane, and I can´t always use my laptop there.

[Sonicjay]

Can someone confirm that the package don´t contain any printed manuals (and there for is smaller and greener)?
I do like to have printed manuals, but I can see why they do this

Most definately

http://gallery.me.com/sonicjay/100272/fcs3.jpg?derivative=medium&source=web.jpg&type=medium&ver=12486446070001

[Schtumple]

Personally that's fine by me. I've got manuals from Final Cut Pro 5.0 - FCS2. That's a lot of frickin' manuals and wasted paper as I've never opened them.

Plus if the manuals are on disc/installed CMD+F is far easier and faster than my eyes/reading ability...

[swwack91]

You only need the Serial Numbers. When you attempt to install the upgraded copy without other versions installed, it will ask for the previous version's Serial #.

that doesn't seem like very good protection. anyone can nag a serial number somewhere on the internet of the old version.