Final Cut Pro 5, Motion 2, Sountrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro 4

[aswitcher]

I wouldn't be at the least bit surpised if G5's were announced tommorrow. After all, since when has Apple announced hardware on a Sunday?

And if new G5's are coming this month, what better time to announce it?

And just trump Intel who release dual cores on Wednesday...

 

[Flickta]

Now here is the stuff I was impressed most with:
Apple used Flash for the creation of the web-page for the first time.
Not QuickTime. Not standard code. Flash.

This is... Different.
(if we actually think of it, not cry out loud about industry standards etc.)

 

[SiliconAddict]

Tell me what the heck Apple is going to have left to release at WWDC if Tiger, FCS, and the rumored hardware updates come out this month?

LOL....Maybe REAL PowerBook updates? Mac Mini Updates? Introduction to OS X Lion or whatever to be release Winter of '06 *fingers crossed*

 

[Lacero]

I hope this NAB does not turn into the Ren and Stimpy Show....

More like Wrestlemania with loudspeakers. Last year at NAB, I believe there was a shouting match between the Motion booth and one from Avid or so. It was pretty silly.

 

[Multimedia]

Educational Price of FCS is Same As Upgrade $699

Educational software cannot be upgraded. You need the retail software to qualify for the upgrades.

The Educational Price of FCS is Same As Upgrade $699.

 

[themonk]

You know, I was pretty happy to see that we were getting at least something updated in Logic 7.1. But then we see Apple's "Pro" Audio application getting passed up, yet again, by another audio app. It's not a matter of stirring up anti-Apple sentiment, I think Apple has done that plenty on it's own, especially with it's Logic user base.

For years Logic users having been asking for better audio editing and modernization of certain tools, and suddenly Soundtrack Pro is getting a lot of those features and they are nowhere to be seen in Logic. They pile on a bunch of plugins and call it an update. Not very "pro" to me.

fucanay

i replied to this line of thinking in the osx audio forum:

i think this audio editor is fantastic. it shows that apple knows what a nice audio editor should do, and i think the UI is interface is gorgeous. you can't make a clumsy program like logic look like that overnight. it takes years.

in other words, this GREAT NEWS. just like the introduction of apple loops in garageband was great for logic people. (few people appreciate how advanced the apple loops technology really is--they diss it simply because it's "garageband" so it must be for weenies.) it's only natural and a matter of simple logic that these things will be back-integrated into logic. otherwise apple would wait years before releasing any apps and the market would have left them in the dust.

if the features sucked, then you should be moaning. but they look superb. the abilty to highlight a small section of audio for timeshifting is nice, and the cubase-like processing is great.

i have no problem about dropping $300 for a high-end standalone audio editor that can do all that. sometimes it's nice to get out of logic and do some sound editingmangling outside of the box. (and even an integrated audio editor like logic's is somewhat independent of the program--that's the nature of an audio editor.) my guess is that by logic 8 will have a similiar editor, but until then i'll get this and have the best of all worlds: logic vast midi programming, logic's synths and fx, and a nice standalone audio editor, for a total of $1300, the same price as buying the complete line of NI's plug-ins. (another potent combo would Live for arranging and Soundtrack Pro for making new loops.)

the following comment also makes sense:

Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of Applications Marketing, regarding Soundtrack Pro and Logic:

"Pro Tools approach is to try to be one tool for everything," said Schoeben. "We took a lot of time to decide what the right way to solve the audio issues out there -- the answer was two tools. With some shared tools, but a great music creation tool in Logic Pro 7 and an audio for video tool that is first and foremost about creating the perfect soundtrack."

Source: http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/04/17/fcpexec/index.php

this is a great approach for film as the integration looks impressive, but it's fine for music too, since any audio editor is more or less running standalone. not everything has to be inside logic to run smoothly. in addition, by making it a stand alone app, they were free to work without the massive constraints that logic would have led to. and i bet it runs supersmoothly, as ground-up mac apps tend to do.

 

[fucanay]

I don't need a stand alone editor. There are plenty of those. They kill the workflow by having to leave Logic, Open the Editor, make the changes, save the file, go back to Logic, Create a new track, Import the new file, and put it in the right place, Delete or Mute the old track. Or they could put a decent and modern editor in Logic so i can skip all the hassle.

I'm not talking about post either. These tools are needed for composition too, so I'm kind of pissed.

As far as it talking years to turn an application into an Apple application, they've had almost 3 years now. They bought Emagic in July of 2002.

fucanay

 

[Marianco]

Final Cut Studio is so low priced, it's practically free!

@1299, not bad. Now if I only had tht much money....

If you can't afford $1299, you don't belong. $1299 is SO LOW a price for the digital video industry, it's practically free.

Final Cut Studio is meant for digital video production at a professional level. At this level, a video camera costs $30,000 to $100,000. You need at least $25,000 of computer hardware - of which the PowerMac is a small component and memory and hard disk storage and backup are the major components. Since the software supports grid computing/distributed computing, you may also need several X-Serves.

 

[themonk]

I don't need a stand alone editor. There are plenty of those. They kill the workflow by having to leave Logic, Open the Editor, make the changes, save the file, go back to Logic, Create a new track, Import the new file, and put it in the right place, Delete or Mute the old track. Or they could put a decent and modern editor in Logic so i can skip all the hassle.
fucanay

but isn't that almost the same as you do now within logic's audio editor? i click on a wave which opens the editor, do the work (in a ugly ugly environment i admit), save the file, then go back to logic and drag it to where i want. the process doesn't sound all the different to me, as you don't work within the audio editor while your track is playing. in other words, audio editing is not a realtime composition process, is it?

 

[aafuss1]

i replied to this line of thinking in the osx audio forum:

i think this audio editor is fantastic. it shows that apple knows what a nice audio editor should do, and i think the UI is interface is gorgeous. you can't make a clumsy program like logic look like that overnight. it takes years.

in other words, this GREAT NEWS. just like the introduction of apple loops in garageband was great for logic people. (few people appreciate how advanced the apple loops technology really is--they diss it simply because it's "garageband" so it must be for weenies.) it's only natural and a matter of simple logic that these things will be back-integrated into logic. otherwise apple would wait years before releasing any apps and the market would have left them in the dust.

if the features sucked, then you should be moaning. but they look superb. the abilty to highlight a small section of audio for timeshifting is nice, and the cubase-like processing is great.

i have no problem about dropping $300 for a high-end standalone audio editor that can do all that. sometimes it's nice to get out of logic and do some sound editingmangling outside of the box. (and even an integrated audio editor like logic's is somewhat independent of the program--that's the nature of an audio editor.) my guess is that by logic 8 will have a similiar editor, but until then i'll get this and have the best of all worlds: logic vast midi programming, logic's synths and fx, and a nice standalone audio editor, for a total of $1300, the same price as buying the complete line of NI's plug-ins. (another potent combo would Live for arranging and Soundtrack Pro for making new loops.)

the following comment also makes sense:

Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of Applications Marketing, regarding Soundtrack Pro and Logic:

"Pro Tools approach is to try to be one tool for everything," said Schoeben. "We took a lot of time to decide what the right way to solve the audio issues out there -- the answer was two tools. With some shared tools, but a great music creation tool in Logic Pro 7 and an audio for video tool that is first and foremost about creating the perfect soundtrack."

Source: http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/04/17/fcpexec/index.php

this is a great approach for film as the integration looks impressive, but it's fine for music too, since any audio editor is more or less running standalone. not everything has to be inside logic to run smoothly. in addition, by making it a stand alone app, they were free to work without the massive constraints that logic would have led to. and i bet it runs supersmoothly, as ground-up mac apps tend to do.

I definitely agree Soundtrack Pro would be very well-suited for film-making purposes and soundtrack production also it is has nice intergration with several of Apple's pro-apps and also I agree about what Apple's Rob Schoeben said about Soundtrack Pro .

 

[Rod Rod]

OK, so it writes to a format no one can write to, but that's all going to change soon. Nice work, Apple! Now standardize the Blu-Ray burner and get Sony to make a $600 HD camcorder! 2007?

What do you mean, "a format no one can write to"? HD DVDs created with DVDSP 4 can be burned to existing DVD±Rs. Take a look at Apple's DVD Studio Pro 4 page. Mouse over "author in SD or HD."

Blu-Ray would be nice but it's not absolutely essential to Apple's strategy. Please read my post on page 2 of this thread to see what Apple says regarding HD DVD and Blu-Ray.

Anyhow, serious professional work that goes to replicators doesn't go on DVD±Rs anyhow; it goes on Digital Linear Tape (DLT). I have a DLT drive.

As for a $600 HD camcorder, that'll likely take two years. It'll be another 6 months to a year before there's a sub-$1000 HD camcorder out (short of a used JVC HD1).

 

[fucanay]

but isn't that almost the same as you do now within logic's audio editor? i click on a wave which opens the editor, do the work (in a ugly ugly environment i admit), save the file, then go back to logic and drag it to where i want. the process doesn't sound all the different to me, as you don't work within the audio editor while your track is playing. in other words, audio editing is not a realtime composition process, is it?

Yeah, if the track is in the arrange you don't have to leave Logic. You just make your edits and close the window and the changes are reflected automatically. It's just that the editor isn't very easy to use or very powerful. If they could manage to just incorporate the Soundtrack Pro editor into the current Sample Editor, all would be fine (on this front). But it's not and Logic users will likely have to wait a good deal of time for anything like that. I mean, it took almost 6 months to even get a real update at all (7.1 which we are still waiting for).

Don't get me wrong, I really do like Logic. I prefer it to ProTools, DP and Cubase. But the feature set is lagging behind those apps now. I got into Logic because they seemed to be really focused on bringing innovative features and stable software. I don't feel that way anymore, and it bothers me.

Sorry for hijacking this thread with this stuff. The new Suite looks really nice for the Video guys, just this little bit bothers me.

fucanay

 

[Lacero]

Soundtrack Pro looks to be the breakout software from the Final Cut Studio package. I think this program is desperately needed by the majority of video editors out there. If you've seen semi-professional video productions, the most glaring amateurish aspect has always been the audio.

Noise reduction, and the other tools will really elevate Apple's offering to the forefront. Vegas has a new competitor.

 

[Bakey]

it's actually a really TRULY AWFUL Citroen advert that runs here in sunny Britain...

Can't you just view it from artistic/technical merit, ie. it's pretty damn good!! Could it be that you're so much a VX-only type chap who can't stand anything without the griffin riding on the bonnet?

Anyway, back on topic... personally speaking I've everything crossed at the moment in the hope that a "project" pulls off and therefore necessitates the need to purchase DVDSP4.

PS. Before you flame me I’d like to make it quite clear I’ve had numerous Vaux GTE, SRi and Bertone badged motors in my past!!

 

[Diatribe]

Introduction to OS X Lion or whatever to be release Winter of '06 *fingers crossed*

Don't expect this this year. It'll be previewed 2006 and be coming out 2007. Which would give Apple about 2 years between the upgrades as they said they were slowing it down. I'd say spring/summer 2007 is a good date for 10.5.

 

[Lacero]

What possible new features could they come out in Lion? Tonight, I will sleep on some ideas.

I don't think I could have ever thought of Expose or Dashboard, so I will look at small third party developers for ideas.

 

[LethalWolfe]

If you've seen semi-professional video productions, the most glaring amateurish aspect has always been the audio.

I think a lot of that problem is between the chair and the keyboard (and piss-poor production). I'm sure many people will find Soundtrack Pro very useful, but it will just be more pearls before swine for some. Just another tool to not use or not learn how to use properly.

What possible new features could they come out in Lion? Tonight, I will sleep on some ideas.

Worst.
Pun.
Evar.




Lethal

 

[nesbitt_a]

wow the requirements seem high, def. not using these apps with a mini! Apple needs to add more balls to their pbs soon cause alot of people would want to use this on their 17" pb.

I really don't think Apple would leave their PowerBook line unable to avail of HD DVD -- one of the biggest selling points of their new suite! Updated PowerBooks are a coming....

Its about time apple used flash on their website. The website is so plain.

I agree. The new flash animation is very nice.

 

[Platform]

I wouldn't be at the least bit surpised if G5's were announced tommorrow. After all, since when has Apple announced hardware on a Sunday?

And if new G5's are coming this month, what better time to announce it?

Maby tomorrow.......tuesday

 

[gkhaldi]

Thanks for the clarification.

On the tech specs page, they also say:Guess that is more relevant?I believe they are making one...

But that looks like a honda(?) ad I was once sent by email (I don't live in the US - maybe someone else will know?). I looked for it but don't have it anymore. There are a few similar transformer-style ads, one with a guy beating up a photocopier.

It is actually the Citroen C4. The shot was filmed on location in downtown Vancouver.

 

[Lacero]

I have a suspicion all these graphic design companies are coming out with transformer-style ads so they can land the lucrative deal to do the special effects for the live-action movie version of Transformers. Am i right?

 

[Shagrat]

The new features in Soundtrack Pro is going to piss off a lot of Logic Pro users. Several of the features have been asked for for years, and now a $300 app gets them first? They did the same thing with Garageband. If this kind of thing continues, there is going to be a mass defection from Logic to another alternative.

fucanay

Hey Fucanay! Another one from OSX Audio here on the rumor mill?

seriously, can't see why this would cause anyone (me for instance) to defect from Logic. Logic is first and foremost a musicians tool, and Sundtrack pro, at least at first glance is a Video Audio/Music tool. Sure there are some overlaps between the two, like the Instruments/plugs from Logic here, now. But would you want to make music with Sountrack Pro? Or use logic for video Sound editing? I think this makes perfect sense to me, and i suspect that there will be useful "cross pollination" between the various flavours of Logic Sountrack AND Garage band. I really don't think Logic will be left behind. Just a result of where we are in the development cycle between various products.

 

[iGary]

Nice software release.

I'm not in the video market, but it is nice to see Apple staying on top of the game.

 

[The Shadow]

Support for XVID?

Excuse me for being completely ignorant, but does this new support for HD formats also mean that Q7 and FCS apps will support xvid?

I noticed they support AC3, which FCP HD and Studio Pro 3 do not, to my utter annoyance.

Guess I'll have to wait and see, but thanks anyone for your opinions.

 

[jasonbuss]

transformers add

that add was created in luxology's "modo" - read the sheet for some more info

http://www.luxology.com/article/113004_1/1.aspx

on the note of these upgrades... i agree with the excitement, i cant wait see and use some of these new features!

jasonbuss