I|~|dani.jpg|~|Mumtaz says Final Cut Studio is a good buy.|~|Apple’s new Final Cut Studio is a package that many production houses will find hard to resist. Prices for editing equipment are falling rapidly and many production houses in the Middle East are opting to take their post in-house. The Final Cut Studio, at roughly, US $1200 is a good bargain for a stable platform with a history of reliability. And, of course, it is a Mac.
The 1.8GHz G5 Mac I received from Arab Business Machines contained no external capture card device so my review is based solely on software features. The suite includes Final Cut Pro 5, Motion 2, DVD Studio Pro 4, and a new audio editor, Soundtrack Pro — all of which are capable of sophisticated production chores. This review revolves mainly around the new Final Cut Pro 5, as the Studio’s main attraction.
Let’s start off with the really great news; Final Cut Pro can now edit in the native HDV format. Native HDV editing with its weird GOP issue has been a thorn for some software-based editing systems, but Apple handles the HDV with finesse. But it won’t allow you to edit HDV and DV on the same timelines. Your HDV has to be down-converted to DV first. I imported some native HDV to a DV timeline and it took something like 50 minutes to convert 15 minutes of footage to DV. If you’ve got a lot of footage, this is certainly counter productive. What makes this more annoying is that both the Canopus Edius Pro and Pinnacle Liquid allow you to mix and match happily. Apple seems to have missed this little detail.
One of the biggest features on the new FCP is the multicam feature. With multicam’s Multiclip, you can synchronise multiple captured files via time code, in or out points, or marks in the clip. These grouped files can be put in the viewer, which can display four, nine or 16-quandrant files in real-time. Once this is done, just press play and switch between shots or cameras like a live TV switcher. I first saw this feature on the Pinnacle Liquid in 2004, but with few multicam shoots going on back then, I did not give it much thought. I’ve used this on corporate films where it can be very handy if you’re making a montage, cutting to music and so on.
||**||II|~||~||~|Another powerful feature is RT Extreme with Dynamic RT. This lets the editor work with more real-time effects. If the system gets bogged down with multiple effects or high HD bit rates, the software automatically adjusts the frame rate and/or playback compression quality to let the editor keep working uninterrupted. There’s also good news for Panasonic lovers. Final Cut Pro 5 supports the P2 format and users will soon be able to import HDV files directly through firewire rather than the normal file capture procedures. To be able to use this feature to its full potential though, you will need to upgrade from the nominal 1Gbyte of RAM and 1.8GHz processor that I received to something better.
Media Management is quite an important part of any suite and the Final Cut Pro 5 had a strange problem (which Apple has promised to resolve soon). If you try to consolidate a project, any clips that have been reversed will be cut to one frame in length. You can drag the clip to the bin to make a sub-clip and get around it, but it is one of those annoying things that you discover just when you are at the close of a project.
Sending clips to other software in the bundle was very intuitive with the send to button. I cleaned up some audio by exporting to Soundtrack Pro. This software was very easy to use. This is important for independent directors and editors afraid to jump into the audio realm. The cleanup was excellent and with an option to hear noise only, I could make sure that any music or dialogue was not part of the removal. I took out pops and clicks, minimised the recorded air conditioner hum and added effects with ease. The programme will even analyse your audio tracks, suggest what could be fixed and batch-correct everything with the click of a button. The software keeps an actions list, much like Photoshop’s history list. Unfortunately, I discovered that changes cannot be made to a specific part of the track. Soundtrack pro will not create a new clip, but will make changes to the original and re-export back to Final Cut. I don’t know about most people, but I always like to keep the original safe and sound. Staying on sound, Final Cut Pro 5 will allow you to capture up to 24 channels of 24 bit audio (you’ll need external capture cards though). It has also expanded its support to external audio devices like the Mackie automated sound mixers.
Motion 2’s biggest advantage is that it now allows better integration with After Effects. Users can now import Motion files into After Effects and they import as standard QuickTime files. Make any changes in Motion, and After Effects will update for you. Nifty, really.
Unfortunately, without a manual, it’s difficult to figure out DVD Studio. It seems to have a host of features for deeper DVD programming, but it is something that will take more learning commitment. Final Cut Studio is a well integrated package that ensures the Apple name continues to stand for reliability. It’s got a couple of glitches, but no deal-breakers here. The price is fair for a professional editing suite and Apple’s got great customer support in the region. Final word: I’d buy it!
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