Really skinny hardware isn't the only type of tech Apple's been cooking up recently. They've also updated FCP X to 10.0.6 with a host of new features, including native, real-time (on most machines) support for R3D files thanks to a new plug-in and some nifty background rendering. This means big-savings on time for FCP X/RED users -- especially with the assist of a RED ROCKET -- plus an upgrade in quality if you've been using proxies. For the plug-in and update download links, plus a video demonstrating just how easy this could make things for you FCP X editors out there, read on!
Here is what has been added in this release as boiled down by Premium Beat:
- Native REDCODE Raw editing or background transcoding to ProRes
- Resolution support updated from 4K to 5K
- MXF plug-in support to work natively with MXF files using third party plug-ins
- A dual viewer Event Viewer and Timeline Viewer, similar to earlier versions of Final Cut Pro
- Improved Sharing, including the ability to add custom Share output and output to multiple destinations
- ‘Copy and paste attributes’ window
- Multichannel audio editing
- Unified Import, single-window interface to import from all sources
- Create freeze frames with a single shortcut
- Compound clips are saved to the Event Browser
- Expanded Multicam functions
- Drop shadow effect with custom controls
- Flexible Clip Connections
- Chapter markers for export to Quicktime, DVD and Blu-Ray
- The update is FREE for all existing FCP X users, and $300 for new customers
Here is a little more about the RED plug-in:
As the video sums up, the plug-in allows Final Cut Pro X users to scrub through R3D files in real-time, edit as usual (full-speed and full-res, if your machine can handle it), access and shift metadata such as color-space, gamma, ISO, white balance, and so forth -- all non-destructively (of course), and with FCP X reflecting your changes live. To clarify one REDuser's question about how this affects R3D support in FCP 7, RED's Rob Lohman had this to say:
FCP 7 & Color are as they've always been. FCP X now supports R3D directly.
We just wrapped everything needed for Apple workflow, whether it's for Final Cut Studio or FCP X in to one installer.
So:
- FCP X: native R3D support (NEW)
- FCP 7: QuickTime reference support (as it was)
- Color: native R3D support (as it was)
This means that all Final Cut-meets-RED native support concerns can now be addressed all within the same plug-in package, located here:
I've certainly understood the doubts about FCP X before, but these updates seem to make the NLE a software to be reckoned with. I say this as a long-time user of FCP 7 (and its predecessors), and someone who appreciates the Premiere Pro system given my limited experience with it. I have yet to get behind an FCP X rig, but at this point I can't say I'd wouldn't mind trying my hand at working some clips around in real-time 4K (or now, even 5K).
Do you Final Cutters out there believe this update deserves the buzz it's getting around the web? For those thinking about buying now, how does the $300 price seem to you? Who has been working around the absence of native support in FCP X with R3D files, and how much do you think these improvements will positively affect your workflow?
Links:
[via Premium Beat]
