It has been a while, but along with the release of macOS Catalina today, Apple has updated Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor. Faster speeds with the new Metal engine, more HDR and a fine-tune for the new Mac Pro.
The last update for the Pro Apps was back in March of this year, so we were expecting an update, but one that fell around the FCPX Creative Summit.
Any update is a good update and this has been timed to coincide with Apple releasing the new macOS 10.15 Catalina.
Both FCPX and Motion get a speed boost from running Metal. Users should see performance increases everywhere, from rendering, exporting, compositing and even effect-heavy playback on the timeline.
'Video editors with 15-inch MacBook Pro, the most popular system for Final Cut Pro users, will benefit from performance that’s up to 20 percent faster, while editors using iMac Pro will see gains up to 35 percent'
The outstanding new feature for us though is the ability to use an iPad as a 'broadcast out' monitor using the new Sidecar feature in the OS!
Apple pencil also works on the iPad which means drawing a mask in FCPX or freehand work in motion will be easier. We would assume you need to be running Catalina to use the above.
As with all updates, we recommend that you don't update mid project, backup all work and zip up the previous version of the Pro Apps before you hit that update button.
New in Final Cut Pro 10.4.7
- New Metal-based processing engine improves playback and accelerates graphics tasks, including rendering, compositing, real-time effects, exporting, and more.
- Enhances graphics performance with support for multiple GPUs, including Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo on Mac Pro.
- Optimizes CPU performance with support for up to 28 CPU cores on Mac Pro.
- Accelerates ProRes and ProRes RAW playback when using the Afterburner card on Mac Pro.
- View, edit, grade, and deliver stunning High Dynamic Range (HDR) video on Apple Pro Display XDR. (Apple Pro Display XDR coming this fall.)
- Simultaneously use up to three Pro Display XDR units connected to Mac Pro — two for the Final Cut Pro interface and one for dedicated monitoring.
- Grade HDR video with enhanced color mask and range isolation tools.
- View HDR video tone-mapped to compatible Standard Dynamic Range displays when using Final Cut Pro on macOS Catalina.
- Select which internal or external GPU is used to accelerate graphics processing.
Final Cut Pro 10.4.7 also includes the following:
- Waveform monitor lets you view luminance levels in High Dynamic Range (HDR) PQ media as you edit.
- HSL (hue, saturation, and luma) controls in the Color inspector let you select a range of color with greater precision.
- HDR clips with LUTs applied now appear correctly when you use the Send to Compressor command.
- Improves stability when applying noise reduction to a Rec. 2020 REDCODE RAW clip.
- Lets you define keyboard shortcuts for the Add Color Mask, Add Shape Mask, and Toggle View Mask commands.
- Improves reliability and performance when using the Flow transition.
- Fixes an issue in which relinked media would sometimes result in empty thumbnails.
- Timecode window remains visible when other applications are active.
- Playhead now snaps to keyframes placed on audio components.
- Skimming an audio component now plays back audio as expected.
- Surround panning keyframes now work as expected when reopening a library.
- Adds support for Canon XF-HEVC.
- Adds HEIF support in Image Sequence exports.
- Adds support for fragmented MP4 format in HTTP live streaming.
New in Motion 5.4.4
- New Metal-based processing engine improves playback and accelerates graphics tasks, including rendering, compositing, real-time effects, exporting, and more
- Enhances graphics performance with support for multiple GPUs, including Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo on Mac Pro
- Optimizes CPU performance with support for up to 28 CPU cores on Mac Pro
- Accelerates ProRes and ProRes RAW playback when using the Afterburner card on Mac Pro
- Lets you view, composite, grade, and deliver stunning High Dynamic Range (HDR) video on Apple Pro Display XDR (Apple Pro Display XDR coming this fall)
- Tone maps HDR video to compatible Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) displays when using Motion on macOS Catalina
- Improves load balancing of graphics processing across multiple GPUs
- Retains custom window layouts when Motion is opened
- Improves performance when using multiple behaviors on a camera
- Fixes an issue in which flickering may occur when changing cameras during playback
- Properly labels Zoom In/Zoom Out in the Timeline and Keyframe Editor
- Eyedropper now works with the Color Curves and Hue/Saturation Curves filters in 360° projects
- Properly displays MPEG-4 files in the Library preview area
- Removes the retiming limit of 800% (Property Inspector > Timing > Speed)
- Updates Action Safe and Title Safe zones to allow correct EU standards
- Fixes an issue in which undoing a 3D text font change could corrupt characters in the canvas
- Updates Text tool keyboard shortcuts
- Fixes instability caused by copying and pasting of a Match Move behavior
- Fixes an issue in which objects in the canvas could not be selected after opening a project from the Finder
New in Compressor 4.4.5
- New Metal-based processing engine improves playback and accelerates graphics tasks, including rendering, compositing, and exporting
- Enhances graphics performance with support for multiple GPUs, including Radeon Pro Vega II and Radeon Pro Vega II Duo on Mac Pro
- Optimizes CPU performance with support for up to 28 CPU cores on Mac Pro
- Improves performance of ProRes and ProRes RAW decode when using the Afterburner card on Mac Pro
- View and deliver stunning High Dynamic Range (HDR) video on Apple Pro Display XDR (Apple Pro Display XDR coming this fall)
- Tone maps HDR video to compatible Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) displays when using Compressor on macOS Catalina
- Improves load balancing of graphics processing across multiple GPUs
- Supports HEVC playback with alpha channel
- Encodes HEVC with alpha channel in a QuickTime movie file
- Displays timecode as drop frame, non-drop frame, frames, or absolute time
- Simultaneously imports multiple image sequences
- Supports audio track reassignment and specifying a job action using the command line in Terminal
- Provides option to automatically resize watermark to export dimensions
- iTunes Store creates SDR delivery from packages submitted with HDR and Dolby Vision metadata
I am the Editor-in-Chief of FCP.co and have run the website since its inception ten years ago.
I have also worked as a broadcast and corporate editor for over 30 years, starting on one inch tape, working through many formats, right up to today's NLEs.
Under the name Idustrial Revolution, I have written and sold plugins for Final Cut Pro for 13 years.
I was made a Freeman of Lichfield through The Worshipful Company of Smiths (established 1601). Though I haven't yet tried to herd a flock of sheep through the city centre!
Current Editing
2020 has been busy, the beginning of the year was finishing off a new property series (cut on FCP) for Channel 4 called The Great House Giveaway. I also designed and built the majority of the graphics as Motion templates. It has been a great success and the shows grabbed more viewers in the 4pm weekday slot than any previous strand. It has been recommissioned by C4 for 60 episodes, including prime-time versions and five themed programmes. The shows have also been nominated for a 2021 BAFTA.
Although both were postponed to later in the year, I worked again on ITV's coverage of the Tour de France and La Vuelta. 2020 was my 25th year of editing the TdF and my 20th year as lead editor. The Tour was the first broadcast show to adopt FCPX working for multiple editors on shared storage.
BBC's Snooker has played a big part in my life, I've been editing tournament coverage since 1997. I'm proud to be part of a very creative team that has pioneered many new ideas and workflows that are now industry standard in sports' production. This is currently an Adobe Premiere edit.
Covid cancelled some of the regular corporate events that I edit such as trade shows & events. I was lucky however to edit, from home, on projects for Amazon Kindle, Amazon Black Friday, Mastercard and very proud to have helped local charitable trust Kendall & Wall secure lottery funding.
As for software, my weapon of choice is Final Cut Pro and Motion, but I also have a good knowledge and broadcast credits with Adobe Premiere Pro, MOGRT design and Photoshop.
Plugin Design & Development
I'm the creative force behind Idustrial Revolution, one of the oldest Final Cut Pro plugin developers. It hosts a range of commercial and free plugins on the site. One free plugin was downloaded over a thousand times within 24 hours of release.
I also take on custom work, whether it is adapting an existing plugin for a special use or designing new plugins for clients from scratch. Having a good knowledge of editing allows me to build-in flexibility and more importantly, usability.
FCP.co
Now in its 10th year and 4th redesign, running FCP.co has given me knowledge on how to run a large CMS- you are currently reading my bio from the database! Although it sounds corny, I am pretty well up on social media trends & techniques, especially in the video sector. The recent Covid restrictions has enabled live FCP.co shows online. This involves managing a Zoom Webinar through Restream.io to YouTube and Facebook.
The Future
I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities, so please get in touch at editor (at) fcp.co. I've judged film competitions, presented workflow techniques to international audiences and come up with ideas for TV shows and software programs!
