Apple today released a new update for Final Cut Pro X with new features for remote workflows and speed up editing. Some highlights are ProRes RAW now has extended capabilities adding controls for ISO, color temperature, and exposure offset in the inspector. This is really starting to look like the ProRes RAW we wanted from the start.
Other improvements in creating and managing proxy media and new social media tools automate video cropping in square, vertical, and other custom sizes for social media platforms, and new workflow improvements enhance the versatility and performance of Final Cut Pro.
ProRes RAW
This is a big one! ProRes RAW camera settings, such as ISO, color temperature, and exposure offset are now available in the inspector for the first time. Editors can also apply audio crossfades on adjacent clips in one simple step, use a new context menu to close a project or clear timeline history, and sort clips and projects in List View according to the last date each file was modified.
The release includes performance improvements with new Metal-enabled plug-ins for RED RAW and Canon Cinema RAW Light. Transcoding 8K RED RAW video to ProRes 422 is up to two times faster on Mac Pro, and up to three times faster on MacBook Pro. Final Cut Pro editors can play and edit 8K Canon Cinema RAW Light when working with 360-degree video, editors can quickly stabilize stereoscopic 3D video and view footage in the 360-degree Viewer with separate streams for each eye. They can also start working immediately with remote content while it is downloading in the background from web-based asset management applications, such as the Frame.io workflow extension.
Improved Proxy Workflows
The update includes major improvements to proxy workflows. Video editors can now create proxies in either ProRes Proxy or H.264 in dimensions as small as 12.5 percent of the original. They can also consolidate proxy media, images, and audio to an external or network-connected drive. A Final Cut Pro Library can even be relinked to proxies already created as well. Editors can now link to proxy media generated by third-party applications via XML. Examples include Frame.io, plus asset management tools like Keyflow Pro and PostLab. If proxy media is not available for some clips, users can adapt workflows to display either the original file or an optimized version.
Automated Tools for Social Media Cropping
Using machine learning, clips in a project can now be automatically analyzed for dominant motion and cropped with Smart Conform to convert them into square, vertical, or any other sized video for platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Transform Overscan reveals media outside the crop boundary when adjusting scale, rotation, and position, to easily reposition the crop. Video editors can also add a Custom Overlay to guide them when placing text and graphics within a non-landscape frame.
Just be aware that if you do plan on updating to this version of FCPX, you will find that both RED RAW and Canon RAW are not currently supported.
For me, of course, the new controls for ProRes Raw is huge. It will make me want to shoot with it now even more. Oh, and lets not under-appreciate that you can now add audio crossfades to adjacent clips in one easy step. 😀
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