(Credit: Apple)
The big announcements at Apple's "Let Loose" livestream event on Tuesday were new iPad Air and iPad Pro models and the company’s newest M4 Apple Silicon processor. But Cupertino also showed off impressive updates to its pro video-editing software with Final Cut Pro for iPad 2.
The hottest new feature in Final Cut Pro on iPad is Live Multicam, which lets you record simultaneous video from several iOS and iPadOS devices with the help of a new Final Cut Camera app. Apple also announced new AI-editing features for the macOS version of the video software, so I’ll include those below.
It’s worth mentioning that Final Cut Pro for iPad requires controversial subscription pricing. You pay $4.99 per month or $49 for a year to use the app. Final Cut Pro for macOS doesn't require a subscription; it's a $299.99 upfront purchase. Existing users of both versions will get the latest update—Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8—at no extra cost.
1. Live Multicam
(Credit: Apple)Multicam video editing, a staple of TV and movie productions, uses multiple cameras shooting simultaneously at different angles and switching between those angles in the software as the video is playing. For quicker editing on the iPad, smaller preview clips are sent to Final Cut Pro for iPad, and the system replaces these with full-resolution files in the background. You can control up to four live camera feeds at a time, though that's nowhere near the 16 angles allowed by Final Cut Pro for macOS and other pro video-editing software. If you want automatic live syncing, you need to use Apple’s mobile devices rather than dedicated video cameras. That’s great for folks who have four recent iPhones and iPads handy. Luckily, you can add footage recorded on a video camera as one of the four angles, but you’ll have to sync it after the fact.
2. Final Cut Camera
(Credit: Apple)This tie-in app for iOS and iPadOS streamlines multicam video shooting. It gives you controls for white balance, manual focus, ISO level, shutter speed, and focus peaking. You can also see zebras—striped areas showing over- or under-exposed areas—and audio meters. This is the app you run on the iPhones and iPads while doing multicam editing in the Final Cut Pro 2 app on an iPad.
3. External Project Support
(Credit: PCMag)This is one of the less-glitzy new features, but it’s of great importance to professional video producers. It takes advantage of the iPad Pro’s fast Thunderbolt USB-C port to connect to external drives that support that specification, which can save iPad users lots of storage space.
4. New Styles for Colors, Text, and Audio
(Credit: Apple)The update brings 12 new color-grading presets, eight text titles, and 20 new soundtracks. You also get some new dynamic backgrounds for overlays and titles.
5. New Apple Pencil Pro Features
This one requires you to buy a new gadget that will set you back $129 and only works with the newest M4 iPad Pros and M2 iPad Airs. The new capabilities are also somewhat limited, so you may want to hold off if you already have a perfectly good Apple Pencil. So what’s new? There's support for the Apple Pencil Pro's barrel roll feature, which means it works like an analog pencil or pen, changing the thickness of the line as you roll it. This can be used to create some cool effects in Final Cut's Live Drawing option. A little more exciting is the Pencil Pro's Squeeze functionality, which pulls up brushes and settings in Final Cut.
New AI Tools in Final Cut Pro for MacOS
(Credit: Apple)The key new features are Enhance Light and Color and Smooth Slo-Mo. According to Apple’s press release, the first improves “color, color balance, contrast, and brightness in one simple step, and is optimized for SDR, HDR, RAW, and Log-encoded media." The new slo-mo effect uses AI to generate in-between frames to simulate a clip shot in high-frame rate slow-motion. The update also improves search (including text-based search) and custom names for effects.
For more, check out Everything Apple Announced at the iPad Event and the video below.