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Apple Introduces Final Cut Pro 2 with Real-Time Editing and Breakthrough G4 Performance

CUPERTINO, California—March 14, 2001—Apple® today introduced Final Cut Pro® 2, the next generation of its award-winning video editing, compositing and special effects software. Final Cut Pro 2 is a powerful, all-in-one editing solution, featuring real-time editing, breakthrough Power Mac™ G4 performance and a scalable architecture that allows users to output content into any video format.

“Final Cut Pro 2, running on our blazingly fast Power Mac G4 or PowerBook G4, offers the specialized features and robust editing workflow sought after by video professionals, without the expensive price tags,” said David Moody, Apple’s senior director of Applications Marketing. “Final Cut Pro’s innovative, extensible real-time architecture gives editors what they need most—time to be more creative and productive.”

With Final Cut Pro 2, real-time editing and compositing functions are seamlessly integrated into the video production workflow. By simply adding an optional, supported real-time processing card, video editors can instantly perform wipes, dissolves, and 2D motion graphics effects, dramatically increasing their creative freedom and efficiency. Final Cut Pro’s real-time architecture allows third-party manufacturers to create hardware that supports a variety of professional editing features and formats. The first card to support Final Cut Pro’s real-time architecture is the RTMac card from Matrox, which provides real-time broadcast-quality transitions and effects, and uncompressed, 32-bit, animated graphics in a dual-stream, native-DV editing environment.

Final Cut Pro 2 takes advantage of the supercomputing performance of Apple’s new Power Mac G4 and PowerBook® G4 lines, and the new QuickTime™ 5 architecture, to deliver dramatic gains in video editing productivity. On compute-intensive operations, Final Cut Pro 2 is up to 30% faster on G4 systems and 70% faster on dual-processor G4 systems, when compared to the previous generation’s performance on similarly configured systems.

With Final Cut Pro 2, video editors can:

  • work with all popular video formats, from Digital Video, to Beta SP, to High Definition (HD);
  • edit using a professional three-point editing model, including “JKL” keyboard-control shortcuts, drag and drop functionality, and trim-on-the-fly video for fast synching of video and audio;
  • simultaneously output to a computer monitor, an NTSC or PAL TV monitor, a VCR, or a camera;
  • consolidate, move and reconnect media with advanced new media management tools;
  • work efficiently between online and offline systems using Final Cut Pro’s Edit Decision List (EDL) import/export function;
  • easily convert projects to the most popular web-based formats using Cleaner 5EZ;
  • export audio that is compatible with industry standard mixing and finishing systems using OMF audio export;
  • use the included Peak DV with VST plug-ins to perform audio editing functions such as eliminating unwanted audio noise or changing clip duration without changing pitch;
  • utilize Subframe audio editing to 1/100th of a frame;
  • combine up to 99 layers of video, audio, text and graphics;
  • open and nest multiple sequences and programs; and
  • create special effects using Final Cut Pro’s built-in FX scripting language, or hundreds of supported Adobe After Effect’s plug-ins

Final Cut Pro works with Apple’s new DVD Studio Pro™ to form a complete system for professional digital content creation and delivery. From within Final Cut Pro, users can invoke DVD Studio Pro’s powerful compression engine to encode their edited video sequences into MPEG2. Using DVD Studio Pro, they can author sophisticated navigation menus, preview disk operation in real time, and burn DVDs using the Power Mac G4’s new SuperDrive for playback on consumer DVD players.

Pricing and Availability Final Cut Pro 2 will be available beginning March 19, 2001 through The Apple Store® (www.apple.com) and through Authorized Apple Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US). Existing users can upgrade to the new version of Final Cut Pro for $249 (US). Final Cut Pro 2 requires Mac® OS 9.1, a Macintosh® computer with a 300-MHz or faster PowerPC G3 or G4 processor, QuickTime 5, 192MB of RAM (256MB of RAM for real-time processing), and 20MB of available disk space for installation. More information on Final Cut Pro, including a list of certified, compatible hardware and software can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutpro.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.

Press Contacts:
Alicia Awbrey
Apple
(408) 974-0922
awbrey@apple.com

Megan Prest
Edelman Worldwide
650-968-4033
megan.prest@edelman.com

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple's PR website (www.apple.com/pr/), or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Mac OS, Apple Store, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro, PowerBook, Power Mac, and QuickTime are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.