Apple Makes Video Editing Easier With New Final Cut Pro Update

Streamlined processes and more new features, too

Editing videos can be a complicated process, and this update adds features to reduce some of those complications and improve the editing experience. Still, you'll need Apple silicon to use them.

If you're a Final Cut Pro user, your editing flow could get a boost later this month.

On Monday, Apple announced several new updates to Final Cut Pro, including streamlined workflows and improvements to timeline navigation for Mac users, as well as enhancements to Multi-Touch, support for voiceover recording, and more for the iPad. The catch is that to use these improvements, you'll need to be working from a Mac or iPad that's running on an M-series chip.

Final Cut Pro for Mac and iPad
Final Cut Pro for Mac and iPad.

Apple

Final Cut Pro for Mac adds several new features intended to make completing complex editing tasks easier. One of the features included is automatic timeline scrolling, which Apple says "it easier for users to stay focused by keeping their clips in view under the playhead during playback."

The update also adds color coding to the timeline view, so you can easily see different clips and audio sections, and it lets you connect and edit overlapping clips connected by a single storyline. And if you're using Apple silicon, you'll also get speedier exports and object tracking improvements tap into the power of an all-new machine learning model.

If you're using Final Cut Pro for the iPad, then you can expect to gain some improvements if you shoot video on the iPad. For example, Apple says it's adding stabilization in the pro camera mode and making it possible for footage to "be ingested directly into a project, so creators can start editing even faster with new enhancements such as connected storylines."

iPad users are also getting the ability to narrate and live audio and to start it at the exact point in a video where they want it. Magnetic Timeline lets editors combine a group of clips into a single storyline, while new keyboard shortcuts and finishing presets are also in the mix.

Apple says the update for Final Cut Pro 10.7 for the Mac will be available later this month as a free update to existing users or for $299.99 for new users. There's also a 90-day free trial if you want to test it out. For iPad users, Final Cut Pro for iPad 1.3 is expected within the same timeline in the App Store for $4.99 per month or $49 per year with a one-month free trial.

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