Steve Jobs called 2005, “The Year of HD Video Editing” With the arrival of Final Cut Studio, announced Sunday at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas, he is holding true to his word. The editing suite consists of Final Cut Pro 5, Motion 2 (a real-time design engine), Soundtrack Pro, and DVD Studio Pro 4.
Thats a lot of “Pro” in one suite.
Personally, I’ve worked with a few different video editing programs. Final Cut Pro is my favorite, and I believe a far more intuitive program than its main competitor Avid. The combination of these powerful tools in the Studio kit is likely to make this a top choice for professionals (and amateurs with deep pockets). At $1299 new, or a $699 upgrade from Final Cut Pro, quality doesn’t come cheap.
The most surprising feature of Final Cut Studio is Soundtrack Pro. I had heard many a rumor that this program was on its way out, due to the popularity of Garage Band in the iLife Suite. While Garage Band is a more simplistic program, Soundtrack Pro will enable video editors to add a higher level of sound quality to their videos. The audio filters in Final Cut Pro definitely left something to be desired.
I have no idea how Soundtrack Pro compares to Digidesign’s (owned by Avid) Pro-Tools, but I think that the combination of these powerful HD video editing programs, in conjunction with the easily compatible audio software, Avid is really going to have a run for our money. [Apple.com]