Apple Updates Final Cut Pro X With Revamped Interface, Magnetic Timeline and Touch Bar Support

Apple today released a major update for Final Cut Pro X, its video editing software aimed at professionals. Today's update includes a new look for the software, support for the Touch Bar included in the new MacBook Pro, and a host of other features.

Final Cut Pro X features a revamped interface that's designed to streamline the layout for optimal screen space on the MacBook Pro, plus it includes a darker, flat look for more focus on content. There are customizable workspaces that let users select ideal layout options for organizing, editing, and color grading, even across more than one monitor. Full support for wide color workflows is included.

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"This is our biggest update to Final Cut Pro X since we completely redesigned it five years ago," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Apps Product Marketing. "The new version features a sleek interface and adds powerful new editing features that go far beyond what's possible with traditional, track-based video editing apps; and integration with the revolutionary Touch Bar gives professional video editors a whole new way to interact with Final Cut Pro X."

There's a new Magnetic Timeline to make it easier to see a full film at a glance. Dialogue, music, and effects are all highlighted with custom color coding, and there's now an option to drag and rearrange the vertical layout of a timeline or highlight audio roles during the editing process.

The Final Cut Pro X update also includes support for the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, introducing dynamic controls that change based on which tool is in use. With the Tool Bar, users can do things like adjust audio levels, trim, navigate through a timeline, initiate playback, and more.

Motion 5.3 and Compressor 5.3 have also been updated with Touch Bar support and a new darker look to match the Final Cut Pro X update. Motion 5.3 includes support for wide color workflows and 3D text enhancements, plus it offers a new Align behavior for quickly connecting separate objects. Compressor 4.3 features wide color support and updates and improvements that make it quicker to deliver packages to the iTunes Store.

Final Cut Pro X can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $299.99. [Direct Link]

Motion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99. [Direct Link]

Compressor can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $49.99. [Direct Link]

Tags: Final Cut Pro X, Motion, Compressor

Top Rated Comments

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thomasgrovecarter

43 months ago

These are my top 10 new features...

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Rating: 7 Votes

natd1993

43 months ago

Putting more focus into the touch bar gimmick than any other part of this underpowered software shows Apple's lack of attention to the pro market.

Rating: 7 Votes

timboman

43 months ago

Where f*** is Logic X Support?

Rating: 7 Votes

Mr-Stabby

43 months ago

I think the best part of this update is the fact FCPX now supports libraries to be saved on SMB3 shares. So you finally don't need a SAN.

Rating: 4 Votes

3568378

43 months ago

Maybe I am wrong, but I heard FCP has been abandoned by the PRO community since Premier and Avid are lightyears ahead and can be run on more powerful hardware (wintel machines) which costs less than outdated Mac Pros.

Feel free to correct me.

May be true, but there are still major motion pictures being edited on Final Cut. For me it was the choice to pay one time (FCP) vs. perpetually (Adobe) AND the difference in render times on my MBP 15 AMD. Rendering 4K movies is exponentially faster on Final Cut because of optimization. Granted we are just a lowly YouTube channel but we are satisfied with FCP!

youtube.com/wemclaughlinsadventures/

Rating: 2 Votes

Gwendolini

43 months ago

Which comes down to what the PRO community actually is. Is it the "elite" working for film and television and maybe commercials or are other people making money with their editing work also included?

Premiere Pro and Media Composer are not light years ahead when one considers the file based approach FCP X is using and all the advantages of files and meta data.
MC and PPro are still using tracks in their timelines, which was okay when coming from film and video (since it is the most digital equivalent they could think of back then), but FCP X does take advantage of the digital age and how to work with digital data.

And I say that as an MC lover and PPro user, as I have finally switched to FCP X this year.

The Multicam capabilities, even if forgotten in the first version of FCP X, are leagues ahead of MC (which I have used to sync probably thousands of clips in the past decade, by hand then with Plural Eyes).

I am currently editing a music video with 32 angles and I can do that on a 13" rMBP with proxies while playing back 16 angles at the same time with the Library stored on a 2.5" USB 3.0 HDD. Can MC do that?

And look at the search capabilities. Again ahead of MC with all its handmade bins and folders and manual sorting. FCP X can do that automatically if you use tags (still faster than manually creating bins and folders).

MC has its advantages in multi user / multi project environments though, like broadcast networks and production houses, but it is actually slower to do the work.

Rating: 2 Votes

petsounds

43 months ago

Where f*** is Logic X Support?

The Logic team doesn't seem to get advanced word of products. We'll probably see an update in 6-9 months.

Rating: 2 Votes

Craigwilliam

43 months ago

Let's see this underpowered laptop edit 6K footage.

The new MacBook Pro? It'll handle it no problems. You can't have used Final Cut Pro X if you would say something like this. A high end MacBook could probably edit 6k.
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Rating: 2 Votes

thingstoponder

43 months ago

Really want FCPX but keep feeling like they'll release 11.0 and I'll be out the 300.00 right away, now 5 years into this edition.

There will never be an 11. There will only be free version updates to FCP X. You're safe.

Rating: 1 Votes

shaunymac

43 months ago

That won't happen until they switch the Mac line to a custom Apple CPU and GPU, and even after that, not until the OS drops support for Intel chips, the equivalent of PowerPC machines at that point in the Great PPC-Intel Switch. Maybe not even then. Have you seen the update we got today? Everything that you were impressed with before is even better. Have fun in your editing, whatever you do.

Kind of expected the Intel Iris on the AMD model to be replaced with an Apple chip of some sort, since we have to expect that Apple has had a desktop version of OS X running on ARM chips for a while, and could probably hand off (no pun) a lot of simple compute and graphics tasks to save battery power, although I know very little to that end beyond what I've picked up from years of reading Ars Technica and lurking here.

It's fantastic that I've paid for this software once, and have received new and better features for years, for no additional charge. Same with Motion, love it.

I completely agree! While I don't use Final Cut as much as say Capture One and definitely not my adobe stuff, I love that they have stuck with updating this for us.

To me, it shows commitment and honors our loyalty to sticking with this NLE. I have my CS6 master suite purely for the reason I didn't want to go to a subscriptions based setup. I despised that! Honestly, I love Final Cut's interface and it's overall feel and the same can be said about Capture One. I would trade neither for Premiere/Lightroom.

Rating: 1 Votes

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