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MillimeterApple Final Cut Pro 7: First Look Review
Jul 23, 2009 3:24 PM, By Jan Ozer
Expanded outputs are chief among the NLE's wide-ranging new features.
Figure 9. Final Cut Pro’s new Change Speed control. Click here to see the image in detail.
Speed control
Another welcome addition is a new Change Speed feature for fast- and slow-motion effects. You apply the effect by CTRL-clicking and choosing Speed, which opens the control shown in Figure 9. As you can see, you have a number of useful customization options. Choose how the speed change will be transitioned in and out and how long that transition will take. Select whether the speed change will ripple through the subsequent clips on the timeline or simply be implemented within the clip’s current duration, a nice option that saves having to manually adjust subsequent clips after applying the effect. You can add multiple keyframes to a clip on the timeline for easy dynamic speed changes throughout.
Other features
Here are some additional noteworthy features that are new for Final Cut Pro 7:
iChat support
If you have an iChat account, Final Cut Pro will now export video viewed in the source or preview monitors to a remote iChat user, complete with timecode. This is a great approval or collaboration feature that can really accelerate group decision-making.
Global transitions
You can now select a number of clips and add a transition to all of them, a nice convenience.
Improved markers
Apple beefed up the markers function, including the ability to color-code markers and to add them in realtime as the video plays.
Native AVC-Intra support
There aren’t a lot of cameras that support AVC-Intra at this point, but Final Cut Pro is ready for the format. The Panasonic AJ-HPX300 ($10,700 MSRP) is one early adopter.
Other new features include a new timecode window, automatic transfer from file-based media such as P2 cards, improved closed-captioning support, and new alpha transitions. There's also multitouch gesture support, which makes the multitouch trackpad on a MacBook Pro function like the iPod Touch or iPhone, so you can zoom into and out of the timeline by pinching or expanding your fingers on the touchpad.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.