Apple Releases Final Cut Pro 4 on Saturday June 14th

Final Cut Pro 4, the next generation of Apple's Emmy award-winning editing software for film, HD, SD and DV, will go on sale throughout Europe on Saturday, June 14th, at Apple Authorised Resellers and the Apple Store.

“Final Cut Pro 4 stole the show at this year's National Association of Broadcasters convention, sweeping the best of show awards for non-linear editors”, said Sina Tamaddon, Apple's senior vice president of Applications. “Packed with features light years ahead of the competition, including full 32-bit floating point per channel video processing for the first time in an editing system costing less than US$100,000, Final Cut Pro 4 sets new standards in video editing”.

“KTVX's newsroom recently replaced its Avid systems with a complete Final Cut Pro environment, and we can't wait to upgrade to Final Cut Pro 4”, said David Bird, regional director of engineering, ABC's Salt Lake City, UT affiliate KTVX. “The news business demands high-performing tools for getting stories turned around quickly. Our producers, reporters and editors are extremely impressed by Final Cut Pro 4's powerful and efficient editing capabilities, and we think it'll integrate seamlessly into our newsroom workflow”.

“With features like RT Extreme and support for an open and extensible XML interchange format, we're really excited about Final Cut Pro 4 and will be upgrading to it as soon as it ships”, said John Papola, director/producer, Nickelodeon Creative Resources. “What sets Final Cut Pro apart from other professional video editing solutions is its powerful, flexible and efficient workflow. I love the fact that Final Cut Pro 4 allows me to capture and transport uncompressed audio and video to any of my Macs over FireWire. Since the media is stored in standard QuickTime format, there is far greater flexibility than any Avid-based solution for our unique workflow. I can cut on any Mac, with any combination of formats open all at once. And now the XML format will let you take your project to other systems seamlessly. It's incredible”.

Final Cut Pro 4 introduces more than 300 new features, including RT Extreme for real-time compositing and effects, powerful new interface customisation tools, new high-quality 8- and 10-bit uncompressed formats, full 32-bit floating point per channel video processing, advanced trimming and timeline tools such as support for dynamic and asymmetrical trimming, and enhanced audio editing capabilities with multi-track audio mixing and multi-channel audio output. Final Cut Pro 4 also includes three completely new complimentary applications — LiveType for advanced titling, Soundtrack for music creation and Compressor for full-featured batch transcoding.

With its open architecture, Final Cut Pro 4 is leading the emergence of a new ecosystem of professional video solutions based on open formats and industry standards. Final Cut Pro 4 fits into virtually any production pipeline and provides incredible developer extensibility through a new XML interchange format and FireWire-based I/O framework. Partners such as Panasonic, AJA, Automatic Duck, Quantel, Pinnacle, Omneon and Curious Graphics have already announced tools that integrate Final Cut Pro 4 into a wide range of production workflows.

Pricing & Availability:

The English version of Final Cut Pro 4 will be available on June 14th through the Apple Store and Apple Authorised Resellers for a suggested retail price of £799. Registered Final Cut Pro users can upgrade to Final Cut Pro 4 for £299. Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Pro 4, including a list of certified, compatible hardware and software can be found at www.apple.com/ie/finalcutpro.

Press Contacts:
Apple UK and Ireland Public Relations
Email: media.uk@apple.com
Phone: +44 (0)20 8218 1440