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Apple 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.

Compressor

I spend a lot of time in Compressor, and there’s a lot to like in the new release. First is support for Job Actions, which can automate simple tasks such as uploading files to YouTube or MobileMe (Figure 10). After applying a setting to a file, you can apply a Job Action, which Compressor executes when the encoding is completed.

Enhanced Droplets

You saw Compressor’s new Templates above, which are a nice addition whether you access them in Final Cut Pro or Compressor. In the new release, you can also access the same options via Droplets, which are essentially Compressor presets that sit on your desktop and activate when you drag a file onto them. In the new version, you can double click on a Droplet and open the Droplet window, where you can access any templates or any setting created in Compressor. This makes it simple to change outputs on the fly, and nontechnical users can easily select the appropriate preconfigured target setting.

As you would expect, via Compressor you can access the same Blu-ray functionality I described above, and there’s a new setting for Blu-ray-compatible H.264 files. The final Compressor feature that I’ll mention is its new ability to autodetect the settings from an existing file and create a preset based on those settings. This is useful in a number of scenarios. For example, suppose you received a file from a client with the request that you duplicate its settings. Simply drag the encoded file into the Settings window, and Compressor analyzes the file and creates a preset that matches its settings.

To test this function, I created a new setting, customizing options such as keyframe interval, bit-rate control, and audio characteristics. Then I encoded a 4-minute file and dragged the file into the Settings bin, thereby creating a new setting. I compared the new setting with the original setting. The results were very good, but not perfect.

For example, Compressor accurately derived the codec (H.264), profile (baseline), resolution, frame rate, audio and video data rates, and streaming settings. However, when generating the new setting, Compressor used a keyframe setting of 15 rather than the 300 that I had dialed in, and it used Faster Encode (single-pass) rather than Best Quality (multipass). This brings to mind the old Ronald Reagan phrase, “Trust, but verify.” Use the new autodetect functions to derive most of the key encoding parameter quickly and easily, but to make sure that they’re appropriate, review the parameters before using them.

How does this all add up? The new features in Final Cut Pro and Compressor alone more than justify the inexpensive upgrade price for the new Final Cut Studio. When you consider the new features in the other modules, the updated suite is a must-have.

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bottomline

Company: Apple
www.apple.com
Product: Final Cut Pro 7
Assets: Share command lets you export a sequence directly from the timeline to a range of output options; Blu-ray support; new ProRes formats; enhanced speed control feature.
Caveats: With Qmaster enabled, you can share encoding jobs among multiple computers running Final Cut Pro, but you can’t send them to a cluster that comprises multiple cores on the same computer.
Price: $999 (Final Cut Studio); $299 (upgrade)

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Blu-ray Authoring

One of the coolest new features in Final Cut Pro 7 is Blu-ray authoring. Though time pressures prevented me from testing this function for the main review, I was able to squeeze in a quick look for this sidebar. Here’s the workflow.

Start by adding chapter markers to your project as before. Once you’re done, click File > Share to open the Share menu, and choose Blu-ray as your target.

Click the Create Blu-ray Disc checkbox on the left to open the options screen shown on the right. Then choose your output device. If you have a Blu-ray drive in the computer, select it to burn a Blu-ray Disc. If you choose your legacy DVD-R/+R drive, you’ll burn an AVCHD disc, which can store about 40 minutes of HD video on a red-laser DVD-R/+R disc. This isn’t universally compatible with all Blu-ray players, however. Or you can choose the Hard Drive (Blu-ray) option and burn the project into an IMG file that you can burn to Blu-ray Disc later, or on another computer.

Next, choose one of the five templates that Apple provides, or roll your own in Motion, and type the name of your project in the title field. Beyond that, you can customize the menu by inserting your own background image, logo, or title graphic, and have the DVD player open the menu or the video when the disc is inserted. Operationally, Final Cut Pro creates all the required chapter menus and all links between menus and chapter points with preset navigation. There is no preview window, but if you’ve spelled your marker names and title correctly, there’s very little that can go wrong.

You can add multiple projects to the Share menu. I actually burned both a Blu-ray Disc and a DVD at the same time. When you’ve finished adding projects, click Export, and Final Cut Pro goes to work. On my 2.93GHz eight-core Mac Pro, it took 37 minutes to convert 12 minutes of 1080p AVCHD footage (captured as ProRes HQ) and burn it to two shiny new discs—one Blu-ray and one a standard DVD. The Blu-ray played on my ancient Samsung BDP-1000, which was among the first Blu-ray player models ever shipped. This bodes well for compatibility with newer players. The DVD played fine on all tested players.

The video quality on both discs is very, very good. Overall, while short on features, Final Cut Pro’s Blu-ray and DVD authoring capabilities are very long on convenience, ease of use, and output quality. —J.O.

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