Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro, previously Final Cut Pro X, is professional non-linear video editing software published by Apple Inc. as part of their Pro Apps family of software programs. It was released on June 21, 2011 for sale in the Mac App Store. It is the successor to Final Cut Pro. It was renamed "Final Cut Pro" in November 2020, coinciding with the release of macOS Big Sur. Features. Final Cut Pro X shares some of both its code and interface design philosophy with Apple's consumer video editing software, iMovie. Technical features. While inheriting the  name from its predecessor, Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro X is a completely re-written application. As a native 64-bit application it takes advantage of more than 4GB of RAM. It utilizes all CPU cores with Grand Central Dispatch. Open CL support allows GPU accelerated processing for improved performance for playback, rendering, and transcoding. It is resolution-independent, supporting images sizes from SD to beyond 4K. Final Cut Pro X supports playback of many native camera and audio formats. It can also transcode video clips to the Apple ProRes codec for improved performance. Many tasks are performed  in the background such as auto-saving, rendering, transcoding, and media management, allowing the user an uninterrupted experience. Final Cut Pro X was developed for macOS only. Development. Final Cut Pro X was made available for purchase and download on the Mac App Store on June 21, 2011 along with new versions of Motion and Compressor. Since then the application has been updated a few times each year with new features, bug fixes, native codec support, and overall improvements with stability. Many features found in Final Cut Pro 7 that were missing in Final Cut Pro X on its initial  release have subsequently been added such as: XML import and export, server support, multicam editing, chapter markers, and broadcast monitor support. Because Final Cut Pro X abandoned a track-based timeline in favor of the Magnetic Timeline initially there were limitations in exporting audio stems for Broadcast and Distribution needs. On September 9, 2011 version 10.0.1 was released with a new solution to this problem, the introduction of Video and Audio Roles. Clips are assigned Roles and upon Sharing a Project the user could export Multitrack Quicktime Files or Stems. AAF export is done with a third-party app X2Pro  which uses FCPXML. Another method is to use Logic Pro X to make an AAF. With version 10.0.6 released on October 23, 2012, Apple introduced native Redcode Raw support as well as MXF support through a third party plugin. MXF was eventually natively supported by version 10.1.4. Prior to the introduction of version 10.1.0 Project and Event Libraries were separate folders. Events contained all the original media and Project Libraries contained the actual edited Projects on timelines. The Project and Event Libraries were stored in a user's Movie folder or on the root level of an external hard drive . These Libraries automatically opened in Final Cut Pro X depending on which hard drives were mounted. That all changed on December 19, 2013, when Project and Event Libraries were merged into a new Library model. Libraries contained Events which in turn contained Projects. And unlike before Libraries could be opened and closed by the user. Media could be stored internally in the Library or kept outside the Library. On June 27, 2014 media management was further refined with the release of version 10.1.2. During the NAB Show 2015 Apple released version 10.2.0. 3D Titles were introduced directly in Final Cut  Pro X as well as its companion application, Motion. The Color Board merged with a new Color Correction effect to allow for more flexibility in stacking layers of effects. The ability to apply a Keying or Shape Mask directly to any effect was also introduced. Version 10.3 introduced an entirely new interface and an improved magnetic timeline. Support for iXML metadata when importing audio. Audio editing vastly improved. Audio roles can be shown in lanes. REC 2020 color import, edit, and export. MXF support. Version 10.4.0 introduced color wheels and color curves, 360º video editing and High Dynamic Range (HDR ) video, During the NAB Show 2018 Apple released version 10.4.1. Closed Captioning was introduced as well as support for ProRes RAW. Version 10.4.1 requires Mac OS version 10.13.2 High Sierra. Release history. For a complete overview of the changes made, see Apple's release notes. Reception. Final Cut Pro X was announced in April 2011 simultaneously at the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group held at Bally's Las Vegas and at the NAB Show in the Las Vegas Convention Center and released in June 2011. The reaction was extremely mixed, with veteran film editor Walter Murch initially saying , "I can't use this," citing a lack of features compared to Final Cut Pro 7. In a 2015 interview, Murch was much less critical of the tool and suggested that he was interested in using it. Missing features and issues noted as essential to professional video production in FCPX included lack of edit decision list (EDL), XML and Open Media Framework Interchange (OMF) support, inability to import projects created in previous releases of Final Cut Pro, a lack of a multicam editing tool, third-party I/O hardware output, and videotape capture being limited to Firewire video devices only , including capture with third-party hardware, were addressed within the first six months of the product's life. EDL export, a product of the early days of videotape editing, is now supported through third-party software and creating an AAF (a newer version of OMF) for passing projects to Pro Tools through X2Pro. Since then, in some people's opinions, some of Final Cut Pro X's initial shortcomings have been fixed. Apple announced in April 2018 that there are more than 2.5 Million users of Final Cut Pro X. Ecosystem. Since its release, FCP X has supported the construction  of effect, transition, and title plugins by publishing custom-built effects from Apple Motion. This has led to a third-party ecosystem of developers building effects from simple color corrections to complex templates. Third-party plug-ins can also be created through Apple's FxPlug SDK. As Projects, Events, and Libraries are stored in a database format; this has allowed many third-party developers to build workflow tools by utilizing FCPXML.