June 27 - 6:35am EDT   Apple has released Final Cut Pro Server 1.1 (50.1MB) and Pro Applications Update 2008-02 (138MB). Both are available directly through Mac OS X's 'Software Update' feature, and also from the Apple website. Primarily a maintenance release, Final Cut Pro Server 1.1 packs in an impressive amount of bug fixes. Aiming to improve 'general reliability', it fixes specific issues when using multi-byte fonts, updating 'checked out' assets, and Project XML. A requirement for users to run QuickTime 7.5 has also been noted in the release notes. The Pro Applications Update is again primarily a maintenance release to 'improve reliability'. It includes point updates to Final Cut Pro, ... [full story]

June 23 - 12:15pm EDT   Red Giant Software has announced Radium Glow, a new 3D glow simulator that goes beyond simple blurring effects. Instead of just adding simple blur, the software gives pinpoint control over the glow effect and has edge effects, masking and output functions. The three included plug-ins add neon-style effects and can be combined with Red Giant's Trapcode Particular (the company's separate 3-D particle plug-in) and other plug-ins to give sparkle and shimmer effects. Radium Glow is available now for $100 and works with on Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later, on After Effects, Premier Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion and Avid AVX. [full story]

June 13 - 5:25am EDT   EditShare this week introduced a software solution that creates a single media file type which can be used in both Avid and Apple Final Cut Pro video editing applications. Used in conjunction with Editshare's Flow Ingest software, the Universal Media File technology allows the seamless acquisition of media in one format, and simultaneous output to multiple other formats. In shared workflow situations, the Universal Media File promises to add a new dimension to work environments by eliminating the need for file conversion, file duplication or the congestion of valuable ingest channels. [full story]

May 22 - 5:30pm EDT   Beginning this week Vision Effects is now shipping Twixtor 4.5 for Apple Final Cut Pro (FCP) in an FxPlug version, which is Final Cut Pro's native effects plugin architecture. Twixtor enables users to speed up or slow down image sequences with quality results. In order to achieve its image quality, Twixtor synthesizes unique new frames by warping and interpolating frames of the original sequence; employing Vision Effects' Academy Award winning technology that calculates motion for each individual pixel. [full story]

May 1 - 8:15am EDT   Apple on Thursday said that it has no plans discontinue its popular Final Cut software for video editing and post-production, after rumors began circulating at NAB that the company had plans to sell the software. Moving to quash rumors, the company told TVB Europe that the Apple had sold its millionth Final Cut Pro license and that its new Final Cut Server software is the company's latest addition to the product family: "I can categorically state, on the record, that is not the case," said Richard Townhill, Apple's director of marketing for professional video applications. The report also cites research by SCRI noting that Apple took 49 percent of the US professional ... [full story]

April 10 - 11:05pm EDT   Ahead of next week's NAB conference, Apple on Thursday released its updates to its professional video editing applications with Pro Applications Update 2008-01. The company said that the update, which includes the Apple HDV Codec v1.4 for 4:2:2 support in Final Cut Pro, improves reliability for Apple's professional applications; it is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, Logic Studio, and Shake and includes an update to Final Cut Studio 2.0, including Final Cut Pro 6.0.3, Compressor 3.0.3--both of which address specific customer issues, installation issues, compatibility updates, general performance issues and improves overall stability. ... [full story]

April 10 - 10:50am EDT   Red Giant Software has announced it will show five new products at the upcoming NAB convention in Las Vegas, including Trapcode Horizon, Instant HD Pro, Radium Glow, Magic Bullet Steady, and Primatte Keyer Pro 4. Trapcode Horizon is a new plug-in designed specifically for After Effects users doing 3D work. Due in the second quarter of 2008, the plugin is designed to help video editors match the camera with any virtual background, enabling the generation of motion in 3D in a true 3D space. It is priced at $100. [full story]

March 25 - 8:25pm EDT   Apple today unveiled PluginManager 1.7.3, an update to the plugin management service for Final Cut Pro, Motion, Aperture, Logic Studio, as well as several SDK kits. The update addresses certain problems within Final Cut Studio relating to backwards compatibility. PluginManager.framework, FxPlug.framework, ProFX.framework, and FxPlugWrapper.plugin have all been replaced with current versions to address the issue. The update is also available through Software Update, under the Apple Menu. [full story]

March 19 - 1:55pm EDT   Digieffects has begun shipping Damage, a new set of plugins for video and film post production professionals. Damage is a collection of four effects designed for post production professionals who want to create an extensive variety of digital and/or analog defects, errors and artifacts in their footage. It supports Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Autodesk Combustion and Boris RED. [full story]

March 12 - 1:40pm EDT   Digital Heaven has announced the release of DH_Subtitle 2.0, an upgrade to the popular subtitle generator plug-in for Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. The tool allows users to create professional style subtitles with boxes behind the text. The new version adds text tracking and leading controls plus a new outline style option. It automatically creates the box according to the text entered and also ensures the last line of text is always in the same vertical position, no matter how many lines of text a subtitle may contain. With version 2.0 there is a new outline style which puts a line around the text to increase legibility. Also new in this version are controls ... [full story]

March 6 - 10:45am EST   dvGarage recently unveiled updates to Conduit Suite and dvMatte Pro, its respective Conduit nodal composition tool and chromakeying software. Conduit suite brings with it Conduit Live, a new standalone nodal capture tool which offers users real-tie video compositing and analysis of any live digital footage. The Studio bundle also includes Conduit for Motion, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop, and After Effects. Conduit Suite is selling for $199, available from dvGarage's website. [full story]

February 28 - 5:40pm EST   The Coen brothers -- the creators of 'No Country for Old Men' which won five Oscars at this year's Academy Awards -- have discussed how Apple hardware and software were influential during the editing process of the film's creation. "They [Apple] made it really easy for us — we cut now much the same way we cut on film [using Final Cut Pro]. It's hugely faster," said Ethan Coen. 'No Country for Old Men' won 'Best Picture' this year and is the first movie edited with an entirely digital workflow on a Mac to win the Oscar, according to Macworld. [full story]

February 25 - 3:05pm EST   Glue Tools today announced that it will release Cineon/DPX Pro for Final Cut 3.0 at NAB 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The latest release of Cineon/DPX for Final Cut Pro includes Cineon and DPX Sequence Presets along with a full Cineon or DPX Codec, completely eliminating the need to render sequences in Final Cut Pro's timeline. "No More Red Render Bar!" the company states. "Your imagery can be directly loaded into Final Cut Pro or Compressor, without needing to be compressed into an intermediate codec or movie format." The company is already accepting pre-orders for Cineon/DPX for Final Cut 3.0 at $400 per license. The update requires Final Cut Studio 2 and QuickTime 7.3.1. ... [full story]

January 31 - 10:15pm EST   Red Giant Software today unveiled Magic Bullet Frames, its latest plugin for Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Premiere Pro. The plugin is designed to allow users to shoot video on low-cost film, and then scale the footage to 24p, giving it a professional finish. Magic Bullet Frames uses motion-adaptive and field-blended modes to process frames, and can apply custom letterboxes to footage to give it a cinematic feel. Red Giant Software is currently selling Magic Bullet Frames for $200. [full story]

January 26 - 2:30pm EST   Digital video specialist Red is alerting its users to an incompatibility with QuickTime 7.4 when using Red Alert, as well as issues with Final Cut Pro and Red One footage. Users will experience decreased system stability, so Red advises users to avoid upgrading to QuickTime 7.4 until either itself or Apple has issued a fix. Neither Red nor Apple has commented on what is causing the issue, and it is unknown if any of Red's other products are affected by the bug. [full story]