Factorial, a video software development company out of New Zealand, has released ClipTouch, a Final Cut Server client for the iPad that requires no configuration and allows users to present, share, collaborate on, or browse video clips. Users can add annotations, change metadata or review and approve clips.
Apple on Tuesday released maintenance updates for iPhoto and Final Cut Server. iPhoto 8.1.1 addresses several issues involving poor performance and accuracy of the facial recognition feature. Users that imported photos of people with iPhoto 8.1 should choose the Detect Missing Faces option to correctly match the faces. The update also fixes a bug with book ordering, along with iPod touch support.
Apple is indeed on the verge of releasing a new version of Final Cut Studio, new sources are said to corroborate. Although some sources have suggested than an updated Final Cut Studio suite could be announced on March 24th, people "familiar with the company's plans" are said to indicate that Apple is timing a release around the National Association of Broadcasters expo, scheduled for late April. Apple and some other major companies are not attending NAB, but the event is known for bringing major video-related product unveilings.
Atempo today announced Mac releases of its Atempo Digital Archive (ADA) and Digital Archive for Messaging (ADAM) software, with support for Apple's Xserve and Final Cut Server. ADA allows automated transfer of data from a primary disk to archives. End-users have access to a client interface, which lets them drag and drop files from source directories to archives.
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 editing market in 2007, while Avid took just 22 percent.
Telestream has announced new Apple support for its Pipeline hardware, a series of network-enabled video capture devices capable of real-time encoding in a variety of formats. One of these formats is now Apple's ProRes 422, which attempts to maintain high quality at small file sizes. Pipelines have also been made compatible with the recently-released Final Cut Server, enabling input into the software from tape sources or live feeds. FCS support is immediately available; ProRes support will added later as a free upgrade, sometime after April 17th.
Apple on Tuesday finally began shipping Final Cut Server, its media asset management tool for video production houses. The software announced last year automatically gathers media assets across a network to let editors work from a common pool of resources, including on Storage Area Networks (SANs). While intended for and working closely with Final Cut Studio, Mac and Windows clients let users search for content they can edit without having to depend on Apple's creative software. It can scale from just two users to the largest broadcasters, the company says.
