April 20 - 5:10pm EDT   Professional video interface and conversion hardware maker AJA Video Systems on Monday at NAB show introduced the Ki Pro portable tapeless video device that records files to the Apple ProRes 422 codec directly from camera. The device has a large variety of analog and digital connections, allowing content from nearly any video and audio source to be recorded in the format. These recordings can then be edited without transcoding in Final Cut Studio 2. Media in 4:2:2 HD or SD format is recorded to a removable storage module via a FireWire 800 or 34mm ExpressCard Flash interface. [full story]

March 13 - 11:50am EDT   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. [full story]

March 9 - 12:00pm EDT   Apple continues to have special plans for March 24th, a German website claims. Although rumors had pointed to an update of Mac desktops on that date, Apple surprised analysts and the public by releasing the systems on March 3rd instead. Some form of announcement is believed to remain scheduled for the 24th however, specifically relating to the company's professional video software. [full story]

November 21 - 2:30am EST  Apple on Thursday released new updates to professional video and audio suites, including Final Cut Pro 6.05, Compressor 3.0.5, Color 1.0.3 and Shake 4.1.1. Apple says the Pro Applications Update 2008-04, a revision to Final Cut Studio 2.0. addresses general performance issues and improves overall stability. Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 addresses specific issues such as improved rendering of still images and footage in high-resolution formats and adding the ability to capture the additional metadata for footage recorded with the Panasonic AG-HMC150 professional AVCHD camcorder and the extended metadata that is available with P2 cards; the update also improves reliability when importing files from the ... [full story]

October 9 - 4:45pm EDT   Boris FX has released the Continuum Lens Flare Unit, a new plug-in for Adobe CS3 and CS4, as well as Apple's Final Cut Studio 2. The program simulates the streaks and spots of light that end up on film due to reflections inside of a camera lens. Flares can be added either to a source image, or else a completely synthetic creation. Special filters are provided, meanwhile, which allow users to create a variety of effects. [full story]

October 3 - 2:20pm EDT   Paragon Software's Universal File System Driver (UFSD) has been chosen for use in the QuVIS Wraptor Digital Cinema Package for Apple's Final Cut Studio. The Mastering plug-in for Final Cut will allow users to create a digital cinema content distribution Ext2/3-formated hard drive. UFSD technology was developed by Paragon to provide cross-platform access to volumes of major file systems (ext2/3, HFS+, NTFS, FAT32) under multiple platforms like the Mac, along with Windows and Linux. The UFSD format, embedded into the Wraptor plug-in, allows Mac users to deliver an industry standard hard drive for distribution. [full story]

September 5 - 12:45pm EDT   Noise Industries, in collaboration with Yanobox, has announced a new visual effects plug-in, Motype FxPack. Users working with After Effects CS3, Final Cut Express, or Final Cut Studio can implement Motype to create text or title animations. A Motion Mixer function allows the motion of the characters to be defined by geometric transformations or other properties, and random characters and symbols can be added as needed. [full story]

August 19 - 2:45pm EDT   Divergent Media has announced ClipWrap for the Mac, an m2t batch converter for creating QuickTime HDV files. With most Hi-Def cameras recording in m2t transport streams, and few video applications capable of handling m2t, ClipWrap attempts to bridge the gap, converting the streams to QuickTime movies. The software is a rewrapping tool, moving video and audio streams to a QuickTime container. In theory this avoids generational loss through re-encoding, and saves hours of encode time. [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 24 - 10:30pm EDT   Amidst a sea of controversy, newly announced Mac clone maker Psystar has released a video on YouTube illustrating that it does indeed have the capacity to run the Mac OS X on its Open Computer. While this does not clear Psystar of the questions surrounding the legality of the process, it proves that the company has the capacity to deliver on its promise. A note at the end of the video claims that the presentation was edited and finalized on Final Cut Studio, running on a Leopard-enabled Open Computer [full story]

April 8 - 8:45am EDT   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. [full story]