Apple’s Final Cut Pro X video software gets new tools, better performance

Apple has released a major new update to its Final Cut Pro X video editing application. Labeled Final Cut Pro 10.4.9, the update is focused primarily on improving workflows for proxy files to make teams working together remotely—obviously a common situation amid the COVID-19 pandemic—more efficient.

Additionally, the new update includes a machine-learning-driven feature that automatically crops vertical aspect ratios (like you see in TikTok or Instagram videos on mobile phones) from widescreen footage, plus Apple has included some other improvements and features.

The company also updated iMovie, its mass-market consumer video editing software, to version 2.2.10 on iPadOS and iOS, and version 10.1.15 on macOS. These updates include stability improvements and bug fixes, as well as additional filters. The iOS and iPadOS versions get three new filters: Comic, Comic Mono, and Ink.

The macOS version of iMovie includes those, too, but adds two more: Comic Vintage and Comic Sepia. Additionally, the mobile versions add "25 new soundtracks—in genres including action, chill, and sentimental—that automatically adjust to match the length of your movie."

As for Final Cut, proxy files—smaller, lower resolution versions of video files meant for doing basic timeline work and the like on low-end machines like laptops—are the emphasis here. You can create proxies in H.264 or ProRes Proxy "in dimensions as small as 12.5 percent of the original." The update also makes it possible to create a proxy-only copy of a library and share that with collaborators.

The aforementioned video cropping tool allows users to set custom aspect ratios, task Final Cut with automatically making the crop, then review its crops with a view of the content that was cropped out so users can check and modify the automated crop to their satisfaction.

There are a number of additional changes and improvements to Final Cut listed on Apple's newsroom and in the release notes, the latter of which we've included below.

Improved proxy workflows

• Generate proxy media in custom frame sizes of 1/8, 1/4, or full resolution
• Choose to create proxy media in either ProRes Proxy or H.264
• Choose to display original and optimized media if proxy media is not available for some clips in your project
• Create a proxy-only copy of a library to reduce size for portability or performance

Social media tools

• Automatically transform projects for square or vertical delivery with Smart Conform
• Display media outside the Viewer boundary when adjusting scale, rotation, and position using Transform Overscan
• Add a custom Overlay as an on-screen guide when placing text and graphics within a square or vertical frame
• Use the new Duplicate Project As command in combination with Smart Conform to quickly create a social media version of your existing project

Other new features

• Adjust ProRes RAW camera settings such as ISO, color temperature, and exposure offset using new controls in the inspector
• Crossfade audio on adjacent clips in one step using a menu command or keyboard shortcut
• Use Close Project command in a new drop-down menu above the timeline to clear project history
• Sort clips and projects by last modified date in list view
• Preview 360-degree stereoscopic 3D video in simultaneous left and right eye views with the 360° Viewer
• Easily stabilize 360-degree video with one-click tools in the inspector

According to the notes in the update panel of the Mac App Store, the Final Cut Pro 10.4.9 update clocks in at 2.9GB. It's available as a free update to those who have already purchased the software. Apple also released updates for Compressor and Motion.

Listing image by Apple