TV&Video:
The loyalty of Mac users is undeniable and a good part of the applications for video and audio editing run on this platform, what does it mean that the Apple company now offers proprietary solutions for this work?Hector Goldin: This demonstrates Apple's commitment to developing the digital video revolution. Steve Jobs has reiterated the importance of Digital Video in the company's strategy, and the proprietary development of Final Cut Pro and iMovie prove it.
TV&V: What are the featured tools in Final Cut Pro?
HG: Final Cut Pro stands out for offering in the same environment, without modalities, the possibilities to edit with precision of timecode simple or complex sequences, with synchronized audio, and at the same time add transitions and effects of immediate preview and fast rendering .
It can be said that it is a product that offers the user an experience similar to that of the most professional products for a cost similar to that of the most popular products.
TV&V: Does it offer the versatility of similar professional applications such as Avid, Infinity, or Discreet among others, for film and video editing work?
HG: It is a state-of-the-art product, this means that it is designed to be much more versatile, but also, in each new version that comes out, important functions are added. The release of version 2.0 is expected soon with great news.
The way to use it is very natural to the editor accustomed to the Avid Media Composer, and the effects and transitions are applied as if one had parts of the Adobe After Effects within the same program, but the good thing is that it is not necessary to leave the program to make effects but everything is done with the same tool.
TV&V: How interoperable does it offer to work with files that come from other systems?
HG: It has the immense flexibility of Quicktime to use material of types MOV, AVI, TGA, PSP, DV, etc. It even imports adobe photoshop files by keeping the various layers and transparencies together, which I can then modify in Final Cut Pro. As long as Quicktime has the codec (Encoder/Decoder) to read the format, Final Cut Pro can use it as material.
TV&V: Is it as friendly an app as the products of this house usually are?
HG: Of course, it is extremely friendly and natural, it can be used by a person with almost no prior knowledge, but it is also an application that has the commands expected by the expert editor in Avid.
TV&V: What tools does it lack?
HG: Version 1.0 doesn't have the ability to render in real time, something that's going to come with version 2.0. But it is a version that does take advantage of the speed of the G4 computer with which the render is very fast.
TV&V: Is it an application prepared to offer multi-format content from broadcast applications to streaming video?
HG: Apple has made technological demonstrations of HDTV (High Definition TV) editing with the Targa Ciné board; Betacam SP with the Targa 2000 Pro; of all types of DV (DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO and DIGITAL 8), and of all Quicktime multimedia formats, including of course the Streaming Video. Apple is expected to announce, probably in October, the Quicktime 5, which includes MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, so perhaps you can also edit these formats although this is not yet confirmed.
TV&V: What are the main advantages it offers over similar systems on the market?
HG: The possibility of buying your own non-linear editing equipment for the price that traditionally cost to rent a piece of equipment for a single production. And the equipment can be used to edit the final product in DV quality, or else to generate an EDL and take it to a higher quality island optimizing the time of use of it. In either case it is a very valuable tool for the creative editor. You can even assemble a fully portable island and edit an urgent news directly on site.
