Apple's Final Cut Pro 4, DVD Studio Pro 2.: when combined, FCP4 and DVD Studio Pro form a complete pro digital content creation and delivery system

Post, Oct, 2003 by Tor Rolf Seemann

We were all teased with the idea of new versions of Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro at NAB last April, but had to wait until summer to see them shipping. Well, it was worth the wait. Apple has outdone itself again. Final Cut Pro 4 is sure to satisfy the seasoned pro on a syndicated four-camera sitcom all the way across the spectrum to the greenhorned rookie just looking to splice together some shots of his daughter's first steps. Either way, when your masterpiece is ready to be screened on your sister-in-laws DVD player over Thanksgiving break--or if it's prepped for distribution internationally--DVD Studio Pro will make you the grand auteur of MPEG-2 authoring.

EDITING

One of the best new features was FCP4's new RT Extreme, Apple's re-written, realtime effects preview, which adds the ability to see previews on an NTSC or PAL monitor Using this, I was able to composite four streams of video--which included three DVE boxes over a background, with a text layer keyed over that and color correction on all the layers--all playing back in realtime. This sequence was able to preview smoothly, albeit at quarter-screen resolution, but must be rendered when it's time to go out to tape. Still, this represents a major workflow improvement over what FCP3 could preview on an NTSC/PAL monitor.

This release also includes a new text tool, called LiveType. It's an advanced titling tool with each text character capable of individual animation. It was very easy to create a variety of great-looking text effects, all previewing in realtime. Included with the new version of Final Cut Pro is 8GB of canned animations and fonts.

Another big plus in this new version is its improved quality, where it's now able to support DVCPRO 50 and uncompressed video such as 8-bit and 10-bit in both standard definition and high definition. Enabling this hefty bandwidth is the implementation of FireWire 800, a full 2x faster than your grandpa's FireWire running at a geriatric 400mbps. Apple is now standardizing FireWire 800 in all its notebooks, desktops and servers. As expected, Final Cut Pro 4 has more sophisticated editing, compositing, effects and audio tools that allow professional editors to meet demanding post production deadlines while maintaining their creativity ... not to mention their sanity

AUTHORING

Completely redesigned to simplify DVD-Video authoring, FCP4's mate, DVD Studio Pro 2, provides access to a wide range of professional features outlined in the DVD-Video specification, including support for multiple video, audio and subtitle streams, additional menu functionality, alternate ways to play back movies, support for Web interactivity and advanced features such as dual-layer discs and copy protection. DVD Studio Pro's timeline and other user interface elements are so similar to those of Final Cut Pro that FCP users can jump right in and start creating DVDs. When combined with Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro becomes a key part of a complete system for professional digital content creation and delivery.

DVD Studio Pro 2 lets you customize the interface to suit your workflow needs. Apple-designed menu templates allow you to create DVDs quickly. And you can instantly view tracks, assets and menus, so you can see how your project looks and operates before you build the DVD. With the advanced interactivity controls of DVD Studio Pro 2, you can create up to 98 stories, use scripting controls for advanced playback options, define remote control functionality, create multiple language DVDs and include DVD-ROM data in your project. You can add sophisticated interactivity and control to a project with scripts assigned to buttons or attached to the start or end of any track, story, menu or marker. The Simulator also provides a complete display of the contents of the SPRMs and GPRMs, letting you verify the script behaviors you created. I was assured by Apple marketing that their SPRMs are quite fertile as well.

Whatever your level of authoring experience, you will feel at home working with DVD Studio Pro 2. Apple has done an admirable job re-creating the user interface so that it can be basic, extended or advanced--three distinct environments for all skill levels. When you first launch DVD Studio Pro, you're presented with an option to work in each mode. In Basic mode, users migrating from consumer-level DVD authoring programs like iDVD will instantly find themselves at home with the simple two-window setup providing access to the main menu editor and template selector.

Apple included a world-class MPEG-2 encoder that generates stunning video at lower bit rates, allowing you to maximize the length of video on a DVD without compromising quality.

For more sophisticated encoding control, DVD Studio Pro 2 comes with two powerful encoding utilities: Compressor and A.Pack. Compressor provides customization and correction of compression files in realtime and lets you batch process to MPEG-2 for DVD and MPEG-4 for Web streaming. A.Pack encodes uncompressed audio into highly compressed Dolby Digital AC-3 streams, which can then be used in DVD Studio Pro 2 for full 5.1-channel surround sound or simply as a compressed 2.0 stereo track.