Adobe offers 50% off Premiere Pro video editing app for Final Cut Pro, Avid users

Apple is facing a backlash from some vocal professional video editors who don't like the massive changes ushered in by its new Final Cut Pro X software, and Adobe is looking to cash in.

On Friday morning, Adobe Systems announced an "upgrade program" for those who've purchased any version of Apple's Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer -- the two leading video editing programs -- and are looking to try out Adobe's Premiere Pro software.

Adobe has even launched a website and series of video tutorials dedicated to explaining why filmmakers, journalists and media creatives should move over to Premiere Pro that proclaims: "You're a pro. Make sure you're toolset is too."

To get editors to make the switch, Adobe is offering a 50% discount on its Premiere Pro CS5.5 application and its Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium bundle of apps, which also includes the latest versions of its computer graphics software After Effects, online animation tool Flash Professional and photo and graphic editing mainstay Photoshop, among other apps.

Final Cut Pro X sells for $299.99, which is a huge drop in price from the $1,000 the Final Cut Studio of apps used to cost for previous versions of Apple's video editor and one of the things supporters of the new software point to as a step forward in the high-cost video editing field.

Adobe's Premiere Pro CS5.5, as a standalone application, sells for $799, or $399.50 at half price. Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium normally sells for $1,699, but with the 50% promotion, Final Cut Pro or Avid users can get the bundle for $849.50.

Avid Media Composer is the most expensive software of the three and sells for between $2,295 and $2,495.

Adobe, based in San Jose, said the 50% offer is set to expire on Sept. 30.

[Updated July 2, 1:21 p.m.: A previous version of this post incorectly said that Adobe's Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium software bundle included Dreamweaver and InDesign. It does not.]

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Twitter.com/nateog

Image: Adobe's website courting Final Cut Pro and Avid users. Credit: Adobe Systems

Apple says it'll update Final Cut Pro X to allay critics

Apple is promising updates to Final Cut Pro X, an attempt to blunt criticism from professional editors upset over features left out from the new app.

Final Cut Pro X -- the latest version of Apple’s popular video editing software -- “has impressed many pro editors, and it has also generated a lot of discussion in the pro video community,” the company wrote in a FAQ published online Wednesday.

Apple promises several updates that will bring back features found in older versions of Final Cut Pro, including the ability to edit video from multiple cameras at the same time.

“We will provide great multicam support in the next major release,” Apple said, but didn’t specify a time frame.

Final Cut Pro X, which was built from the ground up as a new application, has drawn criticism from professional video editors who say the new software is a toned-down version that doesn’t suit their needs. Professionals have compared the new app to iMovie, an editing software with fewer options that is used mainly by amateurs, even going so far as to call it iMovie Pro.

“This is no longer a professional application,” commenter Hectorsierra wrote in a review posted on Apple’s website. “This is a Final Cut Express meets iMovie!! I'm so disappointed that I want to cry!! :("

Apple released Final Cut Pro X last week on its Mac App Store, offering the software as a digital download for $299.99 -- for the first time, an on-disc hard copy of Final Cut is not available to purchase.

As the Technology blog reported last week, users who previously wanted Final Cut Pro had to shell out about $1,000 for the video editing application and a bundle of other programs called Final Cut Studio.

In its FAQ, Apple said users will also soon be able to export in XML, a key tool for professionals because the format allows the sharing of data between divergent applications.

Although Apple’s FAQ promises some updates, they don't include one highly sought-after feature: the ability to import complete project files from previous versions of Final Cut.

Because Final Cut Pro X contains “new and redesigned audio effects, video effects, and color grading tools,” users won’t be able to import projects from earlier versions “without changing or losing data.” However, Apple says, it is possible to import media files from previous versions into a new project file in Final Cut Pro X.

Apple did note that those who buy Final Cut Pro X will still have another option: using older versions of Final Cut.

“If you’re already working with Final Cut Pro 7, you can continue to do so after installing Final Cut Pro X, and Final Cut Pro 7 will work with Mac OS X Lion,” Apple said.

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Apple releases Final Cut Pro X to the Mac App Store for $299.99

Apple released Final Cut Pro X, its newest video editing software, to the Mac App Store on Tuesday, promising more speed and improved efficiency.

The new software isn't merely an update of the previous Final Cut Pro 7 -- it's rebuilt from the ground up, Apple says.

For those who've used Final Cut before, the newness is apparent as soon as Final Cut Pro X is launched, with a darker-colored user interface, tool boxes replaced with iMovie-style buttons and new keyboard shortcuts (though older key commands can be remapped).

Among the most noticeable differences for many users probably will be the disappearance of the "render box" while editing and exporting a video project, as well as the new Magnetic Timeline, which is one of many features the new software has that looks a bit like Apple's consumer-level video editor, iMovie.

The Magnetic Timeline removes the familiar video and audio tracks that made up the timelines of past versions of Final Cut Pro and the now-discontinued Final Cut Express (a cheaper, stripped down version of Final Cut). With the old system, many editors would complain about getting video and audio clips out of sync -- a problem Apple hopes the Magnetic Timeline solves.

Whenever a video portion of a clip is moved, the matching audio clip moves with it. If a user selects multiple clips to move around, it'll push other clips down the timeline to make room for the rearrangement. Everything just snaps into place.

Users can also tag clips and add keywords to clips, which make finding video and audio files easier.

Multiple formats of video, from multiple sources -- DSLR cameras, pro-video camcorders, smartphones, flip cams -- all play nicely, without the need to convert file formats or render everything before being able to watch what is in the timeline. All the rendering, Apple says, takes place in the background, which should allow for faster editing.

Previously, Apple sold Final Cut Pro in a full suite of applications that sold for $999. The most recent Final Cut Studio included Final Cut Pro 7, Color 1.5 (for color editing), Compressor 3.5 (for compressing and exporting finished videos into a variety of formats), DVD Studio Pro 4 (for burning DVDs), Motion 4 (for adding computer graphics to a project) and Soundtrack Pro 3 (for audio editing).

Now all Apple offers is Final Cut Pro X and Compressor 4 and Motion 5, also newly released Tuesday. The three apps sell separately, only in the Mac App Store, with Compressor 4 and Motion 5 selling for $49.99 each. Altogether, the three apps would cost about $400.00 -- quite a bit less than $999.

The price drop was met with a very positive reaction in April, when Apple previewed Final Cut Pro X at the National Assn. of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas before journalists, filmmakers, TV producers and other creative professionals.

Apple says that DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Color no longer need to be standalone products since Final Cut Pro X has advanced features that replace the old stand-alone programs.

But already, some editors online have complained that Final Cut Pro X favors digital formats over DVD or Blu-ray friendly discs or exporting projects to tape.

And indeed, Final Cut Pro X is one more example of Apple pushing its users toward a digital distribution future -- the software isn't available in a hard-copy format.

Mac OS X Lion, the upcoming version of Apple's computer operating system, is set to release in July, and like Final Cut Pro X, it'll also be available only through the Mac App Store, at $29.99.

As of now, the only way to get the Mac App Store on an Apple computer is to have Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) installed. Snow Leopard sells for $29 on disc and runs only on Intel-based Macs.

The reaction to Final Cut Pro X so far has varied, with some reviews saying that those who switch will be glad they did, while others express mixed feelings on the new software.

One good feature for those who tepidly decide to plunge into Final Cut Pro X -- installing the new app won't remove older versions of Final Cut, as the software did in the past.

So users can have both Final Cut X and Final Cut 7, or older, installed and use whichever they prefer or both until they get used to the new app.

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Image: A screen shot of Final Cut Pro X. Credit: Apple

Apple's new Final Cut Pro X to hit the Mac App Store [Video]

Apple announced Final Cut Pro X, a major update of video-editing software used widely by filmmakers, journalists and video professionals alike, at an event in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, but on Wednesday, the tech giant offered little information.

The announcement came in a presentation at the National Assn. of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas. Peter Steinauer, Final Cut Pro's video architect, and Randy Ubillos, Apple's chief architect for video applications, showed off the new software in front of a crowd of video professionals, according to multiple reports online.

But on Wednesday, Apple hadn't updated its website with any information on Final Cut Pro X, and company officials weren't available for comment either.

People in attendance at the event, however, have reported on the new software themselves, posting cellphone photos to Facebook and videos to Twitter of Steinauer and Ubillos offering a preview of Final Cut Pro X.

At the event, Steinauer and Ubillos said Final Cut Pro X was rebuilt from the current version, which is based off the first iteration of Final Cut, which was released in 1999, according to a report from Gary Adcock, a Chicago-based film and television consultant, published by PC World magazine.

The two also said Final Cut Pro X would be released in June for download from the Mac App Store at a price of $299, PC World reported.

A drop to $299 for Final Cut Pro is dramatic. Currently, Final Cut Pro is available only in Apple's Final Cut Studio package, which sells for $999.99 and includes Motion 4 for graphics and animation, Soundtrack Pro 3 for audio editing, Color 1.5 for color correction and Compressor 3.5 and DVD Studio Pro 4, which allow users to create versions of finished videos for digital delivery or DVDs.

Reports on the Final Cut Pro X preview haven't made mention as to whether or not the other Final Cut Studio software would receive updates too.

Final Cut Pro's major competitors could end up far and away more expensive when compared with a $299 price.

A new copy of Avid's Media Composer 5.5 video-editing software, also a very popular platform, sells for between $2,295 and $2,495. Adobe's Premiere Pro 5.5 software can be bought for $799, or subscribed to at a cost of $39 per month.

Final Cut Pro X will be the first 64-bit version of the software that can use as many as eight separate processor cores (on computers that have that many) and take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM. The current release of Final Cut Pro is built on Apple's 32-bit architecture and was restricted to using a maximum of 4 GB of RAM, PC World said.

The update should allow editors to shorten the time they spend editing video projects using Final Cut, as would a widely reported feature -- background rendering, which allows files to adapt to changes made while an edit is still taking place. Currently, Final Cut users have to stop their editing and wait for rendering to complete before continuing.

Final Cut Pro X will also feature automatic audio cleanup, advanced color correction tools, new people detection, the ability to decipher and sort shorts based on type (wide shot, close-up, etc.), automatic audio cleanup and "range-based keywording," which gives editors the ability to tag selected clips of video with keywords so they can easily find and sort files, according to PC World.

And the new software also will include a feature that will prevent audio and video tracks from falling out of sync with one another, according to a video of the event posted by Twitter user, director and editor Rob Imbs, which can be seen below.

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Photo: Randy Ubillos, Apple's chief architect for video applications, shows off Final Cut Pro X before a crowd at the National Assn. of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas on April 12, 2011. Credit: Rob Imbs via TwitVid.