Apple Final Cut Pro X now available, with companions Motion 5 and Compressor 4

Tuesday, Apple released Final Cut Pro X, a revolutionary new version of its flagship professional non-linear video editing software. Final Cut Pro X is available on the Mac App Store for $299.99, and its companion Motion 5 and Compressor 4 for $49.99 each.

Final Cut Pro X has been completely rewritten, offering 64-bit support, a revamped interface, and a slate of new features. The software takes advantage of Mac OS X features like Cocoa, Core Animation, Open CL, and Grand Central Dispatch to speed up and refine performance. It also features a new floating-point linear color system, support for resolution-independent footage up to 4K in size, and full background rendering, reported MacWorld.

Motion 5 includes tools that allow users to customize titles, transitions, and effects in Final Cut Pro X to assist in creating real-time animation in 2D or 3D within a new single-window interface, MacWorld noted. Compressor 4 offers a wide range of delivery codecs, sizes, frame rates, and encoding parameters.

Final Cut Pro X is the biggest advance in Pro video editing since the original Final Cut Pro, stated Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. We have shown it to many of the world's best Pro editors, and their jaws have dropped.

Numerous new editing features are available so you can add and connect clips throughout your project, streamline complex segments of your timeline, refine edits, and test out different takes.

Final Cut Pro X's Magnetic Timeline is a trackless canvas for editing footage that allows you to add and arrange clips whenever you want.

A Content Auto-Analysis function scans your media on import and tags content with information including camera data, shot type, and people. Range-based keywords enable tagging specific sections of clips with custom keywords.

Direct access to iTunes, Aperture, and iLife libraries adds to the convenience, allowing users to preview and search for photos, music, and sound effects from within the application.

Final Cut Pro X is a 64-bit app that takes full advantage of the latest Mac hardware and software with a multithreaded engine, giving you access to all the RAM in your system to manage more complex projects. The program offers real-time playback, speedy background processing, and a ColorSync-managed color pipeline for precise and consistent color.

Final Cut Pro X is available on Mac App Store starting today.