Apple Releases Final Cut Express HD 3.5

[Bob Crabtree]

This one just came in

Bob

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Apple U.K. - Press Release - 18th May 2006
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Apple Releases Final Cut Express HD 3.5

Universal Upgrade Delivers Powerful New Features & More Real-Time Effects

CUPERTINO, California—May 18, 2006—Apple® today released Final Cut® Express HD 3.5, a significant upgrade to its award-winning software solution for video enthusiasts, schools and small businesses that runs natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. New in Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is Dynamic RT for real-time playback of multi-stream effects, Soundtrack® 1.5 with a complete suite of professional level audio production tools and LiveType 2.1 with even more exciting animated text and titles.

“Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is the total movie making package with many of the same tools the pros use at a price designed to appeal to aspiring pros,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing. “Whether it’s multiple streams of video, professional audio tools or animated text and titles, Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is ideal for anyone who is passionate about the movies they make and delivers incredible performance on Apple’s new Intel-based Macs.”

Final Cut Express HD 3.5 provides a complete set of advanced editing tools for DV and HDV video formats with support for multiple video layers, real-time special effects and transitions, and powerful colour correction and matting filters for professional-looking results. New Dynamic RT enables users to view even multi-layered HDV video in real-time which dramatically speeds up the editing process by eliminating the need to render and re-render clips. In addition, all effects, transitions and motion parameters can now be keyframed, providing complete creative control over special effects that can be saved as favourites for use in other projects.

Complementing Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is a new version of Soundtrack with over 4,000 professional-quality, royalty-free instrument loops and sound effects that can be mixed and matched to instantly create a custom score precisely timed to each project. New features in Soundtrack 1.5 include improved multitrack audio editing and recording tools with tracks, busses, outputs and real-time effects processing just like a professional recording studio. Improved single and multiple take recording provides a way to record, audition and edit dialogue or other recorded performances with expert precision.

Also included in Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is a new version of LiveType that lets users add high-impact excitement to movies with dynamic animated text and hundreds of royalty-free backgrounds and animated textures—all customisable to match the look and feel of projects. New features in LiveType 2.1 include a host of exciting new animated graphics, including 70 new animated objects, 15 new textures and 60 new customisable preset effects for animated text and titles. With new vector-based LiveFont technology, animated text styles like Tremor, Script, Ribbon, Cool and Blueprint can be scaled to any resolution including HD with blazing rendering performance, especially on the new generation of Intel-based Macs.

Pricing & Availability
Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is available now through the Apple Store (www.apple.com/ukstore), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers for a suggested retail price of £199 (inc. VAT). Owners of previous versions of Final Cut Express can upgrade to Final Cut Express HD 3.5 for just £65 (inc. VAT). Full details and further information are available at http://www.apple.com/uk/finalcutexpress/.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.


For information on any Apple product, or details of their nearest Apple Authorised Reseller, customers should consult Apple's U.K. web site
(http://www.apple.com/uk). Customers in the U.K. can buy direct from Apple through the Apple Store (http://www.apple.com/ukstore or 0800 039 1010).