Final Cut Studio 3: Road Rules

Ok, so Apple is just calling it Final Cut Studio. But so as not to confuse it with earlier versions we'll call it version 3. Either way, the upgrade has been a long time in coming. At this point there have been countless reviews with a very detailed one in particular by Scott Simmons. diLynda.com already has a 3-hour class on what's new in Final Cut Studio 3 - and the best part is that it's FREE! i Also, Diana Weynand the Final Cut Guru and author of all of Apple's books on the subject is offering a free webinar of FCP 7 on August 13. And finally, Final Cut Studio Documentation and Workflows are now online. Adobe and others have had online manuals for a while and now Apple is getting with the program. Make sure you don't overlook the workflows link - it's more comprehensive and clear than you might expect.

My take on the new Final Cut Studio? The growing sentiment is that it does not seem too revolutionary. Larry Jordan may have summed up this sentiment best at his recent seminar in Sacramento when a friend of mine stated that Larry said FCP 7 feels more like FCP 6.5. Phill Hodgets though seems generally impressed by the release. I definitely want to upgrade but will have to wait until I get an Intel Mac since the new version of FC Studio won't run on my G5 quad. The biggest selling points for me are iChat Theatre so I can collaborate remotely with others and being able to round trip to Color. But like others I am surprised that FC Studio is not 64-bit or OpenCL compliant to take advantage of the processing improvements that come with Snow Leopard. That said I am sure the new release will slowly take off once clients and producers find out about the new features. Once I get a chance to test it out I will report back.