With more a then year under its belt, Final Cut Pro X has become quite the editing tool and a ridiculously affordable price. While criticized during its initial release for lacking some key features from previous iterations, Apple has achieved quite a bit during the time to continue to update the program to grow out its list of features. This task is that much more impressive when you consider that Final Cut Pro X was built completely from scratch where previous iterations of the program have had years to mature into their form. With its latest set of updates, Apple is also going on the offensive by launching a new marketing campaign, intended at winning back some of the professional users who may still have doubts. According to the LA Times:

 Now, after updating the software seven times since its release in 2011, Apple is launching a campaign Thursday aimed at winning back skeptical professional users.

That campaign, timed to coincide with the National Assn. of Broadcasters convention that starts April 6 in Las Vegas, will feature users like Julian Liurette, who followed the firestorm from his video editing desk in Toronto at the Globe and Mail newspaper.

After waiting a year as Apple gradually released updates, Liurette finally gave it a try and was surprised. So Liurette began moving the newspaper’s video operations from the old version to Final Cut Pro X. 

So what’s changed and what’s new? That list, after the jump.

With this new marketing push comes a new software update that is available today. This latest push adds:

• Support for Sony XAVC codec up to 4K resolution
• Option to display ProRes Log C files from ARRI ALEXA cameras with standard Rec. 709 color and contrast levels
• Resolves an issue where some third-party effects generated green frames during render
• Resolves performance issues that could occur with certain titles and effects
• Time reversed clips render in the background
• Ability to use key commands to adjust Clip Appearance settings in the timeline
• Ability to view reel number metadata located in the timecode track of video files
• Mono audio files in a surround project export with correct volume levels
• Drop zones no longer reset to the first frame of video after application restart
• Fixes a performance issue which resulted from selecting multiple ranges on a single clip
• Fixes an issue where the Play Around function did not work properly on certain clips when viewed through external video devices

Final Cut has long supported Sony camcorders, be it their consumer Handycam camcorders or their professional line and specifically the F5 and the F55. Now, this $200 program can also edit 4K content with support for Sony XAVC codec. As Apple put it:

 Sony XAVC
Shoot with Sony’s latest professional digital video cameras — the F5 and F55 — then import XAVC files directly into Final Cut Pro X and start editing immediately. With support for resolutions up to 4K, you can work natively or convert to Apple ProRes in the background for even better performance. 

The latest round of update is now available and free for all Final Cut Pro X users. It should be noted that all video editing work from this site is done exclusively with Final Cut Pro X.

Discuss:

What’s your editing program of choice?