Reprinted from a Apple press release:
Apple today unveiled G5-optimized versions of Final Cut Pro 4, Shake 3 and DVD Studio Pro 2 which have all been fine-tuned to take advantage of the incredible performance and architecture of the Power Mac G5 and Mac OS X version 10.3 "Panther." The new version 4.1 of Apples Emmy award-winning Final Cut Pro now delivers simultaneous playback of seven fully uncompressed standard definition (SD) video streams with real-time effects using a dual 2.0 GHz processor Power Mac G5 and Xserve RAID. The new G5-optimized Final Cut Pro 4.1, Shake 3.0.1 and DVD Studio Pro 2.0.2, with the new Compressor 1.1 update, are immediately available for current Final Cut Pro 4, Shake 3 and DVD Studio Pro 2 customers as free software updates from www.apple.com/software/pro.
"With the new releases of Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro and Shake, we have optimized our suite of professional applications to tap the advanced architecture of the Power Mac G5, and the results are unprecedented for both real-time and rendering performance," said Rob Schoeben, Apples vice president of Applications Marketing. "All this performance is available at a fraction of the cost of systems requiring dedicated hardware."
While broadcast professionals will benefit from this new industry-leading SD performance of seven fully uncompressed streams, DV editors will benefit from the groundbreaking ability of Final Cut Pro 4.1 on a Power Mac G5 to deliver five simultaneous streams of DV video in safe-mode without the use of any additional hardware. In addition to the real-time performance, Final Cut Pro 4.1s rendering is now almost twice as fast at 32-bit floating point render jobs on a Power Mac G5 when compared to a Power Mac G4. This breakthrough performance removes the barrier of long render times and allows broadcast and post-production professionals to work at higher levels of quality faster than ever before.
"Using other tools, we would need days, even weeks to produce DVDs for our clients. Final Cut Pro 4 and DVD Studio Pro 2 give us the flexibility to deliver the highest quality of work without requiring us to spend a fortune on additional hardware," said Sven Krong, co-founder and president of Click Media, an interactive communications agency with clients such as Fox, Warner and Dreamworks. "After previewing the new G5-optimized versions of Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro, we are blown away by the results. We now have the horsepower to deliver stunning results to clients in a fraction of the time it used to take and all at a cost we can afford."
DVD Studio Pro 2.0.2 with the Compressor 1.1 update delivers a significant performance leap for encoding projects from Final Cut Pro 4.1 into MPEG-2, supplying the highest quality for DVD authoring. Compressor 1.1 completes high volume and repetitive encoding tasks up to 55 percent faster on a Power Mac G5 when compared to a Power Mac G4. The integrated workflow between DVD Studio Pro 2 and Final Cut Pro 4 saves time and hard disk space while delivering pristine-quality video by removing the need for an intermediate export file thereby eliminating generational loss.
Shake 3.0.1 for the Power Mac G5 and Panther continues to set the standard for advanced compositing and visual effects with an extensive toolset specifically designed to handle the most complex tasks in the industry. Shake 3.0.1 is now optimized to render up to 45 percent faster on a Power Mac G5 when compared to a Power Mac G4. The image processing engine can now handle massive amounts of data even faster and with better results. Free distributed rendering on Panther enables any artist to produce film-quality content at unprecedented speeds.
Together with Logic 6.0, Apple now offers its entire suite of professional applications optimized to leverage the performance advantages of the Power Mac G5.
Pricing & Availability
Final Cut Pro 4.1, Shake 3.0.1 and DVD Studio Pro 2.0.2, with the new Compressor 1.1 update, are available immediately to current Final Cut Pro 4, Shake 3 and DVD Studio Pro 2 customers as free software updates from www.apple.com/software/pro. Final Cut Pro 4 is available for $999 (US) and DVD Studio Pro 2 for $499 (US) through The Apple Store, Apples retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Registered Final Cut Pro users can upgrade to Final Cut Pro 4 for $399 (US) and registered DVD Studio Pro users can upgrade to DVD Studio Pro 2 for $199 (US). Shake 3 is available for Mac OS X, Linux and IRIX through Apple Authorized Pro Film and Video Resellers. Shake 3 for Mac OS X comes with unlimited render licenses for $4,950 (US), and Shake 3 for Linux and IRIX for $9,900 (US) along with annual maintenance of $1,485 (US). Existing Shake for Linux, IRIX and Windows customers have the option to double the number of their existing Shake licenses at no additional cost by migrating them to Mac OS X. Full system requirements and additional information on this suite of professional applications can be found at www.apple.com/software/pro.
Apple is offering customers a chance to own a complete system for professional digital content creation and delivery at a discount. Customers who buy a new Macintosh computer together with Final Cut Pro 4 and DVD Studio Pro 2 can save $300 (US). Customers who already own a new Mac can save $150 (US) with the purchase of Final Cut Pro 4 and DVD Studio Pro 2. These offers are available to customers worldwide starting today through February 28, 2004, and all savings are coordinated through mail-in rebate.
