Avid, Adobe and Apple NLEs: June 2013-June 2014 feature updates
If you are faithful user of a single video editing application, it is a good idea to keep up with improvements that other NLEs have made. In an ideal world competition would prompt features on one system to appear on others, but influence of each company on the other is unlike normal competitive markets.
I’ll use Final Cut Pro X terms in some cases (for example Premiere ‘sequences’ are Final Cut ‘projects’).
Avid Media Composer
v7.0 – June 2013
- Dynamic Media Folders – Finder folders that ‘listen’ for new media content, when added MC creates new events using preset import settings
- Camera-based (AMA) media is managed – All readable media on a drive can be imported
- Files in the Finder can be dragged directly into Media Composer
- Background transcoding and consolidation
- Choose whether to relink audio, video or metadata tracks – after you’ve finished editing with proxies
- Transcode or consolidate camera-based media only
- Label which timeline clips were camera-based (AMA media)
- Apply external LUTs to clips
- Audio mixer elements can be configured
- Audio plugins can be applied to whole tracks
- Audio mixer master fader
- Aspect ratio masks
- Adjust audio level of clips using timeline window control
- Buttons to switch library view between list, icon and script view
- Export to AS-11
- Markers with duration
- Move marker from one track to another
- QuickTime with alpha clips supported
- XAVC support for 1080p projects
- iXML metadata support
- Timeline can scroll vertically
- Mouse scroll wheel support
- Editing and sync projects, libraries and clips stored on Avid Interplay servers
- Send and receive messages between Interplay users
v7.0.2 – September 2013
- Option to always keep at least one backup – To prevent deletion based on setting of the number of backups of all libraries
- XDCAM EX 35 Capture
- Rule-based naming of Dynamic Media Folders
v7.0.3 – December 2013
- Effects browser buttons to show video or audio effects
- Add markers at start and finish of marker with duration
- 24fps sound timecode support in non SD PAL projects
- Option to warn when resolution of imported media is too low
- Frame interpretation control when using retimed clips
- Simplied AAF export – Option to create new clips with video and audio effects baked in and audio mixed down to less tracks
- More proxy resolutions
- RED Dragon 6K and Red Rocket card support
v7.0.4 – May 2014
- New Sony LUT
- New crash report log
- New SMPTE HD colour bars
Media Composer | Software v8.0 – May 2014
- Option to add NewsCutter features
- Coloured borders around clips in event viewer that denote the kind of clip they are
- Clip labels can show whether media is local or mixed resolution
- Audio mix mode can now have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it
- Option to choose the response to lasooing a transition: Enter trim mode or segment mode
- For single viewer mode, you can switch between viewers with a button
- Alternate edit replaces a timeline clip with a clip with a similar name from a special event
- Auto tape import – when deck has servo-lock, footage is captured until tape is stopped
- Satellite mode – ‘capture from multiple sources at the same time while recording to tape’
- Voiceover record
- Remove clips based on voiceover silence
- Trim with J-K-L keys
- Easier access to software licensing information
Adobe Premiere Pro
CC 7.0 – June 2013
- Sync settings – Preferences, presets and settings stored in the Creative Cloud, so you can quickly set up a new machine with the same settings instantly
- Adobe Anywhere integration – The ability to work with special PC servers that manage group collaboration and distributed rendering.
- Retina display compatibility
- Customizable track headers
- Relinking offline media – Even if it has been renamed or transcoded
- Duplicate frames – Show which frames have been used more than once in a timeline
- Closed captioning – Import, edit retime and export subtitles that can be optionally displayed in video plaback devices and applications
- Multicam auto-syncing – based on markers, timecode or audio
- Track patching – Choose which tracks in event clips interact with which tracks in your timeline – with the option to store track patch combinations in presets which can be given keyboard shortcuts.
- Edit unnested sequences into timelines
- Join through edits
- Razor tool and Playhead snapping option
- Enhanced paste attributes – After copying attributes from a clip, choose which of its attributes are applied to the destination clip.
- Namable nexted sequences
- Trim-to-zero duration – Remove a timeline clip using trimming keyboard shortcuts
- Playhead stays with edit point after a ripple delete
- New clip audio mixer panel – for adjusting the audio of clips (in contrast with the track audio mixer panel)
- Hierarchical audio plugin-assignment popup menu
- Audio meter in track headers
- Volume and pan controls in track headers
- Assign audio tracks to multiple output tracks
- Access to AU audio plugins
- Access yo third-party VST plugins
- Multichannel QuickTime export
- External hardware mixer support
- Improved colour – Apply LUTs (and Adobe Speedgrade .look files) using a colour browser
- Adobe Story integration – Import screenplays into a panel. Jump to scenes, characters or locations. Select edit points in clips based on transcribed audio.
- New keyboard shortcuts – Select previous/next clip in timeline, Select clip at playhead, Select all clips between in and out point, Move clip up/down one layer
- CUDA processing – on systems with compatible GPU cards
- New codecs within Premiere – MXF-wrapped DNxHD, ProRes, Sony XAVC, Panasonic AVCi200
- Improved import and export within Avid and Final Cut Pro workflows using AAF and the new codecs
- Export to tape – using third party SDI tape export devices
- Switching between audio and video waveform display with one click
CC 7.0.1 – July 2013
- Duplicate timeline title by option-dragging
- Lift or extract clips enhancement – works if only an in point or outpoint is selected
- Cut/Copy/Clear works on in and out points
- Enable or disable clips using a context menu
- Match frame uses selected clip – superceding track trageting
- Only relink media used in selected project
- Enhanced EDL export – choose which video and audio layers are included in the EDL amognst other new options
- Match frame in source monitor to event clip
- Linked selection toggle – select associated audio and video clips with a single click, or select a clip without selecting its associated clips
- Reveal source file in Finder
- Set default project start timecode value
- Preview source files from the Finder in the source window
- Match frame enhancements – In source window match frame first goes to the multicam or compound clip, then to the source clip in the event.
- Offline clips shown in unexpanded tracks
- Tone generator – Generates bars and tones using different options
- Open closed caption clip using caption panel
- Access event clip settings using timeline shortcut
- Smarter auto-save – Only saves when there arch changes, doesn’t skip saves when busy
- Improved still image timelapse support – choose duration in frames for imported stills
- Preference to prevent playing a clip again by pressing the space bar if playhead is on last frame
- Preference to set window focus to timeline after editing clips from events to the timeline
- Jump between edit points on clips in the event viewer window
- Clear in and/or out points in multiple clips selected in an event
- Toggle keyboard focus between event viewer and viewer using keyboard shortcut
CC 7.1 – October 2013
- Round-tripping between Premiere and SpeedGrade – for colour correction
- Render multiple projects – select multiple projects in an event and use a command to render them one after another
- Ripple project markers option
- Draggable project markers – showing selected frame in the viewer as you drag
- Back button in library browser
- Projects appear as thumbnail icon – which are skimmable
- End of media indicator in viewers
- Add edit command applies to selected clips – overriding track tragetting
- J,K,L keyboard shortcuts in Edit to tape dialog
- J,L shortcuts can playback at faster speeds
- Using – in the speed dialog reverses the playback of the selected clip – No need to click the reverse speed check box
- QuickTime exporting supports 5.1 and 8 channel export
- New metadata columns in event browser list view – Sound timecode and sound roll
- Clip name options – Each clip can be set to display its project name, event name or source file name
- Timecode generator automatically uses project timebase
- Paste a transition to multiple edit points
- Reset parameter buttons for each parameter in the inspector
- Metadata display for viewers – source timecode, edit points, media limits, marker comments, clip metadata, sequence timecode
- Load embedded closed captions on import
- Support of closed captions in MXF, DFXP and CEA-708 files and QuickTime movies using any codec
- Display multicam camera angles as track names or clip names
- Organize and select camera angles to view in multicam viewer
- Multicam results play in viewer
- Full multicam clip information from Final Cut Pro timelines
- New import formats – ProRes 64-bit, Blackmagic Cinema DNG, Native MJPEGs (Canon 1DC), RED DRAGON with ROCKET-X, Panasonic AVC Ultra Long GOP, Phantom Cine, Sony RAW (F65, F55, F5, FS700), Sony XAVC Long GOP
- New export formats – Panasonic AVCI-100 (50p, 60p), Panasonic AVCI-200, Sony XAVC Intra
- Export QuickTime formats in 64-bit process
- Preference to let current editing tool define which kind of edit will be applied to an edit – even if when last selected a different kind of edit was applied (such is ripple or roll)
- New keyboard shortcut for preferences dialog
CC 7.2 – December 2013
- Descriptive text in empty Project panel or Timeline panel – such as “Drop Media Here To Create Sequence”
- Auto-save now saves even if you have recently manually saved
- Create sequence by dragging clip to Timeline
- Export markers as a list
- Duplicate frame marking improvments – now detects if frames from two different clips using the same media on disk, or have the same tape name and metadata
- Use Ripple-Delete command for In/Out range
- Warning to prevent project overwriting – if another editor has opened the project after you and you then attempt to save your work over theirs
- Multiple library browsers
- Create new library from project – Using only clips used in the project timeline
- When showing a multicam clip with one angle in the angle viewer, show it full size
- In the timeline multicam clip names append the name of the video source angle clip
- Record voiceovers directly into a project timeline
- Mosaic effect is now GPU optimized
- Support for GeForce GT 750M
- MXF Importer for importing P2 and Canon XF files
- Natively import AVCI-100 .mov files and smart render the files to MXF-wrapped AVCI-100 files
- When using third-party transmit tools for SDI display, audio and video remain in sync
CC (2014 release) – June 2014
- Video effect masks
- Masks can track objects and features within clips
- Edit text within titles created in After Effects
- Apply and modify event clip effects – which change every instance of the clip in any timelines they are used in
- Access to thousands of Typekit fonts
- Autosave projects to online cloud
- Settings from previous version synced to new version
- Match from from event clip to frame on timeline where clip is used
- Open timeline clip in event viewer showing frame where playhead is on timeline
- Change sync of timeline clip, drag back to event to create new clip with new sync
- Assign multiple keyboard shortcuts to a command
- Option to use native pixels for stills
- Viewer option checkerboard background to show transparency
- Project context menu option to export event clip
- Option to not display FX icons on clips in timeline with effects applied
- Preference to set how many frames are moved when using shift-left arrow and shift-right arrow keyboard shortcuts
- New tool to select clips on all tracks back from clip clicked to start of timeline
- Named markers
- Option when importing to create a new folder for new clips
- Option to prevent importing duplicate media
- Import Finder folder hierarchy as folders in library
- Context menu option to make sequences offline
- Browse After Effects projects and within projects using the media browser
- Add media folders to list of favourites
- Maintain audio pitch when scrubbing option
- Voice-over recording enhancements – Specify pre-roll countdown and sound cues
- Cross-platform consistency between OS X and Windows versions – video effects and transitions available on only one platform now cannot be applied in CC (2014) projects
- Faster RED debayering using OpenCL and CUDA GPUs
- Support for Intel Iris GPUs
- ARRI AMIRA workflow
- Blackmagic CinemaDNG metadata support
- Export to AS-11 for broadcast, Quvis Wraptor DCP, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
- Progress bar for dock icon
- Go Pro lens presets for Lens Distortion video effect
- Preserve multicam source clip effects when flattening
- Cross Dissolve transition can now be saved as a preset
- Change duration on multiple transitions at once
- Closed captions can be exported as .scc, .mcc, .xml or .stl sidecar files
- Improved Red Giant Pluraleyes workflows
- Ability to use Sound Roll and Sound Timecode in EDL export
- Mosaic effect is now GPU optimized
- 12 more commands can have keyboard shortcuts assigned
Apple Final Cut Pro X
10.1 – December 2013
- Support of multiple GPUs in 2013 Mac Pro
- HDMI and Thunderbolt output at frame sizes up to 4K
- Selected titles, effects, and other media content scaled for 4K projects
- Libraries, a new way to organize multiple events and multiple projects in a single container
- Project snapshots – backup projects with frozen disconnected compound clips
- Media file storage on disk locations external to libraries
- Direct importation of MTS/M2TS files
- Used clip range indicators
- Direct import of photos from iOS devices
- Support for portrait/landscape metadata in still images
- More retiming options
- New clip stabilization method
- Custom project resolutions
- Viewer control to choose better playback quality or better playback performance
- Viewer control to choose source or proxy media
- Through edits
- Trim to playhead
- Trim to clip range selection
- Video or audio only edits from multicam clips
- Access to multicam audio for editing
- Blade audio tracks in J and L cuts to get independent audio clips
- Roll audio edits in open split edits
- Share 4K finished videos directly to YouTube
- New API for customizing Share operations
- Send Apple Events to Asset Management applications during export
- FXPlug 3 update to include custom inspector controls
- Effect parameters, fonts, and text size information preserved in XML files
- Hide browser option for more workspace
- New title
- Cut / Copy / Paste / Delete animation keyframes
- Custom speeds
- Option not to ripple the timeline when making clip speed changes
- Show unused media only
10.1.2 – June 2014
- More control over optimised media, proxy media and render files in libraries
- Apply LUTs to HDR and wide-gamut media from high-end cameras
- A new ProRes flavour: 4444 XQ
- Faster export of cuts only XDCAM media
- Fine-grained control over XML export – from individual clips, multiple clips, projects, events or whole libraries
- Library metadata view
- Automatically apply keywords based on tags assigned in the Finder
- The ability to search for or create smart collections of used or unused media in the current project, compound clip, synchronized clip or multicam clip.
- A ‘Share to Vimeo at 4K’ destination
- Unused range indicators for compound clips, multicam clips and synced clips
- Tools to support voiceover Audition clips
- Adjust relaive as well as absolute audio volume of a clip or range within a clip
- Option to sort events by date or name within libraries list
- The ability to import a clip by dragging directly to the browser
- New ‘Basic Surround’ audio preset
- Break apart Auditions to see the individual clips on the timeline
- Using the , and . keys to nudge clips in the timeline now acts as a slide edit
- Updated version of Final Cut Pro X XML – so a wider variety of information can be exported to or imported from other workflow applications
- More control of how synchronised clips are generated
- Much better relinking of missing files
- When importing from consumer devices choose whether to show photos or videos
- New text format presets
- 37 new effects, transitions, titles and generators
- Paste a copied transition to multiple clips