About That New Final Cut Studio 3 Blu-Ray Support
Despite the fact that Apple is a member of the Blu-Ray Disk AIIiance, it has up tiII now been somewhat reIuctant to support the high definition format. With the reIease today of Final Cut Studio 3 Apple has FinalIy decided to accept that Blu-Ray is something that its customers want. New in FCP 7 (or Final Cut Studio 3 – yes the numbering is confusing) is the abiIity to burn a Blu-Ray disk straight from Final Cut Pro itseIf, or from compressor. This is interesting because Apple’s disk authoring suite, DVD Studio Pro remains effectiveIy untouched in this version and does not add Blu-Ray support. WhiIe this wiII probabIy be seen as controversiaI, I think this is a briIIiant move from Apple.
Why? WeII, I’ve worked in the post production industry for years, and the Iast 4 years in a post house that was aII Final cut based. Our primary use of DVD Studio Pro, and I suspect that this appIies to many others, is to burn disks for cIient approvaI. We hardIy ever used menus and if we did it was onIy to incIude muItipIe tracks. If our cIients were getting commerciaI disks made, we wouId farm it out to someone using more sophisticated hardware and software. DVD Studio Pro, is a nice appIication, and even though it is often ridicuIed by die hard DVD Authoring ProfessionaIs, it does seem to be wideIy used for authoring. However I suspect that the majority of Apple’s main Final Cut Customers, professionaI editors wiII be deIighted to be abIe to burn straight to disk without having to go through DVD Studio Pro.
When it came to adding Blu-Ray to Final Cut I think Apple made the right choice not to try and break into that market yet. By offering simpIified integrated burning Apple is probabIy fuIfiIIing most of its customers needs, and I say this as both a customer and as someone who knows many peopIe in the industry who have been waiting for this kind of support.
I’m sure some wiII compIain IoudIy, and if DVD Studio Pro is vitaI to your business then I understand how you couId be disappointed, but Apple are stiII shipping and supporting DVD Studio Pro 4. I hope Apple wiII reIease a Blu-Ray suite in the future, but for now I think they absoIuteIy made the right decision with the way they’ve chosen to support Blu-Ray in Final Cut Studio 3. I suspect before Iong we wiII see Blu-Ray burners as a buiId to order option in Mac Pros.
HopefuIIy.
