Apple revealed Final Cut Studio 2 at NAB in Las Vegas

Apple revealed Final Cut Studio 2 Sunday at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. Final Cut Studio 2 is a significant upgrade to the industry's leading video production suite that delivers new creative tools designed expressly for editors. Final Cut Studio 2 includes Final Cut Pro 6, which introduces Apple's ProRes 422 format for uncompressed HD quality at SD file sizes and support for mixed video formats and frame rates in a single Timeline; Motion 3 featuring an intuitive 3D environment, paint and new behaviors; Soundtrack Pro 2 with dozens of innovative tools for multitrack editing, surround mixing and conforming sound to picture; Compressor 3 delivering powerful batch encoding for multiple formats with a single click; and DVD Studio Pro 4.2 for SD and HD DVD authoring. Final Cut Studio 2 also introduces "Color," a professional color grading and finishing application for ensuring consistent color and creating signature looks.

"Final Cut Studio 2 was specifically designed to enable the rapidly growing community of over 800,000 Final Cut editors worldwide to animate, mix, grade and deliver their work as a natural extension of the editorial process," said Rob Schoeben, Apple's vice president of Applications Product Marketing. "Final Cut Studio 2 is the most powerful production suite on the planet."

Final Cut Studio 2 will be available in May through the Apple Store online, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US). Registered users of the current version of Final Cut Studio can upgrade for $499 (US) and registered users from any previous version of Final Cut Pro can upgrade for $699 (US). [Bill Fox]