During its Apple Event dedicated to iPads, Apple unveiled a major update to Final Cut Prolaunched last year on iPad, with functions of live multicam and video transfer between multiple devices. A little revolution for videographers? Back to this announcement.
Live Multicam in Final Cut Pro
If Apple has updated Final Cut Pro in version 2, including better behavior with touchscreen and the Apple Pencil, the major new feature is the addition of a functionality Multicam.
Already present on Final Cut Pro on Mac, live multicam is coming to Final Cut Pro for iPad. This allows you to preview and integrate up to 4 video streams for video editing on a single iPad.
The person behind the iPad can control the viewing angle (using the different lenses and digital zoom of the iPhone or iPad, but not only. The operator can also adjust in real time the exhibitionthere white balancethere focus and more, according to Apple.
Final Cut Camera, the companion application
To use this feature, Apple is launching a new free iPhone and iPad application called Final Cut Camera.
This application allows you to manage multicam on iPadOS and iOSuseful for content creators who operate 100% in the Apple universe.
Final Cut Camera can also operate autonomouslyin order to more finely adjust the manual camera settings in video mode. A direct competitor to Filmic Pro, although it seems Apple is taking a simpler approach here.
Once the devices are connected to each other (via Bluetooth or Wifi?), the Final Cut Pro application on iPad automatically synchronizes the different streams, allowing multicam editing in real time. Full definition rushes are also transferred to iPad in background. If you use this feature often, the 2TB version of the iPad should quickly become necessary, especially since, combined with the new iPad Pro M4, Final Cut Pro can handle up to 4 video streams in ProRes RAW.
Finally, Apple adds the possibility of accessing your Final Cut Pro projects on an external hard drive, thanks to the Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 connector.
Price and availability
These new features of Final Cut Pro 2 (Multicam and Transfer) will be available by summerjust like the Final Cut Camera app
Final Cut Pro on iPadOS is available as a subscription at €4.99 per month Or €49 per year. Apple offers a free month trial. Final Cut Camera will be offered for free.
Final Cut Pro is compatible with iPad Pro (M4), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th or 6th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd or 4th generation), iPad Air (M2), or iPad Air (5th generation) with iPadOS 17.4 (or later).
Our first opinion
With this update to Final Cut Pro on iPad, launched only a year ago, Apple takes a giant step for content creators using multiple iPhones and iPads to film. Of course, many professionals would like to be able to do the same with professional cameras from Sony, Blackmagic or Panasonic, but Apple’s strategy is clear: show that its ecosystem is self-sufficientwith the iPhone as the centerpiece of the video.
It thus becomes possible to film with one or more iPhones, carry out multicam editing in real time on the iPad and export your project, all without touching a computer and in a very simple way. It remains to be seen how this feature will be adopted.
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