Apple pulled off a surprise today with a pair of new iPad Pros that leverage the new M4 silicon. To go with it, the company has also revealed updated versions of the Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro apps that introduce a healthy bunch of new features to take advantage of all the firepower the M4 offers.
Starting with Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad, the app gains new tricks such as Live Multicam, external drive support, Live Drawing, and more. Apple claims that thanks to the M4 silicon, the updated app boosts rendering speeds by 2x and opens the doors for 4x higher streams for editing ProRES RAW content.
Live Multicam lets users film one scene from up to four different angles or viewpoints simultaneously. Users can use their devices, such as iPhones or iPads, or work together with others, with everything connecting wirelessly via a new video recording app called Final Cut Camera. This app lets users see live video feeds from up to four iPhone or iPad cameras on their iPad’s screen.
While filming, users can adjust settings like exposure, focus, zoom, and more on each camera capture unit on their iPad to get the perfect shot for each angle. The feature is somewhat similar to the director’s view trick, which has been available on Android phones and allows simultaneous capture from all cameras.
Notably, you can also get Final Cut Camera for free as a separate app for recording videos on your iPhone or iPad. This app serves up manual controls for playing with tools like exposure levels, ISO, shutter speed, focus, and white balance to get professional-quality clips.
For editing pipelines, the app delivers more ways to customize and enhance video projects. You can tweak the colors and look using 12 new preset color-grading options. There are eight basic text title styles you can choose from. You can also add background scores thanks to 20 new soundtrack options. Finally, you can overlay dynamic background visuals and animations to create cool effects and title sequences.
Next in line is Logic Pro 2 for iPad, which adds some AI pizzazz into the mix. The headlining trick is Session Players, an AI-fueled backing band that now offers capabilities like a virtual Bass Player and Keyboard Player. Apple claims the new-music creation tools offer a ton of flexibility and realism when composing bass and keyboard parts.
For bass, users can choose from eight different virtual bass player personalities and tweak their performance using sliders for complexity and intensity. There are also deeper controls, muted notes, dead notes, and pickup flourishes. And to help artists with their creative process, the app offers 100 premade bass loops as inspiration.
Music enthusiasts can have a virtual keyboardist play anything from basic chords to advanced jazz voicings with extended harmonies. You can also throw in chord changes, and the keyboard player will follow along.
To dig deeper with customization, there’s support for the Studio Piano plug-in. Users can adjust the positioning of the three mic perspectives, add pedal noise and key release sounds, and even dial in the sympathetic string resonance for an authentic vibe.
Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad will be released in the spring and will be available as a free update. For new buyers, the app costs $5 per month or $49 per year. Logic Pro 2 for iPad follows identical pricing and will be out on May 13.
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