Apple has announced Final Cut Pro X 10.4.1, an update that’s slightly more significant than its minor version number would suggest. Following on the heels of a 10.4 update released in December which added 360 VR editing, advanced color grading, and HDR support, the new version 10.4.1 adds a significant new video format, ProRes RAW, along with advanced closed captioning tools.
The new ProRes RAW format combines the quality advances of working with RAW video with the performance of ProRes, letting editors work with pristine footage from the camera sensor that’s particularly key for HDR workflows, and modern MacBook Pro and iMac systems can handle full-quality 4K ProRes RAW files, which will come in even smaller than ProRes 4444 files, making it an ideal format for archiving footage. New compatibility integrations are also being added to work natively with ProRes RAW formats on leading recorder and camera system platforms.
The new update also brings closed captioning tools into the mainstream, giving professional filmmakers what they need to properly add captions to their projects without having to resort to third-party software or services. Existing closed caption files can be imported directly or created from scratch, and can be attached directly to audio and video clips in the timeline so that they’ll move with the clips that they’re connected to. A new captains inspector also makes it easy to adjust all of the usual format properties for closed captions, such as text style, color, alignment, and location, and multiple languages are also supported, as is direct sharing of captioned videos to YouTube and Video.
Final Cut Pro X 10.4.1 will be available on April 9 as a free update for existing users, or $300 for new users on the Mac App Store. Apple is also releasing Motion 5.4.1 and Compressor 4.4.1, adding support for the ProRes RAW format and closed captioning controls to those tools as well.