According to Hollywood mythology, early cinema was marked by a clear distinction: There were picture editors, and there were sound technicians. The two tasks rarely crossed over. But thanks to pioneers like Walter Murch and John Ottman, some of that polarization may be melting. It's also driven in part by the way video and sound editing has changed during the past few years. Through the wonders of the desktop computer, audio and video postproduction work is now much more similar than it is different. Granted, the language is not the same. Video speaks in clips rather than regions, frames rather than samples, filters rather than effects, color correction rather than equalization. But much of the work flow is the same: You capture your media, arrange your work in a random-access timeline environment, add effects, correct production problems and output the finished project. Sound and image may respect different aesthetic conventions, but the post-postmodern fragmentation of traditional labor has resulted in an audiovisual convergence of sorts. The trend filters down to the hobbyist, as well, with bands shooting and editing their own music videos and new Michel Gondrys emerging every day as a result.

This probably helps to explain the success of Apple's suite of video- and sound-editing tools, the latest being Final Cut Pro Studio. It includes Final Cut Pro 5; Motion 2; DVD Studio Pro 4; and, undoubtedly the biggest news for audio folks, Soundtrack Pro 1. The previously named Soundtrack was popular for its huge library of music loops and arrangement tools, but this version is well-deserving of the Pro suffix. It has been completely redesigned as a total audio-production system. The other three applications are primarily on the picture side of things, but each has an audio twist to it. As the name suggests, Motion is a motion-graphics program, but it also works well with sound thanks to a humble audio editor and an interactive performance mode via MIDI. At the end of the chain is DVD Studio Pro, with which you combine all your work to DVD, including Dolby-supported AC3 encoding for 5.1 surround sound. Of course, the package also includes Final Cut Pro itself, a powerful, fully mature video-editing application that also features extensive audio capabilities. Each of these apps is available separately, but, together, Final Cut Pro Studio aims to be the complete postproduction package.

IGNITION

Given the wealth of media toys in the FCP Studio package, you'll want to have plenty of hard-drive space for the installation. Not only does digital video take up even more space than audio, the installation itself will tax your precious boot-drive real estate. A new install of Final Cut Pro alone requires 4 GB minimum for the basic application. But if you install all of the software in the Studio bundle — including additional components and tutorials — you'll need a whopping 45 GB of free drive space. The tutorials, incidentally, are outstanding. Apple provides example sessions with media files for each application, and a PDF file guides you through the basics and then some. Although Apple offered me its latest and greatest Mac as a loaner, I wanted to test it on my dual 1.8GHz G5, running Mac OS 10.3.9 (the lowest OS supported), with 1 GB of RAM. This isn't the most powerful system out there, but I like to test products on a modest machine to see how it handles. I tested the system on two different projects: One was a seven-minute trailer for a documentary in progress, and the other was a two-camera live house concert shoot. Both were shot at a 16×9 aspect ratio, the former to DVC Pro and the concert on MiniDV.

For those new to the Apple world of digital video, here's how it works: Everything starts with Final Cut Pro. Say you've shot a music video of your band; your first task is to digitize your footage into clips using FCP's Log and Capture interface. The clips show up in the Browser window, where all of your sound and video media is stored. Next, open these clips individually in the Viewer window; this is where you preview your footage, set in and out points (clip selection area) and then pull them into either the Canvas window or directly into the Timeline (arrangement) window. These are the four basic work areas in Final Cut Pro, but you have many ways to do one thing. Video editing is a lot about fast experimentation and quick results, and the software is flexible enough that you can find your own personal groove. The software features multiple viewing options, keyboard commands and tabs that you can pull to make new windows. A good tip is, when faced with a question on how to do something, try Control-clicking on the item in question. Chances are, a contextual menu will pop up to give you the answer you need.

Final Cut Pro 5 has several new features, including native video editing at full resolution and support for multichannel audio recording of as many as 24 simultaneous channels. But I was particularly anxious to try out the new on-the-fly multiclips editing feature for the live house concert footage I had. Multiclip editing adds a performance aspect to the process, somewhat like in-studio camera switching on a live TV show. You can group a max of 128 camera angles, and even though no shoot has that many cameras, the function is useful for grouping un-synchronized footage in a montage style. Most of the effort in using the multiclip feature is in setup, but once everything is ready, you can start doing some real-time video switching. Actually, the process is a lot like recording mixer automation: You press Play, make your moves in real time and then go in and fine-tune the results. It's a great way to edit music-based footage like a video or a concert because you can cut on the beat. If you're a little off, use FCP's Ripple tool to line it up against a transient peak in the waveform. It's not only fun but also useful for making very fast rough edits.

In nearly every way, FCP treats the audio-editing process the same as video editing. When you open a clip in the Viewer, you're given tabs for both audio and video content. If you come from the world of sound and therefore take an audio-first approach to audiovisual editing, you can set the in and out points of a clip by looking at the waveform rather than the picture. This is helpful for dialogue- or music-driven video content. You then click over to the Video tab and watch the section you've just set before dragging the whole thing into the timeline. Video and audio filters are also treated similarly and are found in the Effects tab in the Browser. All filters, audio and video are automatable using key frames, which are break-points that allow you to fade various parameters in and out. Even better, you can also record automation in real time. Both Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro support the Audio Units format, naturally, which is now widely supported. Unfortunately, FCP does not show the graphical interface of the plug-in manufacturer. Instead, it gives you all of the parameters of that plug-in in numerical values, sliders and automation envelopes. The program's many audio features also include an effective scrubber action and a Mixer window with faders, pan sliders, and mute and solo buttons. There is also a built-in voice-over utility allowing you to record voice tracks in sync with the video for dialogue replacement or narration — a welcome addition.

So if Final Cut Pro is so audio-friendly, why would anyone need a separate application? In truth, many pro editors don't, particularly in the fast-paced world of television, for example. Editors often output sound and video directly from Final Cut Pro. But there are a few drawbacks, most notable that FCP handles everything at the frame level rather than the sample level. This works great for video that functions at a resolution of 30 frames per second, but it makes precision audio editing difficult. Waveform redraws are also slow and not very detailed. But the biggest thing that I miss working in FCP that I'm so used to in something like Digidesign Pro Tools or Apple Logic is the ability to make changes during playback. There are too many operations in FCP that pause the playback, such as saving, double-clicking on a clip, flipping between Audio and Video tabs or moving a volume envelope. This goes for both audio and video and is probably my only gripe with an otherwise incredibly powerful and intuitive work environment.

SOUNDTRACK TO THE RESCUE

Thankfully, Soundtrack Pro answers all of these issues and then some. Everything operates on the fly, even effects previewing, and it operates at the sample level with integrated video playback. Soundtrack Pro is almost a complete rewrite of the previous Soundtrack looping and composition program. The Pro version is now a total multitrack recording, editing and mixing environment. There are two modes (or project types) in Soundtrack Pro: Audiofile and Multitrack. As the names suggest, an Audiofile project features a waveform editor for mono and stereo sound design, sample editing, audio cleaning and so forth, and Multitrack is an audio-based track-arrangement, music-composition and mixing environment. Audiofile projects get a .stap file extension while Multitrack projects are tagged .stmp. The distinction between the two types helps in managing multiple files and sessions, and, thankfully, you can have several different projects open at one time.

Soundtrack Pro launches to reveal the Multitrack arrangement area with three work spaces, or windows. The large Project window has a familiar arrangement timeline, a customizable toolbar, a transport bar, and basic navigation and editing tools. To the left are the Utility window and the Media and Effects Manager. The Utility area has tabs for subsections in which you view QuickTime movies, record levels, output meters, channel assignments and details on files selected in the Project window. You use the Media and Effects Manager to browse files, view project contents and manage effects. All subsections can be pulled out of the main area as separate windows. For example, pulling out the Movie subsection gives you a resizable QuickTime movie. Unfortunately, there's no option to make it a floating window — when you click back to the Project area, the movie becomes hidden. The Media and Effects area is nicely detailed, and it reflects Soundtrack Pro's understanding of audio specifically for video. File management is huge in video, and you need to be able to find what you need as quickly as possible. You can customize views; browse by category; add favorites; see all files currently in the session; and conduct searches for Apple Loops by criteria such as time signature, tempo and key. The Effects tab lists all available plug-in effects by manufacturer (sadly, not by effect category). You can view effect parameters within the window or by the manufacturer's graphical interface. There are, quite simply, a ton of bundled effects. Thanks to Apple's acquisition of Emagic, many of the classic Logic Audio Platinum effects are bundled, including the wicked convolution plug-in Space Designer. There's also a host of Apple plug-ins from the Final Cut Pro application.

This is a sound environment made for video — more specifically, for Final Cut Pro. Apple has done an outstanding job meeting the features and work-flow needs that sound-for-video folks crave. First off, sequences opened from Final Cut Pro in Soundtrack Pro automatically lock picture and sound in perfect synchronization: no more QuickTime imports, SMPTE timeline needs or sample-rate mismatch issues. It all pops up ready-made in Soundtrack Pro with a readout in timecode and bars and beats values. Second, vital sound for video tools like noise reduction and cleanup are integrated thanks to a few nifty tools. First, you analyze a section of “silence” to create a noise print, then open the Reduce Noise window to adjust the reduction settings. Cheaper noise-reduction plug-ins always introduce some artifacts, and given that Apple includes one for free, I wasn't expecting amazing results. But it's functional for most uses if not taken too far. The Noise Only check box is a great way to hear what will be eliminated, so if you hear any tonality of the voice, you know you may be going too far. In addition to the noise reduction, you can also set an ambient noise print. This is the opposite of noise reduction; you use a section of room tone to mask continuity problems across video cuts. The noise and ambient options can even be used together. One section of my documentary project had the clacking of a computer keyboard in the background. Reducing the overall noise didn't work, so I found a silent section and used that as my ambient noise print and blended it to the offending area. It masked the problem but added too much noise, so I made a noise print out of that and then reduced the whole thing. It worked like a charm. You can also analyze files and repair clicks and pops, DC offset, hum and phase problems.

There's a staggering amount of things you can do with Soundtrack Pro. Although it has a video focus, it also makes for a deep audio-based sequencer and editor for music. STP undoubtedly benefits from the legacy of the other fully mature audio applications that came before it. But with this version 1 release, Apple has also rewritten the rules in its particular way. Soundtrack Pro does full multitrack mixing with sends, buses, real-time effects, and automation in touch and latch modes. And the audio editing and processing functions are done in a unique and comprehensive manner. It's also a looping and composition environment with a tempo-based grid and beat-matching and key-transposing capabilities. The Apple Loops Utility is a separate application that you can use stand-alone or operate from within Soundtrack Pro. Loops incorporate stored information called Tags that indicate genre description, copyright, tempo, key, time signature and a wealth of additional information. It also includes a transients section for marking peaks for easier manipulation of rhythmic loops.

WHERE THE ACTION IS

Returning to the waveform editor, Soundtrack Pro takes a unique approach to file processing that is the most welcome addition to an audio app I've seen in some time: Actions. On the left side of the waveform environment is an area that tracks your steps as you process your audio. Everything that will affect the file — from effects processing to a fade to noise reduction to redrawing the waveform — results in an Action. You see the list of Actions develop in sequence as you work. If you change your mind about a previous operation, you can uncheck the Action's box to disable it. You can also change the order of Actions (for example, to see how the compressor affects the EQ and vice-versa) and bring the Action Insert Bar back in time to remember how things sounded 15 minutes ago. It's kind of like having selective, random-access undo: You can not only go back but also change the course of events as they happened. All of this information is stored in the .stap file and significantly increases the file size as a result. But once you've found the sound you need, you can flatten all the Actions to reduce the size to a simple audio file and move on.

Compared with some of the more innovative aspects of Soundtrack Pro, its mixer is fairly straightforward. It has three types of channel strips: track, bus and output. From the top down, each track and bus strip has a picture icon, an inserts area, an output assignment, a panner, a pan value, a fader with meters, a volume value (with peak indicator) and a fader value, and at the very bottom, you'll find record, mute and solo buttons. Although the mixer is sparse, it has a couple of nice additions: The first is the option of viewing a navigation display at the top of the mixer, showing an overview of the entire project; the second is the ability to stretch and compress the size of the mixer. For effects processing, you can use the inserts on tracks or you can set up effects sends for bus channels. A send shows up in the inserts area, but its volume, pan and assignment values are handled in the Effects area of the Media and Effects window. To automate the STP mixer, simply choose Touch or Latch from a single pull-down menu and it affects all aspects of every channel.

APPETITE FOR NONDESTRUCTION

The really exciting change with Soundtrack Pro is the effort toward integrated work flow, something that's often a headache in the video world. Avid's Open Media Framework (OMF) interchange has been the format communication standard, but Apple now offers integrated XML interchange. Instead of the strictly linear approach of OMF, Apple's method includes a variety of ways to make changes among applications depending on the need at hand. Through XML, the really cool (and potentially dangerous) thing is that changes in Soundtrack Pro are quickly updated in Final Cut Pro as you work in STP. Final Cut updates what you do in Soundtrack as you save the file. The reason this is dangerous is that there are destructive and nondestructive ways of doing this, and it takes a bit of familiarity to understand what Soundtrack Pro is doing to your audio in Final Cut Pro. Here's the breakdown of the options: You can send individual files from FCP to STP either destructively or nondestructively, set up Apple scripts in STP to destructively automate common operations, or send complete multitrack sequences from FCP to STP for editing and mixing. This last option is most similar to an OMF transfer — all clips from Final Cut Pro remain discrete in Soundtrack, and volume, panning and crossfades make the migration, as well.

Each of these options took some getting used to, and I initially had mixed results. Sending individual audio clips happens in one of two ways: Choosing Send to Soundtrack Pro Audio File Project will create an STP project file so that you can work nondestructively; choosing Open in Editor is a destructive operation that opens the source file and changes it. The difference between the two is what happens when saving. In the first option, STP saves a newly created project whereas the second saves the raw file in Final Cut Pro. Once you've wrapped your brain around that, the process is very cool. Clicking on save in Soundtrack Pro updates Final Cut Pro's audio, and there were some hiccups to work through. At random times, I would return to FCP to find the dreaded Media Offline window for that particular file. After talking things over with tech support, it seems you have to wait a few moments after saving the file before switching over to Final Cut. With a little more patience, it worked great every time. It's equivalent to having an audio editor in the FCP application itself.

The next function, setting up automated scripts, is a brilliant way to work. Say, for example, you know ahead of time that you'll want all of your ambience tracks to roll off below 100 Hz and have a touch of reverb. You set up these actions in advance in STP and then create a script for it. In Final Cut Pro, you Control-click on a file that you want effected by these actions, choose Send to Soundtrack Pro Script and choose the particular script you've named; then, Soundtrack Pro does the operations for you. Soundtrack Pro blinks open, processes your audio, closes, and suddenly you've got a processed file in the Final Cut Pro timeline. You can also Command-click on multiple clips to a single script, making this an incredible time-saver. Exporting full multitrack sequences was another mixed bag. My first few attempts resulted in massive sync drifts, but after I downloaded version 1.01 (a significant upgrade, incidentally), the situation improved and exports worked without a hitch. Again, this process is similar to an OMF transfer with one exception: After you export a final mix back to Final Cut Pro, you can Command-click on it to reopen the full mix in Soundtrack Pro to make any changes — pretty cool.

I gave Soundtrack Pro a serious workout, and I can say that it is a powerful audio system that also has some growing up to do. I experienced a few head-scratching moments — for example, waveforms disappeared on me a few times only to re-appear after I'd done some processing to them, and at one point, STP updated the wrong file in FCP. The scrubber is also completely useless. Overall, I found myself wishing STP did some of the things Final Cut Pro does: snapping to clip boundaries while moving audio, displaying sync offset when clips shift in time and using the same navigation key commands between programs. Topping things off, Soundtrack Pro seems to be in need of optimization, as some activities seemed to drag. I also had my share of crashes here and there, many of which seemed to come down to communication problems with my Digidesign hardware. Soundtrack Pro did not like working with Digi's Core Audio drivers one bit. I tried both 6.5.2 and 6.7 versions of the Digidesign app, and each exhibited separate sets of debilitating playback problems and sudden quits. I eventually had to stop using Soundtrack through the Digi 002. Final Cut Pro, on the other hand, communicated with Core Audio just fine. Even with its quirks, I'm phenomenally impressed by the sheer scope of Soundtrack Pro. The way it has managed to leapfrog the heavyweights in many ways is frankly amazing in a version 1 release. The success story here is in thinking of ways to help sound as integrated with video. It's not perfect, but I'm excited to see what's on the horizon.

Another member of the suite is Motion. Motion is like a living, breathing version of Adobe Photoshop. It allows you to take a video clip and apply layers, filters, text and other eye candy to stylize certain segments of a program — for example, a DVD menu, an opening-credits sequence or an added psychedelic twist. Through Final Cut Pro 5, you can output clips to Motion in the same way you can with Soundtrack Pro. The big news about Motion 2 for musicians is that you can map real-time operations to a MIDI controller. This serves two purposes: to map filter parameters such as opacity, speed, amount, duration or whatever else the particular filter uses and to “perform” Motion on a screen, for example, to play along with live music. Motion “learns” the controller by communicating MIDI assignments between the device and Motion's Inspector. Given the mind-bending palettes that Motion has — things like “echo” and “slit scan” (think 2001), not to mention particle emitters and live fonts — it definitely has some performance potential. Just make sure you have plenty of RAM. My 1 GB caused some hesitations under heavy duress.

Finally, there's DVD Studio Pro 4, which is far more technical than it is creative. Far from a simple DVD-burning application, it's where the entire packaging of your finished video project comes together for an audience. You work with still and motion-graphics files, sound and text — imported from the other applications — to build a DVD menu, encode audio and burn the finished result for the home consumer. I like that you can get a full preview mode with motion so that you can check the process by making your own way through your work. My burns were all successful, playing both in my computer and in my JVC player. DVD Studio Pro is the final stage of what is an impressive and comprehensive system for media content development. The entire package is very much a reflection of Apple's unique universe of ideas. But given the creative power, the total integration and the intuitive ease of operation, it's not a bad place to be. And if you're a Logic Pro user, this all bodes well for what Apple may have up its sleeve down the line.

APPLE

FINAL CUT PRO STUDIO >

$1,299 (BUNDLE); $999 (FINAL CUT PRO 5);

$499 (DVD STUDIO PRO 4); $299 (SOUNDTRACK PRO 1); $299 (MOTION 2)

Pros: Comprehensive, integrated media production system. Powerful, intuitive video and audio editing. Multiclip feature. Actions-based editing. Apple Scripts clip processing.

Cons: Kinks with FCP and STP clip management. Core Audio issues in STP.

Contact: www.apple.com

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Mac G4/876 (HD requires 1GHz or faster); 512 MB RAM (1 GB for HD); Mac OS 10.3.9 or later; QuickTime 7 or later; DVD drive; AGP graphics card (for Motion); 4 GB drive space for installation

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