An emerging use for iPad as a front-end for Mac-based creative software.
When Apple introduced its dramatic X version of Final Cut Pro, the company said it planned to do more with the iPad and to broaden the market for video editing. Pixel Film Studios is offering a product that seems to follow in the path Apple is envisioning for Final Cut Pro. They have created ProCutX, an iPad app that can be used as a control panel for Final Cut Pro X.
The new app gives customers control over all of Final Cut Pro X’s features, but it frees editors of the need to deal with menus and tabs. Developed by app developer Lightwork Solutions for Pixel Film Studios, ProCutX mimics a hardware controller for video editing with keys and a jog wheel and is available at iTunes for $24.99.
The board lets users navigate to the point in their video they want to edit using the jog wheel, and then select actions such as cut and trim without going to the Mac’s input device, keeping users’ hands on the device. The ProCutX app also includes imaging tools via its Color Board, which allows adjustments to exposure, saturation, white balance, noise removal, and color. It has multi-channel audio editing. The company says it is planning new features including additional color correction tools, and also controls for audio and effects.
ProCutX is the first iOS application from Pixel Film Studios. The company builds plug-ins for Apple’s Final Cut Pro X, and they are also a video production company working in Southern California.
Our take
We’re thinking the tablet and Final Cut Pro X are destined to become very good friends. We can see a role for several iPads in production out in the field or for a second monitor as well as for an editing control board.
