"I'm just getting into the final cut world my self. (only owned a mac for about a year). in 2006 I bought studio 1. I have been working away practicing a few times a week. (though its always hard to find raw footage). I'm wondering what your take is on the differences between studio 1 & 2. Money aside, do the new features in studio 2 warrant the upgrade? I would love to start playing with HD footage, can a intel imac with 2 gigs of ram handle a feature film size HD project? Microsoft releases a version of MS Office about every four years.
I get the impression that its almost every year with apple with respect to final cut pro. therefore does it make more sence economically to upgrade less often than annually? ..... how often do you upgrade?"

There have been some major additions to Final Cut Studio 2 that will definitely enhance your work flow, and bring it to the next level. Let's take a look at some of the major feature updates across Final Cut Studio 2.

Final Cut Pro 6 - Apple ProRes 422 codec

This is a new high-quality 10-bit 4:2:2 video codec for both standard and high definition, which works in all the standard frame rates (23.98, 25, 29.97 and 59.94). Where this new codec really comes in handy is when working in HD. Basically, in a nut shell, this codec gives you awesome looking HD images at SD file sizes.

Motion 3 - 3D

Much like After Effects, Motion 3 now supports a 3D multiplane environment to let you create true 3D depth to your motion graphics. Don't confuse this with being able to extrude text (give it depth), because we are not at that level yet, but you can work with particles that generate in true 3D space. Take a look at the animation below, and you will see what I mean, and keep in mind that the 3D version took about 15 seconds to render!

Soundtrack Pro 2 - Surround Sound Mixing

One of the biggest and most welcome feature to Final Cut Studio 2 is the ability to mix your projects in true surround sound for television, film and DVD. If your project is going right to DVD, no other software or hardware is required. Once you are done your mix, simply export your mix as a 5.1 ac-3 file, and import into DVD Studio Pro. It's truly amazing!

Color

Now you might be wondering why I don't have a specific feature update for Apple's Color, and the simple reason is that Color is a brand new application to join the Final Cut Studio family between versions one and two. Apple acquired Silicon Color, makers of a program called Final Touch, which is a primary and secondary color correction and grading application that used to retail for about $6000 US. Apple took Final Touch, renamed it Color, and worked it into the Final Cut Studio 2 workflow (export from your Final Cut Timeline directly into Color and vise--versa) at no additional cost to the user. This is a major, and I mean major addition to Final Cut Studio 2, and this alone makes it worth the price to upgrade.

I have only mentioned a very few of the many updates to Final Cut Studio 2, but the addition of Color alone makes it worth the $499 upgrade price. My 'two cents' is if you can afford to upgrade, and your system can support it, do it! If you want to check out more features of Final Cut Studio, you can check it out at Apple's website.

As for whether or not an Intel Mac can handle HD or not, that is a very broad question, because these days there are so many "flavors" of HD. On Macbook Pros and iMacs, you can work on HDV, P2, XD Cam, DVCPro HD and even 720p, 1080i and 1080 23.976psF ProRes HD. Yes, even on a laptop! How you get the footage in is a different story. For HDV, P2, XDCam and DVCPro HD, you can go firewire from your acquisition device (camera) right into your computer. Coming from a higher end VTR like an HDCam SR would require a unit that can convert from HD-SDI to Firewire so you can capture in ProRes on your system. AJA's IoHD is specifically designed to do that kind of capturing, and it works on a Macbook Pro. I know, because I have done it, and it's truly mind boggling. Now, on AJA's website they say that the Macbook Pro is supported for the IoHD but make no mention of the iMac, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Now to answer the last part of your question, because I work with a lot of external clients at my office, when a new version of Final Cut Studio is released, or a new version of After Effects comes out, I normally upgrade. For me, my clients are my bread and butter, and I need to make sure that they (and myself for that matter) have access to the newest programs, as there are features that are added that will speed up my workflow, and save them money at the end of the day, and always remember that it's better to get your job done quickly, and possibly not make as much money on a job as you could, because that client will always remember what a faster editor you are, and bring you additional business, and that's the most important thing. That being said, don't just run out and buy the newest software because of all the bells and whistles.

When upgrading, it's always important (probably the most important) to make sure that your current system can handle the program you are putting on it, because the last thing you want is all of these cool new features, and a system that can't run the program properly. On the other hand though, if you are a wedding videographer, and the bulk of your work is done by yourself without a client sitting next to you, I'm of the opinion "if it is not broken, don't fix it". Most wedding videos are just cuts and dissolves (with some unfortunate cheesy wipes thrown in for good measure), and don't require high end effects work. I always jokingly tell people that I can do more with Final Cut Express and After Effects than most editors can do with the whole Studio bundle.

Well, that wraps up this edition of "Ask the Expert".  If you have a question about anything editing related (editing, motion graphics, etc), don't hesitate to drop me a line at kevinpmcauliffe@gmail.com, and who knows, you might see your question in my next column.