Final Cut Pro 10.6, Compressor 4.6, and Motion 5.6

Apple has released Final Cut Pro 10.6, Compressor 4.6, and Motion 5.6 with support for the new Cinematic mode available on the recently released iPhone 13 models (see “iPhone 13 Brings Evolutionary Improvements: A15 Bionic Chip, Improved Cameras, and Better Displays,” 14 September 2021). Final Cut Pro and Motion also receive improved Object Tracker capabilities for matching the movement of faces or objects using machine learning, plus a new Neon filter to add a glow to text and graphics.

Final Cut Pro 10.6 improves stability in a few areas (when duplicating a project, selecting a library in the sidebar on M1-based Macs, performing a trim during double-speed playback, and more), resolves an issue where thumbnails were not generated for some clips in the browser or timeline, adds support for playback of Opus audio files, and fixes a bug that caused pops to occur during MP3 playback.

Motion 5.6 fixes a bug where the Refraction filter might not render correctly when you add an image to the Image well, improves the reliability of the Undo command in the Time Date generator when making adjustments in the HUD, and resolves several crashes (changing text styles, dragging a font to the Favorites folder in the Library, and more).

Compressor 4.6 adds support for automating transcoding with watch folders on the new MacBook Pro models (see “New 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros Powered by M1 Pro and M1 Max Chips,” 18 October 2021), adds support for multi-pass HEVC encoding on M1-based Macs running macOS 12 Monterey, adds 7.1 and discrete audio channel layout menu options for uncompressed audio, enables you to set a frame rate when importing images sequences, and fixes a bug that prevented you from adjusting the data rate of an Apple Devices preset. (Free updates. Final Cut Pro, $299.99 new, 3.2 GB, release notes, 10.15.6+; Compressor, $49.99 new, 346.5 MB, release notes, 10.15.6+; Motion, $49.99 new, 2.4 GB, release notes, macOS 11.5.1+)