Apple’s Final Cut suite of professional editing programs have been used on films from the Coen brothers remake of “True Grit” to “(500) Days of Summer”.  According to Facebook, in 2007 49% of films made were edited with the application.

And while some users may think that it has grown long in the tooth, since Apple has not updated it since July 2009, it is still much in demand when intuitive, efficient video-editing is needed.

Well, it appears that Apple was listening after all.  According to CNET, they have created Final Cut X, and plan to release it this June. It adapts the look of iMovie ‘09, though the best part is that it will be available via the Mac App Store for $299.

This is not a ‘lite’ version of the program, but a full-featured video editor for less that $300 dollars.  This is even more remarkable considering that Final Cut Studio currently retails for $999.

This version of the application is supposedly much improved over the former, though with a $299 entry point it opens up advanced editing to many more users  (Final Cut Express is a lite version of the program, and is available for $179, via the Apple Education Store (AES).  The full version of Final Cut $299).

A caveat to consider is that any software purchased from the AES is ineligible for updates.

I use Final Cut Pro, and find it an intuitive, powerful application; and while I don’t know if the new version will be as easy to use, $299 is a such a perfect entry-point that I will definitely purchase a copy when it become available.