Final Cut Studio Universal apps won't be sold separately

[simie]

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1472

Apple will no longer offer its Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, and DVD Studio Pro audio and video applications as standalone products, and come March will choose instead to sell them exclusively as part of the $1299 Final Cut Studio production suite.


The company began informing its resellers of the change this week and also said it has stopped accepting new orders for the current versions of Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, and DVD Studio Pro. "The individual applications in Final Cut Studio will only be available as part of the suite," the company wrote in a memo.

In February, Apple will begin taking orders for a universal version of Final Cut Studio called "Final Cut Studio Universal," which will ship in March for $1299. The company also appears that it will continue to market a PowerPC-only version of the suite under the name "Final Cut Studio 1.1."

The move to an all-or-nothing bundle will mean that new customers will have to fork over a pretty penny for the complete audio and video production suite. However, owners of the current versions of either DVD Studio Pro, Motion, and Soundtrack Pro will be eligible to upgrade to the entire $1299 Final Cut Studio for just $199. Final Cut Pro 5.0 owners will be able to take Apple up on the same "fulfillment" upgrade offer for just $99.

Customers who already own a copy of the the current Final Cut Studio can update to the universal version of the suite through a $49 "Final Cut Studio 1.1 Crossgrade Fulfillment" upgrade. Information on how to obtain this and the aforementioned upgrades should begin appearing on Apple's Web site in early February.

Contacts close to Apple have suggested that fulfillment upgrades may only be available through snail mail, requiring the customer to supply all install discs from the software which they are upgrading.

Apple will also offer $49 crossgrade upgrades for its other Pro applications, Aperture and Logic Pro 7.1. For users of Logic Express 7.1, the upgrade will cost only $29.

There is so far no word on plans for Shake, Apple's $2999 advanced digital compositing software.

 

[highflight]

$49 Logic pro crossgrade to Final cut studio ????

Hi all.
i can understand that Apple are offering some very cheap upgrade paths for current owners of FCP5 or DVDSP 4 to the whole combined Final cut studio package, hence I should quickly upgrade my DVDSP3 to DVDSP4, by purchasing one of the few remaining upgrade kits still available in the shops, to be then eligible to upgrade to the whole combined studio package.

however, i am completely mystified by the mention of $49 crossgrades for owners of Logic Pro. I own Logic Pro 7.1 already, so will I be able to crossgrade to Final cut studio for $49 ??? seems unlikely !
and for owners of the lesser, Logic express, they can seemingly crossgrade for only $29 !!!
surely this means from logic express to logic pro for a bargain $29,
then logic pro to final cut studio for $49 ???
still seems unreal.

Can anyone shed any light on this please !


........Apple will also offer $49 crossgrade upgrades for its other Pro applications, Aperture and Logic Pro 7.1. For users of Logic Express 7.1, the upgrad will cost only $29.......

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

The $29 and $49 jobbies are for the crossgrade to the Universal version of the same software, rather than to the Studio. The "read more" links on the Apple store pages for those products makes it fairly clear ...

"If you own a current PowerPC version of one of these products, you're eligible for a low-cost "crossgrade" to the Universal version when it becomes available:

Application Price
Final Cut Studio 1.0 $79 RRP
Aperture $79 RRP
Logic Pro 7.1 $79 RRP
Logic Express 7.1 US$29
The PowerPC versions of these applications are currently not supported to run on Intel-based Macintosh computers with Rosetta.

Special offer: Final Cut Studio upgrades
After 10 January 2006, the individual applications in Final Cut Studio will only be available as part of the suite. To make it easy for our customers to make the move to Final Cut Studio, we're offering amazing deals to current owners of Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro 4, Motion 2, Soundtrack Pro and Production Suite. When you take advantage of this offer, you'll get the Universal version of Final Cut Studio when it becomes available.

Application Price
Final Cut Pro 5 US$99
DVD Studio Pro 4, Motion 2, or Soundtrack Pro US$199
Final Cut Pro 4.X/HD or Production Suite US$199
Final Cut Pro 1/2/3 US$699
How to get these deals
After 1 February 2006, visit Apple.com.au again for complete details on this program, including an order form. Universal application versions of these applications are expected by 31 March 2006."