At the risk of treading into Produce territory, I note the arrival of an update for Final Cut Pro X.

Final Cut Pro X caused a stir when it arrived, mainly for the wrong reasons. One particular concern was the lack of compatibility with projects created in previous versions, and Apple eventually conceded by providing a mechanism for enterprise customers to buy additional Final Cut Pro 7 licences. A low-cost third-party conversion tool (7toX for Final Cut Pro) has just arrived, and plugins to extend Final Cut Pro X are appearing.

As expected, Apple has pressed on with Final Cut Pro X development. The just-released version 10.0.3 delivers some interesting features. It's unlikely that they'll result in anyone switching back to Final Cut Pro if they defected to another editing suite after Final Cut Pro X debuted, but they do reward those who stayed with the program.

Apple is highlighting the multicam feature, which automatically synchronises clips taken from different angles by matching the audio waveforms, time and date, or timecode - even if the source clips are in different formats, frame sizes or frame rates. It's then easy to watch multiple angles while editing and cut between them as required.

You can see how useful that would be even for amateur projects - for example, two or three parents could work together to shoot their kids' sports match or concert, and then combine the results for a much more professional look. I've shot my share of one-camera videos of such events, and the lack of cuts between angles leads to a boring result. It's not that it's been impossible to combine clips from multiple cameras, just that it has involved more work than most casual videographers could be bothered with.

It's a sign of the times that software costing $319.99 is considered expensive, but even so Final Cut Pro X is within reach of a moderately serious video enthusiast.

Chroma keying has been improved in version 10.0.3 to the point where Apple claims "You can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback."

The other good thing about Final Cut Pro X is that as it is sold via the Mac App Store, updates are free and the program can be used on all of the buyer's Macs. If you're not already sold, a 30-day free trial is available here.