After the release of Final Cut Pro X yesterday, Apple has decided to discontinue both Final Cut Express and Final Cut Server (along with Final Cut Studio). Those looking for video editing software from Apple will now only have two choices: iMovie or Final Cut Pro X.

So! Apple yesterday gave a preview of the latest update to Final Cut Pro, the video editing software used by professional moviemakers, advertisers, those who make a living producing industrial films, indie filmmakers and dedicated amateurs. It included an amazing laundry list of features, is a 64 bit app, has a major drop, and is not mentioned anywhere on Apple’s site. Seriously.

It’s an open secret that the title generator included with Final Cut Pro can be a little… quirky. Thankfully, I’ve discovered that the plug-in wizards at FxFactory had come up with their own (free) solution: a title generator called Manifesto. Manifesto is simple, sweet, and works like a charm, and it comes with two title generators.

So here we are, living in the future. No jetpacks, no laser pistols, but you can shoot HD video with your cell phone. In fact, HD is so inexpensive that I imagine you’d have a hard time buying a new camera that didn’t shoot in high def. What is needed, of course, is a set of video filters that make your crisp, clean digital footage look like crap. I’m only partly joking. Making good footage look bad is a trick as old as Bugs Bunny pulling a giant hair off the side of the screen, or making the footage break to escape a monster.

Nodes is a piece of software that makes data points into beautiful bits of video, that are really dazzling. If you’re working on an industrial or other business film where you need to clobber someone with text in a stunning manner—but not something they particularly need to be able to recite afterwards—then Nodes is a dead useful way to create a variety of visually compelling short sequences.

In terms of playing with color, Luca Light Kit is the big box of crayons. The really big box. Taped together with a magic marker set. An effects set for Final Cut (Pro and Express), Motion, and After Effects, Light Kit lets you add, adjust and play with an amazing variety of colors and moods, improving and altering footage. At the most basic level, LK lets you add light to digital footage, letting you fix problems you didn’t see or couldn’t adjust in the field.

Editing is “the invisible art” because the better it is, the less the audience notices it. But there are times when maybe you want to add a lot of energy to a transition, or call attention to an edit for dramatic or comedic reasons. Or maybe you’re trying to recreate a music video from the 80s. Boinx FxTiles are a set of splashy transitions and video filters that give you just that.

Mac users who use Final Cut Express received an update to their movie editing software on Thursday. Apple has released Final Cut Express 4.0.1. Those used to seeing the brief support notes that usually accompany Apple releases will be surprised at the detailed notes that accompany this update.

Check them out after the break.