Apple looks to new NVIDIA graphics for Final Cut

While aiming at its usual audience of 3D modelers and other graphics pros with its new Quadro FX video cards, NVIDIA has let slip that Apple is eyeing the technology closely as a key to driving its video editing tools.

The Santa Clara-based GPU maker was eager to promote its just-announced Quadro FX 4600 and 5600 workstation cards early this week, calling them a perfect fit for video editing thanks to a much-improved unified architecture that does much of the heavier work for effects processing and video decoding.

In doing so, however, the company has inadvertently revealed a glimpse at both Apple's hardware and software strategy for its pro clients. NVIDIA Professional Solutions manager Jeff Brown used a conversation with Gizmodo to tout the list of video software developers lining up to investigate the usefulness of his company's breakthrough for editing work, mentioning Apple in connection with the new video chipsets.

"Image processing is the fundamental algorithm set that video editing guys use. And traditionally that has been very CPU-centric," Brown told the website. "And now we're starting to see more and more image processing moving to the GPU. So folks like Adobe, Apple, Avid are excited about this concept. It gives them much, much higher levels of performance."

While Apple's interest in the new workstation cards is already likely to be high — the company has used the earlier Quadro FX 4500 in the current Mac Pro and last-generation Power Mac G5 — Brown's statement revealed Cupertino's interest in the new pro-level video hardware and its long-term impact on its editing software.

Apple has been a relative pioneer in using the more advanced features of video cards for pro software rendering. Motion, released in 2004, set itself apart from other motion graphics editors (including Adobe's After Effects) by relying on the 3D prowess of newer graphics chips to render effects and live previews that would have been difficult solely on a CPU.

Aperture and iPhoto 6 also use the pixel shaders on newer video hardware for non-destructive still image editing.

However, Apple's centerpiece Final Cut Pro editor has so far depended exclusively on CPUs to draw live footage, rapidly scaling down the quality of live previews as an editing crew shifts to editing HD video or multiple streams. Offloading some or all of this task to a particularly flexible video card like the new Quadro would free Final Cut Pro to render multiple HD streams in real-time without sacrificing accuracy — especially for the fledgling 2K and 4K video resolutions that frequently demand specialized hardware.

With Apple confirming a special event of its own to take place at the NAB video expo just weeks after the NVIDIA announcement, the potential inherent to Brown's observations on the Mac maker's interest will likely be tested soon.