Apple late Sunday announced a new high-definition video production suite dubbed Final Cut Studio that lassos together the company's popular Final Cut Pro 5 with Soundtrack Pro for audio editing, Motion 2 for animation and DVD Studio Pro 4, which now burns high-definition DVDs.

The latest update to Apple's award-winning video tool, Final Cut Pro 5 supports DV, SD and film, along with all major HD formats including HDV, DVCPRO HD and fully uncompressed HD. Furthering the focus on HD, Apple has added a "RT Extreme" engine to view uncompressed HD effects in real time.

On the audio side, Soundtrack Pro features a layer-enabled waveform editor that allows for re-ordering or changing of edits. It also includes a multitrack mixer with 50 professional plug-ins and over 5,000 Apple Loops.

"The arrival of Final Cut Studio ushers in a new era of high definition video production that relies on effortless integration of video, audio and effects to elevate production values," said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Marketing.

"Final Cut Studio allows producers to edit in a broad range of HD formats, add stunning motion graphics, sculpt the perfect soundtrack and burn their projects to high def DVDs."

Final Cut Studio will begin shipping in May for $1,299 USD. Current Final Cut Pro users can upgrade to the suite for $699 USD. More information and system requirements can be found on Apple's Web site.