Apple Inc. announced Tuesday that it was shipping Final Cut Server, a media-asset management tool first announced April 16th, 2007. Final Cut Server is a scalable server application that can catalog large collections of media assets, allow searching across multiple disks and SAN volumes, as well as enabling viewing, annotation and approval of content from anywhere using a Mac or PC.

"Whether producing a 30-second spot, the nightly news or a major motion picture, Final Cut Studio is the choice of editors around the world," Rob Schoeben, Appleis vice president of Applications Product Marketing, said in a statement. "With the introduction of Final Cut Server, collaboration just got a whole lot easier for millions of editors, producers and clients who work with Final Cut Studio."

Final Cut Server is aimed at both small editing firms and large, multinational news and media organizations. It is integrated with Final Cut Studio, and both catalogs and organizes media, as well handling such tasks as monitoring changes made to those assets, and providing a cross-platform client for searching and accessing that media.

Final Cut Server is available immediately, and is being offered for US$999 for a license for one server and 10 client licenses, or $1,999 for a license for one server and unlimited client licenses.