FCE4 rocks for the home user | Final Cut Express 4

powerful but unwieldy | Final Cut Express 4

software:


	• Final Cut Express 4 Mac, PowerMac, Mac OS X \| Apple, 2007 average customer review:based on 62 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

As good as premiere

I was using adobe premiere for years, which was a little buggy but did the job. This program was a pleasant surprise. It is a multi-track NLE program giving unlimited tracks in both audio and video, presenting a shortcut for a default transition between clips. The capture works much more smoothly than premiere, but that is characteristic of the mac video programs. The range of color filters and audio filters is so extensive that it is difficult for a professional who is not in the motion picture industry to have to use a more expensive program. (Could use a few more audio filters, though.)

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FCE4 rocks for the home user

Final Cut Express 4 is the consumer version of Final Cut Pro version 9. Apple stopped supporting this software package a couple of years ago. You will be able to download one service pack for it after you install and that's it. It hasn't been upgraded for Snow Leopard, but that's what I'm using and it has been rock solid for stability. No crashes, no corrupt project files.

As far as usability goes, I was completely lost. I was using iMovie to put together short animation clips. iMovie just wasn't cutting it, though, because I needed to work with a lot of scenes and audio tracks. I bought FCE4 since it's the next step up Apple's video editing chain. I installed it, patched and and fired it up without any hassles. When I tried using it, though, I thought that I'd made a big mistake. I could drag and drop clips but I couldn't get anything to display.

A quick search of the web led me to a web site that helped get me going (Izzy Videos, if you're interested). Once I understood the basics, I found it pretty easy to work with. I headed to the library (sorry, Amazon) and picked up a couple of books on FCE4. The best was Visual Quick Start. I also got Wolsky's book (which I like but it's not as easy to look stuff up in) and Weynard's (again, good but terrible index). FYI, I did purchase both Wolsky and Weynard. They're good for process questions.

Caveat you really need a two button mouse to use this program effectively. I'm using the Mighty Mouse with the fake left button and hate it. It's tough for me sometimes to get that left-click to operate. And sometimes when I am dragging the mouse the scroll-pearl jiggles and makes FCE4 pan the timeline. Not a show-stopper but dang inconvenient. I'm going to plug my Microsoft trackball in and start using that.

My only gripe with FCE4 is a general gripe with the Macintosh in general. I'm too lazy to move the dock to the sidebar or make it disappear, so it gets in the way of FCE4 sometimes. That's because the program window extends close to the icon area of the dock. When my mouse is near the bottom of my FCE4 window, the dock pops up titles of icons and such. Makes it difficult sometimes. Other than that, I give this four stars for usability and reliability.

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powerful but unwieldy

I have FCE at work, and I go home to Adobe Premiere CS4. I realize that isn't exactly a fair comparison, but every time I switch on Premiere, I am glad I'm NOT using FCE.
I use FCE on a macbook Pro with 2.4 Ghz Core 2 duo and 2 GB RAM- not great but definitely within the specs required for this software. Its a beast getting this thing to crunch video. Even after I import video, I almost invariably have to render the video in the timeline if I want to see anything. Major time sink right there. On top of that, there are rather silly codec issues that are never a problem in Premiere (and, I would imagine FCP.) Render time is basically the biggest complaint, that and the utilization of Livetype to do titling.
You can do titles within FCE itself, but if you want the "cool" factor of animated fonts and whatnot, you have to go into LiveType. Livetype is a pain to work and it seems incredibly awkward to have to jump in and out of FCE and not even have the files render properly in FCE... again, Adobe CS wins out, the files are almost seamlessly transfered. i've never had an issue dragging and droppin projects, and Premiere is a little more happy to fix your 'broken' file associations for projects- and it liveupdates so if you make a change in a file, its immediately changed in your Premiere project.
Almost every transition requires further render time, rather than rendering as it is placed... as if there is any point in un-rendered, unplayable video....
That being said, I can't help but respect the power behind the software. You can make the video dance and shake and clean it up and do all the stuff the big boys do (almost). You get a very fine degree of control and, without too much trouble, its a relatively easy system to learn if you are moving from practically any NLE. The thing is just so unwieldy that I find myself stepping into imovie for short, and simple projects. i shouldn't have to want to go back to the "fisher price" editor...

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Darn Good!

Most people don't need all the functionality (or the cost) of the pro version of final cut. This is a step up from Imovie and provides you a learning opportunity into the world of more professional video editors, without the cost!

Discover powerful video editing for DV, HDV, and AVCHD*. Final Cut Express 4 delivers a single, open format Timeline where you can edit all three, mixing formats and frame rates using the same pro-level editing tools available in Final Cut Pro. Import video projects directly from iMovie ¿08. Take advantage of LiveType to create dynamic, animated titles. Built-in audio controls let you mix up to 99 audio tracks¿even add a narrative voiceover. Perfect your movie with professional transitions and effects, including optional third-party FxPlug plug-ins. *AVCHD video requires a Mac with an Intel processor.

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