Final Cut Express

[frenchbean]

Hi,

Anybody using Final Cut Express for video editing? Just wondering what's the difference between Final Cut Express and more pro softwares such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere? Will I be missing out a lot if I just get Final Cut Express? I'm just a hobbist, not professional.

TIA

 

[melvinch]

No 3-way color corrector and no batch capturing.

Serious omission in my opinion. Might as well use iMovie and save your money.

 

[eel]

FCE is 90% what Final Cut Pro is as an NLE. In addition to the 2 key differences mentioned, FCE lacks support for professional formats like DVC Pro 50/HD. It is sufficient for advanced hobbyists and semi-professional applications but the last 10% is what separates the Pros from the rest. Still, FCE is definitely much more advanced than iMovie because you can layer tracks to do composites. You can also keyframe effects. It also comes bundled with Livetype (titling software) and Soundtrack (music creation)

 

[DXNMedia]

As a hobbyist, i think FCE will be good enough for your application because it will be very very unlikely that you'll end up doing Batch Capturing or capturing using DVCPro50/HD formats.

Though it's missing 3-way color corrector, you can technically do basic level adjustments with the other video effect tools to tweak your brightness/contrast levels.
For the price & purpose, I think it's well worth the money.

:thumbsup:

 

[frenchbean]

Thanks for all the replies. Hmm.... seems like I've still got a lot to learn before I even exceed the capabilities of FCE. Format wise I know what's MiniDV and HDV, didn't even know got things like DVCPRO50/HD :sweat:

I've only actually used iMovie up till now and found it quite limited in terms of function. I guess FCE will be a good upgrade for me to learn more about videography.

Anything else that I should be looking out for in a video-editing program?

 

[davidhiten]

The biggest thing you need to consider is whether your video editing system can scale up.

Final Cut Exp. is worth getting into because iMovie sucks for anything more than family video (yes I know some feature films have been done on iMovie but let's get serious here - after all you sound like you already want to move away from iMovie)

Final cut express is basically Final Cut pro with some feature excluded but think about it it - you are getting a powerful pro application backbone for next to nothing. it could take you a year of hard work to exceed the potential of FCE and then when you are ready you don't have to go and learn a new system and familiarize yourself with new tools. All you do is go and get upgraded to FCP.

If you are going to invest your time in learning to edit properly this is the only way to go.