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Apple Final Cut Express HD 3.5 (Mac)
vBulletin Book Store > vBulletin books beginning with A
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Apple Final Cut Express HD 3.5 (Mac) |
Author:
Published: 2006-05-22 |
List price: $299.00
Our price: See Detail
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As of: November 20th, 2008 09:34:45 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Final Cut Express HD 3.5 from a Newbie
Apple Final Cut Express HD 3.5 (Mac)
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br /I am a newbie to both Apple computers and Apple software. With FCE 3.5 I have a real love/hate relationship going on here. This is probably the most frustrating software that I have ever tried to learn, but when the results come out, they are fantastic. If you want to quickly piece together a fun little video with just a few transitions, then use iDVD. If you enjoy working your tail off and feeling a REAL sense of accomplishment at making a small step, then this is the software for you.
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br /By the way, many of you will have noticed that you can get the newest FCE 4 at nearly the same price as FCE HD 3.5.
br /You should be aware that FCE 4 does NOT have Soundtrack included nor does it have all of the features of LiveType 2. (Nearly 9 gigs is missing!) For the price difference I chose 3.5.
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br /I am still learning this, but I have no doubts that I will become proficient in its use. Besides, I have an ace in the hole. Tom Wolsky has many books out on Final Cut. He is also a regular on the Apple Support forums. There is not any question that he cannot answer about Final Cut.
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br /Also you should purchase a mini/dv camera with firewire output. USB ain't gonna cut it with Final Cut Express.
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br /Hope this helps.
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br /Pete
 Great Program -- One BIG flaw
Final Cut Express is a very powerful program, and no doubt you can make spectacular movies with it. However, there is one glaring flaw that is driving me nuts: NO BATCH CAPTURE! In Final Cut Pro, the much more expensive parent of Final Cut Express, you can run through your video setting in/out points very quickly, and then simply doing a "Batch Capture," allowing you to walk away and let the program gather all your clips. In FCE, however, it's different. You can either capture the whole tape, and then edit it later. Or, you can set your in/outs, and then capture before moving on to the next clip. My God, if you have a lot of video to work with, can you imagine how much extra time this will take. And, again, with a lot of video, unless you have massive amounts of storage, it is going to be tough to capture an entire tape and cut it up later.
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br /So, don't get me wrong.....great program, tons of tools, tremdendous value for the money. BUT, Batch Capturing is a must for me. This program would have been a solid 5 stars had Apple simply included batch capturing. For me, my projects are long enough to where I have to have it. So......I am buying Final Cut Studio (not only for batch capturing, but for the additional codecs as well).
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br /If your goal is to take your home movies to the next level and have far more features than iMovie, and the capturing issues are not a big deal for you (or you are on a strict budget), then this may be the program for you.
Amazing
When I slammed the Canon PIXMA 4300 for being terrible, I indicated that I only write reviews when the product is very good, or very bad. In this case, this product is truly amazing. In fact, it is the coolest software I have ever owned or used. In fact, I'd say this is the coolest thing I have ever owned, but that would make me a geek. Buy it without reservation!
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br /Running on a MacBook Pro with 2GB RAM and OS X. I suspect the 2GB is a very good idea though I have never tried it with les.
 Great upgrade from iMovie
If you find iMovie complicated, this product is not for you. If you prefer automatic quick solutions this product may not be for you.
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br /If you find that you would like more control of your video/audio than you find in iMovie but don't want to spend a lot of money, boy have you come to the right place.
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br /I take quite a lot of home video (new baby and all) and found that iMovie would frustrate me when I couldn't do some more advanced tasks.
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br /iMovie is a great intro product. If you are new to video, use it until you find that you feel limited (many will never will get to that point).
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br /When (and if) you find that you feel some constraints in iMovie, then move up to FCE.
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br /A note for most, iMovie and FCE typically are not for DVD/Hard Drive camcorders. They don't have the output necessary to directly connect. You may want to check with your camcorder manufacturer to see what they have to convert the DVD/HD to content that is usuable in these products.
When you need something more than iMovie.
I use this with a MacBook laptop with 2GB RAM without any performance issues. It is a great product for when you have outgrown iMovie but don't need the full feature set of Final Cut. I use it for both perosnal and work video production. No problems connecting and moving video of a Panasonic PV-GS500 video camera via Firewire. There is a learning curve but the basics are pretty easy to master.
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