Final Cut Express 4

I've had nothing but constant problems with this program - it's a total nightmare. You get "general error 34" messages all the time. Codec problems and variations of it. Google "general error 34 Final Cut" and you'll see what I mean. Apple is great at many things but this program sucks big time. Don't waste your money.

I was a little daunted by the FCE reviews talking about the learning curve but after buying the product I really have to say I was surprised at how easy it was to use. It's just a matter of knowing what the buttons stand for. I bought D. Weynand's book on using FCE but found the online tutorials at izzy video and YouTube to be far more useful and easy to follow.

So don't let the fear that FCE is too hard to use stop you. If you know any other program like Photoshop, CorelDraw, etc., then you should have no problem learning FCE. I'd say after watching 2 hrs of tutorials you'll be ready to start experimenting with FCE and after another 5 you'll be putting out cool videos.

I gave it 4 stars because I wish it had more effects. Actually I wish it was more like Photoshop! FCE has some cool stuff, but needs more, and plugins are SO expensive! Actually often far more than the cost of FCE. I don't know if FC Pro has more options as far as effects go...I will probably have to upgrade some day.

I'd heard so much about this product. I purchased it several weeks ago and still haven't really used it. Why? I already have iMovie on my MAC which I am comfortable with - its easy to use and makes sense. With Final Cut Express there is much more of a learning curve and I just don't have the time right now to take it on. If you're looking for something simple and intuitive - this is not it.

Final Cut Express 4

The reason why I had to go to FCE 4 is because I had to make a music video. As you may know, most music videos requires "lip syncing." Where I have broadcast ready soundtracks from Logic Pro and a bunch of separately taken AVCHD segments of a vocalist singing (we took a boombox playing the soundtrack on every shooting.)

When we tried to sync the soundtrack with the video clips with iMovie '09 it was almost impossible to do that with multiple clips coming in and out, but with FCE 4, just create maekrs markers (and use them!) at the same spots of the song and align those with the soundtracks and it is just a snap to do a perfectly synced up result.

So if you are contemplating of making your own music videos, I'd skip iMovie altogether and go straight to Final Cut.

Especially this is a great product for those who already have Logic Express or Pro since both products use similar U.I. and workflow and as a bonus, if you have those you do get to use SoundTrack Pro with it.

A good investment of about 4-hours of your time is to take a complete introductory video tutorial from reputable producers. This will significantly save your time on the ramp-up time. This is definitely a professional level applications requiring you to understand the workflow of non-linear video editing.

Final Cut Express 4This is a really great product. It is relatively easy to use, with a pdf manual right where you want it. I have all the video editing functions I'll ever need without having to buy software costing hundreds if not thousands of dollars more. You're on the way to making great professional looking videos with Final Cut Express 4.