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Final Cut Express 4.0

No 24FPS

Written by MM from Burnaby

Jul 27, 2009

FCE is great, only that you should know it doesn't support 24FPS.

It just doesn't.

278 of 345 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Many Issues

Written by MP from Columbus

Nov 27, 2007

1. Forget about having FCHD4 import your AVCHD files from the SD card reader (as iMovie 08 does). This turkey actually makes you connect your camcorder to the computer with a FireWire cable and capture the files old school style. Who engineered that? Isn't that the whole point of using AVCHD and SD cards for video.

2. Typical of most recent Apple software where 1.0 translates to "paid beta", I have to delete the FCHD4 preferences file every time I launch the application or it won't launch. Amazing.

3. Worst of all, the two features above ("real" AVCHD support and new-version-stability) are how I convinced my self to upgrade to the meager bundle of new features in FCHD4. Given the $100 price and the failure to deliver on Apple's part, this is easily my worst software purchase this year.

Beware!

302 of 420 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Buy Adobe instead

Written by PL from Tukwila

Jun 2, 2008

While the editing abilities of Final Cut Express are okay, many of your projects will be destroyed due to FCE's badly designed file management system. It will not only put different parts of your project into different folders, making them very hard to find and rename into something useful, but should you rename or move even one file then Final Cut will throw a computer version of a temper tantrum and corrupt your project file, forcing you to start over again from scratch. And forget about archiving. I have worked on several projects using Final Cut and not once was I able to archive a project then open it again to do more work. Final Cut works on the premise that all video and editing will remain on your computer for all time, untouched, and that you will never need to archive anything in order to open up space for another project. It doesn't matter how good the editing features are when the file management part of the program is so badly made that projects self-destruct.

I'm demanding my money back and using it to buy Adobe video software, _they_ know the importance of archiving and user-friendly file management.

300 of 451 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

This is a DOWNGRADE, no an Upgrade; worst in years from Apple

Written by BC from Meridian

Jan 7, 2008

This "upgrade" is a downgrade. $100 less than FCE 3.5, sure, but it has $200+ less software content than FCE 3.0

FCE 4 deletes SoundTrack off your hard disk from the FCE 3.5 install, has less stuff in LiveType than FCE v3.5,

Stick with FCE 3.5, or install this on a separate box / hard disk (which defeats the purpose of an upgrade).

Bad move, Apple. An 'upgrade' is to increase productivity, not drastically diminish it.

I give this "downgrade" a 0.00001 star.

202 of 258 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Do Not Buy This Until BUG is Fixed

Written by NM from Northampton

May 30, 2008

I bought this and it worked well for the first week. Then a BUG in the software stops you from opening projects. Loads of people are upset by this (SEE THREAD) and I have lost over 6 projects. Apple have fixed this BUG with Final Cut Pro but not with Final Cut Express 4. Why? Do we not matter?

The unreliability is shocking. I don't trust this software anymore. BEWARE!

236 of 358 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Does not work with HDD based camcorder

Written by JN from elkhorn

Dec 30, 2007

First of all I specifically bought this software at the retail store because I was told that it would demux my mpeg-2 video from my Sony HDD based camcorder. It did not. Just like iMovie, it would not play audio. What a waste!

Plus it was not very user friendly. I would not recommend this for anyone who has a HDD based camcorder.

153 of 203 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

I want my money back.

Written by JS from Texarkana

Sep 4, 2008

After upgrading from 3.0 to 4.0 I lost more than half of what I had.
More than half of the special effects were no more. Gone. How is possible
to sell an item that is less than its previous product was ?????

Now I am in a mess trying to get 3.0 loaded back on. and I am out $100.
boy, Apple didn't even kiss me.

122 of 154 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Very disappointed

Written by JF from Palm Beach Gardens

Jun 1, 2008

The features of FCE4 actually led to my acquiring my first MAC. I had been happily using Adobe Premier Elements on my PC, but felt the need to move to the next level. My immediate problem was that the application could not "see" my relatively new Panasonic camcorder, no matter what source I turned to. The software specs should be MUCH more specific about its compatability limitations, and you should have your dealer go over these limitations with you. There should be some demo footage and tutorials included so it is easier to get some utility out of the program...as it is you are on your own, and it is not at all an intuitive program...even if you are accustomed to other editing software

198 of 309 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Apple, I'm disappointed

Written by AT from Williamstown

Oct 21, 2008

Why? you have cut out soundtrack, one of my favorite parts of this bundle that i used very often. livetype is now pathetic, with few extras to make great titles with, and there are hardly any big updates. all this new software does is take away features. this is not an upgrade, it is a DOWNGRADE. go to ebay and buy final cut 3.5 if you think you've out grown imovie, don't waste you hard earned cash on this junk

75 of 100 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

No .mov import? Are they kidding

Written by RD from Houston

Oct 13, 2008

I was so looking forward to this and have outgrown imovie. I get home and it doesn't support .mov importing. Everything I have is .mov and there is nothing that converts at the same quality as the original so thats it, a wasted $200.

It might be a great product if it could import .mov otherwise its 100% a waste.

75 of 101 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

where is Soundtrack ??

Written by ES from Carouge

May 28, 2008

Every update of FCE you do, less you have ? Where is Soundtrack.... I need soundtrack, I bought FCE because soundtrack was in, now it's out... the less Apple can do is a soundtrack update to Pro....

Thank you to provide this update (for free of course)

80 of 121 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Too hard to use

Written by JS

Feb 27, 2009

After using iMovie HD (my favorite) and iMovie 08/09 (useless dumbed down versions of the full feature iMovie HD), I decided to try Final Cut Express. Unfortunately, I find this is too difficult to use, and was told by Apple that it is recommended that users must take a class (which are not cheap). This sort of defeats the user-friendly reputation and experiences I have had with Apple over the years.

My advice is, if you are a professional videographer or have a background in video, this software is probably fine. If you are an amateur, the learning curve will be fairly long, and require formal training. I am very disappointed in this product (which is rare, as most Apple products are of the highest standards, intuitive, and easy to use).

124 of 210 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Not Worth Upgrading

Written by WM from meridian

Sep 24, 2008

I am a film student, and have used studio and express. 3.5 works great if you are only using DV and HDV. There are no new features in 4.0 that make it worth buying.

52 of 80 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Sticking with Windows version on Parallels

Written by LS from Nashua

Sep 9, 2008

FCE has a learning curve and then you find you can't do things you could on Windows versions like attach DVD chapter marks to Mpeg2 or other formats than QT Movies that are very large. It's not as intuitive to use as a package like Cyberlinks Director which I'll run with parallels. It allows everything to be done in one pass to make a DVD. Plus Apple doesn't have a trial download and won't take software returns so you need to read the user manual or something before committing.

47 of 80 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Not Express and Not Final

Written by RA from Lake Mary

Jan 13, 2008

All I wanted to do was add chapter markers to a DVD. Because iMovie doesn't do this and iDVD only does it based on set time intervals, I had to buy this product. But, Final Cut Express is not intuitive at all - takes days to master it - with extremely poor tutorials and help. And, worst thing is that at the end there is little control over the size of the file. So, you have to keep trying a million different settings trying to get your project to a workable size. Apparently the features needed to do this easily are in something called "Compressor" which is part of the Final Cut Studio for $1299. I'm extremely disappointed in Apple - they do not deliver on their value proposition of making it easy to work with media on Macs. They need to hire some software people who can put together a decent product set that is somewhat intuitive and reasonably priced - and gets you to something final in a reasonable amount of time.

85 of 156 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Not worth it unless you are really making films

Written by SW from Kettering

Aug 9, 2008

This is a joke. It's not intuitive unless you have take a class or studied the manual. You can't use iTunes music in the video like you can in iMovie. It's cumbersome to make manipulate video like you can in iMovie. I spent the $199 thinking I'd recover some of the features they took out of iMovie when they made it "better" only to realize that it set me back a bunch of money and time.

61 of 109 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

I don't get it

Written by JM from ANCHORAGE

Jul 16, 2008

This is the most frustrating software I've encountered in 30 years of using a computer. I'm sure it works, I just can't figure out how. I'm not normally a manual reader, but I've been forced to the manual for Final Cut. The manual is 1,000 pages long....I'd say this is software for a person who is learning to edit by taking a class and having an instructor to explain it. But for the lone wolf on the wild frontier, better find something else.

47 of 81 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

What the ....

Written by TC from Austin

Jan 19, 2008

I went from Movie Maker to Final Cut Express... I thought I had some skills, I guess I was wrong. DO NOT move to Final Cut without training. Not worth it. Neither simple or intuitive.

120 of 241 people found this useful