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Final Cut Express 4.0

Amazing!!!

Written by MS from Escondido

Nov 15, 2007

What a fantastic upgrade for Final Cut Express. Support for AVC HD and multiple formats in the timeline along with the new video effects are great new additions to Final Cut Express, and at only $199! I will say, its a shame that not all the effects are compatible with Intel graphics chips; but that doesn't mean Final Cut is bad, just that you have a poor graphics card. I still wish I could have had and NVidia GPU in my MacBook. At any rate, this looks like a great buy. Anyone who does any editing on a Mac whatsoever should get Final Cut Express 4!

1721 of 2466 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Victor Gonzalez

Written by VG

Nov 15, 2007

This Software is great!

78 of 351 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Looks like a nice upgrade - if only it would work with my G5 PPC!

Written by JM from Albuquerque

Nov 18, 2007

I bought a Canon HG10 as a gift to my wife. I also bought FCE 4, but didn't notice that AVCHD OPERATION ONLY WORKS WITH AN INTEL-BASED MAC.

I have a G5 Quad (4 2.5GGz cores) which is only about 19 months old. Now I learn I can't use it and FCE4 with the Canon in HD mode.

Bah Humbug!

157 of 232 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Amazing Product

Written by MY from Lancaster

Nov 18, 2007

If you are looking for a very professional way to edit your videos, this is it. Many features, which I thought would be hard to remember, but it is layed out perfectly!

An amazing buy!

Beats out Magix for PC

165 of 231 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Unbelievable!

Written by KB from Mechanicsburg

Nov 20, 2007

If you have an AVCHD camcorder, this new version is a dream come true. Over the past year I had a DV cam and Final Cut Express HD (3.5) and honestly did very, very little editing. Not that 3.5 wasn't good, but the work of capturing tapes is tedious, particularly when you shoot a lot of video.

I bought a new Sony AVCHD Hard drive based cam last week and got Final Cut Express 4 today. Now I can shoot, import, edit and output in minutes (literally). Couldn't be faster or easier. I'm one of those who love iMovie '08 as a great whole-family solution and while the integration with it is great, Final Cut Express 4.0 is so fast and easy, I find it faster to just skip iMovie.

AVCHD and Final Cut Express 4 is a quantum leap in video production. The only two drawbacks are: 1) My MacBook Pro 2.33Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ 2GB Ram slows down quite a bit when running 4.0. 2) Super effiecient AVCHD files bloat up to 10X their native size when imported to the necessary Apple Intermediate Codec.

Basically, you need some horsepower and lots of HD space.

I went from having to 'force myself' to plow through a project to not being able to stop playing. Great job Apple!

450 of 583 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Taken the plunge..

Written by FP from Montreal

Nov 24, 2007

and purchased FCeX 4. I'm wanting to learn more on video editing than what iMovie offers and, while being quite honest in saying that it is daunting, I'm already learning how powerful this software is and can be. Only bother is an esthetic one: the controls have a pre-OSXish look and feel to them but in no way are their functionality affected. I've read in Discussions that FCeX 3.5 came with a tutorial DVD. if this is the case it would have been nice for it to be included in this package too.
Finally I find it a shame for some to have knocked FCeX' rating because they neglected to carefully read the requirements prior to purchase.

123 of 162 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Amazing

Written by SP from Baton Rouge

Nov 25, 2007

At first, I was overwhelmed by the options and effects available. But it's so easy to put together a high quality video. I had to create a commercial for one of my classes, and it only took a few hours. I highly recommend this.

131 of 189 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 422 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Good product slightly stripped down from previous versions

Written by SW from Republic

Nov 28, 2007

I had previous version on an old G5 which I am pleased with new options and price. I just wish they wouldn't have taken some of things away in Livetype and not offer soundtrack like previous versions. Can't complain to much again worth the money. Users manual for product talks of a few livefonts that are not included in software. If they are I have not been able to find them. Best video editing program you can find for the money no doubt.

134 of 186 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Great little program!

Written by CP from Round Lake Beach

Dec 1, 2007

I've been using Final Cut Pro for four years and love it. With my business growing and the need to expand while spending as little money as possible, FPE seemed like a decent choice to add more editing suites for rough cuts without the over head of a $1,300 license. I'm glad I gave it a try. The tapeless ingest works great. EVEN AVCHD! Plug it in and go. But the best part... I can hand the job off to an editor have them do a rough cut or off-line edit, transfer the files over to FCP for the final edit, then send it back to show the editor what I want in the future. The files are interchangeable between pro and express!!! Of Course many of the high-end features aren't available in FCE, but if you're teaching someone to edit like a pro or just learning yourself this is a great start.

283 of 375 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Say goodbye to extras

Written by JR from Nashville

Dec 3, 2007

For those who are looking to purchase FCE 4 because they have "outgrown" iMovie, think twice before you jump. I was drawn to FCE because I have been able to use friends' prior version of FCE -- which contained a music application called Soundtrack and contained loads of music and loops -- well beyond that contained in Garageband. The prior version of FCE also provided a plethora of extra content for LiveType, which is a fun application for animating text.

What Apple does not say on their web page is that the FCE 4 "upgrade" is actually a downgrade. Soundtrack is gone, and so are almost all the LiveType extras. So for a $100 price cut, Apple has taken out $200 worth of extras.

3887 of 4819 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

not compatible with fcp studio2

Written by AM from Tlalnepantla

Dec 17, 2007

Is not possible to share projects with final cut studio 2. Ok, the new plugins included are nice, and the keyframing is basic but efficient. I basically bought this software to install and run in a macbook intel core2duo, thinking about to capture or start simple projects to make postproduction in another intel based mac with FCS2 later. I found frustrating when FCS2 message appears: "the project is newer to this version of software" (or something like this). Hey apple what's wrong? What do I make? Only clipping? I'm very dissapointed with them.

150 of 228 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Awesome

Written by CJ from Hudson

Dec 23, 2007

The title pretty much explains the program

61 of 190 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Best EVER!!!!

Written by TG from Manorville

Dec 27, 2007

I love the new FCE

49 of 154 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.

154 of 204 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

Apple Final Cut Express

Written by WG from Loves Park

Jan 5, 2008

To sum it up, this product is made by Apple. What is left to be desired? I started out using a PC for video editing and what a mistake that was! Switching to a Mac, I quickly grasped iMovie's beginner-friendly interface. Quickly outgrowing that, I moved on to Final Cut Express and will never regret it! This is the greatest video editing application I have ever used. From its easy-to-use interface, to its flawless video editing capabilities, this product continues to amaze with every click of the mouse and stroke of a key. A must have for all amateur film makers.

64 of 96 people found this useful

Final Cut Express 4.0

The Bomb

Written by JF from Simi Valley

Jan 6, 2008

I just purchased the upgrade from V2. I won't speak from a perspective of other versions of this software. If you own a Mac and you want to do some really pro stuff for not a lot of money, this is it. It will blow your mind. There is a learning curve to it. Take your time. Play with it. Have the user manual PDF open as you go. You'll be amazed at what you can do. This is the not-so-scaled-down version of what the big dogs use. There is a reason for that. This is $200 software! And it rocks.

46 of 70 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.

205 of 263 people found this useful