Is FCE the product for me?

Yes, it does look like FCE is the program for you. According to what you said, you wanted something a bit more sophisticated than iMovie and not as much money as FCP. FCE is perfect then!

The one thing I should note, however, is that you should make sure your computer fits the system requirements, because running a program like FCE or FCP on an inadequate machine could be detrimental

Dr Strangelove said:

I've been searching around the internet to find more info on this program and what it is capable of with limited success.

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Go to the Apple web site, in the "support" section. You can download the entire user manual. This will detail every feature of the program. It is something like 600 pages long.

If you are only shooting a "consumer format" video the FCE will work for you. But be warned there is a bit of a learning curve. Don't expect to be able to use this software right out of the box

Read up on film editing too. Not how to use FCE but how to cut footage into a show. There is a lot to learn about the art of editing. You need to learn this before you can shoot so that you shoot the right shots an editor can use. Very few amateurs do this and they shoot tons of stuff they can't use. You need to worry about continuity of motion, establishing shots, inserts and so on. All this applies to film and video. Pick up a few books at Amazon. The Apple user manual does not cover it at all.

I have been playing with the same question since I edited some of my family movies on my new macbook pro. I also would like to know when FCE was introduced and if there will be upgrades soon.

Dr Strangelove said:

@mathcolo: I have a current gen 15" maxed out MBP, so I would hope that system is plenty to work with FCE.

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Definitely. You will have no problem, but sometimes those less experienced try to run FCE on an iBook G4 and it doesn't work so well..

http://www.lynda.com/

has some good FCE and FCP tutorials.

Online tutorials are great. But another thing you might want to consider is a book like:

Apple Pro Training Series: Final Cut Express 4

By Diana Weynand

It's a workshop book that comes with a disc with lessons. It was recommended to me by a friend who found it invaluable for learning FCE, as did I. With this book, you learn by doing, not just watching or reading. Amazon is currently selling it for about $28.

If you do get the book, I recommend that you also do the lessons in the appendices.

I would thoroughly recommend the following training videos for FCE 4.

http://www.izzyvideo.com/learn-final-cut-express/

It's all free and the guy is superb at explaining all the key basics in a way that is easy to understand. You can also download the sample clips and follow along with each tutorial.

Vanilla