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Final Cut Express 5?

S

smogsy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 8, 2008
592
2
I'm thinking of buying Final cut express, As Imovie 09 is not cutting it.

imovie doesnt seem to allow me to cut in & out sound (lowering volume over time in middle of the track)


Ive heard rumors there maybe final cut express 5 coming out near april, is there any evidence to support this? should i wait?
 
I have been wondering the same thing. Although I use iMovie for basic home movie work, I use Adobe Premiere Pro for editing larger projects, id still like to pick up Final Cut Express as my wife has expressed interest in going beyond iMovie as well.

Normally when it comes to Apple and new products, I tell my friends not to wait unless I know for certian something is coming, like in May I will tell friends NOT to buy a new iPhone because we all know in June they get a refresh, be it major or minor. Same thing with the iPods, if in August they are looking for a new iPod for school or university I tell them to hold off until September because, once again Apple always refresh the iPod lineup in September.

As for Final Cut Express 5? I actually am waiting for it, but I don't know if I should, but I know the second I buy the current version Apple will release the update. All I can say is hold off a little while but if you really want it just go for it. As for the rumors of an April or near April release? I have heard nothing of the sort, generally with the Pro or Express software we don't hear much about it until it happens, I mean, look at Aperture 3, it came out of no where.
 
Wikipedia says 'No'

An anonymous update to Wikipedia made on February 9th says 'Unfortunately, after version 4.0, Apple seems to have abandoned Final Cut Express, and no further versions appear to be planned for future release based on no major updates to the product in at least 2 years.'

As there is no Adobe Premiere Elements for Mac, there seems to be a gap between the low-cost iMovie, and the full-blown Final Cut Pro.
 
Nickel58 said:
An anonymous update to Wikipedia made on February 9th says 'Unfortunately, after version 4.0, Apple seems to have abandoned Final Cut Express, and no further versions appear to be planned for future release based on no major updates to the product in at least 2 years.'
Click to expand...
If thats the case then the next version of iMovie better be a damned good one.
 
GeraldButton said:
If thats the case then the next version of iMovie better be a damned good one.
Click to expand...

+1 - Or perhaps they could just you know, go the whole hog and replace iLife with:
iTunes X
iPhoto X (more like Aperture)
Final Cut Express X (also called iMovie X)
DVD Studio Express X (iDVD X replacement)
Logic Express X (GarageBand X replacement)
iWeb X (Please make this better Apple).

Im lucky to already have FCE4, and its a solid, useable product. When FCE5 comes out (if it does, although Apple has been known to abandon things like FCE for a while before, look at DVD Studio Pro - that hasnt seen a major update in about 3 Years now) I will purchase it as FCE has got me hooked and I cant afford FCP (yet). Although, I for one am hoping it doesnt go the same way as Shake.
 
Nickel58 said:
An anonymous update to Wikipedia made on February 9th says 'Unfortunately, after version 4.0, Apple seems to have abandoned Final Cut Express, and no further versions appear to be planned for future release based on no major updates to the product in at least 2 years.'

As there is no Adobe Premiere Elements for Mac, there seems to be a gap between the low-cost iMovie, and the full-blown Final Cut Pro.
Click to expand...

That quote on Wikipedia was most likely made by a bitter fanboy who wants FCE 5 to been released by now (as it should have).

And Apple would never bundle FCE into iLife. The UI has a big learning curve over the current iMovie. The interface is way too daunting for a beginner; iLife interfaces are simple to appeal to beginners (ex. Garageband, iPhoto compared to Logic and Aperture).

Apple is just taking its time to release FCE 5. They are slowly phasing out Pro-Apps as now they only want to appeal to the masses.
 
sth said:
I don't think they are phasing out Pro-Apps. If they did: Why all the hassle with Aperture 3 (I mean they really tried to surpass Adobe with this one)? Why the hassle with 64bit updates for Logic?


:(
Click to expand...

That's sad to hear about the layoffs in the Final Cut team. I mean, that's practically what got interested in Macs - Pro apps that can be used by consumers for an appropriate price and good features AND that are first party (meaning good hardware/software integration and consistent UI with the OS).

I do feel that video-editing is reaching a plateau at the moment, as the majority of it has been perfected over the years. I mean, look at Final Cut Pro 7, it boosted some nice features but they weren't groundbreaking.

I just don't like how the trend is becoming that simplified dumbed down software (iPhone apps, iPad apps, netbook apps) is popular. It's sad but what can you do...
 
FSMBP said:
I just don't like how the trend is becoming that simplified dumbed down software (iPhone apps, iPad apps, netbook apps) is popular. It's sad but what can you do...
Click to expand...

Combining "simplified" with "dumbed down" is not a good idea.

Since when is simple software a bad thing? If you would have told me 5-7 years ago I'd be able to do video editing and do lite Photoshop on my phone I would have said no way. Today we can do these things. What's even better is that casual users can do these things.

iTunes is very simplified yet still extremely powerful and very useful.

I am a fan of the Pro apps but I also love and value iLife apps and iPhone apps that do one thing and do it very well. I hope Apple continues to build both sides of the house. We will see. I wonder if the Pro software could be spun off in a FileMaker or Claris type move?
 
sigamy said:
Combining "simplified" with "dumbed down" is not a good idea.

Since when is simple software a bad thing? If you would have told me 5-7 years ago I'd be able to do video editing and do lite Photoshop on my phone I would have said no way. Today we can do these things. What's even better is that casual users can do these things.

iTunes is very simplified yet still extremely powerful and very useful.

I am a fan of the Pro apps but I also love and value iLife apps and iPhone apps that do one thing and do it very well. I hope Apple continues to build both sides of the house. We will see. I wonder if the Pro software could be spun off in a FileMaker or Claris type move?
Click to expand...

All I meant was that developers are moving towards iPhone Apps/iPad apps...which is nice but our desktop/Mac Pros are 100x powerful and have some much more potential in that sense.

I just hope that devs keep up with current desktop/notebooks while working on iPad/iPhone apps too.

I hate to think that in 2 years, Apple makes 'Garageband" for iPad yet they didn't do anything that new in Mac OS X version. It reminds me of Nintendo DS games like "Super Mario 64 DS"; its cool that it came out for a handheld, but we've already had that same game for 10 years on N64 (I know it's not 100% the same game but still).
 
To the OP:

No one knows for sure, but it seems likely to me that FCE 5 will be released sometime within the next couple of months. iMovie has been moving in the opposite direction, namely that of dumbing-down movie editing for the YouTube crowd, so I doubt that Apple just abandons FCE altogether and pushes consumers who want more than iMovie into FCS.

Also, updates to Logic and Aperture were recently released, so an FCE update is likely. I'd wait a few months to see what pans out. That's what I'm doing. If you really need it now, get FCE 4 and hope that there is a cheaper upgrade path when version 5 is released. There should be (it's what Apple is doing with Aperture 3).
 
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