Final Cut Express

[roland.g]

I want to make the move from iMovie to FCE. I have a new iMac which can easily handle it. My questions are:

1. Which version to get. I can get FCE 2.0 for $70. & the upgrade to 3.5 for $99, or $169 total vs. $299 for 3.5 (also seen it for $240). Or simply use 2.0 until 4.0 comes out and then spend the $99.

1b. If I stick with 2.0 till 4.0 comes out, did 2.0 include Soundtrack & LiveType?

I only used iDVD a while back and it worked pretty well for me. However, I recently made a DVD of something off my DVR with iMovie 06 and iDVD 08 and found that iDVD wasn't as easy to use. It tried to force me into menus and things I didn't want. There weren't (for what I could see) any stripped down options/themes - ex. just wanting a list of chapters on the main menu vs. having a play movie/scene selections that then takes you to the chapters, etc. Maybe I need to play with it more.

2. What other options are there to iDVD at that point?

2b. Or do I really need to think about FCS? Don't really want that kind of investment for personal use though.

 

[Rizvi1]

I personally made the jump to FCE when I bought my new MacBook pro in March. At the time, it was only $99 extra to get it preinstalled. I think right now its $149 so that's a little less of a deal.

 

[Yoursh]

I currently have FCE 2.0 running on my Macbook and can tell you, don't run it as a primary video editor on the Intel macs. Since it is a non-universal app., it runs fairly slow on my intel mac. The UI doesn't respond as quickly as I would like because of this. Also since it is an older version, it isn't fully compatible witht he newer ilife apps. You may have problems tranfering projects around. I haven't seen any Soundtrack or Livetype options in it, but I haven't really used it since it runs so laggy. I would say only get 2.0 if it is a cheaper upgrade path to the newer version. Make sure to get FCE 3.5(not 3.0) though, since it is the universal version.

Can't help with the dvd issues. I haven't really worked with iDVD much. Hopefully someone on the forums has more experience.

 

[roland.g]

I currently have FCE 2.0 running on my Macbook and can tell you, don't run it as a primary video editor on the Intel macs. Since it is a non-universal app., it runs fairly slow on my intel mac. The UI doesn't respond as quickly as I would like because of this. Also since it is an older version, it isn't fully compatible witht he newer ilife apps. You may have problems tranfering projects around. I haven't seen any Soundtrack or Livetype options in it, but I haven't really used it since it runs so laggy. I would say only get 2.0 if it is a cheaper upgrade path to the newer version. Make sure to get FCE 3.5(not 3.0) though, since it is the universal version.

Can't help with the dvd issues. I haven't really worked with iDVD much. Hopefully someone on the forums has more experience.

Thanks, yeah, right now I can get 3.5 from Amazon for $240. Apple sells it for $299. The $99 deal wasn't going on when I got my new iMac in August. I might use the $$ from the sale of my old G4 next week for an external case and drive solution for Time Machine purposes and DV. And then wait a bit to get FCE, maybe see if 4.0 comes out at MWSF.

But yeah otherwise I might go with 2.0 for $70 and then the $99 Apple upgrade to 3.5 just to save. I wouldn't use 2.0 now that I now it's that laggy.