Final Cut Pro 4, 4.5 HD, or express?

[jayeskreezy]

Should I get Final Cut Pro 4 or Final Cut 4.5 HD? What is the big difference? I am using it for video editing but I'm not making feature films. I'm making 10-20 minute movies....some are home videos-others are 5-6 minute promotional videos for my organization. Is there really a need for HD? What are the advantages? I will be burning my creations to a LaCie dvd burner.

How much different is express from the full version? I have a friend that gave me Final Cut 4 pro, but I know thereare newer versions out so that's why I want to know if I should just buy another version?

 

[snickelfritz]

Since you already have FCP4, take advantage of the upgrade discount.
$400 seems like an excellent price for the new features in FCP5.

 

[Bear]

....

How much different is express from the full version? I have a friend that gave me Final Cut 4 pro, but I know thereare newer versions out so that's why I want to know if I should just buy another version?

Gave you? Is he using the same serial number? If so, you should buy your own copy.

And if you're buying, you may as well buy the latest version. And as for FC Express versus Pro? Look at Apple's website and see what the differences are between the two products. FCE might be enough for you.

 

[Platform]

As said before:

You have FCP 4 so upgrade to FCP 5

 

[sebisworld]

Well, FCP 4 can be upgraded for free to 4.5 HD. So there's no reason to stick with FCP4.
As for FCP and Express, if you do some promotional work, you will soon figure out that Express might not have been the right choice. Its color corrector is even worse than the Pro one and you cannot do any batch capturing or timecode-accurate printing to tape (it only does crash edits).