How easy is Final Cut Express?

[maclover001]

Hey all,
I have been using iMovie '06 ('08 is too simple for me) for about 5 months now. I want to step up to Final Cut Express. Is it as easy to use as iMovie '06? Do you get all the cool transitions and the like?

Also, will it run well on a white MacBook? It has a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor with 1GB memory.

I'm slowly replacing iLife with the pro apps (Aperture has fully replaced iPhoto now)

And a side note, will upgrading the memory to 2GB be a noticeable difference?

And one last thing, Apple doesn't offer a "professional" alternative to iTunes do they? Seems like all of iLife has a professional partner except iTunes.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mathcolo]

Hi maclover001,

I have a 2.16 Ghz White MacBook with a GMA 950 Integrated Graphics card and Final Cut Express works just dandy on it. I'd make sure you have an external hard drive for the video files though...

I use version 3.5.1, which may or may not require less "power" than version 4. Regarding whether or not it is as easy as iMovie: It's not. It is a "step up". However, you'll definitely be able to grasp onto it quickly. There is somewhat of a learning curve at first, but you just have to watch the free video tutorials on Apple's web site. They are very informative and easy to follow.

Good luck!

 

[bearcatrp]

I used iMovie 6 for a couple years. Decided to get FCE. Its a steep learning curve and definately different than iMovie. Its a powerful editor no doubt but a little to much for what I do ( home movies and kids plays, etc.) Found somw really cool plugins from geethree for iMovie 6 and been using that ever since. Maybe some day i'll go give it a try again but iMovie is working great for me right now. If you do go for it, buy a book on it, watch every training clip you can and ask alot of question on forums like this one. Its definately a powerful editor.

 

[dolphin842]

Working with FCE requires a different mindset than iMovie, but it is learnable. I spent a weekend working through the basics, using the manual. It was surprisingly easy to understand everything. So don't discount the manual... it's actually very useful for getting started (in addition to having gobs of technical minutiae, but that comes later).

As for the MacBook, your CPU is more than enough, but be sure to upgrade the RAM to at least 2 GB... it'll make a world of difference!

 

[maclover001]

Working with FCE requires a different mindset than iMovie, but it is learnable. I spent a weekend working through the basics, using the manual. It was surprisingly easy to understand everything. So don't discount the manual... it's actually very useful for getting started (in addition to having gobs of technical minutiae, but that comes later).

As for the MacBook, your CPU is more than enough, but be sure to upgrade the RAM to at least 2 GB... it'll make a world of difference!

Thanks everyone! I'll download the trial and see how I like it. First I'll max out my RAM to 4GB though (It's cheap at my local NCIX)