fianl cut express???

what are the main differences between FCP and FCP express?

FCP is BETTER



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

One of the most significant differences is that FCE lacks most keyframe capabilities, and that's a big one. There used to be lists of feature differences when FCE first came out, but I couldn't find one with a quick search of Apple's site.

Scott

And it can only do DV, besides the 3 Color Corrector not being there.

I guess FCE now does timecode, unlike version 1.

Hi Scott,
One of the most significant differences is that FCE lacks most keyframe capabilities, and that's a big one.

uh....WRONG!

Quote

If you enjoy complete creative control, Final Cut Express HD delivers with fully adjustable keyframe control over all effects, transitions, and motion parameters. You can, for example, easily set keyframe markers to begin and end a transitional effect from color to black and white or Sepia. And once you take advantage of keyframing to modify a special effect, you can now save that modification as a ?Favorite? for use in other movie projects.

[www.apple.com]

The new version of FCE HD features keyframable filters and moton effects.
Besides being a DV and HDV system only (which is 90% of the market anyway), there's not much else differentiating the two products. Many of the differences do not matter to a large cross-section of working editors. I'd say that if you were doing DV only, then the new FCE "suite" has about as much power as the FCP HD Production Suite. FCE now has LT2 and ST 1.5 as well.

Don't look now - FCP's younger brother is catching up!



Kevin Monahan
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Kevin, is that keyframable in the Viewer window as is FCP? The older versions only allowed keyframing in the timeline?? Still there's DV only and no 3 Way Color Corrector!

Kevin,

You have found out how much I pay attention to the development of FCE. If it has those features, it makes you wonder why they differentiate the products. Is FCE still way cheaper, or is that gap closing too?

Scott

"which is 90% of the market anyway"....

Which market would that be, I wonder? Certainly not mine (broadcast, corporate, industrial, infomercial and short film) How about the rest of you folks?

Just asking!

Don't you use DV or HDV? That's the "market" that got the 90% tag. "90%" might be a little strong, but they are very popular for all sorts of work.

Scott

John,
Kevin, is that keyframable in the Viewer window as is FCP? The older versions only allowed keyframing in the timeline?? Still there's DV only and no 3 Way Color Corrector!

Yep. In the viewer, just like FCP now.
No, it only allowed keyframing in the Motion Tab/Canvas
Actually, it's HDV and DV.
And yes, only the 2way CC.

You have found out how much I pay attention to the development of FCE. If it has those features, it makes you wonder why they differentiate the products. Is FCE still way cheaper, or is that gap closing too?

I've got my eye on FCE, as I wrote some of the documentation for it when I freelanced at Apple.

You're right, there is very little differentiation between products at times between FCP and FCE. This only means that FCP is ready to take another big leap.

Yes, FCE is way cheaper. I'd be fine with it, but I'm kinda hooked on Motion now. :-)



Kevin Monahan
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Yes, I use HDv and DV, but only about 10% of the time, not 90%. The majority of what I edit uses HD, Digi Beta and Beta SP as sources.

Just to be clear, I am not knocking what Kevin wrote - it sparked my curiosity as to what others on this user group edit with the majority of the time - since many of you are located in LA (I am in Phoenix) and therefore it would make sense that you guys collectively utilize the sources I have mentioned more than DV.



"I'm just a Simple Cave Man Lawyer. Your world frightens and confuses me." - Phil Hartman

[www.apple.com]


big list on what is the difference's between iMovie, FCE and FCP



David at Movies Rock in Toronto
[www.tofcpug.com]

I started with FCP 1.25, then upgraded to 2, 3, 4, 4.5 Production Suite (which included Motion 1 & DVDSP3) & FCP5 Studio.

I haven't sent my 5 Studio suite discs in as yet to get the Universal Binary version as I am the tower Macs with the Intel Core 2 processors (Conroe) which will be announced August or Sept. hopefully (I can wait.) If FCP 6 is available sooner, I may pick up that upgrade rather than sending the disks plus the $49.

I picked up FCE version 1 when it came out anticipating the day when the day might arise when the add ons to FCP might no longer have appeal. I picked up the upgrade to FCE HD 3.5 yesterday at a local dealer here in Vancouver & did the install late last night. I installed FCE 3.5 & Soundtrack 1.5.

I didn't install LiveType 2 or any of the media as I already have all that installed for over a year with the FCP5 Studio package.

I briefly had a look at the new FCE & Soundtrack 1.5 & they both seemed to install without a hitch. In addition to the extended Motion tab in the Viewer which Kevin has pointed out. Apple removed the 32 track limit that FCE previously had & now there are 99 tracks of audio & video.

I agree with Kevin that for someone only working with DV & HDV there is very little reason to opt for the FCP Studio Package. That said, I encouraged all my friends who had Soundtrack Pro or Motion 2 to send in the $199 and get FCP5 Studio.

I'm going to send in my disks & the $49 to get 5.1 universal. The compelling features for me to upgrade FCP beyond this stage, I suspect will be further enhancements to SoundTrack Pro & Motion and not to FCP itself other than better media management, customizing of the interface, keyboard shortcuts to move between tabs in the windows and the long requested render in background.

Dave

I don't believe there ever was a 32 track level limit. There was a 32 levels of undo limit, and that's still there.

All the best,

Tom



All the best,

Tom

The price differential has now spread further of course. The price of FCE is still $300, while FCS is now exactly $1000 more. Yes, you get a whole lot, but if you don't need a whole lot, then one large is a lot of green. The academic version is $100 a seat against $500 a seat, which is why it's become a big seller in the edu market.

All the best,

Tom



All the best,

Tom

You're right Tom, it's a good bang for the buck. In fact, if you were doing DV only, then I'd say the new FCE package is about as powerful as the former "Production Suite".



Kevin Monahan
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