I finally decided to go with Final Cut Express 4 as my primary multimedia and video editing software after way too much thinking about it. I spent the $200 and a friend smuggled the program into the country for me a couple weeks back. (It would have cost twice as much locally, and might have been in Spanish.) In retrospect, I can’t believe I have spent so many months thinking about which video editing software to to use, grinding my teeth over the $200 cost of Final Cut Express (FCE), not at all sure if it would do all that I want.
I’ve been using iMovie (post version 6) exclusively for more than a year-and-a-half, and the program began to frustrate me almost immediately. iMovie is certainly simple but using it has felt like trying to edit with handcuffs on. I quickly found there were certain things — seemingly very basic things — that I simply could not do. (I was disheartened to read many reviews that said that the “improvements” to iMovie made the program much worse than version 6.)
However, I reminded myself that I was learning basic editing and producing pieces that were making friends and family laugh, and I couldn’t justify the expense of Final Cut Pro ($800) or Adobe Premiere ($800).
Final Cut Pro Wary
Even if I had the cash for Final Cut Pro, I’m not sure I would have shelled it out. Everyone says the FCP learning curve makes learning Photoshop seem like a breeze. About a year ago I had the opportunity to play around with Final Cut Pro on a friend’s machine and the experience left me shell shocked — completely intimidated. I didn’t feel like my hands were handcuffed; I felt like I had no hands. I just couldn’t do anything.
I was starting to appreciate the benefits of iMovie, but I really needed to advance, but I held off buying, obsessing about FCE’s functionality.
What’s Wrong with FCE?
Upgrading to FCE would seem to be a no-brainer, but I found lots of Continue reading “Finally Going with Final Cut Express. Right Move?”
