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Apple Final Cut Express 4 Australian PC World Review
Apple Final Cut Express 4 review by Australian PC World:
Jerry Jones
We found the interface to be incredibly intuitive to use. Clips can either be dragged straight into the timeline, or dropped into the canvas to perform edit overlays. Adding real-time effects (which can be instantly previewed at the click of a button) and animated titles is a relatively pain-free process that most people will grasp in short order. While not quite as user-friendly as other editing applications we've looked at -- including the aforementioned iMovie HD -- your experience should remain fairly cruisy and textbook-free.
So what does this fourth iteration offer over its seemingly identical forbearers? In addition to its vastly expanded range of editing options, including 50 brand new filters, Final Cut Express 4 also supports the latest range of video formats and codecs, including AVCHD. This is basically essential in today's digital world, particularly for those who own non-tape-based cameras; such as HDD or DVD. Without getting too technical, the memory demands made by high-definition video means that data needs to be highly compressed. Unfortunately, a lot of editing software cannot read or capture these compressed files.
Thankfully, Final Cut Express 4 gets around this by converting AVCHD to a more manageable format. Selecting which data to capture off your camera couldn't be simpler; with a Log and Transfer window supplying a list of available clips. Each clip can then be previewed and assigned an In and Out point to ensure you only capture the footage you need. (Handily, you can continue to search through clips during data transfers.)
So what does this fourth iteration offer over its seemingly identical forbearers? In addition to its vastly expanded range of editing options, including 50 brand new filters, Final Cut Express 4 also supports the latest range of video formats and codecs, including AVCHD. This is basically essential in today's digital world, particularly for those who own non-tape-based cameras; such as HDD or DVD. Without getting too technical, the memory demands made by high-definition video means that data needs to be highly compressed. Unfortunately, a lot of editing software cannot read or capture these compressed files.
Thankfully, Final Cut Express 4 gets around this by converting AVCHD to a more manageable format. Selecting which data to capture off your camera couldn't be simpler; with a Log and Transfer window supplying a list of available clips. Each clip can then be previewed and assigned an In and Out point to ensure you only capture the footage you need. (Handily, you can continue to search through clips during data transfers.)
