Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express 2?

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
My pseudo-boyfriend and I are planning on making a student film. We're going to shoot it on 24p DV tape with camera sound (through a separate shotgun mic). All told the project will run about 12 to 18 minutes, including titles, etc.



We're going to need to edit this on my Mac, and I want something more capable than iMovie. I've used Final Cut Pro 3 before, and of course, version 4 would be up to the task. But it's $500.



Final Cut Express 2 is $350 less.



For a DV project (I foresee no need to edit film in my future), what would I be missing in Final Cut Express from Final Cut Pro?



Any help in figuring this purchase out will be greatly appreciated!



Kirk

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    As long as you're not printing to film / just doing DV stuff, Final Cut Express 2 is an extremely capable video editing platform. Does the large majority of what FCP does for a lot less. Wasn't so with version 1.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Moogs

    As long as you're not printing to film / just doing DV stuff, Final Cut Express 2 is an extremely capable video editing platform. Does the large majority of what FCP does for a lot less. Wasn't so with version 1.



    i agree. but if you are planning on doing many more movies in the future, i would get FCP, just in case there is something GCP does that FCE can't.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    If you're shooting 24P you can afford Final Cut Pro. Get it because let's be honest do you really want to do without Batch Capturing and Timecode throughout your whole project. Plus keyframing is sooo much better in Final Cut Pro(much more parameters)
  • Reply 4 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    If you're shooting 24P you can afford Final Cut Pro. Get it because let's be honest do you really want to do without Batch Capturing and Timecode throughout your whole project. Plus keyframing is sooo much better in Final Cut Pro(much more parameters)



    I'm not sure how the "afford" thing comes into it. We're using a friend's camera, and the bf is covering all the other costs. I just need to buy some editing software.



    I don't think I ever used "batch capture" in Final Cut Pro, what would the lack of this prevent me from doing in FCE?



    I never understood timecodes, either. Even when I as editing on printed film on a linear editing deck. The second anyone throws numbers at me in almost any situation, my brain turns off.



    How would those two features make FCP worth $350 more than FCE?



    If I need Pro, then I need Pro. But there are a lot of other things in my life that could probably use $350 worth of attention...



    Kirk
  • Reply 5 of 10
    color correction color correction color correction. the big difference from express to pro is that you have more color correction tools, like a video waveform. i'm torn between the two progs too, cause i want advanced color correction, but express has everything else i need.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    I'm not sure how the "afford" thing comes into it. We're using a friend's camera, and the bf is covering all the other costs. I just need to buy some editing software.



    You're shooting 24p right? You might want to find out if FCE can handle that. Sure it's DV but it's still slightly different I'd recommend you check with some of the guys at Creative Cow on their experience with 24P just to make sure http://www.creativecow.net/index.php?forumid=8



    Quote:

    I don't think I ever used "batch capture" in Final Cut Pro, what would the lack of this prevent me from doing in FCE?



    Kirkland it wouldn't be a deal breaker but say you've got 15 DV tapes full of various clips. If you've Logged them and set the In/out points of your favorite scenes it's easy to import them when you're ready. FCP will ask for the name of the tape you assign and it will control your deck and locate and import the clip. For dinking around you wouldn't need it but a 12-18minute video will probably have you capturing 3-5 times that much information on tape. It could be a timesaver. I've heard FCE's import is much slower by comparison.







    Quote:

    I never understood timecodes, either. Even when I as editing on printed film on a linear editing deck. The second anyone throws numbers at me in almost any situation, my brain turns off.



    FCE uses Timecode but it's just hidden. Timecode just allows you got easily jump to and from sections of your video and it probably helps with some of the keyframing. Keyframing allows you to do things to your video over time whether it be audio or video. Final Cut Pro has many more keyframe options but it really depends on how ambitious your project is going to be.



    FCP has Soundtrack and Livetype. So if you need royalty free backing tracks and nice Titles that can be animated look towards FCP.



    I don't think anyone wants you to spend $350 more dollars if it's unnecessary I guess it'll boil down to how ambitious your product is. Even editing for a 90 second commercial spot can be involved so your 12-18 minute piece is nothing to sneeze at using ANY video application. I see you're getting Academic pricing. That's good. I am thinking about the same thing...



    "do I get FCE right now or just jump whole hog into FCP?"



    At any rate you cannot go wrong. The UI of the apps is so similar if you get FCE any knowledge you get carries right over to FCP.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    Sountrack would be a Good Thing To Have. And the other features as well. I'd be interested in knowing what it is in terms of color correction that FCP can do that FCE cannot and how it would affect my project.



    FCP is probably the way I should go...



    Thanks to everyone for all the responses. I'm learning a lot from them.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    FCP has these features that are not yet currently available in FCE



    Quote:

    Color correction



    * Primary (three-way) color corrector

    * Secondary (two-way) color corrector

    * YUV

    * Image control filters

    * 4- and 8-point garbage mattes

    * Hardware-accurate waveform monitor and vectorscopes

    * Broadcast-safe filter

    * Range-checking zebra strip overlays





    Soundtrack is really cool as well. It uses the same Apple Loops as Garageband so you will have a huge amount of available audio beyond the initial 5GB of audio included.



    Livetype- is REALLY cool. You can have text that animates wiggles or even volumetric lighting effects(want light to shine through your title amd moving showing the rays? Piece of cake).



    Those of us who can get the Edu pricing are lucky. Both FCE and FCE are great buys. Sadly though Kirk I won't be ready to buy FCP until probably 8 months from now. But I'm capturing video with my JVC so when I do I'll be ready. There may be some slight tweaks coming to FCP in April. NAB 2004 is coming and if Apple is going to add a few features to FCP it'll most likely be then. I'd love to see a DVD Studio Express app as well but that's just me dreaming.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    I think iDVD and DVD Studio Pro are a lot closer in terms of feature set than iMovie and Final Cut Pro. I'm not sure how you'd make a product that fits well between them.



    LiveType sounds fantastic, as well. I suppose in the end I'll be going towards Final Cut Pro. $500 is hardly a bad price. Isn't the retail street price for Office in that range? (I can get Office for $7 through my university, so I've forgotten the retail price).



    Didn't Apple roll out Final Cut Pro 4 last year? Their pro apps usually go more than a year before updates, so I doubt we'll see a 5.0 in April, though they might release a 4.2 or 4.5...



    Kirk
  • Reply 10 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kirkland

    I think iDVD and DVD Studio Pro are a lot closer in terms of feature set than iMovie and Final Cut Pro. I'm not sure how you'd make a product that fits well between them.



    exactly. now that you can add a video track to the beginning of a dvd using iDVD and can do the DVD map thing, i think thats all we're gonna see.
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