The macosxhints Rating:
[Score: 9 out of 10]
- Developer: Apple/ Product page
- Price: $199 ($99 upgrade from older versions)
I'll be the first to admit that I've got no aspirations (nor skills to succeed) as a pro video editor. For my needs, iMovie HD was always more than sufficient -- I even used it for a near-hour-long project for a company party. Overall, I was happy with iMovie HD, other than the occasional crash, and the slow interface speed as project size increased. Still, I wasn't looking for another solution...until iMovie '08 was released.
Despite the raving by Jobs about iMovie '08, I couldn't ever adjust to its completely bizarre approach to editing video -- no true timeline, an odd visual bin that becomes unwieldy with more than a few clips in it, minimal support for multiple tracks, etc. I spent many hours with the program, trying to adjust to its way of editing video -- I even created a couple of my Macworld videos using it. But I literally hated every second I spent in the program, and my videos seemed to take forever to complete. So I set out to replace iMovie '08 ... and yes, I know I can still use iMovie HD, but it's clear that the program has no future, and I'd rather not use unsupported tools.
As I searched for a replacement for iMovie '08, I realized I owned (but had rarely used, thanks to iMovie HD) an older copy of Final Cut Express. So when Final Cut Express 4 came out, I figured $99 was a minimal cost to see if it could replace the despised iMovie '08. My first project with FCE4 took a while to complete, as there's definitely a learning curve to get through -- but coming from iMovie HD, the interface was instantly familiar, although more complex. Still, at the end of the first project, I found that I was much happier than I was when I had worked with iMovie '08 -- FCE4 never crashed, I never felt like I was fighting the interface, and I was very comfortable with the timeline interface for video editing.
To help ease the learning curve, I picked up Diana Weynand's Final Cut Express 4 book (part of the Apple Pro Training Series) to help me through the rough spots in the transition. With the book and some help from friends with lots of editing experience, I'm now very comfortable editing video in Final Cut Express, though I doubt I'm yet using even 10% of the program's capabilities. The built-in effects and transitions allow for lots of creativity, and there's so much room to grow here I can't see myself ever needing (or wanting!) to spend the money on the full version of Final Cut.
If you work with Advanced Video Codec High Definition (AVCHD) format video (and have an Intel-powered Mac), FCE4 can import that footage at its native resolution. iMovie '08 will import it, but the maximum resolution is limited to 960x540. As we plan on purchasing such a camcorder at some point in the future, this support will be important for us. (Read Macworld's Final Cut Express 4 review for more information about the program's capabilities.)
So if you're unhappy with iMovie '08, and especially if you've got experience with iMovie HD, you really should check out Final Cut Express. It's more than powerful enough for anyone short of a professional video editor, its interface is relatively intuitive, it's rock solid (I have yet to experience a single crash), and the program doesn't seem to slow down, even when working with larger projects. True, it's not as easy to use as is iMovie HD, but it's infinitely more powerful, and doesn't even cause a blip on my "annoying to use" scale -- a scale that iMovie '08 currently tops. FCE4 has put the fun back in video editing for me, and for that, it's this week's Pick of the Week.

