Apple Final Cut Express HD 3.5 (Mac)

by Apple

Product Features

• Universal Binary version for Mac OSX and Mac OSX Intel

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000BX24O6
• Item model number: MA261Z/A
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 17, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,783 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #19 in Software > Video & Music > Digital Video > Compositing & Effects
  • #89 in Software > Video & Music > Digital Video > Video Editing

Product Description

Final Cut Express HD 3.5 provides a complete set of advanced editing tools for DV and HDV video formats with support for multiple video layers, real-time special effects and transitions, and powerful color correction and matting filters for professional-looking results. New Dynamic RT enables users to view even multi-layered HDV video in real-time which dramatically speeds up the editing process by eliminating the need to render and re-render clips. In addition, all effects, transitions and motion parameters can now be keyframed, providing complete creative control over special effects that can be saved as favorites for use in other projects. Complementing Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is a new version of Soundtrack with over 4,000 professional-quality, royalty-free instrument loops and sound effects that can be mixed and matched to instantly create a custom score precisely timed to each project. New features in Soundtrack 1.5 include improved multitrack audio editing and recording tools with tracks, busses, outputs and real-time effects processing just like a professional recording studio. Improved single and multiple take recording provides a way to record, audition and edit dialog or other recorded performances with expert precision. Also included in Final Cut Express HD 3.5 is a new version of LiveType that lets users add high-impact excitement to movies with dynamic animated text and hundreds of royalty-free backgrounds and animated textures—all customizable to match the look and feel of projects. New features in LiveType 2.1 include a host of exciting new animated graphics, including 70 new animated objects, 15 new textures and 60 new customizable preset effects for animated text and titles. With new vector-based LiveFont technology, animated text styles like Tremor, Script, Ribbon, Cool and Blueprint can be scaled to any resolution including HD with blazing rendering performance, especially on the new generation of Intel-based Macs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Program -- One BIG flaw, March 11, 2007

By 

One Man's Opinion "Scott in Tampa" (Tampa, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apple Final Cut Express HD 3.5 (Mac) (DVD-ROM)

Final Cut Express is a very powerful program, and no doubt you can make spectacular movies with it. However, there is one glaring flaw that is driving me nuts: NO BATCH CAPTURE! In Final Cut Pro, the much more expensive parent of Final Cut Express, you can run through your video setting in/out points very quickly, and then simply doing a "Batch Capture," allowing you to walk away and let the program gather all your clips. In FCE, however, it's different. You can either capture the whole tape, and then edit it later. Or, you can set your in/outs, and then capture before moving on to the next clip. My God, if you have a lot of video to work with, can you imagine how much extra time this will take. And, again, with a lot of video, unless you have massive amounts of storage, it is going to be tough to capture an entire tape and cut it up later.

So, don't get me wrong.....great program, tons of tools, tremdendous value for the money. BUT, Batch Capturing is a must for me. This program would have been a solid 5 stars had Apple simply included batch capturing. For me, my projects are long enough to where I have to have it. So......I am buying Final Cut Studio (not only for batch capturing, but for the additional codecs as well).

If your goal is to take your home movies to the next level and have far more features than iMovie, and the capturing issues are not a big deal for you (or you are on a strict budget), then this may be the program for you.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When you need something more than iMovie., August 30, 2006

By 

S. Wands "swands" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Final Cut Express HD 3.5 (Mac) (DVD-ROM)

I use this with a MacBook laptop with 2GB RAM without any performance issues. It is a great product for when you have outgrown iMovie but don't need the full feature set of Final Cut. I use it for both perosnal and work video production. No problems connecting and moving video of a Panasonic PV-GS500 video camera via Firewire. There is a learning curve but the basics are pretty easy to master.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great upgrade from iMovie, January 15, 2007

By 

Charles Carson (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Final Cut Express HD 3.5 (Mac) (DVD-ROM)

If you find iMovie complicated, this product is not for you. If you prefer automatic quick solutions this product may not be for you.

If you find that you would like more control of your video/audio than you find in iMovie but don't want to spend a lot of money, boy have you come to the right place.

I take quite a lot of home video (new baby and all) and found that iMovie would frustrate me when I couldn't do some more advanced tasks.

iMovie is a great intro product. If you are new to video, use it until you find that you feel limited (many will never will get to that point).

When (and if) you find that you feel some constraints in iMovie, then move up to FCE.

A note for most, iMovie and FCE typically are not for DVD/Hard Drive camcorders. They don't have the output necessary to directly connect. You may want to check with your camcorder manufacturer to see what they have to convert the DVD/HD to content that is usuable in these products.