Final Cut Express 4 Upgrade from Final Cut Express 1, 2, 3, or 3.5

List Price: $99.00 Discount Price: $68.90

Features:

• Upgrade from previous versions of Final Cut Express
• Edit quickly and precisely with professional, flexible editing tools
• Mix and edit DV, HDV, and AVCHD video in a single Timeline*
• Watch effects in real time thanks to RT Extreme with Dynamic RT
• Import iMovie ¿08 video projects with cuts and cross dissolves

Customer Reviews:

Upgrader beware [Posted on 2008-01-08]
Well this pgrade is really great if you have upgraded to FCE 3.5 already. However if you are upgrading from an older version watch out. FCE 4 comes with only 500mb of live type content. FCE 3.5 came with 10GB. If livetype isn't a priority for your video production then go for it. But if you are looking for an upgrade for your FCE from 3 or lower and your live type 1 and want all the latest live type content this upgrade is not for you. Buy the livetype 3.5 or buy both 4 & 3.5 while you can.

Awesome for the price! [Posted on 2008-01-09]
I also own Final Cut Pro 5.1, but since I had Final Cut Express 3.0, I thought I'd spring for an upgrade.

I'm most pleased with this--so far it's very stable, I love its new filters, and the features it has are almost equal to Final Cut Pro in all the important features that prosumers are most likely to use. For most prosumers, it has everything we need. I am continually amazed with how much you get with Final Cut Express.

Because I had Final Cut Express 3.0, I was able to load up the media from that version of LiveType and make it work with the version of LiveType that shipped with FCE 4. I never used Soundtrack that much, so I can't say I miss it, but if I needed it, I could always use the version that came with version 3.

Like many other Mac users, I was a little surprised when I saw that LiveType shipped with less media, and Soundtrack was no longer included (apparently the audio capabilities are now available in Final Cut Express 4, as well as Garageband). But, in all fairness, I had to consider that the cost was $100 less than the previous version which had Soundtrack and the extra LiveType media. After thinking about it a while, I think I am glad that Apple took this route--a $200 pricetag makes Final Cut Express very tempting for many more Mac users than before, as well as making many Windows users envious! (Where is their $200 prosumer video application with equivalent features and reliability?)

I've done a lot of research, and so far I'm not finding anything on the Windows side that offers as much as Final Cut Express, for a similar price. I'm not knocking the many affordable $100 programs that Windows users have, because for many people that's more than enough and there are many wonderful choices available. But from what I've seen, each one of them lack some capability that I have come to enjoy or rely on in Final Cut Express. (But of course they are less expensive, so this is to be expected.) There seems to be no "middle ground" for video enthusiasts on the Windows side (either it's an affordable $100 program with crippled features, or a pro-level app with a pricetag to match).

A big thumbs up for this upgrade to Final Cut Express! I am happier than ever to have switched to Macintosh!

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