Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Have you ever get in at a political party too early ? Apple found itself in this situation at the beginning of the year when it threw its weight behind HD ( gamy - definition ) television redaction . iMovie HD ( , April 2005 ) and Final Cut Express HD brought HD editing to the masses , even if the masses were n’t aware that HD was an choice .
With consumer - level HD cameras still be between $ 2,000 and $ 5,000 ( toll have drop since January on newfangled models ) , most video enthusiasts have n’t walk through the HD door — but they ’re for certain eyeball the possibility . And Apple is more than happy to welcome them to the party .
Unlike iMovie HD , the HD support in Final Cut Express HD is more likely to supply to event videographers and other professional who want to take vantage of high - definition video for $ 299 or else of make up the full price for Final Cut Pro 5 ( $ 999 for the software alone , or $ 1,299 for Final Cut Studio ) .
High definition, happy editor
net Cut Express HD supports the HDV formatting , a consumer - level HD variant that use MPEG-2 compressing within the camera to fit more simulacrum data point onto a standard 60 - second MiniDV tape . ( The two main type of HDV are 1080i , which is 1,920 - by-1,080 - pixel interlaced resolution , or 720p , which is 1,280 - by-720 - pixel progressive - scan resolution . ) The curriculum does n’t support other rendering of HD , such as DVCPRO HD or uncompressed HD , which Apple has leave to Final Cut Pro 5 .
Also unlike Final Cut Pro 5 , Final Cut Express HD ca n’t edit HDV footage natively . Instead , HDV is converted to the Apple Intermediate Codec ( AIC ) for editing within the course of study ( the same data formatting that iMovie HD uses ) .
If you ’re wonted to former versions of Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro , importing HDV may be a bit of a disappointment . Because of the way the HDV data format works , Final Cut Express HD lack much of the flexibility of capture DV video . You ca n’t typeset in and out degree to specify a subdivision of footage to catch . alternatively , you ’re prompted to enter a single name that is apply to all of the incoming footage , which is then grabbed as if you ’d get across the Capture Now release on the FCE capture windowpane ’s port . You also need to narrow down an Easy Setup preset that match your tv camera ; Final Cut Express HD will not automatically detect the camera ’s formatting .
After the video has been capture from the tv camera ( which may not arrive in real - fourth dimension , depending on your Mac ’s processing might ) , Final Cut Express HD scan the footage and give it into clips based on when scenes begin and terminate , just as iMovie does .
Once fascinate , however , HDV is editable in the same direction as DV using Final Cut Express HD ’s advanced redaction features . Since HDV footage has much more image entropy , you ’ll need heftier hardware to play back eminent - def video in Unlimited RT ( real - time ) musical mode . I test the software package on a dual-2.7GHz Power Mac G5 , which was capable to play back the HDV ably , and on a 1.25 GHz PowerBook G4 , which frequently require the clips to be render before act back in the Canvas .
Digital Cinema Desktop
A welcome addition for people with multiple - show apparatus is the young Digital Cinema Desktop feature film , which lets you use one screen for redaction and another for playback without passing the signal through a tv camera or deck . If your second monitor is a 23 - inch liquid crystal display or enceinte ( such as Apple ’s 23 - in or 30 - column inch Cinema HD displays ) , you’re able to watch HDV footage at factual size of it . Even on modest display this feature of speech is nice , giving you a scene of your pic separated from the program ’s interface .
LiveType, Soundtrack, and iMovie HD import
The inclusion of LiveType and Soundtrack helps justify the price of buy Final Cut Express HD or upgrading from previous versions .
Final Cut Express HD also features meliorate iMovie task import , which grabs transitions properly instead of strip them out . However , it ’s still a honorable idea to withdraw title and effect from an iMovie HD project before open it in Final Cut Express HD if you want to edit their setting — they spell as normal clip with the text or effect rendered to the footage , not as separate editable element .
Macworld’s Buying Advice
last Cut Express HD is a solid entrant into the world of semi - professional redaction at a sane price . If you ’re not cannonball along out to buy an HDV camcorder , the most compelling new features are the Digital Cinema Desktop and the additions of LiveType 1.2.1 and Soundtrack 1.2.1 ( which , true , are passably cool ) . But give Apple ’s emphasis on HD , and the fact that each edition of Final Cut Express is essentially a strip down down version of the premature twelvemonth ’s Final Cut Pro , this party is decidedly run low to be hopping in the future .
