Final cut express at DVinfo.net

Lee Hughes · December 14th, 2009, 07:27 AM

Hi,

Am currently researching into editing software and this is basically top of my list due to price and what it can do..

I have read that this software can not support 24p.. am very new to this and not really sure how important this is or if I will use 24p.

I will be making a web series/film kind of thing about my trip on a canon 7d and another video camera...

What do you think are the pros and cons of the FCE??

Worth it?

Craig Yuill · December 14th, 2009, 12:12 PM

Lee. I'm wondering, for your web series work, whether 30p footage might be best. It has a very similar look to 24p, but (I think) is more easily handled for viewing on the web and video than 24p.

I too have been looking at upgrading to FCE, from iMovie 6 HD. I just recently purchased an AVCHD camcorder. I've been using Mac Voltaic HD 2 to convert the .MTS files to .MOV files encoded with AIC. I then import the .MOV files into iMovie 6 1080i HDV projects (the only HD projects iMovie 6 seems to allow). My computer, a 2006 iMac with OS X 10.4 (Tiger), cannot run iMovie '09 unless I upgrade to OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I'm wondering if it would be better to bite the bullet and pay the $$ to upgrade the OS and other critical apps and use iMovie '09; or stick with Tiger and use FCE, which costs less, and should be considerably more powerful than iMovie '09. I'm specifically wondering what final output FCE can create. I've heard that it has a maximum 1440x1080 resolution output. (None of Apple's official specs that I've found indicates the highest resolution it can output.) I've heard that iMovie '09, on the other hand, can create 1920x1080 resolution output. I am hoping that those having experience with both can comment about the quality of finished output both can produce.

Lee Hughes · December 14th, 2009, 01:43 PM

Av heard that it would be better to use 24p as it would use less bandwidth etc than 30p..

Still researching it though

Randy Painter · December 15th, 2009, 09:07 PM

You can buy OS X leopard to run imovie 9. Snow leopard is way to buggy with imovie and allot other programs. These should be redone early next year. I too still use iMovie 6HD and believe its allot better than the newer iMovies. Plus I use pluggins from Gee Three. I do use iMovie 09 to import the videos from my Panasonic HMC 150 and a Sony SR11, both AVCHD. After I save it, then I direct iMovie 6 to the saved file and edit from there. How do you like Voltiac? Been eyeing this and neoscene but Voltiac is cheaper.

Craig Yuill · December 16th, 2009, 06:06 PM

I like Voltaic. Compared to other converters in its price range it seems to be the most polished and produces the best results. I tried a couple of other demo versions of other programs. They either wouldn't run in Tiger, or did a poor job of converting the footage. Voltaic runs without a hitch, and seems to do a good job.

Voltaic has a nice, polished Mac interface. It comes with a previewer that runs in real time, but only at 1-3 fps, and without sound. (The Sony PMB software that came with my camcorder easily runs previews at the correct frame rate in Windows with sound.) This feature allows one to convert only a part of a clip at a time, cutting down on rendering time and converted file size. I found that I get best results come from just using the standard conversion settings. 1920x1080 60i footage is converted to AIC, wrapped as a .mov file. This increases the file size to 5x to 6x the original file size. But I can then import the .mov files into iMovie 6 HD, which run smoothly in that program. Conversion is not speedy. It took about one hour to convert 6 or 7 minutes of AVCHD footage.

I cannot compare it to Neo Scene, because that won't run in Tiger. Also, I have no access to FPS, so cannot compare Voltaic's AIC conversion to a ProRes conversion. (I have heard it isn't as good as what FPS can produce.) You can download "Try It" versions of Neo Scene and Voltaic to do a comparison, as long as you have Leopard or Snow Leopard.

December 14th, 2009, 07:27 AM	#1
Lee Hughes Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Liverpool Posts: 34	Final cut express Hi, Am currently researching into editing software and this is basically top of my list due to price and what it can do.. I have read that this software can not support 24p.. am very new to this and not really sure how important this is or if I will use 24p. I will be making a web series/film kind of thing about my trip on a canon 7d and another video camera... What do you think are the pros and cons of the FCE?? Worth it? __________________ Planning to cycle around the world, Walk New Zealand, Climb Mt Mckinley www.leehughes.co.uk

December 14th, 2009, 01:43 PM	#3
Lee Hughes Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Liverpool Posts: 34	Av heard that it would be better to use 24p as it would use less bandwidth etc than 30p.. Still researching it though __________________ Planning to cycle around the world, Walk New Zealand, Climb Mt Mckinley www.leehughes.co.uk

December 14th, 2009, 12:12 PM	#2
Craig Yuill New Boot Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 8	Lee. I'm wondering, for your web series work, whether 30p footage might be best. It has a very similar look to 24p, but (I think) is more easily handled for viewing on the web and video than 24p. I too have been looking at upgrading to FCE, from iMovie 6 HD. I just recently purchased an AVCHD camcorder. I've been using Mac Voltaic HD 2 to convert the .MTS files to .MOV files encoded with AIC. I then import the .MOV files into iMovie 6 1080i HDV projects (the only HD projects iMovie 6 seems to allow). My computer, a 2006 iMac with OS X 10.4 (Tiger), cannot run iMovie '09 unless I upgrade to OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I'm wondering if it would be better to bite the bullet and pay the $$ to upgrade the OS and other critical apps and use iMovie '09; or stick with Tiger and use FCE, which costs less, and should be considerably more powerful than iMovie '09. I'm specifically wondering what final output FCE can create. I've heard that it has a maximum 1440x1080 resolution output. (None of Apple's official specs that I've found indicates the highest resolution it can output.) I've heard that iMovie '09, on the other hand, can create 1920x1080 resolution output. I am hoping that those having experience with both can comment about the quality of finished output both can produce.

December 15th, 2009, 09:07 PM	#4
Randy Painter Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: st cloud, Mn Posts: 79	You can buy OS X leopard to run imovie 9. Snow leopard is way to buggy with imovie and allot other programs. These should be redone early next year. I too still use iMovie 6HD and believe its allot better than the newer iMovies. Plus I use pluggins from Gee Three. I do use iMovie 09 to import the videos from my Panasonic HMC 150 and a Sony SR11, both AVCHD. After I save it, then I direct iMovie 6 to the saved file and edit from there. How do you like Voltiac? Been eyeing this and neoscene but Voltiac is cheaper.

December 16th, 2009, 06:06 PM	#5
Craig Yuill New Boot Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 8	I like Voltaic. Compared to other converters in its price range it seems to be the most polished and produces the best results. I tried a couple of other demo versions of other programs. They either wouldn't run in Tiger, or did a poor job of converting the footage. Voltaic runs without a hitch, and seems to do a good job. Voltaic has a nice, polished Mac interface. It comes with a previewer that runs in real time, but only at 1-3 fps, and without sound. (The Sony PMB software that came with my camcorder easily runs previews at the correct frame rate in Windows with sound.) This feature allows one to convert only a part of a clip at a time, cutting down on rendering time and converted file size. I found that I get best results come from just using the standard conversion settings. 1920x1080 60i footage is converted to AIC, wrapped as a .mov file. This increases the file size to 5x to 6x the original file size. But I can then import the .mov files into iMovie 6 HD, which run smoothly in that program. Conversion is not speedy. It took about one hour to convert 6 or 7 minutes of AVCHD footage. I cannot compare it to Neo Scene, because that won't run in Tiger. Also, I have no access to FPS, so cannot compare Voltaic's AIC conversion to a ProRes conversion. (I have heard it isn't as good as what FPS can produce.) You can download "Try It" versions of Neo Scene and Voltaic to do a comparison, as long as you have Leopard or Snow Leopard.