Final Cut Express
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 Final Cut Express HD (3.0) |
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| Maintainer: | Apple Computer |
| Stable release: | 3.5 (May 18, 2006) [+/-] |
| Preview release: | none (none) [+/-] |
| OS: | Mac OS X |
| Use: | Digital video editing |
| License: | Proprietary |
| Website: | [1] |
Final Cut Express is a non linear video editing application created by Apple Computer. It is the consumer version of Final Cut Pro and is designed for advanced editing of digital video as well as high definition video, which is used by many amateur and professional videographers.
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[edit] History
Final Cut Express was first released at Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco in 2003, and was based on Final Cut Pro 3. The second version was released at Macworld San Francisco in 2004 - roughly a year later - and was based on Final Cut Pro 4. The third and latest version of Final Cut Express - called Final Cut Express HD because it added the ability to edit HDV - was announced in the 2005 Macworld San Francisco, and became available in February of the same year. It was based on Final Cut Pro HD (version 4.5).
Final Cut Express version 3.5 was released with no special event in May 2006 and is Universal, which means that it runs on both Intel and PowerPC-based Macs. It includes LiveType version 2, for custom titling (the same program is included with Final Cut Studio), and a program called Soundtrack (see Soundtrack Pro), for creating royalty-free music scores that synchronise with video projects.
[edit] Features
Final Cut Express' interface is identical to that of Final Cut Pro; however, it lacks some of the film-specific features. For example, it does not include Cinema Tools, and cannot edit film or native/uncompressed HD formats and it does not have a multi-cam editing feature. Most significantly, it lacks a batch capture facility and a timecode view. The program can perform 32 'undo' operations (while Final Cut Pro can do 99) [2].
Features the program does include:
- The ability to keyframe filters
- Dynamic RT, which changes real-time settings on-the-fly
- Motion path keyframing
- Opacity keyframing
- Ripple, roll, slip, slide and blade edits
- Picture-in-picture and split-screen effects
- Up to 99 video tracks and 12 compositing modes
- Up to 99 audio tracks
- Motion project import
- Two-way color correction.
One feature of Express that is not available in Final Cut Pro is the ability to import iMovie projects (though transitions are not preserved).
[edit] RT Extreme
Inherited from Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express features RT Extreme - a software-based real time engine that supports the real-time previewing of a number of video filters and transitions. Other effects and transitions require rendering before they can be played back in real time. Audio that is not in the native AIFF file format also needs rendering before it can be played back. RT Extreme has three modes: 'Safe', for seeing multiple video layers at a quality that more or less guarantees a smooth playback; 'Unlimited', which allows the maximum number of composited video layers to be viewed at the same time; and 'Dynamic', which alternates between these settings depending on how many simultaneous video tracks are present. Frame dropping may result from using 'Unlimited' on low-resource machines.
[edit] Boris Calligraphy
Like Final Cut Pro, Express also comes with Boris Calligraphy, a plugin for advanced titling and scrolling/crawling titles more sophisticated than the ones that can be created with the built-in title overlays. Calligraphy has a WYSIWYG interface and features wrapping, alignment, leading, kerning and tracking features, as well as allowing up to five custom outlines and five custom drop shadows to be defined for a selected portion of the title. For even more sophisticated titling, the included LiveType application is the next step up.
[edit] Soundtrack
Final Cut Express includes Soundtrack 1.5, a program with similar functionality to the consumer-level GarageBand, but designed for videographers. It comes with around 4000 professionally-recorded instrument loops and sound effects that can be arranged in multiple tracks beneath the video track. To take advantage of Soundtrack features, users export their Final Cut Express sequence, or a marked portion thereof, as a reference file, which can optionally include any scoring markers that have been defined in the timeline. This reference file can then be imported as the video track in Soundtrack.
Soundtrack is functionally and visually identical to Soundtrack Pro's multitrack editing mode, but includes fewer Logic plugins than the Pro counterpart.
[edit] Components
Final Cut Express HD ships with:
- An installation DVD
- A DVD of Soundtrack loops
- Two DVDs of LiveType data
[edit] External links
| Apple Computer software | |
|---|---|
| Consumer | .Mac | iLife | iTunes | iWork | Mac OS X | QuickTime |
| Prosumer: | Final Cut Express | Logic Express |
| Pro: | Aperture | Final Cut Studio | Logic Pro | Shake |
| Server: | Apple Remote Desktop | Mac OS X Server | WebObjects | Xsan |
| Discontinued: | AppleWorks | HyperCard | MacDraw | Mac OS | MacPaint | MacProject | MacTerminal | MacWrite |
