Final Cut Express 2 installed very easily. I found the update immediately in my Software Update, taking it to v2.0.3. Final Cut Express is hardly an anemic application just because it is the middle child of Apple's video editing triad. It is between iMovie 4 and Final Cut Pro 4.0 but it has very few issues and should be taken seriously by anybody who is planning to graduate from iMovie 4 but is not quite ready for Final Cut Pro, the papa of them all.

A user moving from iMovie 4 to Final Cut Express will see many familiar features, so the learning curve isn't very steep. But Final Cut Express is a far more powerful product than iMovie. There are multiple editing tracks—99 video and 99 audio tracks plus dozens of video filters for effects, including tints, blurs, color-correctors, blue/green screen keys, audio filters for noise reduction, reverb, equalization, compression/expansion, compositing and titling. Once you master Express you can move up to the big daddy, Final Cut Pro. Because of the similar interface, it should be an easy transition.

If you have already used Final Cut Express the $99 upgrade to version 2 is worthwhile for the real-time preview alone; no rendering is required. You can even view the preview on a TV attached via FireWire connection instead of onscreen in Final Cut's display window. Express can also preview multiple effects at once. Another feature is that you can make a single track bigger or smaller without affecting the other tracks. You can also affect the audio of the tracks by a single click. And lastly, Final Cut Express has custom buttons for every feature, which you may add to your Favorites so you can click on the button to invoke a special feature quickly.

Final Cut Express lacks some of the powerful features of Final Cut Pro, like the trio applications Soundtrack, Live Type, and Compressor, which come bundled with Final Cut Pro. It also lacks a batch-capture tool. Pros like to batch-capture all logged clips instead of recording one at a time; manual capture is less accurate.

Even though it touts the RT Extreme engine that is supposed to do real-time, render-free effects, rendering still occurs when adding certain non-real-time effects. Overall the compulsory breaks to allow rendering to occur were not too much of a hassle compared to older versions. It ran smoothly and faster. It also offers the ability to layer video tracks to set up mattes and complex composites—features very much lacking in iMovie. A limitation I noticed was its inability to handle AAC songs bought from the iTunes Music Store, because it only handles AIFF. The manual instructs you to use iTunes to convert formats, but not with AAC songs.

I give Final Cut Express 5 out 5 apples. It is intuitive and easy to learn for the veterans of iMovie.

Reviewer: Maria O. Arguello Maria O. Arguello is a native-born Nicaraguan, American naturalized citizen, who is serving her first term as president and vendor liaison of the Main Line Macintosh Users Group (MLMUG). She also served for several years as Member-at-Large and as Special Events Coordinator. She is an active member of several MUGs such as the Macintosh User Group of Southern New Jersey (MUGSNJ), Princeton Macintosh User Group (PMUG) where she serves as a board member, South Jersey Apple User Group (SJAUG), and the Macintosh Business Users Society (MacBUS) where she served as secretary for a year, and Macs@PACS. She is a member of the Apple Consultants Network and the Apple Regional Liaison. Maria enjoys learning about the diversity of the user group community and loves to attend conferences for the Mac to represent her home group, MLMUG .

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© 2004 by Maria O. Arguello & MLMUG
Posted 05/24/04
Updated 09/15/04