FCE or FCP?

Hello all,
I'm a complete newbie when it comes to video editing so I wonder why I went and purchased a Canon HV-20 (it's still in the box in case I need/want to return it! LOL)... and an associate at Best Buy told me all I'd need is iMovie HD.
However, there's a class available at a local community college that teaches Final Cut Pro and how to use a camera, etc.
So, I'm thinking about taking the class, but afraid I may be over my head...
I've heard that FCE is very much like FCP so I'm wondering that if I take the class, will I be able to come back on here and use FCE?
Also, it seems an advantage of FCP over FCE is that FCP works with "native" HD while FCE works with AIC (whatever that is!) LOL I read in another forum that native HD will be edited faster than something with AIC? Or is there another advantage of working with native HD over AIC?
Any tips on whether or not I should attempt FCE or FCP or just stick with iMovie HD..would be greatly appreciated.
As I said, I'm quite a newbie and I don't mind reading a manual... I just don't want to get lost within Chapter 1!
Thanks for any help/advice!

Far be it from me to disagree with my fellow Brit Ian, (Eh up, si thi...) I believe you have 2 options.
1) Learn iMovie on your own - As Ian says it's free and an excellent program for one who's new to video editing with a learning curve that's not as steep as FCP/FCE. You could then move up later.
The problem with that is that a complete newbie, you have to learn this on your own (unless you are also privy to iMovie classes) and I believe that it's easier to
2) learn the whole camera/FCP with tuition, than option 1.
My judgement is coloured by the fact that this is how I learned FCP, albeit on a full-time college degree course and I found it the best way but, of course, it's horses for courses. (Incidentally, I also learned iMovie concurrently, but soon decided to focus more on FCP.)
Your decision will be shaped by your requirements - How serious do you anticipate your interest being?
Do you prefer and find it more suitable for you to learn on your own or do you prefer the first hand help of tuition?
Are you prepared to make the additional investment to step up to FCE.
My advice - take the course - get FCE - then upgrade to FCP if and when necessary.

Similar Messages

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    Hi Ian,
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    JonVdG wrote:
    Thanks Al. Just to clarify, that was FC Express (not Pro)?
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    Considering what used Mac to buy to run FCE or FCP.
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    Also does anyone know, if I have Apple CAre and FCE is pre-installed and, say, the hard drive dies and must be replaced, they replace it with FCE pre-installed again at no charge? And will Apple Care try to resolve bugs/errors if FCE is pre-installed?

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    Another point: while you can easily migrate a project from FCE to FCP, you cannot do the reverse: you cannot edit an FCP project in FCE. So having FCP on one Mac and FCE on the other doesn't allow you to switch a project back and forth between Macs.
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  • Upgrade FCE to FCP Apple Prores etc

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    Any thoughts are appreciated and welcomed.

    I mainly film & edit weddings, but work on a number of other things as well. Someone told me to try hitting escape when I get the error message window, which worked good enough on a few of the projects, but not on most. Have been using FCP 5.1.4 for about a year now and opened plenty of my old FCE 3.0 files without trouble. Switched from an iMac G5 without a Duo Core to a new one (iMac 7.1) with a Duo core in Jan, and now having all kinds of problems opening old FCE and sometimes even FCP projects started before I got the Duo Core.
    There's a project I created abt 8 mos ago in FCP 5.1.4 I'm trying to open and touch up a bit in the same version of FCP, but the cursor goes into a multi-color spin and essentially freezes up. I've also tried to open the capture scratch files from this project in a new Final Cut project, but they won't open and I get this message: "File error: 1 file recognized, 0 access denied, 1 unknown." Finally, try to open the capture scratch files in Quicktime, but get this message: "an invalid public atom movie was found in the movie". This makes me wonder if the captured video files might have gotten corrupted...any idea how or what to do now?
    Looks like my current system has an ATI Radeon HD2600 card. I'm not super technical when it comes to most of this. Any ideas why it won't open or what I can do to get it to work around these issues? Having to re-load footage and start completely over on these sure would be a huge pain. Please say NO
    Any thoughts are appreciated and welcomed.

  • Upgrading from FCE to FCP

    Is there any way to upgrade from FCE to FC studio or do I have to buy the whole studio suite?
    Im running Final Cut Express 2 btw.
    -Mads Meskalin

    Hi
    No as Ian R. Brown writes there are non. But sell Your FCE then You get something.
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    • The Multi Camera editing is avesome - but only if You got more than one Camera recordings.
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    Then there are so much more in the bundle
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  • FCE to FCP? Can I transfer an unfinished FCE file into FCP?

    Hi all,
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    You can open FCE projects in Final Cut Pro.
    Work on a copy of your project file -there's no going back.
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  • Film Editors, help! FCE/HDV/FCP transfer issues.

    I am using FCE 3.51. I want to edit HDV footage, digitized on a system with FCP 6.03. My computer plays the audio on the .mov files but I cannot view the video, there is no video. Can my FCE digitize HDV footage off a SONY HVR-7Z1U?
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  • FCE to FCP project transition

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    well thanks for all your responses.. kind of a long story what i have going on.
    right now all im running is a 2 year old macbook with 4GB ram. i'm purchasing a iMac i7 in the next week or two. in the meantime however, i have my canon hg20 that has a bunch of footage that needs to be transferred as there is an important project coming up immediately. so my dilemma is that i don't currently own a machine to do a transfer via final cut pro (i need dedicated video card)..... :S

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  • Help Me Decide - FCE or FCP

    Hi -
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    iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   512MB 2.0 GHz

    Nice try, but my point was to evaluate yourself before seeking the opinions of others..
    The first thing you learn when you join the discussions is search is your friend - for instance comparing the two products on their respective product pages will clearly tell you the differences between the apps.
    If you have a specific point you'd like to discuss regarding the differences between FCP and Xpress then by all means address it - what you've written so far is rather vague almost to the point that it hardly required a response in the first place! I mean, seriously, one could write for days about the differences between the apps. what specifics are you looking for that you think you might need w/ FCP and then ask yourself if it's worth it? Also remember you don't have to upgrade right now at this very second... take some time to find out the differences and see if it's worth the investment.
    Oh and my "witty" reply encourages people to view this forum with the comfort that they won't have to read riduculous posts like this one when the poster could of just researched the issue in the first place
    I guess that's why there was no welcome - sorry
    But I do wish you the very best in your endeavors and have faith the discussion forum will be there to help you when you actually have something that you need help with
    I think the last line of my previous reponse pretty much answers your question:
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