IMovie vs Final Cut Express and Pinnacle Studio

Before I had the Imac (6 months now) for my video or photos I use Pinnacle Studio 11. Now I want to update the IMac to Leopard with ILife 09. Now I also want to use Final Cut Express for video editing. However since I seen the introduction of IMovie 09 I'm not sure which investment to make.
My question to you: with my experience with Pinnacle will Imovie 09 apply for video editing or should I also get the FCE. And what about my projects done in Pinnacle Studio.
Thanks in advance for all your reactions.
Ron

I migrated from using a PC and Pinnacle Studio 11 to a MacBook Pro and Final Cut Express about 9 months ago. I had no previous experience with a Mac, so it has been a very steep learning curve for me. But I have been studying the bright minds on this forum for awhile and have also been taking advantage of various Final Cut tutorials on the web. I eventually stopped regretting leaving Pinnacle behind and I have come to love Final Cut and the greater creative control it offers. As for iMovie, I found it a little too basic for what I want, but it may be suitable for your needs.
As far as your Pinnacle projects are concerned, finish them up and then immerse yourself in Final Cut. I think you'll be glad you did.

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Assuming you purchased QT Pro, you can always download it again at no extra charge by logging in to your Apple account.
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I am new to Final Cut Express and don't understand why I am unable to drag transitions into Canvas? Something wrong in my setup? It's not the overlays they are "on" so can anyone advise me please, by the way the "L" doesn't appear in the bottom left hand corner either? and by the way how can I get rid of that irritating Blue badge saying "AutoFill your contact details" all mine are in "address book" already!

You can't drag a transition into the canvas. If you're dragginmg a transition from the effects tab you drag it between the edit point of two clips in the timeline.
Make sure show edit overlays is turned on in the Canvas view popup.

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Check the capture/scratch disc to make sure the media is still there. If it isn't your hard drive may be going bad. If it is, then you may have inadvertently cut part of the video from the Timeline or deleted it from the Browser.
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Get a copy of MPEG Streamclip and convert your MPG file to QuickTime/Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC). In FCE, select one of the setups that uses AIC that best matches your clip (say, 1920x1080i60). Create a new sequence, then import the converted file.
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Just a bit of friendly advice ... the folks who contribute to this forum are good people who participate with a genuine interest in helping out, and they don't get paid to do it. People will respond when they have the information and the desire to provide it. Attitude counts for a lot in these forums, and patience is a virtue, if you understand my meaning.

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Hi,
has anyone ever achieved to combine final cut express and logic control?
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The MTS files will always be grayed out. Do not drill down into the folder structure. Select the top level of the AVCHD folder structure. If this is a hard drive it may take a very long time to load. People have reported 20 minutes to half an hour.
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User Contributed Tips in Final Cut Express and Final Cut Express HD Forum

*The following User Contributed Tips are located in the Pro Applications: Video > Final Cut Express and Final Cut Express HD Forum:*
skalicki` - Working with AVCHD: Log and Transfer FAQs
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2672530
Publish date: December 03, 2010
skalicki` - Final Cut Express: Basic Troubleshooting
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2662419
Publish date: November 26, 2010
*The following related tips are located in other areas of Apple Discussions:*
Please see the User Tips Library

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Apple ProRes 422, 1920 x 1080
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Please, please can someone tell me why?

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I'm getting ready to edit a project and I was wondering if there are any compatibility issues with Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. I've never used Express put I assume I would be able to make cuts, simple effects and titles. Is this correct.
If I transfer project files from one platform to the other will i run into any issues?
Thanks for all and any help.

{quote:title=cuttingedge wrote:}
If I transfer project files from one platform to the other will i run into any issues?
{quote}
Although they operate in a similar fashion that are not fully compatible. You can open a FCE project in FCP, but once you've edited it in FCP you can't go back to FCE.

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2. Is it faster to use an external drive (firewire) or the main hard drive of my computer? I have an iMac (intel, very first one) as well as a recent macbook pro 2.33 GHz core duo)
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thanks
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New Question as well. It took ages to render the project clip sequence in the timeline. Then I was attempting to experiment with zooming into a scene. Set Motion Key frame, then marked an in point and noticed everything on the timeline is now unrendered again. What? I noticed that before in short shots on another project, but this is so huge to re render again and again. what have I done wrong to "unrender the sequence?" Do I need to cut up the section I;m working on first in the wireframe, so it doesn't affect the entire clip/project and unrender it?
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IMovie vs Final Cut Express and Pinnacle Studio

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