Switching from imovie to FCE.4 - advice

FCE users
I currently use imovie 06 and am ready for the next phase. With every call to Apple sales, tech support and Apple Store visit, I learn something new. In the past, my husband and I have multiple sports team video and life celebration projects. We are looking to expand our talents into a home based business. We have outgrown the G4 and looking to upgrade. I have also purchased a Canon X1AH to use with video production. My question is will I be happy with my IMac purchase and FCE to create professional type dvds? Any advice is greatly appreciated, especially from semi-professionals and professionals who use FCE and have transitioned from the imovie software in which importing video, pictures, and music is so easy.
Thank you for helping a fledgling FCE user.

hey there sdciemnt & welcome to Discussions,
get an iMac & add another GB or more of RAM(have @ least 2GB) & maybe consider a 2nd 17-19" widescreen LCD display for the future-Canvas playback window is only 5" diagonal on my 20" Cinema Display, can get tiring trying to see everything in the frame. also get a 500-750 GB FW HDD to hold your project media assets as a start. i used FCE 1 to 3.5 & the skills i learned there have helped me transition to FCS2. so FCE's an excellent learning upgrade path should you decide to go that way. i don't shoot as much HDV as i do widescreen DV, but HDV>AIC will quadruple your projects storage requirements.
FCE has a bit of a learning curve, so i recommend Tom Wolsky's book for it's tutorials & keep it handy for reference. don't try to do a major, paying project right out of the gate. though it's not as expensive & doesn't have all the apps of FCS, FCE along w/ LiveType are still pro styled apps & can deliver great results if you take the time to learn them. & don't toss iLife totally aside iPhoto, iDVD & Garageband, even iMovie(i sometimes use it to make a quick movie of photos for DVD menus) can still have a place.
good luck.
Message was edited by: Donna Jones1

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