VS9 vs Final Cut Express HD

[SharkTrager]

Hi there,

I currently use VideoStudio 9 and love it. But I am now getting a mac and realise that I can't use it on the Mac. Does anyone have any idea whether Final Cut Express is more advanced or less advanced than Video Studio and whether they essentially do the same thing?

Thanks

[dazzler]

Hi,
You ask how Final Cut Express compares with Ulead VideoStudio. I have VS9 and my son, who has a MAC with Final Cut Pro, envies greatly my ease of editing with VS9. His Final Cut Pro is difficult in everything it does and has nowhere near the intuitive work flow of VS9 according to him.

His is a professional version and probably is harder to learn than Final Cut Express but I suspect you have a struggle on your hands. Once you learn how to use it you'll have the ability to do more than you can with VS, but its important to know how far you want to go with it.
Regards,
Dazzler

[Ron P.]

Due to discussions about a competitor's product, thread moved to General Discussion, Video forum where this is allowed

[usatraveler]

From using VS7, VS9 trial, FCP and a bunch of other pieces of software, I can say that Dazzler is right on; FC will allow you to do more than any version of VS; more tracks are available, and you can do more things with those tracks once you learn the interface. It's a powerful piece of software; you start dealing with software that is at a professional level, able to do a vast array of things efficiently and intuitively. That said, you have to learn the interface. I came to FCP without knowing much about Macs, but had about 2 years of experience with Avid Xpress systems on PCs. I was able to learn enough to get by on FCP within about a week of playing around with it, because it was a matter of learning how to do the same things I knew how to do from Avid, basic things I learned over a few weeks of learning Avid (plus the two years and counting of picking up little helpful tricks and tools; it's a continuous learning process).

I don't know about FCE and what limits it has when compared to FCP. If it's a similar interface, there is a bit of a learning curve, but after you use it for a while, you realize that it's pretty intuitive and lets you do powerful things in an efficient manner. It does, of course, depend on what you want to do. Any editing software can make easy one-track cuts and transitions. If you want multi-track editing, more manual control over effects, more effects, the ability to apply more complex editing schemes, you jump up to something more advanced (Final Cut, Avid Xpress, even Ulead MediaStudio Pro). Also, if you're a student, significant discounts (often 50-80%) are available on many pieces of software, including all of the ones I mentioned as more advanced.

What features are you looking for in editing software, and what are you trying to do with it?