FCP v.s Final Cut Express HD

K

krish

Well-known member
Hi, I am sure this topic has been covered before but I couldnt find it in the search!

What is the differene between Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express HD?

I am going to get a mac book pro next month and will be gettting Final Cut Express HD (original Price USD 299 with Discount USD 99).

I do not have money to buy the entire Final Cut Studio which is like USD1200.

Are there lots of differences in the features?

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks,

-Krish
 
FCE has no logging functions....Capture now or Capture clip, that's it. It has no batch list, XML, or EDL export.
 
In FCE, you cannot edit in 24 Frames. No Secondary Color Correction. No Three Way Color Corrector. No P2 Support.
 
No DVCPRO-HD nor P2 support. It's missing many of FCP's compositing tools, it's missing a lot FCP has. If you use the HVX specifically, FCE will only piss you off royally.
 
Krish said:
can I buy just FCP without the whole Final Cut Studio?
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FCP v4.5 and older, yes. The cost is around $400-450. You'll have to buy it on eBay, tho, because they stopped selling it as a standalone product 3 years ago... I think most people spending $450 on a 3 year old version of software are doing it because of the $199 upgrade offer to FCP 5. Otherwise, what's the point?
 
ok. that makes sense.

Thanks again,

I need to figure something out in the next few weeks before i place the order for the new mac book pro.
 
If you happen to be a student there is a discount on the Final Cut Studio from Apple and from Journeyed.com. You had mentioned a discount you can get on FCE, I guess that might be a promotion also. Downside to that though is I think there are limitations for upgrades and the such on the student edition.
 
bigbossbmb said:
^the limitation is that there are no upgrades for Academic Software licenses from Apple...
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Wrong. Just last week I received my FCP Studio 5.1 upgrade package from Apple after sending in the installation disc from FCP v4.0 Academic Version. What I have now is the Full Retail version of FCP Studio.
 
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The only update limit ever on Academic software was going from 4.5 to 5.0, or it was from 5.0 to 5.1. There was no academic cross grade. Normally, there have not been any upgrade limits.

More importantly, are the license limites. You are not legally allowed to make money off of an Academic version.

I also don't see any FCP software on Journeyed.com at this time.
 
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BenB said:
The only update limit ever on Academic software was going from 4.5 to 5.0, or it was from 5.0 to 5.1. There was no academic cross grade.
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Let me say it again. I had v4.0 Academic that I bought 2-3 years ago. I sent in the installation DVD to Apple, at the address in South Bend, IN and received a set of DVD's with FCP Studio "Crossgrade" v5.1, retail.
 
thisiswells said:
Let me say it again. I had v4.0 Academic that I bought 2-3 years ago. I sent in the installation DVD to Apple, at the address in South Bend, IN and received a set of DVD's with FCP Studio "Crossgrade" v5.1, retail.
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You're absolutely right.

Here's the requirements from the bottom of the crossgrade order form .pdf
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Yes, they did change the requirement after some time. But originally, they limited the upgrade to not include the Academic version. A little over six months after the cross grade offer was made, Academic HD versions couldn't crossgrade.
 
BenB said:
A little over six months after the cross grade offer was made, Academic HD versions couldn't crossgrade.
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That's odd. I sent in my "Crossgrade" on Feb. 12, 2007 and received it on Feb. 22, 2007.
 
If I remember right, FCE offers only stereo output for audio, so you can't really export for audio post. And, I think it lacked keyframing too.

I outgrew FCE on my first major project.
 
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