Apple Final Cut Express HD Upgrade (Mac)

Take your filmmaking to the next stage with Final Cut Express HD. Along with powerful DV editing tools, Final Cut Express HD now offers high-definition video (HDV) capability to beginners and experienced editors alike. And full versions of LiveType and Soundtrack let you create animated graphics, text effects and custom soundtracks.

Whether you want to make sophisticated home movies complete with transitions and effects or pro-level videos for your business, Final Cut Express HD provides the compositing, titling and effects capabilities you need to express your creativity. As a full-featured package, Final Cut Express HD offers an unparalleled combination of power and affordability.

Flexible Editing
Insert, overwrite, replace or fit to fill clips into your sequence by dragging them directly into the Canvas or Timeline. Use precision tools and techniques like slip, slide, ripple, roll, split and extend. The flexible interface lets you move seamlessly between editing, compositing and effects functions.

Final Cut Express HD also features dynamic and asymmetrical trimming. With dynamic trimming, you can now edit in the Trim Edit window using the J-, K- and L-keys. Edit points automatically follow the position of the playhead. And with its asymmetrical trimming capability, Final Cut Express HD allows you to edit video and audio items in the Timeline separately to create split edits, adding to the sophistication of your projects.

Effects & Transitions
With Final Cut Express, you have hundreds of transitions, filters and effects to choose from to enhance your video project. And in most cases, you dont even need to wait to see what theyll look like. The RT Extreme engine in Final Cut Express HD lets you preview effects and transitions in real time without rendering--saving you precious time.

Compositing Layers
Achieve impressive results by layering video clips or graphics files, such as multilayered Adobe Photoshop files, to create rich visual images and animations. Then refine your effects with Bezier curves, motion paths, time effects, frame blending and more.

LiveType
Final Cut Express now features LiveType, a full-featured, professional-quality animated titling program. Create eye-popping titles using exclusive LiveFont animated font technology, as well as an extensive library of textures, templates and effects. Final Cut Express also includes 2D and 3D text tools with the bundled Boris Calligraphy.

Soundtrack
Create custom musical accompaniment for your Final Cut Express HD video projects with Soundtrack, even if you have no musical experience. Export your Final Cut Express HD project with scoring markers and Soundtracks easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interface. Then choose from thousands of included professionally recorded instrument loops and sound effects, and combine and customize these loops in real time. By adding Soundtrack to your editing toolset, you can compose the perfect score for your video, DVD, web site or presentation.

Audio and Voiceover
Final Cut Express HD lets you mix up to 99 audio tracks using pans, levels and the three-band equalizer. Further enhance your audio with transitions and filters such as cross fades, reverb, EQ, echo, noise gate and more. For documentary-style projects, use the VoiceOver tool to record narration into an audio track while your video plays.

FEATURE OVERVIEW

Final Cut Express HD gives you the tools and flexibility to create stunning, professional-quality DV and HDV projects. Think of this top 10 list as your nominee roster for Best Feature.

1. Edit DV or HDV Projects
The most full-featured consumer video editing solution on the planet, Final Cut Express lets you edit HDV as well as DV, then preview your work full screen on a primary or secondary display. Capture your video over FireWire and start editing in real time, complete with multi-layer video, text or graphic compositing. Then create your own DVD with iDVD or DVD Studio Pro, export your movie for the web or send it back to your camera or dock for fast connection to your HDTV home theater system. With support for both 1080i and 720p HDV as well as DV, Final Cut Express HD gives you superb image quality at an affordable price.

2. LiveType: Create Dynamic Text and Graphics
Bundled complete with Final Cut Express, LiveType lets you add animated text and motion graphics to your DV or HDV video projects. LiveType offers hundreds of royalty-free textures, objects, templates and effects--all completely customizable to fit your project. LiveType gives Final Cut Express the most affordable, integrated animated title and graphics package ever.

3. Soundtrack: Score Your Vision
Final Cut Express includes Soundtrack, the custom music creation software package from Apple. Compose unique musical elements for your projects using Soundtrack loops, even if youve never written a note before. Create your own royalty-free score by laying down tracks, cutting a mix and synchronizing music to match events in your video. Soundtrack makes it all fast and easy for musical novices and seasoned composers alike.

4. Grow Your iMovie Projects
With seamless iMovie import, you can take advantage of the additional features of Final Cut Express--including hundreds of real-time effects and transitions, LiveType titles and graphics, Soundtrack scoring and multiple video layer compositing--to add a new dimension to your iMovie videos. Become a better editor with Final Cut Express and bring your iMovie projects along for the ride.

5. Integrate Multi-Layered Photoshop Files
Final Cut Express fully supports Photoshop files and layers within your video projects. When you import your Photoshop files, Final Cut Express displays them as a multitrack video sequence, with each Photoshop layer placed on its own fully editable video track. Then you can use the compositing and key framing capabilities of Final Cut Express to build amazing motion graphics. Since youre basing these motion graphics on Photoshop images, you can maintain a consistent look between materials such as web pages and printed matter and your video creations.

6. Add Real-Time Transitions, Filters and Effects
Final Cut Express comes with over 200 transitions, filters and effects including dissolves, wipes, page peels, blurs, borders, mattes, keying effects and more. And thanks to RT Extreme, you can preview many of them without rendering. As an editor, youll love this feature because it saves you time and lets you concentrate on the creative task at hand: You can preview your edit decisions as you work.

7. Composite with In-Canvas Motion Key Frames
Compositing--the technique of layering multiple video tracks to create visual effects--can mean a simple title overlay or a complicated video montage. Final Cut Express gives you the tools you need to composite up to 99 layers of video graphics and titles in the Canvas window. Then use the intuitive interface of Final Cut Express to control parameters of each layer--things like scale, rotation and key framing. The compositing engine of Final Cut Express includes advanced features such as motion paths with Bezier curves, motion blur, time effects and frame blending with precise control over the location, movement and speed of each video element. Sub-pixel interpolation rendering ensures that your video looks great when youre done. With Final Cut Express, your projects get eye-popping motion graphics.

8. Perform Advanced Color Correction
The advanced Color Corrector in Final Cut Express helps you adjust edited sequences to account for differences in video from different cameras or from different lighting setups. Its also a great tool for enhancing the look of your video. With Final Cut Express, you can perfect the look of your movie.

9. Create and Sync Voiceovers
If you are creating documentary work or need voiceover narration in your project, use the Final Cut Express VoiceOver tool. The VoiceOver tool gives you a countdown before starting, then records directly into an audio track while the video plays. This lets you time your audio perfectly. And Final Cut Express provides more than 25 audio filters, including three-band and parameter equalizer, compressor/limiter, 60/120-Hz hum remover and noise gate to give you control over the quality of your soundtrack.

10. Insert Markers
Click on the Marker button to insert a marker into a Final Cut Express clip or into a sequence timeline. Markers let you annotate while you edit, identifying important video or audio points. Soundtrack, LiveType, Compressor, iDVD and DVD Studio Pro all recognize markers when you export a sequence. This feature makes it easy to score your movie, synchronize your titles, encode your project or create a DVD with chapter navigation.