Final Cut Express 4 by Apple is a light version of Final Cut Pro that includes a single Open Format Timeline for editing video and mixing voice.
Apple Final Cut Express 4 can capture capture video clips from directly from your video capturing device via USB or FireWire. Mix multiple files in the same timeline in HDV, AVCHD or DV format whatever frame rate they may have.
Once files are imported and copied into the timeline you can edit them. Cropping, resizing, trimming and adding effects is just a matter of a few clicks and Final Cut Express 4 allows you to dynamically preview all changes before you confirm them.
The work flow is straightforward: importing, editing, resizing, setting window configuration, adding effects and transitions is a breeze.
Apple Final Cut Express 4 lets you apply over 200 transitions, effects and built-in video filters to create impressive video productions. Add 99 voice tracks to your video using the timeline.
Apple Final Cut Express 4 supports advanced text formatting and manipulation ready to use in High Definition videos. The included LiveType facility gives you a rich choice of text fonts, text transitions, effects, textures, templates and backgrounds.
Using Final Cut Express 4 is straightforward. Simply drag and drop your media clips onto canvas to edit them. Previewing and editing is safe – no changes are being made to your original files unless you explicitly confirm you want to do this. All edits are truly non-destructive because the clips you are seeing in your editing canvas is merely a shortcut to the actual media file located on a HDD.
The editing is accurate and you have a variety of editing tools to choose from: resize, slide, roll, ripple, razor, slip, and extend.
Final Cut Express 4 supports 1080i and 720p HD resolutions.
The clips you edit can be easily trimmed and grouped in the Timeline for playback. Trimming is a useful feature that allows you shorten or extend parts of your clip to adjust it to the overall movie sequence. The trim window allows you precisely apply trimming to your clips and zooming it to the frame level allows you to trim frame by frame.
Apple's Final Cut Express 4 supports dynamic trimming feature that allows you to use your keyboard shortcuts to apply trims without the need of moving the mouse cursor over screen buttons.
Once your video is assembled using various clips, you can apply impressive transitions to them that will switch from one to another smoothly. Transitions give the viewing person an impression of a smooth relocation or switch between completely different scenes of a movie. Apple Final Cut Express 4 includes a wide selection of transitions you can choose from. Various video effects are available too, and the support for third party video effects is included.
In Final Cut Express 4 you can preview your work in real time – applying transitions, effects, filters and other changes occurs in an instant. Final Cut takes advantage of Mac's RT Extreme using the power of Mac OS X and PowerPC architecture to its full extent. This allows you to process multistream videos in real time adjusting frame rate, playback speed and resolution on-the-fly.
There are several modes of operation to choose from: Safe Mode, Unlimited Mode and Dynamic RT mode. Each mode supports different number of simultaneous streams and effects it can handle depending on your Mac system configuration and performance.
Final Cut Express 4 allows you to dynamically correct the color of your clips, ensuring consistent look across all clips recorded at different scenes or circumstances. Adjust color, saturation, brightness, hue and balance of your clips, correct exposure or effects to achieve what you are looking for.
Whilst working on a large number of video clips applying the same set of corrections, effects and adjustments can be a chore. Fortunately, Final Cut Express 4 comes with a handy tool to copy and paste all attributes to all of your clips in one go. Avoid repetitive tasks by using this cool feature.
In Apple Final Cut Express 4 you can merge multiple images and clips into one by layering them and adjusting opacity. Remember how layers in Adobe Photoshop work? Imagine you could do the same with your movies. You can with Final Cut Express 4.
On top, you can apply text, titles, subtitles, logos and other stuff as an additional layer. Compositing images, videos, effects, text and transitions gives you unlimited opportunities to create impressive animations.
The LiveType 2 feature allows you add text that is editable just like any other animation or effect. Apply text to the sequence of frames adding some cool effects to it. With LiveType 2 you can create dynamic text that is easy to animate. Apply transitions, transformations, zooms, fades, rotations and motion to your titles.
Final Cut includes LiveFonts - a set of font styles that have been created with an alpha channel for easy application to your clips.
Apple Final Cut Express 4 uses GPU acceleration for applying effects, transitions and FxPlug plugins.
Apple Final Cut Express 4 recognizes QuickTime format, imports PSD, TIFF, JPEG and PICT files. It works with system fonts not excluding TrueType and PostScript fonts.
Last but not least – Final Cut Express 4 of course supports audio files editing. You can trim your voice tracks, narrations, sounds and music, applying Real-Time Audio Filters to them. Enhance your audio with normalization, mixing, noise correction, equalizer, hum remover, reverb and echo.
There are precise voice controls builtin allowing quick and hassle-free manipulation of sound and you can import your voice files from any external source such as microphone or recording device.
Final Cut Express 4 includes DVD authoring and DV exporting tools. The Print to Video command enables you to move your edited files back to your recording device in just one click. Create menus for DVD movies and export your MPEG-4 compressed videos to the Web.