Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Complete video editing suite. Editing, Motion Graphics, Color Correction, Compression, Sound Recording and editing DVD authoring.
Some of these are simple to learn. I found Final Cut editing to be easy to use. Most of this is difficult to learn, but powerful to implement. Buy the PeachTree Apple Certification books.
I am not an expert at this. Here is what I found.
The Color suite is more Unix based and does not use the Apple file system, so if you have multiple hard drives and don't know UNIX well, you might have a hard time finding your files. I have 18 drives hooked up to my machine. I gave up and tabled further study until later. Next time I'll move the files over to my scratch disk with Finder and work on project entirely there. I was disappointed the new version did not fix this. It looks like a Unix program, not a clean looking Apple interface. Truthfully, I did not put much time into Color. I've seen professional demonstrations, and wish I recorded them. Those guys make it look so easy.
I found the sound editing package worked well, shifting between time and frequency domains made it easy to edit out pops of sound, mic thuds, etc. However, I could not re-import into Final Cut. More study needed.
The shear number of video formats will melt your brain. I might have to take a course on that. I wish it was more simple. Frankly I don't understand much of that. Pro Res 422 is a common format, but there are also iPod formats, SD formats, ok the number of formats is around 30 or so. That is a lot of different formats. Someone explain what they all are used for, and give me a way to blank out the non-US formats.
Motion graphics seemed somewhat easy to use, with a book for a study guide. I produced some cool special effects for titles in a short period of time. I could really get into that. Some people do this for a living. Very impressive.
DVD authoring was a snap. I found that marking chapters needed to be done in advance in Final Cut. Aside from that one issue, it was easy to produce a DVD that would play with chapter heading, slide shows, or anything else you might like. What a great way to back up still picture archives?
Some people like Avid. I can't comment on that. I think FCP is a great program, despite it's flaws. It is worth learning and mastering. Do not expect to master each book or application individually. Try instead to produce a small video using all of these elements and then build on your expertise in the individual elements once you understand the basics of each application.
Also, be advised if you are serious about learning this application, you want the most powerful Mac you can afford. The rendering times for Final Cut can take a while. Faster CPU's mean less of your time is spent waiting for such actions to complete. If you can afford a new MAC PRO you are on the right track, although newer MacBook Pro or iMac will do the job, albeit, it will take longer.
RAID is your friend so a Mac Pro is really the way to go. I'd put a SSD drive in the second optical bay and four RAID 0, 2 TB drives in the four drive bays. This would be a good minimal configuration.
Click Here to see more reviews about:
Final Cut Studio - Old VersionEdit, animate, mix, grade, and deliver on a Mac with Final Cut Studio. It includes more than 100 powerful new features. Use new versions of the ProRes codec to edit at high quality with reduced file sizes in a wide variety of workflows. Work with clients or colleagues in real time from anywhere in the world using iChat Theater. Add dramatic 3D graphics, repair common audio problems, and automate delivery in just a few clicks. The leading post-production suite now includes significant upgrades to Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Soundtrack Pro and updated versions of Color and Compressor. It also includes DVD Studio Pro, the industry standard for DVD authoring.
The leading post-production suite is even better. The new Final Cut Studio.
Top Features
Expanded ProRes family.
Edit even faster at higher quality across workflows ranging from offline editing to broadcast events to high-fidelity compositing.
Easy export.
Use the new Share window in Final Cut Pro 7 or Motion 4 for single-click delivery to your Apple devices, the web, a Blu-ray disc, or a DVD.
iChat Theater support.
Work with clients or colleagues in real time from anywhere in the world. Just send your Final Cut Pro video to iChat Theater.
Soundtrack Pro makes it easy to edit and mix sound for picture, with point-and-click tools and seamless round-tripping with Final Cut Pro.
Click here for more information about Final Cut Studio - Old Version
