First Look: Final Cut Express 4
MacWorld by By Jeff Carlson 
The newly released Final Cut Express 4 addresses two big events directly: the shift to camcorders that record to high-capacity memory cards, mini-DVDs, or built-in hard disks, and this summer’s release of iMovie ’08. Jeff Carlson takes a first look at the video-editing app and finds more than just an alternative to iMovie ’08 but a missing next step that restores the control enjoyed by iMovie HD users. In the year-and-a-half since Apple released the last version of its intermediate video editor , a couple of big events have disrupted the state of editing video on the Mac. For one, the digital camcorder field has shifted steadily away from tape-based cameras to models that record to high-capacity memory cards, mini-DVDs, or built-in hard disks. The switch isn’t just a matter of capacity, however; those devices record to different formats than the standard DV used by most tape camcorders. Until now Final Cut Express hasn’t been able to read them. read more...
The newly released Final Cut Express 4 addresses two big events directly: the shift to camcorders that record to high-capacity memory cards, mini-DVDs, or built-in hard disks, and this summer’s release of iMovie ’08. Jeff Carlson takes a first look at the video-editing app and finds more than just an alternative to iMovie ’08 but a missing next step that restores the control enjoyed by iMovie HD users. In the year-and-a-half since Apple released the last version of its intermediate video editor , a couple of big events have disrupted the state of editing video on the Mac. For one, the digital camcorder field has shifted steadily away from tape-based cameras to models that record to high-capacity memory cards, mini-DVDs, or built-in hard disks. The switch isn’t just a matter of capacity, however; those devices record to different formats than the standard DV used by most tape camcorders. Until now Final Cut Express hasn’t been able to read them. read more...