New in Final Cut Express 4
Apple’s powerful moviemaking package now supports the latest AVCHD cameras, features an open format Timeline, provides iMovie ’08 compatibility, and offers sophisticated effects and filters.
Built-in AVCHD
Offering plenty of creative options, Final Cut Express 4 lets you edit footage captured in the most popular formats — including AVCHD.* Simply connect your camcorder to your Mac, preview and select the AVCHD clips you’d like to import, and start editing your video.
Begin editing AVCHD footage seconds after import.
Open format Timeline
No need to worry about formats, frame rates, or conversions. Final Cut Express 4 provides an open format Timeline that handily accommodates DV (both NTSC and PAL) and HD footage simultaneously and in real time. Just drop video into the Timeline and edit away.
Mixing formats and frame rates? No problem.
Import iMovie ’08 projects
With iMovie ’08, putting together a great movie is as quick as drag and drop. When you want to add professional polish to your project, simply export to Final Cut Express 4 and edit like a pro.
Transform your rough cut to a Director’s Cut.
* AVCHD video requires a Mac with an Intel processor.
Sophisticated FxPlug effects and filters
Add cinematic looks to your project with an expansive library of professional-quality transitions and filters and experiment with over 50 brand-new video effects, including Soft Focus, Vignette, Light Rays, and Line Art.
Grow your effects library with FxPlug plug-ins.
Final Cut Express 4 Overview
Your ticket to more advanced video editing, Final Cut Express 4 delivers a powerful and extensible toolset at a new price.
Import video
Capture the most popular formats — DV, HDV, or AVCHD — from your camcorder. Or export projects from iMovie ’08 for a final edit in Final Cut Express 4. Learn more
Create the perfect mix
Use multiple audio tracks, audio level automation, advanced audio filters, and the new Soft Normalize and Gain feature to achieve pro results easily. Learn more
Edit like a pro
Mix different video formats in the new open format Timeline, editing them in real time using the same precision tools found in Final Cut Pro. Learn more
Add custom titles with LiveType
Add dynamic animated text to your video projects using LiveType with its exclusive LiveFont animated font technology and huge library of textures and effects. Learn more
Make composites and add effects
Create impressive composites and easily enhance video with sophisticated transitions, filters, and effects, including a wide assortment of FxPlug plug-ins. Learn more
Importing Video
With Final Cut Express 4, you can edit footage captured in such popular video formats as DV, HDV, and AVCHD. Or export your iMovie ’08 projects, putting professional polish on them in Final Cut Express.
Easily capture DV and HDV
Capturing DV and HDV footage is as simple as connecting a camcorder to your Mac and keeping an eye on the Capture window to select what you’d like transferred. Preview it full screen on your primary or secondary display whenever you want. Final Cut Express supports both standard-definition DV and high-definition 1080i and 720p HDV.
Work with AVCHD
Now you can edit video captured with the most popular AVCHD devices, using the new Log and Transfer tool to access video recorded to disks, memory cards, or DVDs.* Select the clips you want, then transfer them to Final Cut Express. It’s never been easier to work with beautiful HD content.
Begin editing AVCHD footage seconds after import.
Import projects from iMovie ’08
In iMovie ’08, you can skim through the clips in your library and quickly create a rough cut of your video project. Exporting it 
to Final Cut Express for further editing couldn’t be easier — just choose Final Cut XML from the Share menu. Then open your project in Final Cut Express to put the finishing touches on your project using its expanded, professional toolset.
Transform your rough cut to a Director’s Cut.
* Support for DVD-based camcorders requires Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard or later.
Editing
Edit like a pro with Final Cut Express 4, mixing different video formats in its new open format Timeline and using the same precision editing tools enjoyed by moviemaking pros.
Drag-and-drop editing
Editing in Final Cut Express 4 provides a world-class experience. Based on the industry-leading editing tools in Final Cut Pro 6, it lets you edit in the Timeline or with the innovative Edit Overlay tool. Choose from a comprehensive set of edit options, including insert, overwrite, fit-to-fill, and more. To add clips, simply drag them into the Timeline. And thanks to a highly flexible interface, you can move seamlessly through your projects, focusing your efforts on creativity and productivity.
Open format Timeline
No need to worry about formats, frame rates, or conversions. Final Cut Express 4 provides an open format Timeline that accommodates DV (both NTSC and PAL) and HD footage. It even lets you edit clips from multiple formats in real time simultaneously.
Mixing formats and frame rates? No problem.
Trimming
Ready for more advanced editing tools? Working in the Timeline or a dedicated Trim window, fine-tune your edits with ripple, roll, slip, slide, extend, and shorten. These pro-level trimming tools, combined with the principles of three-point editing, let you experiment with complex variations and edits. That includes “L cuts,” where the audio and video start at different times.
Compositing and Effects
Captivate your audience with rich, multilayered video featuring spectacular filters and effects. You can create them easily in Final Cut Express and tap a rich repository of FxPlug plug-in effects as well.
Dynamic RT
Dynamic RT provides real-time playback of multistream effects. Adjusting image quality and frame rate on the fly for optimal playback,
it scales performance as processing power increases. That means you can view multilayered high-definition video in real time — without waiting for previews to render.
Multiple Layers
WIth compositing — the technique of layering multiple video tracks to create visual effects — you can add a distinctive quality to your video projects. The compositing prowess of Final Cut Express lets you create everything from simple title overlays and sophisticated multiple-stream video montages to dazzling picture-in-picture or side-by-side video effects.
FxPlug plug-ins
Out of the box, Final Cut Express provides more than 200 transitions, filters, and effects. And since it supports FxPlug — the same plug-in architecture used in Final Cut Studio — you have many more effect plug-ins to choose from.
Grow your effects library with FxPlug plug-ins.
Keyframes
Enjoy complete creative control of effects, transitions, and motion parameters with the fully adjustable keyframe markers in Final Cut Express. Use keyframing to modify an effect, and you can save that modification as a favorite for use in other projects.
Audio
Build the perfect mix for your next project using multiple audio tracks, keyframe automation of audio levels, advanced audio filters, and a new Soft Normalize and Gain feature for more audio control.
Mix audio on multiple tracks
Take advantage of the flexible audio tools built into Final Cut Express to mix up to 99 audio tracks using pans, levels, and the three-band equalizer. Set keyframes on each audio track to adjust level and pan settings over the length of a clip. Import music from GarageBand and combine it with sound effects and voiceover to craft a complete multitrack audio mix.
Adjust with audio filters
Further enhance your audio with such included Audio Units filters as Reverb, EQ, Echo, and Delay. The new Soft Normalize and Gain feature analyzes sound clips, automatically raising clips to their maximum level without distortion. You can even adjust audio filters in real time, listening to your work in progress and modifying it as the track plays.
Add a voiceover
Creating a documentary? You’ll achieve professional results easily by using the Voice Over tool to record your narration. Final Cut Express 4 lets you create quick scratch tracks or add a voiceover track as your video plays. Besides offering a countdown cue, the new Voice Over tool records “before start” and “after stop,” providing handles for your recorded audio.
Titling with LiveType
Add dramatic animated text to your next Final Cut Express project using LiveType. It features the exclusive LiveFont animated font technology and provides an extensive library of textures and effects.
Customizable effects
Hundreds of preset animations and text effects let you create eye-popping animated titles in record time. Use them as is; customize them with fades, zooms, and motion; or develop your own. It’s easy — and fun. Once you achieve the desired result, save your new text effects for use in other projects.
LiveFonts
LiveType 2 includes a breakthrough font technology: LiveFonts. Available only on the Mac, LiveFonts help you quickly and easily create spectacular text effects. LiveType comes with a wide assortment of LiveFonts, and you can add more professionally animated LiveFonts from third parties.
Royalty-free content
You receive more than 50 broadcast-quality animated textures and objects with LiveType — all royalty free. Easy to use, they let even nonanimators create sophisticated titles. Your work looks absolutely professional, and you can do it yourself. Without busting your film budget.
Timing is everything
Powerful timing features let you control every aspect of your animation. By treating each character of a word as a separate layer, LiveType gives you the creative freedom to animate single letters, not just entire blocks of text.
