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I am looking at upgrading from Final Cut Express 3.5 to another Final Cut product. What are the pros/cons of Final Cut Pro X and Final Cut Studio? (In terms of functionality)

EDIT: Which would you recommend: Final Cut Studio or Final Cut Pro X? I am using Final Cut Express 3.5, and am possibly looking to upgrade. Also, how steep is the learning curve going from Final Cut Express to Final Cut Studio?

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  • Why do you want to "update"? Commented May 14, 2012 at 13:57
  • @DoktorHauser Because FCE has been discontinued. I actually ended up getting Final Cut Studio
    – daviesgeek
    Commented May 14, 2012 at 16:04
  • But Final Cut Studio has been discontinued too. Commented Jun 14, 2012 at 11:03
  • @DoktorHauser I know.
    – daviesgeek
    Commented Jun 14, 2012 at 16:22

2 Answers 2

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FCPX, I've heard, is much easier but different. Its like a combination of FCPS and iMove: Simple, Elegant, Powerful, but overall different and in that sense incompatible with other FC project files. Its like OSX was at its time, or iMoive 8: "It breaks the line". If it's for good or not depends on you: how used you are to your workflow/plugins/etc.

Nevertheless, just like with iMovie or OSX, Apple wont go back and support whats old again, it will just keep improving, so I'd Final Cut X to be getting better with time whereas FCS is obsolete already. This plus the fact FCX is finally Cocoa 64bit and makes use of the latest Apple technologies might be enough for you or might not. It all depends on you.

Good luck!

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In general I would recommend Final Cut Pro X, because Final Cut Studio has been discontinued. If there are compatibility reasons I would recommend Final Cut Studio. But only to be compatible with external or ongoing projects.

A more suitable recommendation depends on the answer of the question: What's the reason for the update?

EDIT: The learning curve from Final Cut Express to Final Cut Studio is very flat. Largely you won't notice any differences.

Con:

  • Final Cut Studio has been discontinued.
  • Final Cut Studio is more expensive.
  • Final Cut Studio the needed preview-rendering.
  • Final Cut Pro X needs better hardware. (GPU)

Pro:

  • Final Cut Studio can import projects from FC Express.
  • Final Cut Pro X is a lot cheaper.
  • Final Cut Pro X working is very fast.
  • Final Cut Pro X is the up-to-date version.
  • Final Cut Pro X rarely need of preview-rendering.

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