kfce: Differences/iMovie and FCE

Although FCE looks somewhat similar to iMovie, the application can be quite different in many ways. When I first started using FCE, I expected to do certain functions just as easily as I could in iMovie, but found out that where I have gained in flexibility and function in FCE, I have lost a lot of the ease-of-use functionality that I had in iMovie.

So, to help ease the transition (no pun intended) over from iMovie to FCE, I would like to share a list of observation between FCE compared to iMovie that might not be so obvious to first time users:

*     There must be enough “extra? in a clip to add a transition in FCE. In iMovie, when you add a transition, it simply uses the last second or so (time depending on the transition) of the first clip and the first second or so of the second clip for the transition. In FCE, you must make sure that you have at least one second of each clip (the last second of the first clip and the first second of the last clip) marked with in-marks and out-marks, so that FCE has enough room to create the transition. If you are using the entire clip in your movie, there is no room for the transition, and FCE will not create the extra space for you. FCE does not want to make the “assumption? that it can eat into your media without permission since this could slide other clips around and inadvertently affect the syncing of audio.

*     Avoid directly importing MP3s. Although you can do this with iMovie without any loss in quality, FCE cannot, and your MP3s will sound “glitchy? in FCE. You will first have to convert the MP3 file to an AIFF file using iTunes or Quicktime. To quote Tom Wolsky “You can use iTunes to convert it to AIFF. Or you can import the MP3 into FCE and use the export module to convert it to AIFF. Or if you have the QuickTime Pro Player you can use that to convert the audio file.? (Can anyone tell me why iMovie can use MP3s on the fly and FCE can’t?)

*     Fewer pre-set title effects. Many of the title affects that come with iMovie are not in FCE. You have to manually create many of them using a variety of techniques. However, with FCE, you have a lot more flexibility to create your own title effects.

*     No sound through your computer when capturing video. Although you can hear the audio of your video through your computer speaker when capturing it in iMovie, you cannot in FCE. You must either listen through the built-in speaker on your camera, or hook up a set of speakers or headphone/earphones to your camera.

*     Clips are not automatically broken when FCE detects that you have “stopped/started? the video. iMovie does this automatically. After capturing your video, you will need to use “DV Start/Stop Detection? to break a clip into sub-clips. Tom Wolsky explains: “Capture your video in large chunks. Then from the Mark menu select the clips and run DV Start/Stop Detection. That'll put markers at each shot change, making segments. Twirl open the disclosure triangle for marquee select the the markers. Use Modify>Make subclips. This will make each of the shots separate clips in your Browser.?

*     Timeline does not “scroll? in FCE as it does in iMovie when playing back the video.

*     Many of differences between FCE and iMovie is due to FCE’s “non-destructive? feature, whereby none of you originally captured video is ever modified in FCE. Tom Wolsky explains: “You have to understand something fundamental about the difference between iMovie and FCE. iMovie works directly with your hard drive. When you import something it's copied into your iMovie project folder. When you delete something it's deleted from the iMovie project folder. In FCE there is no FCE project folder. FCE does not work like this. It works by pointing to material on your hard drive. It keeps track of the file path that's all. You have to put the media where you want it. Pretty much nothing you do in FCE affects anything that's on your hard drive. It is non-destructive editing, based on instructions to the computer on how to play back the material on your hard drive. iMovie is destructive editing. Everything you do in the application relates directly to the actual contents of the files on your hard drive.?