Final Cut Pro 5, Pro HD, Express, and Express HD

Take a look at this for comparisons:-

http://www.apple.com/au/finalcut/

Ian.

Try these as well:-

http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/specs.html

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/specs.html

Ian.

At the risk of being facetious - if you buy a new Mac you will also get a FREE copy of iMovie which is an excellent and easy to use editing program.

It hasn't got all the bells and whistles of Final Cut Pro etc. - but you didn't actually specify your requirements. You might find that it does everything you need. (I'm assuming that you have not already tried it).

Ian.

When you mentioned Final Cut Pro etc. I assumed you were an experienced editor with months of useage of FCP.

Do I take it that you are fairly new to editing?

If so iMovie would be ideal and FREE!

It is very simple to learn and effortless to use.

It can actually do some things dead easily which are difficult (or nearly impossible) with the expensive programs.

I'm thinking of Titling. The hardest thing you have to do is type in the words! After that you just choose the style of title you want from a list of over 30 types and it is made automatically! You can of course alter the fonts, sizes, colours etc.

There are plenty of different transitions and special effects which are simplicity itself to use and adding music and voice-overs is a doddle.

The main things it won't do are blue-screen effects and superimposition of one video track over another.

Prize-winning films have been (and are still being) made on iMovie. It's definitely worth trying out.

Ian.

Eh? FCE has as many video and audio tracks as FCP.

Multiple tracks are there for one main reason, "Compositing", which usually covers superimposition effects such as Titling and Mattes/Bluescreen work etc.

iMovie can't do Bluescreen etc.(unless you buy third party filters) but it does do superimposed titling beautifully and automatically.

Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas Video are popular editing apps for Windows.

http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/main.html

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=965