Hey everyone,
First of all, what does OP mean...operator? Sorry, I'm new on the lingo, lol. Second of all, I'm not new to video editing by any means. I have been making and editing my own videos for 9 or 10 years now, I've just been doing it on Windows. I was using Pinnacle Studio, a division of Avid. The program itself is only around $100, but each little thing in the program is a separate fee. Through the years, my husband and I have invested well over $1,000 into this one program...and of course buying the newest version every year or two on top of that. I hate to have so much money invested into something and then have to spend another $300 on FCP, but if it really is that much better then it is something to think about.
I have a lot of experience with transitions, capturing video, panning and zooming, voice-overs, green screen, video on video overlays, plugins, dvd rendering, etc. I never said I never heard of FCP, I have just never used it. My Studio program looks a lot like FCP, so I think it would be a fairly easy transition for me. The reason I am considering the switch is because Studio has quite a few issues that bother me, and like I said I wanted to switch to Mac because of the graphics and editing. I am asking these questions because I want to expand my knowledge, and I know that a lot of you have more experience than I do. I haven't played with iMovie yet because I am still learning the ins and outs of the Mac. I can do basic stuff and most of what I need to do, but I am little confused about where to find everything. I know that you are supposed to used Finder or Launchpad, but I'm used to be able to go to My Computer and see everything I need. I'm just scared I'm going to mess something up, lol. So far I haven't added any programs because I don't have the money to buy anything else right now since I just paid for the MacBook, and because everything I have is for Windows, lol. I did install the Parallels Desktop trial and Windows 7 to that program, but that is about it.
I am so happy that I can download a 30 day free trial to try out FCP, that will be a HUGE deciding factor for me. Thanks so much for that info, oldscribe!!!