[wallinbl]

I'm about to buy a PowerBook. I'm mostly going to be doing web development, but I'd also like to start doing DV editing with home movies from our MiniDV cam. I'm trying to figure out which software to use.

I'm the type of person that will dislike the limitations of iMovie. It would be great for my wife or my mother, but I'm just the type that wants to really get into it.

Now, FCE or FCP? I don't really want to spend $1000 on FCP. $299 is okay with me. Is FCE enough for doing what will amount to be glorified home DVDs? I'm somewhere between a professional and a consumer, which appears to be where FCE sits.

Sure, I can read the marketing lit, and I'm sure you can too. I'm looking for someone with experience with the products to tell me a little more about it.

[Griggsy]

i'm plumping for fce (when my bosses get their fingers out) as my default editor, mainly as use after effects at moment and need a good editor as IM 3 not great for sound cutting and fce seems to have what i want (ie prof timeline) without a few features i would never use and its cheap 2

[k_munic]

use imovie for about 2 years... very good, very intuitive, good results for homemovie, special effects possible with qt pro (e.g. pic-in-pic), re-import footage as .dv etc.pp.

no sound editing (sorry, functions are VERY limited, fading - that's it)

now, fce:
totally different concept. coming from the professional area, it's a "down-sized" version.

no, it isn't down-sized! that's pro stuff:
learning curve very high, you need to read the missing manual (;-)), it is not a quick "load your camcorder stuff on da computer, cut it into short pieces, add some umpf-umpf music - DONE".

BEFORE you start to work with fce, you need a concept for your project - otherwise you're lost!

BUT:
results are impressive! this IS a pro tool! e.g. titleing, moving pi-in-pic, post-production effects (coloring, matting etc).

imovie is a toy. fce is serious.