Final Cut Pro vs iMovie

[genepensiero]

for you guys who use Final Cut Pro (or Premiere Pro), can you give me your opinion on why it would be better to use for sermon archives than iMovie?

right now we pull our video out of wirecast in 720p, import it into iMovie. trim it down, put the title/series/reference on the front over black, then our website over black at the end. export and we're ready to go.

it's pretty basic.

is there any pressing reason why i should upgrade to FCP? i've been taking a look at it with the 30 day trial and haven't really found anything that's blowing me away, but i'm sure i'm missing stuff.

many thanks
gene

[Paris MkVI]

If you upgrade, do so because of functions or features you need. If you aren't making any changes to your post process and iMovie gets everything done, why spend the money?

If, on the other hand, you want more capability and want to explore other editing/post production options, look into downloading evaluation copies of software for first-hand exploration.

[petereit]

No, if iMovie is doing what you need, stick with iMovie.

[ChurchVideoGuy]

Going to agree on this one... Why spend the extra $$$$ if iMovie is working for you? Using iMovie to get your job done is a great way to be a good steward of God's money... Opposed to buying software you really don't need.

When the time comes that you need FCP, you'll recognize it.

[Roxio]

For basic trimming and assembling iMovie is actually better (think simpler) than FCP and for those still recording DV to a Mac for iDVD, iMovie6 is the best as it treats the DV codec better than iMovie8...

The biggest reason to go to FCP might be for syncing sound from a separate recording system.