While professionals wrestle with powerful video editing solutions like Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere, Apple gave amateur video enthusiasts a new option on Thursday with the release of Final Cut Express 4. The latest version of Apple’s consumer-level video-editing suite keeps the same simplified interface as its predecessors, and adds more flexibility in handling HD video, access to hundreds of plug-in effects, and the ability to import iMovie projects.
To accommodate for the growing number of HD cameras shooting video in slightly different formats, Final Cut Express 4 has been improved to allow editors to mix and match all of them on one timeline. It can handle conventional-resolution DV, as well as the high-def HDV and AVCHD formats in both 1080i and 720p resolutions.

