Final Cut Express

Today I had a brief tutorial on how to use Final Cut Express to edit my footage. I learnt mostly the basics of the program, like how to import the footage, what to do with it once it's in Final Cut, and some basic ways of adding effects. I also learnt how the viewer and canvas work, and 'in' and 'out' points within editing (the beginning and end of what is being cut). I like Final Cut, as it is more sophisticated than iMovie, and once I have learnt how to use it fully, I think I can achieve something really good with it. One thing I like about it, is that the original footage is never deleted, but that essentially a copy is being edited, so you can always get the original back, no matter what. Apart from it being quite complex to learn, due to so many elements of it, the only thing I don't like, is that the edits have to be rendered fairly often, which is slightly awkward, as you can't watch the entire piece until it's rendered, and I find that a little too final, but as the original is still there, it's not quite as bad.
Anyway, that was just a little update about one of the new skills I've had to learn for this project, and the next post will be either an update on how my editing is going, or some more information about my ancillary texts - see you soon.