FCP Versus Premiere Pro

[Erik Lindahl]

I’m not a Premier Pro user, so it’s hard to give good coments on the app vs FCP in the real world. I say this cause alot of things are promised form everybody and then you have what actually works. Most elements of FCP that I’ve used work wonderfully in the current version (5.04 that is for me, haven’t gotten the 5.1 upgrade yet). To me it sounds very much like Premier Pro 2.0 that came this Januari is quite similar feature-wise to Final Cut Pro 5 that came at NAB last year.

Yes, you will lose the direct AE <-> NLE interaction. However, automatic duck does quite a good jobb att doing this transition for you.

A collegue of mine always argues that using Premier Pro is very much like using Final Cut – very similar in the basics. I did spend some time in Premier Pro 1.5.1 at IBC last year and really didn’t like the in-project media management. This was very much the same as the standards found in After Effects which are quite below avarage I’d say. FCP has quite good (not state of the art), but better than avarage control of in-project media. You can have bin in bins and projects multiple projects running att the same time etc. Also sitting in a Windows-environment is a big factor for me. Premier = Windows and FCP = OSX.

On aspect I found weird about PP was the fact that Adobe uncompressed codecs were adobe suite ONLY (i.e the media-files will not playback inside of Windows Media Player or Direct-what-ever-it’s-called apps). If that’s true, going to FCP will be a huge “freedom leap” in terms of compatailit to the outer world.

Since you seem to do use After Effects, the audition of MOTION and DVD STUDIO PRO will be very nice. Again, Encore 2.0 seems to have done some catching up to DVDSP, however, that app I’d almost want to say is one of the best apps around. It’s has a few quirks but works very nicely. Motion can for some projects have 5-fold speedincrese compared to AE, but it’s limited to sertain areas (you can do stuff like realtime croma-keying if speed is higher priority than supream quality).

A final thing is that FCP is still in a, what I’d call, “non-fully-osxifide-state”. The looks and feel of the app is okey, but for instance, DVDSP feels more like an app made for OSX (if you’ve used OSX for a while I reckon you’ll notice this after a while

[Walter Biscardi]

[Dex Craig] “So, all things being equal, which is better? (I’ll be asking the same question in the Premiere Pro forum, as well.)”

honestly, neither is better than the other. The best system for you is the one that does everything you need it to do and you feel most comfortable running. Sounds like Premiere and the full Adobe package is working for you. With Automatic Duck, Premeire and FCP work together.

So really, the question is why do you want to change from something you’re comfortable with? If you want to stay on the PC side, I would also look at Liquid from Avid. It was a good product from Pinnacle and I think it got better.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Jeff Carpenter]

Speaking as someone who moved from Premiere 6 to Final Cut 4 I can say that you shouldn’t be too lost. I’ve used Media 100 before and I use an Avid at work now, but of all those the transition from Premiere to Final Cut seemed the easiest.

I know Premiere 6 is a lot different from Premire Pro, but they’re both Adobe products which puts you a bit closer to Final Cut than any other NLE system in terms of the way they think, in my opinion. Yes, there will be differences, but you won’t be totally lost.

(Also, I know you don’t want to hear about Mac vs. PC, but honestly, the ability to have my editing computer online without worrying about adware/spyware is a BIG plus.)

[Steve Connor]

Wait for about 3 weeks until NAB then we’ll see what the next version of FCP has to offer.

Also if you get an intel Mac with BootCamp you would theoretically be able to run both!

Steve Connor
Adrenalin Television

Have you tried “Search Posts”? Enlightenment may be there.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Steve Connor] “Also if you get an intel Mac with BootCamp you would theoretically be able to run both!”

You know, I didn’t even think of that. Wouldn’t that be interesting? But kind of redundant I suppose to have two NLE’s though I could see a machine with Avid Express and FCP. At least have the ability to open and work with an Avid project if need be and then use the Duck to send it over to FCP.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Director, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Dex Craig]

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful responses. Honestly, it’s not me who wants to make the transition from Premiere to FCP, but my partner whose steadfast dislike of Microsoft makes us have to travel back and forth between the two platforms, causing some trouble for us.

My research does indicate that Premiere and Final Cut are very similar, indeed, and since I use Premiere at work, knowing Final Cut on the side would be a benefit and make me more marketable in the future, I suppose.

If I do decide to make the jump, I’m sure I’ll be back asking all sorts of “obvious” questions.

Thanks, again!

– Dex

http://www.pandemoniummovie.com