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I’m at the editing software crossroads. Advice?
Hi, I just started a new job. In my previous job, we’d been using FCP and we just stuck with FCP 7. Now, at my new job, I am responsible for choosing the editing software, and I’ve learned today that FCP 7 is REALLY REALLY REALLY not available REALLY. I mean, I could buy it on ebay, I know. But I’m thinking, this is the occasion for me to make the switch. I am tired of Apple’s arrogance and I don’t want to adapt to FCPX, although I could be convinced I suppose. So, my question. Should I do adobe premiere pro 5 and then upgrade to 6 when it comes out? Should I do avid media composer? The way I see it, whether I do FCPX, avid, or Premiere, I will be learning a new program.
Thoughts are welcome. thanks, PD
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20 Replies
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What is the nature of the work your new shop does? Tell us more.
Best,
Andy -
Depends what kind of video you do. This is only my personal opinion, and please treat it as such:
– If you do a lot of ad/agency type of work, then a fast-turnaround is often priority, with less thought given to media management, then Premiere CS5/6 will be a good option. It’s closest to your existing FCP7 software in terms of how it works.
– if you do more content driven work, such as TV shows, or other material that doesn’t require enormous amounts of FX (or especially larger projects), then Avid is your best option. It has editing/trim tools that allow you to make editorial decisions faster and easier.
I don’t know if Adobe still has their FCP promotion on, but Avid will give you Symphony for $999 since you have FCP7.
I think you need to tell us more about the type of content you product and that will determine which is the best choice.
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I’m still primarily using FCP 7 because there’s nothing great right now.
Premiere on Mac is highly unstable (crashes very often for many people). Premiere CS6 might be better in terms of stability, but I’ve been saying that since before CS3. Premiere really is too unstable on Mac to use.
FCP X isn’t really ready for professional workflows in my opinion. Avid is an outdated and overpriced solution but it is probably the best thing available right now if you can afford it.
Edius is awesome (currently Windows-only) and my favorite NLE right now, but I’m not going to work in Windows unless I have to.
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Thanks for your replies. I don’t have FCP7 anymore, it’s at my old job. My work, mostly, is making short educational videos with some color correction and some graphics, watermarks, etc. I just downloaded Avid Media Composer free trial, perhaps that will blow my mind. On some gut level I trust Avid as a brand way over Premiere, but who knows anymore. Thanks again, Paz
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I don’t find PPro on the Mac to be unstable. Sometimes Dynamic Link gets wonky on app startup, but an app restart always seems to fix that. Make sure you have lots of RAM.
PPro will be an easy transition from FCP. You can always use the other tools in the Suite, regardless of which NLE you end up using. So it’s not a wasted investment in time or money.
Daniel had good thoughts above, I’d add that if your work isn’t ((some catch-all for stuff that’s mostly cuts n’ dissolves)), you should get the demo of Smoke 2013 that comes out in June…. big BIG news there.
So I’d suggest if your version of FCP isn’t coming with you from the old job to get the new job to buy Production Suite, and see what transpires over the next several months.
“Constituo, ergo sum”
Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
CMX-Quantel-Avid-FCP-Premiere-3D-AFX-Crayola
“What a long strange trip it’s been….” -
As far as crashes go, it really does depend on what you’re working off of, because everyone has different experiences. CS5.5 has been fine for me, where FCPX barely opens anymore. It’s like working on Windows all over again. As the question goes: FCPX or Not? I vote definitely not.
Adobe’s creative suite is a great value and I’ve been happy with it. As said above, depends on what you’re doing. Test drive the free trials.
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I’m glad that PPro is stable for you. You’re the first I’ve heard of that hasn’t complained about the app crashing several times per hour. I have 4 GB RAM per core on a 4-core machine and I doubt that lack of RAM is the problem for most users. It’s gotten slightly more stable but is still bad for me.
My experience shows that Dynamic Link is an awesome, amazing idea that basically doesn’t work unless you’re doing very simple operations.
Smoke looks amazing. At $3500 it’s also in a different market.
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My experience shows that Dynamic Link is an awesome, amazing idea that basically doesn’t work unless you’re doing very simple operations.
ummmm…… huh? Maybe I was doing something wrong, as it’s worked quite well sending video off to After Effects for complex layering & FX, then remaining linked in the PPro timeline for 1-click editing in AFX.
Of course, you almost always need to render a preview to get any usable performance in PPro from the resulting linked comp – maybe that’s what you’re referring to? But you can’t expect CPU magic to happen just because it’s a DL asset.
“Constituo, ergo sum”
Bob Woodhead / Atlanta
CMX-Quantel-Avid-FCP-Premiere-3D-AFX-Crayola
“What a long strange trip it’s been….” -
I’m doing my first serious MC job and I’m liking it. I’m curious about PPro but very underwhelmed by 5.5. Adobe has a lot to prove we’ll see how they do. But you can’t go wrong with MC.
Robert Brown
Editor/VFX/Colorist – FCP, Smoke, Quantel Pablo, After Effects, 3DS MAX, Premiere Prohttps://vimeo.com/user3987510/videos
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Have you checked to see if Apple’s back stock of FCP 7 is exhausted? They’ve been selling it as a phone order-only release until recently:
https://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/01/final-cut-studio-back-on-sale-final-cut-pro-x-haters-rejoice/
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