Planning to Switch to Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 from Avid

[Shane Ross]

I just want to point out that Avid is really not that much more than Adobe Production Premium. It’s $1500…Avid is $2500. And if you have previous versions, upgrading is even cheaper. And Avid and Adobe now use third party hardware, so they can use AJA, Blackmagic, Matrox, Motu. They both run on PC and Mac. SO really, the only difference now is the $1000 price tag…which is less when you upgrade.

That and training to get people up do speed on the new editing app. But that’s it. Then the key differences are in how they work.

Shane
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[Shane Ross]

But just to tout Adobe too…

When you buy the Production bundle, you get A LOT of apps. Not just Premiere Pro…but After Effects, Photoshop, Media Encoder, Audition, Prelude…much more.

Shane
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[Abdulla Siyad]

Actually, We don’t require the whole Adobe Production Suite on all 8 Workstations. It’s just 8 Adobe Premiere CS6 with Media Encoder and a single After Effects that is going to be procured.

I think the price of Premiere Pro CS6 is around USD 800, while Avid Media Composer 6 is around USD 2500.

So it’ll be like, USD 6400 vs USD 20,000 just for the Editing Software.
On top, Storage and Accessories. Avid ISIS storage also seem’s to have a huge price tag on it.

In addition, Our previous experience with Avid is that, if we buy their software, we need their Storage and play out.. and so on for a smooth compatible usage.
We had to buy, 2x Lanshare for Media Storage, and the the play out (ONAIR system) we had wasn’t compatible with Avid Files. Each clip had to be transcorded. So finally we bought 2x Avid Airspeed as play out to AIR.

Prices were high and we couldn’t upgrade there after, or even get a NRCS/DNRS. People had difficulty integrating other systems to it.

That’s the reason why we are looking for a cheaper solution.

[Steven Belcher]

If you’re operating on Mac, I highly recommend you do not switch to CS6 yet. Premiere is currently riddled with bugs and issues. I’m sure Adobe will address the issues in time, but right now, at least for us, it’s causing a lot more issues than it’s fixing. Once they fix them, then absolutely go with Premiere. Excellent product, just not quite there yet. I can’t speak for CS6 on Windows though.

[Philip Morris]

Avid is a Pain in the back side!
The older version could output to a DVD. Not the new one. Getting files to import is next to impossible. It wont recognize video from my camera. I have to hunt and dig for everything. I can’t get AVID DVD to register even after complete removal. Good luck finding support for the Avid product just to get it to register and load.

[Eric Mc guire]

Avid Media Composer is the most serious junk I had the chance to work with. I am very sorry, usually I am respectful towards general things of life, but this company is so arrogant with their clients that I do not need to hold. What I chance I know Marianna a little bit, because Avid would never have let me reinstall my software after my machine crashed without paying for a support fee.

Premiere is not perfect, and Media Composer is just a bit better with realtime in my opinion. Both I’m working in Premiere right now in 1080p in realtime with no problem (with the dnxhd codec).

Media Composer turn offs:
– does not integrate with anything
– extremely complicated to deal with colorspaces
– the activation system WILL let you down, and Avid has no link on its website for support. You’ll have to pay to reinstall your software if you have a hardware failure
– very complicated to manage AAFs and media linking
– Media Composer is built with a logic from another century (the one behind), nothing is like any other software or NLE
– simple operations get very complicated all the time
– locked at 1080p

Premiere Pro’s
– Awesome integration with After Effects
– working with medias of all sort is so intuitive
– familiar interface, wherever you’re coming from (including AVID)
– realtime is great and works with CUDA (and latest Nvidia drivers, should I add?)
– The title tool is great compared to Avid, and of course you have AE…
– 4K editing
– solid proxy system
– it works
– no mind-bending licensing issues
– the workspace customization is reliable, great scopes and tools

The only advantage Media Composer has over Premiere in my opinion is the fluidmorph & time-warping built-in.

My friend working at the broadcast station was showing me the other day: “look, we have AVID all over the place! Cool huh?” Then I told him that I had migrated to Premiere (tried to go back twice to MC but now it’s over).

We concluded out that the Avid systems were still ahead in terms of network capabilities, in fact their systems are very reliable for everything that is shared working over a network, but in terms of software quality, Premiere for me is far above.

[John Castelli]

Abdulla,

I realize I’m responding to this post a year after the fact, but I was just wondering if you ever did make the switch to Adobe Premiere, and if so, how it has worked out for you?

John

[Tom Daigon]

And if you have made the switch, I strongly recommend this book to aid in your transition.

https://www.amazon.com/Editors-Guide-Adobe-Premiere-Pro/dp/0321773012

Make sure you get the most recent edition.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid

[Les Fitzpatrick]

I too recognize this is something of an ancient post. The question of brand loyalty is on my table now. I’ve been an Avid-only owner since 1989.

Now it’s time to consider a 2/4K camera purchase. I’ve heard nothing from Avid regarding their plans to move MC into the 2/4K space. I appreciate the price point for MC 7 as well as Symphony. I really appreciate how reliable the Avid software has always been.

Has Adobe Premier become bullet-proof enough to migrate to from Avid? Is it still buggy? What hardware do most professionals use for i/o? The notion of adding Premier to my Adobe tool belt is intriguing.

[Tom Daigon]

I worked with Avid MC for 5 years and Avid DS for 10. I switched 2 years ago to Adobe. Even had the privilege of beta testing CS6 last year.

I can only talk about my experience. I do mainly short to medium form commercials and corporate stuff. A variety of formats. A few Red projects that were short form. I cut in PrP then dynamic link to After Effects.

CS6 six has been rock solid for me. I use an AJA Kona 3 to export HD-SDI to an engineering monitor.The system is based on a beefy HP Z820.

From what I saw at NAB CS7 has addressed all the feature requests and bug reports Ive submitted over the years.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com