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Premiere vs. FCPX
Just some quick observations. Did a stabilize test on the same clip in FCPX and Premiere – this is on an 8 core Mac with non-CUDA 5770 graphics. Time to analyze took nearly double in Premiere and then it failed. So I repeated with same clip (h264 1080p) on Win7 workstation. End result: FCPX did much better job at both stabilizing and removing jello cam. Premiere, besides zooming in way too much using defaults also introduced bad jello cam where there was none! Also tested same clip in Sony Vegas (can’t say which version but much newer than current shipping version 🙂 – Vegas also did much better job than Premiere and analyzed much faster. I realize Warp Stabilize is an accelerated effect so probably would be great to use with approved CUDA card.
And let’s talk about “skimming”. This is so much better in FCPX, crazy that once a clip is selected you can no longer skin in Premiere! I like that I can scan clips in bin and set in/out etc. but only when I actually SELECT a clip. Skimming in Premiere seemed to be an afterthought and needs fine tuning.
Also playback is much smoother in FCPX than Premiere when I ad a filter – say Sharpen – Premiere slows to a crawl while X keeps playing smoothly. I know, i know – I need an approved CUDA card in my Mac – or Adobe needs to quickly approve the very popular 5770!
Lance Bachelder
Writer, Editor, Director
Irvine, California -
58 Replies
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I feel like I’m missing something too. Since the X launch last summer I’ve tried Premiere 5, 5.5, and now 6. Unless I’m missing something I’m completely underwhelmed. True X doesn’t play nice with others, but what it does it does amazingly well. Since 10.0.4 it runs smooth as glass on my 27″ 3.4 ghz i7 16gig 6970m (2gig) iMac. Other than a couple 8/12 core mac pros, that’s as good as it gets.
And it’s not enough for Premiere. I even added the hack so it gets the GPU boost from the 6970m. It gave me the yellow bar instead of red, but actually played back much choppier. The whole thing feels just as clunky as 5 and 5.5. Neither of those were able to actually work for more than 10 minutes on either my 2006 mac Pro, or my iMac. ANY version of FCP was a better experience. On both of these systems Media Composer runs beautifully. Even version MC 5.
I tried it with BlackMagic drivers and just as software. Both methods eventually freeze up after 10 minutes. Maybe it’s something with my systems. I’m just choosing the blackmagic presets or the dslr presets.
It seems I go through this with every version of Premiere. Give it a try and give up. If anyone has any ideas I’d love to know.
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Concur – just not feeling it at all. I appreciate the improvements and that Adobe is finally listening to high-end users but seems like it still has a way to go. A couple of long time FCP experts at NAB that were on the beta team compared it to FCP 5 as far as features, stability etc…
Lance Bachelder
Writer, Editor, Director
Irvine, California -
Lets be fair here.
When X was introduced the first week everyone piled on and gleefully reported every little thing that didn’t work to their satisfaction.
Some of us suggested that any brand new product requires time to mature and stabilize.
That was my assessment about X when it was released, and in my opinion it’s every bit as fair an assessment about Premier Pro 6 now that it’s been released.
If Adobe doesn’t address what might appear to be early stage flaws in a few months – fine. But at least give their dev team time to get the feedback from the real world and let users have enough time to do more than walk around and kick the most obvious tires.
That’s my opinion.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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Sorry you guys had such a bad experience. Mine is quite different. Maybe its a machine thing. Premiere and AE create a workflow for my projects that is unbeatable.
Bottomline, Working with FCP X to me was like editing on drugs with my fingers broken. Nasty!
But Im a firm believer that everyone is allowed there own preferences and I wish you well. 😀
Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
Mac Pro 3,1
8 core
10.7.3
Nvidia Quadro 4000
24 gigs ram
Maxx Digital / Areca 8tb. raid
Kona 3 -
Face it FCPX’ers It is now going to be a Premiere and Avid world instead of a FCP and Avid world. The speed of warp stabilzer is not going to veer people away. I tried to embrace FCPX but feel that Apple let me down in terms of pleasing professional editors. Adobe however is listening and awaiting our input for improvements.
After Effects, Photoshop, and illustrator are industry standards. It seems Adobe is now trying to make Premiere the same for video editing. I’m choosing Adobe, and I’m sure a lot of other people are too. -
Perhaps adding a few filters here and there run better on FCPX, but as a full fledged NLE, I would pick Premiere every time. I’m finding rock solid performance, a search tool that *actually searches your metadata* not just keywords, better markers, and the killer feature: Tracks.
Not being trackbased made FCPX a dealbreaker for me, as I use tracks to organize so many things (subtitles, lower 3rds, graphics, singling out clips for effects, etc…).
I like the trim function in FCP, but that was the only thing in the software I found intuitive, and liked.
There are a few things I miss from FCP7 (such as moving clips up and down tracks with Opt-Up arrow) but they’re few and far between.
And you can have more than one project open at a time…
So far, and this could change, and I’m shocked I’m saying this, but Premiere CS6 is the editor I was waiting for with FCPX.
Joseph Mastantuono
http://www.goodpost.net
Color Grading & Post Production Consulting -
Once again nobody seems to know why Premiere just doesn’t “work” on a Mac. It stalls, it sputters, it just doesn’t work. For me it’s not lacking features or just not playing nice with other (FCP X issues), it’s the same problems it’s always had. Just doesn’t do anything. Others have posted similar issues in the past and I feel I must be missing the “make it not freeze up or sputter” preference or something.
This isn’t a major rewrite to 64 bit. It’s not a new app. It’s a decent upgrade, but nothing that should have been an overwhelming endeavor. I’d love to use it if I could. The tech in X is so good. Wish the interface was too.
I need something that works. Here’s hoping for Smoke. Avid works. I just don’t care for it. Been there. Done that.
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What are you running it on that it could possibly feel solid? PC I guess?
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Highlighting 3 semi transparent clips (h264) and sending them to premiere took about 10 minutes and left the whole machine in flux. I had no idea it was even doing anything. Is that cuz it was h264?
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Works great with my Mac. Sounds like it doesnt work on yours.
Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
Mac Pro 3,1
8 core
10.7.3
Nvidia Quadro 4000
24 gigs ram
Maxx Digital / Areca 8tb. raid
Kona 3
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