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what would YOU do
i am down to the final weeks of having to decide between final cut and avid…i have spent a lot of time reading pros and cons of each, spoken to some who love one and hate the other and vice versa,,,and am more confused than ever – i have been cutting documentaries on my discrete edit 6.o for the past several years…and as easy as this has been, i am getting quite bored with waiting 10 minutes as my boris fx does a 10 seocond zoom in on a photo, or waiting forever to do a blur effect – but beyond that, i have also never used a mac and am not very computer literate beyond what is necessary to get me by – this forum has been an invaluable resource…and any thoughts are welcome…ive heard fcp is more “intuitive” and since whichever machine we purchase(after the basic training) i will be carrying right along with several projects – so i cant afford a long learning curve…so – knowing these fascinating facts – any of you have thoughts about this?
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15 Replies
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Obviously we’re probably all going to prefer Final Cut here. You’ve heard the reasons why, it seems, so there’s no point in repeating them all.
The one solid reason I can give you is the Final Cut Studio package as a whole. Look at the 6 programs it gets you and the price of $1,300. That’s a fantastic deal compared to your other similar options.
Obviously it doesn’t make sense to save money if you’re not happy with your choice, so still get what’s right for you. But if it’s honestly a tie in your mind I’d consider this factor a good tie-breaker.
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Hey Beth, I taught myself editing on premiere 6, moved to avid when i got work and now I’m freelance and most of my work is done through Final Cut Pro.
Personally speaking, I have found that FCP to be easily the most integrated system yet. Not that Avid doesn’t have it’s pro’s as well. But for total integration, be it graphics for your doc, cleaining up sound on soundtrack or just burning it to disc each one of these is speaking the same language. And if formats
The interface is very user friendly as well. I only started using FCP in January 06. I just finished an nine month edit on a feature film and used FCP for it. It worked like a dream, the only problems I had was when the cinematographer came to grade the film on our computer and crashed it because he had so many colour effects and filters on it. But that was once and I’d been using it every day for five months.
If it’s good enough for Walter Murch there has got to be something good about it.
Jon
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[beth kidwell] ” so i cant afford a long learning curve”
Honestly? Stick with discreet then. If you really don’t have time to learn a new system, then there’s no reason to switch. You will HAVE to learn about a new system if you want to successfully complete a project and that takes a learning curve. FCP is intuitive, but you still have to learn how it works.
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I have witnessed a very good friend learn Final Cut against all odds. This guy retired from a state video job after 30 years. At his state job he had completed Avid training certification but was still befuddled by Avid, so his younger assistants did all the Avid based editing. The most this guy could get his PC to do was email and internet Poker. (don’t we all wish we had a state job) He retired from his state job and got a job at a legal organization doing video. He completed Final Cut Pro training and has been editing ever since on the Mac. If this anti computer guy can learn Final Cut Pro, so can your grandfather or a five year old toddler or you..
Just do yourself a favor when putting together your Edit system, don’t cheap out on the pieces. Get a good monitor, get plenty of good ram, get a good desk and get a qualified raid ( I prefer external, love my Medea) From your background you will probably be back editing in less than 48 hours after set up.(someday I might even read the manual) And then you will be kicking yourself (or you can watch your boss kick himself) for not having changed over earlier. Don’t wait any longer. Just do it.
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I used to edit on discreet edit… as far as making a transition, I firmly believe that Final Cut will be an easier transition from discreet than Avid. Avid has a lot of things that are uniquely “Avid”, and I think that would pose a steeper learning curve than a transition to Final Cut.
If you indeed cannot afford a learning curve, then you will want to plan carefully… there *will* be a learning curve – there’s no way around that fact. *But*… I’d also say that, to get up-and-running in a basic cuts kind of way, FCP is your better bet. Also, from a capabilities-to-price ratio, I think an FCP system offers better bang for the buck.
Granted, we don’t know anything about your post workflow, what format you are mastering to, if you are mastering on your own or going to an on-line facility, etc., etc. Honestly, you would need to assess *all* these factors before deciding on the absolute best choice for you.
Good luck!
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Go for the machine that will do the job better. Look at the job and the workflow you need to have to get it done, and see what edit system best accomplishes that workflow. Then get that.
That really is the best way to approach this. Sure FCP has a LOT of tools, but if those tools don’t help in the given situation, what is the point in having them?
I use both Avid and FCP and like both…and hate both…for various reasons. SO when a job comes up I look at what would work best and go with that.
But Avid does have a steeper learning curve…so warning.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
What system you choose depends on what you will do with it.
There are pros and cons to each. I would say that if you have to finish on high end Avids, or you need to work or collaborate in conjunction with an established Avid based workflow, then go with Avid.
Otherwise, Final Cut is a great set of programs, and its quicktime based paradigm allows easy integration across a whole realm of applications.
I’ve known people that talk about how great Avid is, and people who talk about how great Final Cut is.
In the end, it’s the decision maker behind the tool that makes interesting things happen.
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I think it’s accurate to say that it’s easier to grow upwards with Final Cut Pro than with Avid. With FCP, you can simply add new hardware to work with higher end formats, while the software remains the same. Avid limits its software to operate within predefined price levels, so if you want to move up to a higher end format (i.e. DV to uncompressed HD) then you must upgrade to a whole new Avid hardware/software system. Two different approaches by two different companies, just ask yourself which makes more sense to you.
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Alan, that is a truly excellent point.
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Hi beth
I was a discreet editor for a long time…it is truly the greatest editor made. evrything about it makes sense.
about a year ago we bought an FCP system. It has taken me several months to “unlearn” my edit ways and learn the FCP way.
as someone coming from discreet to fcp the transition was hard…the only thing i think fcp has going for it is the cost. yeah maybe its easier, but I find there are many things about FCP that fly in the face of ediitng logic. (my biggest peeve being you cant cut, or ripple delete a shot with a dissolve.)
and why are there so many FCP training resources? it seems there are a lot more than for Avid?
i could go on, but let me leave you with this:
would you buy a product from a comapny that delayed releasing a 64 bit operating system so they could make a phone?
my 2 cents
bee eph
“I like video because its so fast!”
Bob Flood
Greer & Associates, Inc.
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