Hi all. New to forums and relatively new to Macs. I use my 15" Macbook Pro (amazing bit of kit!) for digital photography (photoshop cs) and music (pro tools) but have experience with shooting video and am wanting to do my own editing. Whilst I've produced and directed before, it'll be my first serious forray into editing and I need to know whats the best software for me. I've just co-produced a documentary shot HD on panasonic P2 cards - we were going to use an editor, but I've got to learn somewhere so why not on my own kit. What would be most compatible/comprehensive/intuative for the least amount of cash? Tall order, but I've heard you're the best! Thanks for any replies....
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Editing Software for Macbook Pro
- Thread starter Sumomonkey
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I guess it depends on what you want to do with it.
You might want to look in to Final Cut Express, because it's a lot cheaper than the full studio mentioned above, but still very functional as an editor.
If you're going all the way, then Final Cut Studio 2 it is.
But of course don't forget about iMovie! If you're just starting out, try playing with iMovie first. You might decide you hate editing (lots of people do
) and that's something you'd want to know before you invest a good chunk of cash in Final Cut.
You might want to look in to Final Cut Express, because it's a lot cheaper than the full studio mentioned above, but still very functional as an editor.
If you're going all the way, then Final Cut Studio 2 it is.
But of course don't forget about iMovie! If you're just starting out, try playing with iMovie first. You might decide you hate editing (lots of people do
) and that's something you'd want to know before you invest a good chunk of cash in Final Cut.
I guess it depends on what you want to do with it.
You might want to look in to Final Cut Express, because it's a lot cheaper than the full studio mentioned above, but still very functional as an editor.
If you're going all the way, then Final Cut Studio 2 it is.
But of course don't forget about iMovie! If you're just starting out, try playing with iMovie first. You might decide you hate editing (lots of people do
Neither of those support DVCPRO HD from the P2 cards
I haven't used P2 cards (yet), but won't he need an adapter to go from P2 (PCMCIA) to ExpressCard (MacBook Pro)?
I'd go with either Avid Xpress Pro or FCP. But I think it's better if you ask the future editor which system s/he is going to work on so you can exchange ideas easily.
No, because the P2 cards plug into the camera not the MacBook.
Oh and Final Cut Studio 2.
Final Cut Express. If you find you need to upgrade to "Pro" Apple let's you apply the price of Express, you you've lost nothing and the user interface is the same in express and pro (except of course for the bits pro adds.)
One issue will be storage. Get and external disk. Best to buy a RAID (mirrored) FW800 drive. Drive speed is the main performance bottle neck and you don't want to use the boot disk for scratch space.
You know how many gigabytes of data you have Make sure the disk is bigger then that.
FCE has a learning curve figure that into the schedule.
I assume there is a way to transfer the data from the cards to the computer over Firewire?
Once the data files are on the scratch FCE/FCP will not write to them or change them
One issue will be storage. Get and external disk. Best to buy a RAID (mirrored) FW800 drive. Drive speed is the main performance bottle neck and you don't want to use the boot disk for scratch space.
You know how many gigabytes of data you have Make sure the disk is bigger then that.
FCE has a learning curve figure that into the schedule.
I assume there is a way to transfer the data from the cards to the computer over Firewire?
Once the data files are on the scratch FCE/FCP will not write to them or change them
First off, I'd strongly suggest getting an editor. Not only will a good editor give you a fresh pair of eyes on all the footage and be able to build the story much faster than you can, but a good editor will also take care of the "unsexy" side of editing (organization, workflow, prepping for deliverables, etc.,) that if done improperly can be very expensive and very time consuming to fix after the fact. It's nothing personal, but pretty much every time I hear someone go "Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing, but I think I can figure it out for myself" I cringe 'cause that's just a train wreck waiting to happen. Your time, money, and editorial education would be much better spent learning from experienced editor rather than trying to learn it on your own.
Secondly, for bang-for-your buck you can't beat FCS 2 (AFAIK FCE won't work w/DVCPro HD). But, if your budget is such that you can afford to hire out for finishing, gfx, audio mixing, etc., then the effective price difference between FSC 2 and Avid Xpress Pro is less because you'll just be using FCP and not all the other apps in the suite. If you do end up cutting this yourself I'd say go for FCS 2 because the initial learning curve is lower, but the price of that lower learning curve is FCP's flexibility will give you enough rope to hang yourself if you aren't careful.
Lethal
Secondly, for bang-for-your buck you can't beat FCS 2 (AFAIK FCE won't work w/DVCPro HD). But, if your budget is such that you can afford to hire out for finishing, gfx, audio mixing, etc., then the effective price difference between FSC 2 and Avid Xpress Pro is less because you'll just be using FCP and not all the other apps in the suite. If you do end up cutting this yourself I'd say go for FCS 2 because the initial learning curve is lower, but the price of that lower learning curve is FCP's flexibility will give you enough rope to hang yourself if you aren't careful.
Lethal
final cut studio
Final Cut Studio 2 or Avid Express Pro 5.7...i have used both and they work great with P2 Media...
Final Cut Studio 2 or Avid Express Pro 5.7...i have used both and they work great with P2 Media...
So then the complaints I've heard have to do with when you're shooting and having to cycle your P2 cards quickly (and you have to download your files to clear the cards) -- yes?
Sorry to take this off-topic, just curious.
The HVX200 (the only P2 camera I know anything about) has two slots. So yes, you need to cycle cards when one is full. If you only have two cards and are filming in 1080p then your available filming time is extremely short.
Obviously if you have enough cards you can just cycle them for the day and just do your downloading at the end of the day. I seem to remember you get about 16 minutes for an 8GB card in DVCProHD at 1080p.
If you don't want to buy a P2 Store (basically a HDD you can plug the P2 cards into to dump the footage), or a PC laptop w/a PCMCIA slot, you can buy an adapter (duel-systemsadapters.com) so you can you use the P2 cards w/ExpressCard clots.
Lethal
Lethal
There is also a HDD you can use instead of P2 cards I think (the Firestore?). Not very good if you are doing very active shooting though.