Have You Used Autodesk Smoke?

I've been using the trial of Autodesk's Smoke video editing suite for work. I must say it's a joy to use and I'm thinking of making it as permanent feature in my arsenal. Moving most of my video work over from Final Cut and Avid.

Before I do I wanted to get your opinion of Smoke if you'd be so kind as to share it.

What you like and dislike compared to other programs like Final Cut and Premiere etc? Please let me know if you've run into any problems or limitations with Smoke that I may not have encountered yet.

I would likely be purchasing for work and be paying for a multi-user or several user license(s), it's not a decision one should rush into.

Thank you.

daybreak said:

Sophia, I have look at it but i cant give you my opinion. When you say FCP, what version. FCP7 or FCP-X?
It seems a powerful editing software. No doubt you would be a fast learner and i think it is rather expensive software.

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Thanks Day Break for taking the time to comment, I'm using FCP X. I agree with you it's rather expensive but it's really nice to work with.

puckhead193 said:

I always thought of Smoke as more of an After Effects competitor not as a NLE...

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I find it can do both quite well but maybe that's just me.

handsome pete said:

As for the original question, it really comes down to a few things. How will moving to Smoke affect your overall workflow and how you deal with clients. Do the benefits outweigh the cost?

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I can only speak for the brief trial period but I find smoke easier to work with which is strange as I've been using Final Cut for years. There are things I can do in Smoke that I can't in Final Cut at least not as easily which saves me a great deal of time.

The only down side to switching is the cost. I think I would have to consult the other members of staff before making that decision.

handsome pete said:

Also, if you're concerned about any other staff editors you might have to weigh the cost (time/money) to get them up to speed. And if you ever decide to hire new editors or bring in freelancers, you'll probably be picking from a smaller pool of talent than if you were looking for a FCP/Adobe/Avid editor.

I have no idea how your particular business is set up so that might not be a concern at all.

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True however we don't tend to collaborate a great deal so I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be but it's a valid point worth considering thanks Pete.

mBox said:

in some post houses it makes sense to just have one Smoke seat.
great for the user since its job security.
Ive done the demo at least once a year for the past 5 years.
being entrenched in a Maya/AE workflow, Im too deep into our current tool set to add the extra expense.
great tool though

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I suppose we could just have the one workstation running Smoke. It's not like we can't share. I've never used Maya (I'm new to Autodesk) what's it like? Thanks for commenting.