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FCPX or creative cloud?

steveash

steveash

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 7, 2008
527
245
UK
I'm a photographer and graphic designer with a well established business. I am currently working on a short video for a client. I shot the sequences on a Canon 5DII and now need to bring it all together with some motion graphics. I am happy using imovie, photoshop etc but need to get some more serious software to do this one properly. I currently have CS5.5 Design Premium. I've been trying to avoid Creative Cloud due to the price (compared with updates every 18 months or so) and not really wanting to be tied in to it.

The alternative is to get a straight upgrade to CS6 Design Premium and buy Final Cut Pro X. The cost over 12 months is about the same although the following 12 will be more with Creative Cloud.

How do Premiere/After Effects compare to FCPX/Motion from a basic user's level? - I'm not making Hollywood movies here just short but professional looking videos for websites. If FCPX has less features but is quicker to get working in then it is probably the one for me.
 
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boch82

macrumors 6502
Apr 14, 2008
328
24
steveash said:
I'm a photographer and graphic designer with a well established business. I am currently working on a short video for a client. I shot the sequences on a Canon 5DII and now need to bring it all together with some motion graphics. I am happy using imovie, photoshop etc but need to get some more serious software to do this one properly. I currently have CS5.5 Design Premium. I've been trying to avoid Creative Cloud due to the price (compared with updates every 18 months or so) and not really wanting to be tied in to it.

The alternative is to get a straight upgrade to CS6 Design Premium and buy Final Cut Pro X. The cost over 12 months is about the same although the following 12 will be more with Creative Cloud.

How do Premiere/After Effects compare to FCPX/Motion from a basic user's level? - I'm not making Hollywood movies here just short but professional looking videos for websites. If FCPX has less features but is quicker to get working in then it is probably the one for me.
Click to expand...

If you are already familiar with the Adobe suite, that will probably have less of a learning curve. You still have the same blending modes and compositing techniques in photoshop.

I am not a fan of FCP X. My office made the decision to go with Premiere instead of upgrading to FCPX. We were long time FCP7 users and still use that on occasion.

The benefit of FCP X/Motion is there are a number of templates built in, which might help. But if you come from a design background you probably wont want to use them or spend more time trying to customize them than it would take to build things from scratch.
 
steveash

steveash

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 7, 2008
527
245
UK
Thanks boch82. Yeah I'm not too keen on using templates. Usually projects will be designed from scratch. Premier does seem to have a lot going for it. It looks like the tidied it up a bit in CS6. Do you think it would be as easy to get to grips with as Final Cut?

I might opt to upgrade to the Master Collection rather than go for the Creative Cloud.
 
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stueee123

macrumors member
Nov 24, 2011
70
0
Motion is definitely worth checking out, it's pretty simple to pick up and has a decent depth of features. Not to mention its $50! Personally I'm a big fan of FCPX, because of the intuitive interface and the availability of a ton of features within a couple clicks (colour correction, precision edits etc.). I'd recommend a trial of both, I think you can download a FCPX trial from apple's website, and Adobe may offer something similar (not entirely sure). Good luck!
 
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tillsbury

macrumors 68000
Dec 24, 2007
1,513
454
Yes, FCPX can be downloaded for a 30-day free trial, do this and see what you think. I'm in the middle of this now and am likely to go for it.
 
wonderspark

wonderspark

macrumors 68040
Feb 4, 2010
3,048
102
Oregon
I'm a longtime user of Adobe (since 1996) so it's much, much more intuitive than FCP X is *in MY opinion*. I bought it, and tried it several times, but it hasn't clicked for me at all. I wonder what's wrong with me when I hear people say it's *more* intuitive, haha!

Given that you've said you're happy with iMovie, you may very well prefer FCP X, so I'd try that alongside CS6. (I think you can still get trials of both.) CS7 will be out very soon, and Adobe has really been taking huge leaps in their tools lately.

It doesn't matter which tool you choose, because both can produce wonderful products. You can always change your mind later, too.
 
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boch82

macrumors 6502
Apr 14, 2008
328
24
steveash said:
Thanks boch82. Yeah I'm not too keen on using templates. Usually projects will be designed from scratch. Premier does seem to have a lot going for it. It looks like the tidied it up a bit in CS6. Do you think it would be as easy to get to grips with as Final Cut?

I might opt to upgrade to the Master Collection rather than go for the Creative Cloud.
Click to expand...

I'm probably not the best person to ask on which is easier to grasp. I come from the Avid editing background and was able to pick right up with FCP 7 and then PP. I still use AVID keyboard settings and find it easy to bounce between all platforms.

I played around with FCPX a bunch of times and just don't like it....its not that its hard to learn, just not the workflow I've been using for 15 years.
 
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daybreak

macrumors 6502a
Sep 4, 2009
531
0
I used a pair of scissors for editing and FCP-X is a wonderful software. Nothing fancy but it does the job.
If you like to sit for hours importing and rendering then FCP-X is not for you.
Now ask yourself would you like a car with gears or automatic?.
 
zapnyc

zapnyc

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2011
72
44
New York
I second the recommendation for FCPX.
With the current updated version of FCPX, I just don't understand the borderline luddite griping from FCP7 users....everything that annoyed me about using FCP7 is breathtakingly better in the current edition of FCPX. When X first came out, it lacked a few things, but was a bold step in the right direction. Now that Apple has updated it multiple times, it's fantastic. Premiere really doesn't have much, if any, advantage at all from a practical day-to-day usage standpoint. I've tried to go back to FCP7 for a couple things, and it was torture. I had to use Premiere recently, and it feels just like a less smooth version of FCPX.

But the arguments are similar for audio software - bottom line for current users is what you're used to. In that world, current versions of ProTools, Cubase, Logic...they're mostly doing the same things...it's just the flow, and cost.

I recommend you try FCPX
 
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tillsbury

macrumors 68000
Dec 24, 2007
1,513
454
Is Premiere CS6 that much better than CS5.5? I have 5.5 and find it a bit dire, not to mention crashy. But I haven't used it much (mainly because it won't let me).
 
dan1eln1el5en

dan1eln1el5en

macrumors 6502
Jan 3, 2012
380
23
Copenhagen, Denmark
I used to make films/videos with FC Pro 7, then came FCPX I liked it, but too many things where broken and unable to update my old projects I jumped to the CS solution when CS6 came as Creative Cloud, it's immensely cheap and you get access to other great Adobe software, I would definitely recommend getting the Creative Cloud, the interaction between Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator is amazing and I just love it.
 
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