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Final Cut vs Premiere

YoungCreative

YoungCreative

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
99
0
Ohio
I am a Photoshop/InDesign pro, but have only used iMovie for video and it's time to move up to a real video powerhouse.

Since I am tired of working after hours on my Mac at work, I was set on buying Adobe CS3 Design Suite Premium and FCP for home, but I can save $600 if I buy Adobe MasterSuite and use Premiere rather than buying FCP.

Now that CS3 has been out for a bit, does anyone have strong feelings, or experience, on which to base a recommendation for Premiere vs FCP?

Since I will face a learning curve either way I go, I am curious as to whether the $600 saved will just cause regret down the line. The Apple Store only has FCP on the machines, so I have not even played with Premiere. Is Apple scared to put the competition on their machines, or is Premiere a bad move?

Thanks in advance for comments.
 
I've never used premiere so I can't help you with the comparison But I have Final cut studio 2 and it's hands down my favorite piece of software. Well worth the $700 I paid for it (student discount). If you want to save money on fcp why don't you take a one credit class and get the discount.
 
I'm sorry I can't cite you the reference, but I recently read a review which concluded that neither is greatly superior to the other. Each has strengths and relative weaknesses and either will work well -- for the user who is comfortable with it.

The review did not support the Ferrari/Hyundai conclusion.
 
I've used both of them extensively and I think they are both great pieces of software. A more appropriate analogy than that provided previously would be a BMW to an Audi. Both are very solid and very capable programs and will serve you very well. I bought FCP because that's what I use at my current job and that is what most of the production houses in my area use. I would recommend purchasing whatever you use at work. Editing is much more comfortable when you're sitting at home!
 
More room to grow with FCP Studio 2. The consensus out there is that FCP is better. Ask yourself if Apple propaganda is better, or if there's a reason people buy MAC computers to use FCP when wintel computers are less expensive. And if you think it is just hype, then why is Photoshop and After Effects still so strong? I know of many cable and even network shows, not to mention feature films, that have been cut on FCP, but not one on Premiere. Sometimes, the more popular one really is better.

The kindest thing I've heard people say about Premiere is that if you're never going to do anything complicated, it measures up well against FCP. If you ever find yourself working on bigger, more complicated projects, FCP is way better to grow with.
 
There is also professional money to be made in learning AVID, however the price comparison with getting avid and mojo compared to FCS2 is pale in comparison.

I would stick with FCS 2, the colour correction application alone pays for itself.
 
Well if exporting to HD (BluRay) is important to you, as well as better integration with Adobe's other apps, then get Premiere. Otherwise I would get Final Cut.
 
Some great comments! Thanks.

I think I will be getting FCP on a MacPro (once Apple releases the new MacPros). Some people have said that I should get the MacBook Pro for portabilty, but I think that I would want the larger storage options and power of the MacPro.
 
YoungCreative said:
I think I will be getting FCP on a MacPro (once Apple releases the new MacPros). Some people have said that I should get the MacBook Pro for portabilty, but I think that I would want the larger storage options and power of the MacPro.
Click to expand...
You made a good choice. The more serious you get about your video work, the more you'll appreciate the extra power and expandability of the Mac Pro. For starters, put something like 4GB RAM and a huge second hard drive (scratch disc) into it. A large monitor (24" or better) also helps a lot.

- Martin
 
zioxide said:
Final Cut is like a Ferrari while Premiere is like a Hyundai.
Click to expand...

Says the guy on an Apple site who probably has never used at least one of the two.

Download the trial of Premier and check it out. I have not used the current version of Premier and never used the Mac version, but I find it to be comparable to Final Cut.

It all comes down to if it will do the job you want it to do. Since you are a beginner, I suspect you will be fine with either one. You might also want to check out Final Cut Express. Good for beginners and much cheaper. That plus CS3 design suite may be the cheapest option.
 
For note I have used both:

I found Premiere Pro easier to learn because there was less irrelevant stuff in it. eg. I dont use film cameras so I dont need any of the menus that apply there. Once I learnt FCP I found a few things that made the job quicker eg. drag footage from source viewer to timeline viewer and you get the different options of how you'd like to place the footy in.

In truth, I dont think theres much between the two editing programs but theres a huge difference between the studio packages.

My opinion about the rest of the suites:
Motion is a simpler and easy to learn and understand than After Effects. Ae has a lot more to offer for the motion graphics artists and I'm not that.
Soundtrack v Soundbooth: I haven't used Sb and I'm now learning Soundtrack and its going well so far.
DVD Studio v Encore: Dont know
Color v none: Do you remember when Jessica Rabbit first comes on stage in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the wolfs eyes pop out and his foot is thumbing like made and he can just cant contain himself.
That was me when I saw how easy it was to create film colour visuals. I feel like I'm worth £20000 more than I am.
 
jammiefreerider said:
In truth, I dont think theres much between the two editing programs but theres a huge difference between the studio packages.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. I teach video production at a high school and use Premiere on PC's. I personally use FCS 2.0 at home. The editing program itself is fairly similar, with Premiere being a bit more basic. Though, I must admit, I like some of the shortcuts and such better on Premiere. With that said, I HIGHLY prefer FCS.

I've had a little experience with DVD SP and Encore. They seem quite similar, but again, I've had a lot more success with DVD SP.

My opinions may be biased though, because at school the students work on PC's and the overall experience for me is MUCH better doing any work on a mac.
 
Super duper FCS2 user and if you want to NOT have to render each and every time you work with HD footage then grab Premier. Encore DVD is the industry standard and beats DVD Studio Pro.

After Effects beats Motion, but Motion is easier to learn and for what most people do with the programs I'd choose Motion 2.

FCP plays much better with Apple's other Pro Apps though. And Adobe is just now learning to make the apps play nice with each other across the board.

If your company uses FCP get it. Or if you want to save some cash get FCP, but if it doesn't matter to you take a good look at Adobe Premier.
 
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