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What Is Better: Adobe Premiere Pro...or...Final Cut?
- Thread starter magentawave
- Start date
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Ive been using Premiere since the 6.5 days to modern CS4 for all ym video production work aside from the past few months where ive really been running Final Cut through the gamut.
It maybe just preference but i like Premieres feature set a bit better. For features Final Cut could probably do and i havent figure dit out yet, Premiere throws it at your face in an convenience manner
For instance, i hear in Final Cut you can alter clips by clicking on them in the preview window, i have not gotten this to work.
Premiere does this with no configuration. This includes scale handles and positional transitions.
Premiere has real time feedback regardless of what you throw at it, clips of different formats, transitions, effects, etc. Itll all scrub and play (though the more you stack on it the slower it gets before rendering)
With Final Cut you need to render with the exception of a couple mere technicalities (raw clip conformed to project settings, and onyl one clip with no alterations seems to be the standard here)
That being said, i like Final Cuts "extras" a bit better. For instance, the Video Generators are awesome time savers
I loved being able to throw stuff around to Motion for its templates and Soundtrack pro for a custom score, and then use Compressor to render the final product.
But thats a whole different can o' beans.
In short: im a bigger fan of Adobe softwares Workflow and Toolset, but i like Final Cut Studios presets, generators, and templates.
It maybe just preference but i like Premieres feature set a bit better. For features Final Cut could probably do and i havent figure dit out yet, Premiere throws it at your face in an convenience manner
For instance, i hear in Final Cut you can alter clips by clicking on them in the preview window, i have not gotten this to work.
Premiere does this with no configuration. This includes scale handles and positional transitions.
Premiere has real time feedback regardless of what you throw at it, clips of different formats, transitions, effects, etc. Itll all scrub and play (though the more you stack on it the slower it gets before rendering)
With Final Cut you need to render with the exception of a couple mere technicalities (raw clip conformed to project settings, and onyl one clip with no alterations seems to be the standard here)
That being said, i like Final Cuts "extras" a bit better. For instance, the Video Generators are awesome time savers
I loved being able to throw stuff around to Motion for its templates and Soundtrack pro for a custom score, and then use Compressor to render the final product.
But thats a whole different can o' beans.
In short: im a bigger fan of Adobe softwares Workflow and Toolset, but i like Final Cut Studios presets, generators, and templates.
Yes you are so correct!!! As an Certified Avid Professional I too barked at the FCP followers till the last release. FCP has come of age and is now considered to be Avids #1 pain in the rump. FCP has become professional grade and the next release is supposed to be leaps and bounds from the previous. It is winning more & more awards by the day. Premiere has a while to go.
Premiere is for weddings!!!
FCP is for TV, Film and so on.
What exactly does Premiere Pro lack at this point that makes it unprofessional? Is it 2K/4K and film workflows? Or is just because the program was trash 10 years ago, back when Avid and FCP were not?
Premiere already supports Redcode, P2 cards, DNxHD, and it's fully 64 bit. I think the programs are too similar to really fight about this. Do you consider Photoshop and After Effects to be prosumer too?
Adobe used to be great about assisting customers with switching platforms. Contact their Customer Service Rep and tell them you have switched from Windows to Mac, and want to know if you can purchase an upgrade for Adobe CS Premium for Mac OSX. More often than not, they will supply you with the license to the Mac software and ask you to download the trial version off their web site. The trial version (upon installation) will give you the opportunity to enter your license number they provided you with when you contacted them. (They will also ask that you destroy the Windows version of Adobe CS Premium you currently have.) Be prepared to give them your license number when you call. This way, you will be working natively in Mac OSX, and can forgo the problems of trying to run VM, or Bootcamp.
The Premier vs. FCS vs. Avid part... to each their own. We use all three, with great success. Premier for our Live-to-tape sessions in the studio to generate graphics (lower thirds, virtual set, etc.); FCP for rough cuts / sequences; and Avid for creating our day reels, rough cuts / sequences. (We are split up in three different locations.) They are all just tools.
HTH's,
Art
The Premier vs. FCS vs. Avid part... to each their own. We use all three, with great success. Premier for our Live-to-tape sessions in the studio to generate graphics (lower thirds, virtual set, etc.); FCP for rough cuts / sequences; and Avid for creating our day reels, rough cuts / sequences. (We are split up in three different locations.) They are all just tools.
HTH's,
Art
Should I start out learning to edit on iMovie or FC Express?
About to get a computer for grad school and am contemplating buying FCExpress and I am not sure what I should do.
This is NOT for work or future Sundance entry, just for my personal enjoyment.
Thanks,
About to get a computer for grad school and am contemplating buying FCExpress and I am not sure what I should do.
This is NOT for work or future Sundance entry, just for my personal enjoyment.
Thanks,
For what do you want to use it? If you want to make some small funny videos, you can just use iMovie. If you want to make a short movie of what you did (vacation/trip) you can use iMovie.
You should get express when you feel narrowed in your options with iMovie. I use it because it's more diverse. And it works fast. there's also more possible with sound, more layers. I sometimes use greenscreen. I once made a dvd of an event at school which lasted 4 hours.
What do you need it for? Personal enjoyment, I'd say that you should use iMovie 09.
From what i've seen in my short tv career, i have never seen premiere in any professional companies editing suites, I haven't worked in special fx, so maybe there you'll see more adobe stuff due to after effects.
If you don't care about industry standards, i'd look at what sort of workflow you wont to use and base my decision off that.
Do you want to use/learn after effects, it might be cheaper just to buy the adobe package rather that FCS and after effects (if you get what i mean)
Film primarily use AVID
TV use Avid and Final Cut
Premiere of course gets used as well, it's just i haven't seen it.
fyi premiere can handle things like redcode (red one media) better than final cut at the moment, has better ram usage etc.
I'd do some more research maybe ask over at creative cow forums, they seem pretty knowledgable
If you don't care about industry standards, i'd look at what sort of workflow you wont to use and base my decision off that.
Do you want to use/learn after effects, it might be cheaper just to buy the adobe package rather that FCS and after effects (if you get what i mean)
Film primarily use AVID
TV use Avid and Final Cut
Premiere of course gets used as well, it's just i haven't seen it.
fyi premiere can handle things like redcode (red one media) better than final cut at the moment, has better ram usage etc.
I'd do some more research maybe ask over at creative cow forums, they seem pretty knowledgable
1) Does Final Cut Express allow you to see the audio clips on a video as wave forms (unlike iMovie)?
2) Can you add and edit multiple audio clips with fade ins and fade outs?
3) How many audio clips can you add and edit as wave forms?
4) I think iMovie only offers about 6 transitions. Does Final Cut Express offer a lot more transitions?
5) Besides the price, what is the biggest difference between Final Cut Express and the full version of Final Cut?
6) If cost is not an issue, and I'm not doing super intense video work, which would be better for me? Final Cut Express - or the full version of Final Cut? And if you suggest the full version of Final Cut, is it overwhelming to use for the beginner?
Thanks
Steve
2) Can you add and edit multiple audio clips with fade ins and fade outs?
3) How many audio clips can you add and edit as wave forms?
4) I think iMovie only offers about 6 transitions. Does Final Cut Express offer a lot more transitions?
5) Besides the price, what is the biggest difference between Final Cut Express and the full version of Final Cut?
6) If cost is not an issue, and I'm not doing super intense video work, which would be better for me? Final Cut Express - or the full version of Final Cut? And if you suggest the full version of Final Cut, is it overwhelming to use for the beginner?
Thanks
Steve
Yes
Yes
99 audio tracks
Yes
FCP comes w/the rest of the FC suite, it can edit more formats, it has more/better filters, batch capture ability, etc.,.
If someone offers you a free copy of FCE or a free copy of FCS 2 there's no reason to choose FCE, IMO. W/that being said if you are only doing relatively simple things then you won't need/use the expanded features you get w/FCS 2.
Lethal
Yes
99 audio tracks
Yes
FCP comes w/the rest of the FC suite, it can edit more formats, it has more/better filters, batch capture ability, etc.,.
If someone offers you a free copy of FCE or a free copy of FCS 2 there's no reason to choose FCE, IMO. W/that being said if you are only doing relatively simple things then you won't need/use the expanded features you get w/FCS 2.
Lethal
Okay thanks! I really appreciate your input.
Last question (I think)...
I realize FCS 2 has millions of options, probably way more than I will ever need or use, but would FCS 2 be as easy to use for basis video editing now as it would be if I was using Final Cut Express? OR...is FCS 2 super difficult to use for basic video editing? Keep in mind that I have already determined that I need more capabilities than what iMovie offers.
Thanks again.
STeve
Hi Steve,
I am not a professional editor and just do videos for a fun hobby. I just received final cut studio 2 yesterday after trying to decide between CS4 PP and FCS2. I started with iMovie and Final Cut Express and wanted FCS2 for better color correction and the Motion app.
The biggest advantage of FCS2 for a non-professional is the loads of templates and royalty content available. There are dozens and dozens of sound effects and motion templates that easily allows you to make professional looking projects. Also, you get the three wheel color corrector with FCP and of course the app Color. By watching the tutorials that come with FCS2 you can create some pretty cool color effects right away.
If you are used to editing with Final Cut Express, you will have no problems with Final Cut Pro. There are several tutorials out there to get you through some of the more advanced features and the basic features are exactly the same.
To me, FCS2 is so much more fun to use than CS4 (I tried the trial). The log and transfer for my AVCHD footage actually helps me keep organized and the output looks great. I am now wanting to buy toast to burn high definition DVDs. Hopefully, this will be updated for FCS3.
I would highly recommend the suite. For me, it is much easier and intuitive to use than the CS4 suite. My two cents....
I think the amount of transitions aren't that import. If you watch real movies, the only transitions used are fades and cuts. With FCE and FCP you don't even need the "transition" for that, you can make it yourself by changing the opacity of the clip.
Okay. You have convinced me and thanks! Its good to know that there are lots of templates and royalty free content with FCS2 because I will use those. And I like to hear it is more intuitive (Mac like) because there was very little about PP that I found to be intuitive.
What is the 'Motion App' for that you mention?
Thanks!
Steve
Check out the following for more details on motion and the other apps included with FCS2:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/overview.html
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/motion/
I just got Final Cut 6, and the HD upgrade, and all that good stuff, i used iMovie 8 to edit videos, and have been blown away with Final Cut. It really isn't as hard to use as any Adobe products i have used. (PhotoShop, After Effects, and so on..) The key i have found is just learning what it has, the initial use is fairly easy to grasp.
my 2cents
my 2cents
1) Can anyone please tell me what is the difference between the quantity of templates and royalty free content you get with FCE over FCS2?
2) Have any of you chosen FCE over FCS2 just because of the huge amount of space FCS2 takes on your hard drive?
Thanks
Steve
2) Have any of you chosen FCE over FCS2 just because of the huge amount of space FCS2 takes on your hard drive?
Thanks
Steve
I think that nobody does, because you already need a scratch drive. So you'll have extra memory already. And when you think it takes to much, 1 video in dv is 8 Gb. so 5 movies are 40 GB.
In comparison it really isn't that much.
ps I did think it was too much. So I only installed the programs. You can ofcourse install them without the templates. And uses generated is way more original. but for motion and soundtrack pro, it comes in handy to have some stuff.
I do want access to the templates. Is there any problem with installing the program (FCS2) on my computers hard drive but then put all the templates on my external hard drive?
Does anyone know what is the difference in the quantity of templates and royalty free content you get with FCS2 as compared with FCE? Does FCE even come with templates and royalty free content?
Thanks again
Steve
What do you mean by one video? The DV codec runs to around 13GB per hour of video.
Oh you're right. I meant 1 hour of video. That isn't 8 gb, it is 13gb, as you said.
and to magentawave. You can just install them on another external hard drive. USB is okay. I did that. It will create a library map on to your external hard drive and put the stuff over there.
and to magentawave. You can just install them on another external hard drive. USB is okay. I did that. It will create a library map on to your external hard drive and put the stuff over there.
Raid Drive and ExpressCard/34
Steve,
It seemed there was some concern about getting adequate data transfer rates when using ProRes, since AVCHD must be transcoded into ProRes or AIC before editing in FCP.
I am using a Caldigit VR with a Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34 with my MBP, and getting read speeds of over 180 MB/sec. according to an AJA test. It can handle three streams of 1080x1920 ProRes without dropping frames (and without rendering).
The folks at Caldigit said that the read speed will fall quite a bit if the hard drive gets full, but this is enough headroom that it will not matter for my purposes.
Steve,
It seemed there was some concern about getting adequate data transfer rates when using ProRes, since AVCHD must be transcoded into ProRes or AIC before editing in FCP.
I am using a Caldigit VR with a Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34 with my MBP, and getting read speeds of over 180 MB/sec. according to an AJA test. It can handle three streams of 1080x1920 ProRes without dropping frames (and without rendering).
The folks at Caldigit said that the read speed will fall quite a bit if the hard drive gets full, but this is enough headroom that it will not matter for my purposes.