what do pc users prefer to edit with? premiere, avid or hideous er Edius?

[chwfilms]

I am asking myself the question - pursue with pc or go and get a pro mac - I have worked with premiere all it's life and if I have to learn a new system I would rather learn final cut and go to the other side! what is your opinion?

[daveswan]

Well I use Avid Xpress pro HD at the moment on pc, but expect to soon upgrade to Media Composer soft, since AXP is dead. Avid will run on both platforms (And you install both versions). I don't think there is much practical difference between pc and mac these days.
Just my opinion of course.
Dave

[daveswan]

Just noticed (D' oh) thay you're in PAL-land like me, so I would be leary of going Avid de novo untill they sort out the 720/25p frame rate (Check out the Avid forums for very long threads on the topic), I only have Avid hor historical reasons, If I were buying now I would be thinking Edius.
Dave

[Jeff Anderson]

I prefer Premiere but have also been using it since version 4 so I mainly prefer it because i know it. I have yet to have it let me down with CS3 and the integration with AE and Photoshop are just fantastic. If you know premiere already and already have a PC I'd just stay the course. Why are you looking to change?

[THoff]

If you know and like Premiere, by all means use CS3. Oh yeah, I use Edius...

[Barry_Green]

I have worked with premiere all it's life
Up 'til when though? I last looked at Premiere on version 6.0, and walked away at that point. As I understand it, Premiere 7/Premiere Pro and PP 1.5 were nothing to write home about. The new CS3 is much, much better. So if you're not yet using CS3, you might want to look into it. If you're already using CS3 and are looking to go elsewhere, then FCP would probably be the easiest editor to learn; it has a lot in common with PP 3.0 (or, the other way around, Premiere Pro has a lot in common with FCP), but either way the two apps are more similar than any other NLEs out there.


and if I have to learn a new system I would rather learn final cut and go to the other side!
Why?

Is it because you think everyone else is going to it, and you want to be in the club? That's a valid reason; obviously the more people using a particular platform, the more shared experiences and the larger the forum support network will be. Or, if it's because you are trying to get a job, and everywhere that's hiring is demanding FCP editors, then that's a valid reason.

But if it's just because you think the grass is greener elsewhere, you'll likely find that there's just as many issues, lots of new issues to deal with, and it's basically "six of one, half a dozen of the other."

[ProfessorU]

Personally I think Edius and Premiere are very similar.

I mostly edit on Edius, now. I left Premiere at 6.5 because it was so unstable. The integration with AfterEffects is nice, though. I miss it.

You can also use Automatic Duck with Avid if you want simple AE integration.

[jgastelb]

I know it wasn't one of your options but... Vegas is a good contender.

[THoff]

And while I have no experience with it, SpeedEdit also has a loyal following.

[Nexis]

I know it wasn't one of your options but... Vegas is a good contender.

I like Vegas too, but I don't like how Sony won't natively support MXF files (you'd think that they'd want to in order to expand their user base). Of course, my old dog of a PC won't run it well with Raylight.

Guess I could always install Bootcamp (not Barry's :happy: ) on my Macbook Pro and run Winblows that way...

[THoff]

They do support MXF, but only for their own Sony XDCAM cameras. Stoopid politics...

[btownproductions]

I also prefer Premiere, but thats mostly because I've been using it for a few years now. I've used FCP on mac's and didn't mind it, and I've also used Avid, which I'm sure is really great and all, but to me it seems like it's trying to be too flashy and ended up making it harder for me to even do simple things with it that would take me seconds to do in Premiere.

Any of the high-end editing suites will give you basically all the same features and the same final product. It's pretty much up to personal preferance and which one you find is easier to use. I also enjoy Premiere due to its integration with AE and PS, and with CS3's addition of native P2 support it's great for HD editing.

All in all, go with what you're used to and feels comfortable... It doesn't really matter if you're using Premiere/FCP/Avid/Vegas or any of the other editing programs. If you're good with editing, the final product will look just as good with either of them

[Barry_Green]

I know it wasn't one of your options but... Vegas is a good contender.
Not so much now that we're in HD land. I wouldn't actively recommend Vegas to anyone who's now switching editors unless that person was specifically going to edit footage from Sony camcorders. The Vegas of today is not the Vegas of three years ago.

You can make Vegas work with the HVX by getting Raylight, but you shouldn't have to. And when they made it incompatible with Canon and Panasonic AVC-HD camcorders (but supported Sony AVC-HD cameras), that was a low blow. But the dealbreaker was when they had functional Canon HDV support in version 6.0, but "broke" it in 8.0. At that point I decided that Vegas had lost my trust for good.

If all you want to edit is Sony HDV (not JVC or Canon HDV, but SONY HDV) and Sony EX1 footage, then Vegas would be my #1 recommendation. But if you want to work with anything else, I'd say look elsewhere. EDIUS or Premiere Pro CS3 are my current favorites.

[Steve McClean]

I have Sony Vegas 8 and Raylight and it is a great editor for the mxf files. Raylight was only around 200 dollars. I have been editing with Vegas ever since 3.0!! CRazy huh? but I can't seem to switch to anything else. I'm in a editing class at my film shool and we are cutting on Avid and I think vegas is a lot better. I also like Avid to though.

[daveswan]

If you're a bona fide student, you can get Avid Academic Media Composer at petty-cash prices.
Dave