Your Votes Appreciated! : The Most Versatile, Powerful NLE.

[andybiz_2005]

Hi, I would like to start a thread so that everyone can comment on their favourite, best, most powerful NLE that they use for their video edits.

I'm comfortable with Premiere Pro, but would like to hear your views on other NLEs & what they are capable of.

Thanks in advance.

Andrew

[El Gato Negro]

Autodesk Discreet Smoke is one of the most respected editing suites in the industry. If I'm correct it runs about $40,000.00 this would be my ideal editing suite if I could afford it. Also Avid Nitris DS is up there. Both of these editing suites can handle 2k and 4k resolution.

[Drew Ott]

Wow... $40,000 for a CD.

[Isaac_Brody]

I wouldn't worry about which is more powerful, they all do the same thing. I would worry about wanting to work. You should know Avid and Final Cut. Using both of those will cover the bulk of editing jobs available.

[andybiz_2005]

Thank you for all your comments. It has been very helpful for me. So, is it really worthwhile to learn Avid?

[andybiz_2005]

What about Sony Vegas? Is it considered suitable or capable for editing videos on the professional basis?

[Isaac_Brody]

Vegas is capable of professional work but I never see ads for work using it. No features are cut in Vegas. Like I said, all the editing NLE's work for professional work, but unless you have you're own shop where you decide what's being used you limit your marketability by using Vegas versus Avid or Final Cut. That's just the reality of the industry and not a snub on the capabilities of the program.

[andybiz_2005]

Just wondering since I think Barry Green uses Sony Vegas as his NLE. I guess it's a matter of preference & whether the NLE suits the person's style.

[Barry_Green]

I've been a big fan of Vegas since version 4.0.b, however, I'm finding that unfortunately I may have to move on. With no native HVX support, the siren call of FCP and EDIUS Broadcast are most difficult to resist! As soon as Apple announces a Core 2 Duo MBP, that'll probably be the moment I officially jump ship.

Until then, I'm using Vegas & Raylight for small projects, but the potential of 3 or 4 streams of full-screen high-def from FCP, or direct importing from the cards and the extremely integrated P2 workflow of EDIUS, are hard to ignore. I just cut a small thing from my Australia trip and am uploading it, and I used Vegas (because Vegas+raylight is the only 720/25p editing solution out there right now until I upgrade to EDIUS 4.0) and I'm missing that program, Vegas is great.

Isaac's right though, it has practically no industry penetration. FCP and Avid are everywhere, Vegas seems to have found its acceptance among "closed shops" and one-man-band ventures. It would be great if it found wider acceptance, but as of today there's just about no post house you can go to that will have a Vegas suite. They'll all have at least one FCP and one Avid suite, but none of them have Vegas yet.

Same thing with EDIUS, nobody has it or knows about it, but I expect significant growth from them now that Thomson Grass Valley bought them and is putting their name on it. Besides, the EDIUS team seems hungry and aggressive, they're out there doing things the others aren't (like providing 720/24p support for JVC HDV, 1080/24F support for Canon HDV, and 720/25p support for HVX200E/202E users).

[snodart]

I used PPRO for 2 years and then switched over to FCP. This always starts a debate, but in my opinion and from my own experiences, FCP is more stable and powerful than PPRO. I briefly used Vegas and found it very simple, powerful, and easy to use. I would have to agree with Isaac though in that it is not the standard NLE used among most professionals (Notice that I said most and not all). Vegas does not use the same common NLE layout that FCP, PPRO, and Avid have in common. I did play around with Avid a tiny bit when I first got into this filmmaking thing. All I remember is that it seemed complicated, but of course any NLE might have looked that way too me at the time.


If you do decide to go the FCP route at some point the switch from PPRO is very easy, as they are nearly identical in layout.

[dewman]

I use PP2.0 - actually the whole production studio - all is good.

[Bus No. 8]

I love my FCP Studio. I really like having the whole package to work with from capture to DVD.

I worked with Avid in film school and liked it okay, but my main memory of it was of the computer crashing. A lot.

[Blaine]

I love my FCP Studio even more now that I have Shake. I love the roundtrip editing offered by all the component, particularly the Open in Editor function.

[brianluce]

One thing about vegas, it's the undisputed champ when it comes to handling sound. Some audio engineers use it in lieu of pro tools. It's also very simple to use. Edius drove me nuts--not user friendly in my book. PP is nice cuz it's integrated so well with all those other adobe products.

[Noel Evans]

Ive jumped ship from ppro to FCP not so long ago. Im getting better results with cc, everything looks smoother and cleaner.