Vegas or FCP ?

RichW

RichW

Active member
Am taking a Final Cut Pro class.... what a pain!! It is extremely complicated and not very intuitive. Plus you need a Mac . However it seems to be the industry standard.
I have heard good things about Vegas. Where is it leading? Does one really need FCP to work in independent films? Will Vegas do the same thing? What is recommended these days?
 
If you don't like FCP, don't use it. Download the Vegas demo and see if you like it. You don't "need" any certain NLE if you're making independent films. Use what works for you.
 
Very true HorseFilms, I agree.

Personally I think Vegas is less bloated than any other editor. I like it because it doesn't leave a big footprint on the system.

The worst one IMO is Adobe Premiere. I can't understand how Photoshop, Audition, and AE are so great, yet they can't make a decent editing program.
 
The reason I hesitate is because to get editing work in the San Francisco area, they ask whether you have FCP experience. That's what they want you to use.
Most independent filmmakers seem to have not even heard of Vegas (or perhaps it's considered not professional enough, I don't know)
 
If you're working for a company that uses a specific editing system, you need to learn it. If you're working on your own, your work should speak for itself. It shouldn't matter what you cut with. The end result will mean more, unless you're dealing with absolute morons (unfortunately, there are plenty of those running around).
 
I felt the same way. I edited solely with Vegas for a while, but took an FCP class and HATED it. A few months ago I decided to make the switch to FCP because I found more and more projects were expected to be done in FCP. I am loving my mac and FCP now. Just took a while to get used to. I still kept my PC for quick cuts in Vegas though =)
 
Codecs are a factor

Codecs are a factor

One problem is ingesting material. Years after DV50 and DV100 (HD) were introduced, Panasonic still hasn't released versions of these codecs for Windows, and third-party support is scattered and incomplete. Thus, good luck with VariCam or HVX-200 material.

Also, there still aren't any Windows drivers for the Aja Io, and competing devices don't compress to any decent codec. I don't know why Canopus never followed up their ADVC-100 with a DV50 version. DV25 is just too lame for anything half serious, and just about any current computer can easily handle DV50.

It's amazing how immature the marketplace still is. Most of the NLEs out there barely hold together. No wonder people are still complaining about Discreet Edit being discontinued.
 
I'm with Horse here. If you want to work somewhere, you need to learn what they're editing on. If you're editing for yourself, use something you're comfortable with and does the job.
 
FCP 5 HD is great when you get the hang of it. Unintuitive is definately NOT aword I could see used in the same sentence. I have not used Vegas, nor do I know much about it, so I can't help much with a comparison. I do know that the suite you get with FCP is packed with usefull tools. Compressor, Motion, Soundtrack- great stuff. LiveType is alright if you need quick titles, but I prefer After Effects for that. It's also very easy to import your stuff into Logic Pro 7 and Shake from Final Cut. I imagine that would be a little more difficult to do on Vegas, but that's more to do with it being a PC app and Apple discontinuing Logic and Shake on Windows.

Ultimately, give FCP a chance and get proficient with it. In the mean time, download Vegas and see how that works for you. FCP 5 Suite w/ student discount is $500. That is a bargain. Well good luck
 
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