FCP or Premiere for editing A1 footage?

T

Tom Films

Active member
I'm at a crossroads. I've always used the adobe suite for editing, effects, and authoring DV footage. Now that I've purchased an A1, I need to upgrade to Premiere CS3 and also upgrade my PC's hardware to handle the HDV footage.

First off, I like Adobe suite for the most part. Become very familar with it, and pretty decent with after effects.

Since I have to upgrade software & hardware, should I make the switch to a mac and to FCP? Seems more PRO filmers use FCP than adobe.

I've NEVER owned a mac, how much relearning would I have switching to FCP? What are the advantages of one vs the other. I will be shooting mostly 24f footage and some 60 for slowmos.

Thanks
 
When it comes down to it....... FCP vs Premiere is a personal choice. FCP is more widely accepted in the industry. If you must fully upgrade then theres no better time to switch if youre going to. Thats all I can really tell you.
 
I was at the same crossroads last year. Being a premiere user at home and using FCP at school all the time, I figured I might aswell buy a mac. I don't ever regret buying it even after using it for a year. With premiere and after effects avaliable on the mac now aswell as Final Cut Suite 2. There isn't a better time to buy a mac.
 
Once you go Mac you won't go back...

I mean I hate the down time and the virus that I use to catch when I'm on a PC.
 
I have two mac G5's one to use, and one for parts. Grr... I must have got a lemon or something, haven't had these problems with my PC.

Now don't go and try to tear me a new one Mac guys, this is my experience with macs, they are both sitting here side by side.
 
One vote here for Mac/FCP. I'm still going thru the "growing pains" stage of learning to cut in HD, but overall it's not as bad as I anticipated.
I also use AE CS3 for motion graphics. Love it.

Certainly would agree, "FCP is more widely accepted in the industry" Now more than ever.
 
If you get Final Cut Pro, be sure and get the DVD/Book tutorial, it taught me well! That is the biggest advantage that Apple has over the competition imo, is interactive dvd/text books that will teach you. As for reliability, my mac crashes more often than I would like to admit, luckily my buddy works for the school district and can fix this... then again having never cut with a pc maybe this is normal?
 
So is it absolutely necessary to switch to a mac or just a matter of personal preference. Basically, is there anything FCP will do for me, that CS3 cant?

If I remember correctly, doesnt Premiere, have issues editing footage that has been downconverted from HD to SD?

If I went Mac, whats a good machine setup to buy?
 
On the other side of the coin, if I upgraded my PC, what upgrades are necessary for HD editing?

I currently have...

Dell Dimension 3000
Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz
1022MB Ram
Intel 82865G Graphics Controller

I figure I would need a dual core processor, new video card. Which ones specifically? Would I need more ram?
 
Another vote for mac/fcp. I used PC's all my life and adobe premiere pro 2.0 for a little while up until about 2-3 years ago and the learning curve is almost non-existent.

As far as PC to Mac goes, everything is pretty much the same although imo the mac is easier to learn and more user friendly as you can custumize it the way you like it. Much more organized also. I've never had any problems at all with my G5 and never run virus protection.

As for premiere to fcp, you'll learn the differences as you go along. It may take awhile to learn the new shortcut keys, but that's about it. I think you'll find that a lot of it's the same as far as the interface goes. I'm not sure about the more technical stuff like the different compressions and whatnot.

If you get a mac, get a used G5 or new Mac pro. I would suggest either getting the 2.5 quad core G5, or the new intel mac pro 2.6 quad. You wont be able to use windows on the G5 though. I'd get at the very least 4 gb of ram.

All in all though, I don't think you'd be dissapointed with either PC or Mac. Although I've heard a lot of bad things about vista so I'd probably stick with XP.
 
I use both FCP at school and Premiere at home. Personally, although people seem to be so loyal to mac and FCP, I prefer Premiere and PC.

I am NOT saying one is better than the other. It depends on you. I can go in to great detail of why I feel this way, but I will spare you the reading unless you ask.

In a nutshell, I love how premiere is so well integrated; and it is the little details that Premiere seems to notice that keeps me happy.

With the PC, you get more bang for the buck. I have not had any problems with viruses, knock on wood, and for the price you can't beat it. I keep upgrading to suit whatever software I am using, and it has been very affordable.

But, to each his own...

Hope this helps.
 
I don't believe its so much a PC vs Mac thing. As it is Premier vs. FCP. I dont know FCP, but I'd have to say go with FCP because I am not a big premeir pro fan with the little problems it's caused me over the years.

Dont Connect Your Pc For Editing To The Internet And You'll Have No Problems
Click to expand...

I have had my editing PC hooked up to the net for years, not one problem in that respect. So I'm not sure what you mean by that. Maybe the virus thing, haven't had any.

With the PC, you get more bang for the buck.
Click to expand...

True, about half if you build it. If you got the money to go Mac Tom, I say by all means use FCP. I did not upgrade premier, I switched to Vegas.
 
I used for Premiere for a short while... but didn't really like it. Have used FCP a lot, and it's pretty ok, I prefer Vegas tho. Vegas is way more user friendly, and has a lot more to offer looking at audio.

FCP is better accepted in the industry tho, so if you plan on working for a company better go for FCP or Avid. I personally have something against Avid tho ;)

So for me; 1. Vegas, 2. FCP and than Avid & Premiere.

But in the end it's all personal, it's just a tool. It's you who has to make something of it, so take the one you think works best.
 
Dionysos said:
I used for Premiere for a short while... but didn't really like it. Have used FCP a lot, and it's pretty ok, I prefer Vegas tho. Vegas is way more user friendly, and has a lot more to offer looking at audio.

FCP is better accepted in the industry tho, so if you plan on working for a company better go for FCP or Avid. I personally have something against Avid tho ;)

So for me; 1. Vegas, 2. FCP and than Avid & Premiere.

But in the end it's all personal, it's just a tool. It's you who has to make something of it, so take the one you think works best.
Click to expand...


I've always wanted to try vegas. I don't know very many people who use it, but I've always heard mostly good things about it. I've never even seen it.
 
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