fcp or avid????

[geniuselvs]

how does like a dual 2.0 ghz g5 with fcphd and 4gigs of ram compare to using avid with like their 30,000 dna hardware? is there a really a big difference for the price. i mean more and more movies i hear are being edited on g5s or even powerbooks for that matter. could it be that what was consider the bottom of the industry is now becoming the "new" way of the industry?

 

[ian lucero]

Re: fcp or avid????

I don't know. For the past 5 years (probably even more) I've been hearing lots about Avid going down and FCP coming up. 5 Years agao FCP was just a speck and Avid was haulting its support for the MAC. A lot of people started talking like Avid was old and couldn't keep up with the newer technologies. Which complete bull! It seems like it is up and down with this topic. Apple at that time was pushing their new system FCP and even Premiere was starting to disappear from the MAC view. So at that point they were pushing hard to get everyone to do DV. Now look, everyone is doing DV work. It is easy and quick and a lot has to do with the MAC taking technologies that use to be only found in AVID or super expensive systems and made it affordable (ie. iMovie, FCXpress, FCP HD)

But as I've learned, major movies are still cut in Avid. Avid never disappeared, they just needed to update - besides, Everyone was using their stuff - why would they let Apple take their market?

I don't know if the quality is any better, I'm hoping at $30,000, it better play without rendering everything, uncompressed, etc. FCPHD can only go so far with DV then it is a matter of what kind of Digital Video you will be doing. Avid users are usually cutting digitized film that will be put back to film, they also have that combined with ProTools. I think it depends on what the industry standard is or what your company is using that will make everything work. FCPHD has the potential to do HD video, with the right video card, monitors, drives, etc. That will add up $$$ and probably get up to the same price of the AVID system.

I feel right off the bat, FCPHD is perfect for indie filmmakers and event videographers. You can make amazing feature films from DV footage that can be put to film or projected digitally whatever you need. I don't think you miss anything in quality if you capture the image with the right gear (DVX or whatever pro gear you are using) The editing station you do the cutting in is almost similar but speed or workflow is what the price seems to dictate at this point.

I don't have $30,000 or have access to Avid(although i've used an older MCExpress 4 years ago) so I don't know what Avid is like now. Someone who could chime in on their thoughts on editing in Avid or other programs, Vegas etc. could help maybe? sorry this is so long.