FCP vs CS3 ?

samsara

samsara

Well-known member
Hello every one.

I'm Dir. Photography. I just bought a Mac Pro to edit some project. In the past I work a bit with adobe (on PC) and was quite happy with it. Now with the HDCAM EX and Blue ray, I just don't know what to do?

and, my Mac has a ATI 1900, 250GB+500GB+500GB but only 2gb(4X512), How much will be ideal? 4,6,8? Do I need a second G. card?

thanks
 
No second graphic card needed.

You'll get by with 2 gigs of ram, but more would be better. Try it with what you've got and expand if you need to.

FCS is a great package - an amazing deal. Especially if you are a DP and want to do grading with the Color software that comes with FCS.
 
If you're already used to and happy with CS3, why not just get CS3? I mean, if you already know it and it does what you want, why would you want to go through another learning process?
 
Barry_Green said:
If you're already used to and happy with CS3, why not just get CS3? I mean, if you already know it and it does what you want, why would you want to go through another learning process?
Click to expand...

Isn't learning good - especially if you get to learn something which has more capability (at least in certain areas)?
 
BTW, it blu ray, not blue ray.

CS3 Encore on the Mac supports blu ray authoring and burning with a blu ray burner.

DVD SP does not.

However Toast 9 will when it's released this month.
 
RAM is pretty cheap these days - so I'd suggest you pickup another 2Gb. And I'd recommend FCP over Premiere Pro, FCP was pretty much the only reason I switched to Mac last year - and it's worth it.
 
matthew77 said:
Isn't learning good - especially if you get to learn something which has more capability (at least in certain areas)?
Click to expand...
Time = money, and re-learning a new editing system (and in fact an entire new suite of applications!) can mean a huge investment in time.

I guess it all comes down to AfterEffects and PhotoShop and Illustrator and OnLocation (even if it's runnable only in BootCamp though), vs. Color and Motion. Pick which apps suit your workflow better. FCP isn't all that different from Premiere Pro.
 
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Barry_Green said:
Time = money
Click to expand...

Knowledge = power

but then again,

Ignorance = bliss.

Of course I understand what you are saying, Barry - and I know that you are a great educator as well.

I would always encourage learning new things - in the long run it's good for business.
 
Thank s for the coments. In fact the learning curve will be hard for both as I only edit a few time with Premiere but The most important it's :

*edit without trouble (hdv)
*the posibility to use the SDI out
*easy grade (magic bullet, After Effect...)
*multicams editing?
*easy to edit and burn a blu ray


sorry, english it's my third language
 
Either of these suites will do tons and tons. It mostly depends on what you are most comfortable using. There are also aspects of each suite that the competitor doesn't do. For example.

FCP vs. Premier: Most of us prefer FCP, but if you're used to Premiere, it will do plenty.

DVDSP vs. Encore: Posts already made on this. Encore is a little easier to use, I think. Others may not. Both can make great DVDs.

Motion vs. After Effects: Well, AE is way more robust here, by far. But there are easier "start and go" features with Motion. A skilled person at either can do magical wonders.

Soundtrack vs. Soundbooth - Soundtrack may have more features for easy multi-tracking work, but I find Soundbooth easier to get into, and prefer it's noise reduction and visual editors.

Color - well, there's nothing like this by Adobe that I know of. Even with the Color Finesse plug for After Effects, it won't do the same thing. Do you need Color? I always thought someone with real skill could make great color correction using just the Apple color corrector. But Color alone is so powerful, it might make or break it for you.

LiveType - Easy to use Apple program, but what you can do in After Effects blows it away. But do you need that much power?

On the Adobe side though, you'd get Photoshop, Flash, and Illustrator: Nothing Apple makes competes with this. But do you need these programs?

Finally, again, it's up to you, the user. The company I work for has the Adobe Master Creative Suite. I've been using Adobe products for a decade, day in and day out, and some of these programs I can barely use at all. The depth and complexity of them is mind boggling. I'd be hard pressed to think anyone on the planet has them all mastered.
 
snowleopard said:
Color - well, there's nothing like this by Adobe that I know of. Even with the Color Finesse plug for After Effects, it won't do the same thing. Do you need Color? I always thought someone with real skill could make great color correction using just the Apple color corrector.
Click to expand...

I heartily - nay, strongly - recommend Colorista, which works in FCP, AE etc. For most mere mortals, using Color is like using Quark Xpress to write a letter. Colorista sits right inside AE or FCP, politely and professionally doing what it says on the tin.

http://redgiantsoftware2.com/Downloads/videos/colorista/FInal_Cut_Advanced_web.mov

This is a great little movie and demonstrates the basics in grading (note that in AE you can motion track the mask). Remember, one builds up many instances to achieve the end result.

It's all the grading that 'the rest of us' will need.

Obligatory on-topic comment: Final Cut is genetically related to Premiere, and for most of the time, you're not really going to notice a difference other than in personal preference for User Interface niceties. It's the rest of the package that will probably swing it (or if you intend to 'edit for money').
 
Good points Matt.
I must say I might try my next short-form project in Premiere, just because of the nice looking integration with AE. If I have to go back and forward between FCP and AE, it isn't very pretty...
Now that Adobe is finally treating Mac users fairly on the video side, I am prepared to give them a chance.
 
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