My Solution

Hunter Hampton

Hunter Hampton

Carbonite Member
I mostly shoot- but often end up editing many projects I shoot- so I spend about 1-2 weeks per month in front of FCP (for the past 5 years). In fact, FCP was the reason I bought my first mac then, but thats another story.

I was really excited about the new FCPX, or at least excited to see it- after seeing this was imovie pro and I couldnt open "legacy" projects and xml's- or export xml's or omf's (among other things that I regularly do in fcp). I didnt get upset, I decided just to stick to fcp7- but then I remembered what happened to shake and I checked apple.com for fcs3- its gone baby gone (even though I want to beleive they will keep updating the old fcp).

So without any bitching, I downloaded the trial to cs5.5 premeire pro, and after spending an hour playing around and switching the keyboard shortcuts to fcp7 preset (already built in)- I realized that it was actually better than fcp7 -better in audio and image control- better integration with other software. Real native editing- no re wrapping or L&T.

Not only that, but you can import (and export) finalcut xml's- so I can work on all my old projects. Im happy fcpx came out so I could see this because I actually think premeire- although not good 5 years ago, is now much better than any version of fcp. Never thought id say that.

Anyway, now that im free- Im able to build a killer custom pc with a high-end Quadro GPU (mercury engine), run windows 7 + cs5.5- and laugh all the way to the bank because I can build a faster better spec edit machine running windows for $3500 than I can for $10,000 at the apple store.

My imac, iphone, ipad and macbookpro will still get used, but only for travel or consumer applications : )

Im genuinely thankful to apple breaking up with me so nicely.
 
haha, I was pricing out a new Pc about ten minutes ago, and am going the same route. I have been using premiere pretty much since it came out, so I already have a firm grasp of how to run it, although it seems like I still find better ways to do things. Im looking at the cuda, gpu cards to go with it.

But yeah Hunter, I couldnt agree more, At first, I was really pissed off for wasting my time waiting after hearing how amazing it was going to be. But after cooling down, I figured it was a blessing in disguise.
 
count me in except ill keep my mac pro 8 core's. going to buy a flashed GTX 285 for PP & will also be good for Resolve(cant wait for that one!!!) i agree about Premiere looking really good and easy to learn IMO. it even runs quite a bit better on my 8 core without the nVidia GPU than FCP7 in general. the new card should really energize it and make it fly with no bogging down from what i gather.

i still would rather not have to do this but yeah, i agree that it might be a blessing in disguise when its all said and done.

david
 
Hey Hunter. I was planning on downloading CS tonight. Thanks for your thoughts. I guess I might be buying 20+ of those instead of FCPX.

JD
 
I think we need a support group for those of us who are only on mac because of Final Cut, and now feeling a bit lost. I've been there for 10+ years because at the time windows and PC's in general truly did suck when it came to video. I never liked the iStuff and mostly moved them off my dock. The writing has been on the wall for a while, which is why I have avoided upgrading, even though my old G5 running Final Cut 6 is getting very long in the tooth.

It's been so long since I regularly used windows that I can't even figure out how to uninstall/ disable the crap demo software on my son's netbook let alone get into the task of putting together a stable system to get going.

cost is certainly a consideration, I will not buy a mac to run software that can run just as well on a much cheaper PC. I don't need top end, I just need it to work, I'm thinking its possible to put together a decent tower and laptop for the price a 15" macbook pro, that's what I'm aiming for.

I've been looking at Premiere and the CS5.5 suite, and that seems to be my best bet, but the key selling point seems to be the mercury engine that only works with certain video cards. Is there a proxy workflow that you can load on a relatively cheap laptop and then conform on a tower. Just looking at pure specs a $500 notebook seems to blow away my wife's basic white macbook, but reading the system requirements of the software seems to need much more.

I'm sure I can actually build the thing, I've installed ram and hard drives and video cards etc, the only other thing is installing a mother board into a case. But the actual shopping list is daunting. There is too much choice, and everyone's opinion is different. State of the art from 3 months ago is half the price of the latest and greatest, surely people don't recycle that fast, is the cheaper options still viable.

What version of windows, coming from a 'Pro' environment, I would think going with the pro version would be prudent, but do you need it or is Windows idea of pro more about managing office networks.

What about virus protection. Back in the day you couldn't mix anti-virus and Premiere or it would just crash, I assume that has changed, but I'm sure it's still practice to keep your main workstation offline.

I know I could just search the Premiere section for the best ingredients, but maybe someone could point to useful info. A tower build with useful info like the differences between processors, because the current numbers don't seem to mean anything. Maybe recommend budget laptops that are not junk, if there is such a thing. The notebook doesn't need to be a desktop replacement, if there is a low data rate proxy workflow possible, that is what I would go for, capture/render/conform etc would all be done on a real workstation.

My old G4 still chuggs away, and in a way I'm glad it can't run the new software, i don't think I want iOS on my desk top and need a trackpad to run it.
 
I think a move to Windows 7 based workstations is wise. Not only do you have the option to use Premiere CS 5.5 with Cuda but also Avid MC 5.5 (soon MC 6.0 64 bit).

I use applications on all three OS flavors at work: linux, Win 7 and OS X. I love unix, and the unix core to OS X is nice, but Finder is still buggy as hell after so many years. Once you get to know Win 7, you'll see it's hands down the best and most refined GUI out there.

The only reason I keep an i5 iMac at home is for Resolve. I think this may spell a lot of trouble for Apple and the Pro Apps division. Consumers and Post houses buy into the Pro eco system for FCP. Maybe all Apple wants to do is sell iMacs / ipads and notebooks in the future?

I'm hoping FCP X becomes more full featured very quickly. It's nice having options.
 
If you don't want to build your own PC, you can always get a workstation from Dell or HP. Not as cheap as building your own, but still cheaper than a Mac Pro and you get some support instead of having to tech support your own rig.
 
Goodluck!

I switched to mac and FCP because Premiere Pro on PC crashed all the time. It was god awful. The old FCP and Premiere Pro control alsmost exactly the same, so learning it will be easier than learning FCP X. The cost savings of going to PC, isn't worth it to me. I'd rather have stable OS and not have to have a IT team to make sure my editing gear actually works. Too many headaches.

MAKE SURE YOU DEFRAG EVERYDAY! btw.

I'm excited about FCP X and I think I am just going to buckle down and start learning how to use it.
 
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That's a great move, Hunter. I started off with FCP and Mac but made the move to Vegas Pro and Windows long ago. Premiere Pro CS5 being added to the arsenal recently. Haven't looked back. I still have to endure through FCP and Mac as some clients may insist, and it's a real chore. There's just so much power and flexibility on the Windows platform. Moving beyond the sheer scope of hardware options and customizability, you will be treated to, first of all, freedom from the tyranny of Quicktime, the powers of AVISynth, a vast multitude of codecs (including lossless codecs), high quality renderers like madVR for monitoring, 10-bit output for 10-bit monitors (Mac OS X is limited to 8-bit), etc. etc.

Chaos123x said:
Goodluck!

I switched to mac and FCP because Premiere Pro on PC crashed all the time. It was god awful. The old FCP and Premiere Pro control alsmost exactly the same, so learning it will be easier than learning FCP X. The cost savings of going to PC, isn't worth it to me. I'd rather have stable OS and not have to have a IT team to make sure my editing gear actually works. Too many headaches.

MAKE SURE YOU DEFRAG EVERYDAY! btw.

I'm excited about FCP X and I think I am just going to buckle down and start learning how to use it.
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I am sorry to hear about your experience, but something went wrong, obviously. There are thousands of people editing with Premiere Pro on Windows on a daily basis with absolute stability and flexibility. Not to mention Windows 7 is an exceptionally robust and stable OS and and runs Premiere Pro CS5 faster than Mac OS X.
 
I started with regular old Premiere 4.0 and used all the way up to the current "Pro" (Cs5.5) version on all types of Windows PC's.

Always had trouble and problems, and spent more time trouble shooting then editing. Now days I turn down editing gigs if people are running a PC shop, unless it's one that has support staff.

FCP will crash sometimes, but atleast it won't crash the entire computer.
 
Smart man Hunter!

And to those of you transitioning over to PP CS5.5, I HIGHLY recommend my buddy Richard Harrington's book/dvd:

"An Editor's Guide to Adobe Premiere Pro":

http://www.amazon.com/Editors-Guide-Adobe-Premiere-Pro/dp/0321773012

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Im genuinely thankful to apple breaking up with me so nicely.
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Haha, that's a good one.

I think we need a support group for those of us who are only on mac because of Final Cut, and now feeling a bit lost.
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That's also funny.

Yeah, I purchased CS5.5 production premium and it arrived yesterday. I'm getting ready to do the install today or tomorrow on my Mac Pro. Taking this morning to clear some files & junk off my harddrive. This feels like a healthy purge.

I have faith that PP is going to be a robust editing program that will handle my needs. Since I am in and out of After Effects and Photoshop all the time, this seems like a no-brainer to integrate Premiere into my repetoire. Especially after watching that Walt Biscardi tutorial on Vimeo. You can import FCP project files straight into Premiere? And ProRes clips will play as well? What? That's great news.

Brave new world for me, but this feels good.

I actually think premeire- although not good 5 years ago, is now much better than any version of fcp.
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Well, I look forward to testing the waters.
 
I don't see why you would need a guide to use Premiere Pro if your coming from FCP7 it's almost the exact same program.
 
From everything I've read here and from hearing from a few other folks, FCPX may turn into the best marketing tool for Premiere Pro CS5/CS5.5 I've ever seen. I'm sure the folks at Adobe will be sending Steve Jobs a nice thank you gift soon. :)
 
Chaos123x said:
I don't see why you would need a guide to use Premiere Pro if your coming from FCP7 it's almost the exact same program.
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There are a few little quirks but if you're used to the Adobe interface from using other apps like AE then it's pretty much a seamless transition, yes. We use FCP7 where I work and just out of dumb luck we also have Premiere CS5 because of the the Creative Suite. I used Premiere this past week and once I got my hotkeys set up properly (I modified a few of the Adobe FCP settings) I was right at home, only not worrying about rendering nearly as often. I'm still getting used to the audio portion of the app, but I'm right at home cutting video on the timeline. And thanks to Red Giant, my copy of Colorista II could even come along with me :)

I also purchased FCPX this week but I can't view it as a serious production tool (yet), however I still like some aspects of it and it can really only get better from this point.
 
Mike Harvey said:
From everything I've read here and from hearing from a few other folks, FCPX may turn into the best marketing tool for Premiere Pro CS5/CS5.5 I've ever seen. I'm sure the folks at Adobe will be sending Steve Jobs a nice thank you gift soon. :)
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I'm sure Adobe would appreciate any leftover Apple crumbs. Reality is Apple will make more money with FCP X than Adobe with Apple's crumbs.
 
mcgeedigital said:
Not if any of the huge negative reviews are any indication they won't.
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iMoviers, hobbyists, dabblers probably don't care much about what pro users say. I wouldn't be surprised either if the negative reviews are just a lot of angst that will dissipate and be forgotten once FCP X implements some of the missing pro features.
 
VMT said:
iMoviers, hobbyists, dabblers probably don't care much about what pro users say. I wouldn't be surprised either if the negative reviews are just a lot of angst that will dissipate and be forgotten once FCP X implements some of the missing pro features.
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I hope they don't listen. More FCPX sold = More incentive to develop. The only way I can see FCPX dying now is by our own word-of-mouth and stubbornness to give it a chance to grow.
 
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The media organization is really nice with FCPX. But the whole auto Project saving is a problem. You never know when you may lose your project and need to start over. I tried to go back some steps and FCPX told me it cannot save (and I should quit). The Project was gone. This was a toy project but still frightening. I play a bit and then wait. Either back to FCP 7 or investigate more into CS5.5.
 
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