Premiere Pro Alternatives

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firehawk

Veteran
I first started using Premiere 5.0 and later 6.0 back in the 90s then later Premiere Pro 1.5 and 2.0 up to CS, CS4, CS5 and CS6. I'm still most familiar with it but my beloved CS6 is getting less and less capable with new 4K cameras and 360 video so I've making the transition to Revolve Studio 17, Vegas Pro 19 and HitFilm Pro. Some of my plugins are thankfully working with the other NLEs so that will ease the change somewhat.
What are you guys using?
Did you make the jump from Adobe?
 
Why three different editing platforms? I might be able to see two, but three would be hard to master to the level that you could edit quickly and not lose money. At least for me.

I'm still in Premiere CC after switching from Final Cut Pro 7 in... 2011? 2012? When my clients have asked me about the platform I was using, Premiere has always been the right answer for them. If they have in-house editing capabilities, their editor is always using Premiere. No one has ever requested any other software of me. I also own Resolve Studio, and occasionally I'll try to edit a personal project with it to build that skill set. It usually ends in frustration, not because it's a bad piece of software, but because I don't know where everything is yet. Others may have different experiences.
 
Thanks for the input. I got Vegas Pro free with a camera purchase and a good sale on Hitfilm Pro. Resolve Studio was only $295 and came with a speed editor control pad so I decided to give all 3 a try since I didn't have to spend a lot. I still have Final Cut Studio 3 on my Mac Pro but it can't run X.

Might not be the best move to experiment with 3. I know I'll have to move away from CS6 in the future so I thought I'd be getting ready and thus ask you guy's input, especially those coming from Premiere. For instance if most people say they do resolve then I might focus on learning it and not spend time on the other(s)
 
I edit on Premiere and Resolve. Like many who use that combo, I initially went to Resolve because it's where you need to be for any serious color work (or learning about color as it relates to grading motion picture).

There are a ton of "why I switched from Premiere to Resolve" videos out there. I have watched and completed a bazillion tutorials on Resolve and have completed quite a few client projects on it, and continue to learn it on a deeper level all the time. Despite all of that, the deeper I go with it, the more it drills down the reality that Premiere is better for some of my client work and Resolve is better for other projects.

don't want to rule out the obvious possibility that this still reflects more on my abilities and knowledge of each program vs inherent advantages of one over the other. That said, I was REALLY hoping that making a 100% switch would have been a clearer path after doing heavy lifting in terms of practice, paid projects on deadline, tutorials, etc. However, that's not the case. I absolutely need both programs for my professional work. That's ultimately not a complaint. I appreciate having both. Yes , it would have been nice to only need one...especially the one with superior coloring tools and no monthly subscription BS. Alas, that is still not looking possible.

All that before I even touch the subject of platform compatibility with clients and their editors. In that arena, as QuickHitRecord has mentioned, Resolve is a non-starter. It is always Premiere.
 
Thank you QuickHitRecord and Ozmorphasis. After nearly 24 years using Premiere I unfortunately expect a 100% switch is not looking good for me.
 
I love fcpx. It is so fast to work with

I used Premiere in high school, fcp 7 in college, and then premiere professionally from 2010 until 2017 or 2018. Premiere was getting more and more buggy for me and caused me to blow a couple deadlines. Meanwhile, I had recently learned fcpx for a client so I knew it had improved a ton since its release.

things I like about fcpx; stability. Not totally bug-free but incomparably reliable vs Premiere. Magnetic timeline - fast to work with, helps me stay organized, super fast for executing client notes when you need to shift things around. Proxy workflow - super easy to generate them,, super easy to switch between original footage and proxies. Working with proxies is so fast.

Downsides; can't bring in photoshop files directly. Can't use adjustment layers (sort of can but not really. At least as far as I know.) Can't organize via numbered tracks for different types of footage,, text, etc (sort of can. And I feel like magnetic timeline is worth losing numbered tracks)

Coloring tools in fcpx are comparable to premiere

I have clients who use Premiere in-house and I will buy a month subscription if i need to take over a project from them. (there is also a program for porting edits from one NLE to the other, which i used recently with success). The in-house editors admit to me that Premiere crashes on them regularly

working in fcpx is a bit of a different headspace from premiere but most of the tools are the same. The editing process is still the same. I heartily recommend it
 
To echo one of ahalpert's points: working in FCPX is *really* fast. If you don't need to work collaboratively and don't need to do extensive color grading it is the fastest NLE on a Mac, by a wide margin (I'd bet), once you learn it.

That said, it really isn't great for collaborative workflows. Transferring timelines or libraries works (mostly) fine right until it doesn't, at which point it fails completely. At least in my experience.

But for speed, FCPX is fantastic.
 
Transferring timelines or libraries in FCP works really well, but it can actually be a little tricky because some people don't consolidate everything when moving around, which could really mess up a project.

You have to make sure you're consolidating the entire library and then there's nothing to it; works perfectly and has everything you need inside one purple icon.
 
If you like how Premiere works, why not just stick with it - the ancient versions you're using are really tired now. If it's a cost thing then maybe go with Blackmagic Designs freebie - lots like this.
 
NorBro said:
Transferring timelines or libraries in FCP works really well, but it can actually be a little tricky because some people don't consolidate everything when moving around, which could really mess up a project.

You have to make sure you're consolidating the entire library and then there's nothing to it; works perfectly and has everything you need inside one purple icon.
Click to expand...

Again, when it works it works just fine.

The failures I've had were instances of FCPX just flat out not opening an XML or Library, not projects being messed up in a transfer. A project being messed up is a hassle but it can be worked with; a project that doesn't open at all can be a catastrophe.
 
FCP makes automatic copies/back-ups of projects you're working on every 15 minutes in the 'Movies' folder.

[BTW, they changed the name and dropped the X a couple of years back.]

I hear what you're saying and it's not perfect, but just throwing it out there because this saved me so many times when I forgot to duplicate my timeline manually and had to go back and open an older timeline - which is similar to a recovery process, in general.
 
There's also EDIUS and Lightworks, but they're not going to beat the onetime $300 price of Resolve & FCP.

I really appreciate that Blackmagic listens to customer feedback and adds features and fixes bugs, unlike Adobe, who adds bloatware that nobody wanted, removes features that people use, and refuses to fix bugs that have plagued us for 10 years.

I had Resolve 12 crash on me while editing UHD and on exports, but I think that was due to running it on an old underpowered computer. I like Blackmagic's trajectory with Resolve, they've lowered the price and added an NLE, DAW, and VFX Compositing.
 
KarlSutton said:
Have you explored extensive use of Roles? You can do a lot with them!
Click to expand...

I haven't but I will check it out. Thanks for the tip. I continue to learn new things about FCP. Although some things (like the Audition tool) I still prefer to do the old-fashioned, messy way.
 
Imamacuser said:
There's also EDIUS and Lightworks, but they're not going to beat the onetime $300 price of Resolve & FCP.
Click to expand...

Thanks Imamacuser and everyone else.
I wasn't familiar whith EDIUS or Lightworks until your post. I'm not concerned about the price so much, except in the case of Nuke $$$ wow.

I'm hoping for something that is as reliable as CS6. And can support plugins I use a lot - NewBlue Titler Pro, Boris Continuum, Sapphire, Mercali ProDad, Plural Eyes, HitFilm. Perpetual license
And HEVC h.265
 
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Might want to take a look at Lightworks. Since it has spun off from Editshare it is under rapid development and has a range of license options from free (limited to 720p H.264 export but imports most anything) to monthly, annual, and perpetual license purchase options. It has a very active user forum. LWKs staff and programmers are on it daily, and upgraded installers with bug fixes come at least every two weeks. The program reverts to the free version if a license expires. You never lose access to the software or your projects, nor do you need to reinstall for license upgrades. At different license levels it comes bundled with different sets of New Blue effects. The complete New Blue package is available as an add on purchase for 80% off retail.
The program is older than any other NLE except AVID. Every feature film that Scorcese has produced in his partnership with Thelma Schoonmaker since 1989 has been edited on Lightworks.
The free version is fine for learning the program to whatever depth you want. It is not a limited time demo.
I switched from Premiere ten years ago when the first beta release of the hardware port came out and haven't looked back. It was the first NLE that allowed me to organize and edit in the same way I did with 16mm film. Lightworks originally sold as a studio feature film specific turnkey hardware solution for $48k per seat.
Time to add it to the NLE forum list as it has had over 5 million downloads and 20% of those are current paid users.

I use Resolve for raw footage processing and color grading to DI masters for editing, but don't like it as an editor. It is a massive kluge of multiple individual programs with a 4000 page plus manual at this point. More of a technical finishing application than an efficient NLE for story telling.

Lightworks is a lightweight, highly efficient project management and story boarding NLE with hooks that allow the use of most any more specialized external apps as an assistant application directly from a sequence timeline.

On the other hand, if you do commercial agency work, Adobe Creative Cloud is pretty much required.
 
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Thanks Razz16mm. I did buy a couple Lightworks Pro licenses a year or so ago with the complete New Blue. Haven't used it much but when I get moved to new location and re-set up that may start to change. Still using CS6
 
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