Premiere vs FCP.. MAC/PC etc.. opine please.

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hazmatfilms

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I am starting a film company and shooting some stuff, varying from adult content, music videos etc.. I am literally buying an entire setup from scratch, computers, cameras, etc., and I am really torn on a few things.

I have ALWAYS been a PC guy, and done SOME editing in Premiere, (i'm by no means a pro editor, but i'm relatively computer savvy, and know my way around most of the adobe apps, and I can find my way around premiere fairly well) my original inclination, just from "industry standard" programming, was to invest 5k in a 12core MAC PRO, learn Final Cut, etc etc..

But the more I look into it, and read people's posts around the internet, especially in issues dealing with P2 on MACS and FCP, i'm really debating just sticking with a windows setup, and premiere. If money wasn't really an object, within reason, which way would you go?

Are they pretty much a horse a piece? Is it preference, like AVID was back in the day, or is there REALLY a huge benefit to learning a whole new editing and computer system?

More than likely my camera setup is going to be a mix of HVX 200a's, and either an HPX 170 or HMC150 for field shooting. Also, if you have any input on AVCHD vs DVCPRO, I would love that too, as i'm debating just using the HMC150 for a side camera, just for the ease and cheapness of SD Media.

Thank you SO much in advance.
 
If it's an internal shop you're running, you can use anything you want. You have to identify what's most important to YOU and go from there. Others can offer opinions, but that'll be based on their preferences, their needs, and their priorities, not yours.
 
I agree with David, but it is worth mentioning the Mac Pro can run FCP and both PC/Mac versions of Premiere.
 
If you're alerady familiar with Adobe, and with fixing your own PC, I'd say save the money and time and use what your familiar with.

FCP isn't needed to be pro. Besides, Premiere has the word Pro in it too, so your clients should feel safe :)
 
To add my two cents, I was very hesitant with choosing a new computer (a laptop for school, admittedly, but I still wanted video-editing capabilities). I've been a PC guy for all my life, and it was tough to move to Mac...but I did, and she is FAST. I'm not moving to FCP yet, because I know Premiere well, but still, don't be afraid to go the Mac route - if you can spend the money, they really are impressive.
 
Some of the best movies ever where edited on systems that had only 2 functions cut and glue together - Moviolas and Steinbecks. So as long you have a system that can do that you are golden.

Having said that, after all a Mac is nothing special. It has standard of the shelf components (except that Apple logo - that´s what you pay the premium for) that anyone can buy. It runs a Unix system with a fancy surface - but you are not working in the OS but in your application (like Photoshop or Premiere).

I can´t think of any sane reason why I should pay almost twice the price for a standard computer just because it has a Apple logo, except you must run FCP (but you still could go the Hackintosh route).

Do you want FCP? If you have lot`s of free time on your hands, go for it :happy:

Check this out: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=219952

Best bang for the buck is PC and Premiere with a cuda card.

my ct2
 
Premiere can do everything FCP can do and more. Keep in mind After Effects and Premiere are 64 bit now. The CS 5 Production Premium even comes with script writing software. Premiere can tap into the GPU. FCP will get all this one day but Apple will always be playing catch up. Nothing can compete with the CS4 master collection. Keep in mind it is a multimedia world when all is said and done. The CS5 Master Collection is all you need for print and internet plus you can create movies.
 
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I work at a small production company and we have two edit suites

One PC, Intel I7 920 w/ 12 gigs of ram and GTX480 (Cuda) running Premiere CS 5

One Mac Pro 2xquad core 2.4ghz , 6 gigs of ram running FCP 6


From my humble experience of working with both......

The Mac is ultimately more stable, and FCP seems to handle massive projects with huge amounts of clips better than Premiere.

The PC, with a moderate sized project, is much snappier than the Mac. If you alot of green screen work, resizing images, blur effects.... the Cuda acceleration saves a hell of alot of time. PC does crash (I suspect overheating) more, so I get very used to hitting Ctrl-S

The PC is newer, and was muuuuch much cheaper, tho the Mac Pro came with alot of bells and whistles.

Clients and other production outfits you work with are much more familiar and respectful towards FCP. One guy helping us with a big project asked if we were useing FCP or Avid. I told him Premiere CS 5 and he laughed, saying "that's a new one"


In short, I think both are great systems with pluses and minuses. If cost is a huge issue, you'd probably get better bang for the buck with the PC route.
 
http://vimeo.com/14331224


I think this video speaks volumes.

I think that every experienced FCP editor should sit down beside an experienced Premiere Pro editor for one day. At the end of the day the FCP editor will realise the power of CS 5. I am not saying FCP editors need to use Premiere Pro but they would at least learn to accept that Premiere Pro is on par with FCP if not better.

CS5 has tight integration plus a screen writing program. The guy at the end of this video is correct. Adobe is not marketing CS5 as good as they should.
 
If you are looking to build a system for your in house productions, CS5/Premeire is fine (and a cheaper way to go too). If you plan on bringing in dayrate editors, working as a day rate editor yourself someday, or collaborating/finishing at other post houses FCP is the way to go (at least here in the Northwest. You can't walk 200 feet without bumping into a FCP editor and Producers will insist on it).
 
One great feature with Premiere Pro CS5 is that it can import and export a FCP XML file. So you can cut the project and get it to a FCP person if thats what is needed. Conversely, lets say the edit is done and you are going to do the coloring or chroma work, simply import the FCP XML in Premiere Pro CS5, then open in After Effects. Do your work in AE, then open it as a Premiere Pro sequence. Then you can export via the Adobe Media Encoder or send it to Encore for DVD creation including BluRay.
 
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