D10S
Well-known member
I've been an Avid editor for over 10 years, and recently started editing on FCP. Our facility has both Avid Symphony/Media Composer and FCP suites. I even purchased a FCP for home editing after editing on Premiere the past few years.
IMO Avid is still the superior system. I have NEVER in 10 years lost a project on Avid due to a crash. I can't say the same for FCP. Avid is a very stable system. My home FCP system has locked up more times than my Avid ever has.
FCP has some things that I like, but it just doesn't compete with Avid for clean simple editing, color correction (although FCP has improved on that end) and organization and media management.
Most importantly for me is that more money can be made on the Avid. We can still charge more per hour for the Avid suite. It is hard to charge as much for FCP when the client already has a FCP at home.
EVERYBODY has FCP because they can afford it. Even Walter Murch who edited "Cold Mountain" on a FCP said he did it because of cost savings. He could afford 4 FCP systems for the cost of an Avid system.
The Cohen Bros. edited "No Country for Old Men" on a FCP system because they wanted something easy to learn. They wanted to edit for themselves at a low price. I know Mac is making a big deal over it, but they chose the system because it was cheap and easy to use, not because they thought it was superior.
With Avid's new pricing that may change things, but for now FCP will continue to gain ground, not because it is a superior edit program, but because it costs less. Even with Avid's price drop Compser is still $1,000 more than FCP. So every student who wants to edit at home will look to FCP first, plus the learining curve is less on FCP. It only makes sense that FCP will continue to grow based on price alone.
There may be more Ford's on the road than BMW's. Doesn't mean it's a better ride.
You can drive cross country in a Ford Taurus, or in a BMW. They both will get you to where you want to go. The BMW may cost more, but I just prefer the ride of the BMW.
IMO Avid is still the superior system. I have NEVER in 10 years lost a project on Avid due to a crash. I can't say the same for FCP. Avid is a very stable system. My home FCP system has locked up more times than my Avid ever has.
FCP has some things that I like, but it just doesn't compete with Avid for clean simple editing, color correction (although FCP has improved on that end) and organization and media management.
Most importantly for me is that more money can be made on the Avid. We can still charge more per hour for the Avid suite. It is hard to charge as much for FCP when the client already has a FCP at home.
EVERYBODY has FCP because they can afford it. Even Walter Murch who edited "Cold Mountain" on a FCP said he did it because of cost savings. He could afford 4 FCP systems for the cost of an Avid system.
The Cohen Bros. edited "No Country for Old Men" on a FCP system because they wanted something easy to learn. They wanted to edit for themselves at a low price. I know Mac is making a big deal over it, but they chose the system because it was cheap and easy to use, not because they thought it was superior.
With Avid's new pricing that may change things, but for now FCP will continue to gain ground, not because it is a superior edit program, but because it costs less. Even with Avid's price drop Compser is still $1,000 more than FCP. So every student who wants to edit at home will look to FCP first, plus the learining curve is less on FCP. It only makes sense that FCP will continue to grow based on price alone.
There may be more Ford's on the road than BMW's. Doesn't mean it's a better ride.
You can drive cross country in a Ford Taurus, or in a BMW. They both will get you to where you want to go. The BMW may cost more, but I just prefer the ride of the BMW.
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