What is the best video editing software!?

J

johnathandoe

Member
I am looking into making some films and obviously need some professional editing software. I have not yet purchased an computer for editing so can still go with Mac. I guess I would prefer PC because of its price, power, and more universal compatibility. Though I know there are other good things about Mac's OS and what not I do not think I will get one unless Final Cut Pro is significantly superior to other software. So which is the best Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, Avid, Vegas, or other? I think that one of the things that I think is so amazing about film making today is the consumer access to post production excellence and so that is what I want with effects and the whole shabang. So is Final Cut the best or I am also getting the feeling that Adobe might be the best and that it might also have some good after effects software? How much better is pro software from imovie or moviemaker? Any and all info is greatly appreciated and details and insightful experience pleaded for thanks!
 
nice username,

i think it would be easy for you to try out:

final cut studio(from apple)

adobe (one of the suites)(from adobe)

sony vegas(sony)

or one of the avid solutions(avid)

these are the more known nle's.

about the argument between pc and mac,

u can get a cheap pc, but it wont perform well as an nle machine, probably wont work at all with premiere cs4, so ur stuck with a pc or a mac for about the same price range to get the same performance(not the same specs maybe but the same performance).

so if ur serious about film making, don't let the pc vs mac be a factor in deciding. if your the one doing the editing, contact apple and adobe to test out there software.

apple would probably have final cut in a an apple store near you that u can try out.
and adobe will send u a trail version or the same deal with apple if they have a demo near u.

if u have unlimited amount of cash budgeted for the post production, you could do the same deal with avid.

one last thing both final cut and adobe packages are not just for editing, so go through all the features that the nle can provide, see which ones u need the most then decide which package offer them.
 
Forget "best", there isn't one. That said are you a one man band or are you planning on working in a more traditional way (with others). One man band you basically are looking at FCS or Adobe Production Premium in the pro do everything zone. For feature films (with a budget) Avid is still most of the market, low/ micro/no gets all over the map starting with Pro applications like FCS and sliding into the prosumer/ consumer market like Vegas. If you are literally doing it all then the higher end prosumer apps are probably a better choice. If you want to work in the film industry then FCP and Avid Rule with Premier Pro nipping at the heels of FCS. If your more video /TV oriented then FCS probably has an edge over Avid. Adobe is getting better fast and as much as I like Apple they seem to be making a lot of choices in the marketing dept. instead of talking to users. FCS is the only all Mac one of the bunch. If you ever need to play with others then Avid is at the top followed by FCS and PP, though the last two slots could switch places soon, Adobe seems very focused on coming out with what would essentially be a suite between FCS and Avid, though of course Avid is not a suite, it's just the NLE. The other factor is support. Look around you and see which has the best easiest support. Not the company teck support but the user groups, forums etc. If you have a bunch of folks local to you who are making the kinds of films you want to make and they are all using Joe's choptools, then I would seriously look into it. PP probably has less because it's been out less time (Premier goes way back but thats really a different app). Avid probably doesn't have as good a low budget user base but? In many places FCS has a big and active user base.
 
Avid can be had for around the same price as the other two suites, it's no longer exclusive the high priced spread. But you would still need to get After Effects or something for graphics (if you need that).
 
last i checked it didn't have the functionality of the others, it was more of a striped down version that doesn't work as fast or smooth and doesn't handle everything nicely. they left out somethings for the more expensive solutions
 
Oh. I get it. This is bad trolling, right? Sorry if I'm wrong.

amrrahmy said:
u can get a cheap pc, but it wont perform well as an nle machine, probably wont work at all with premiere cs4, so ur stuck with a pc or a mac for about the same price range to get the same performance(not the same specs maybe but the same performance).
Click to expand...

I don't understand what this is supposed to mean exactly. Apple computers are sold at a premium, you can get a better PC for less. But you don't get Final Cut, which has become a standard.
 
Ammrahmy,

so your just saying use the trial version.

I dont understand the context of your second post?
 
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Noiz2,

so your saying there isn't one that is the best.

then your saying that Avid is the most used among professionals, FCP is used most among consumers, and PP is neither but still somewhat used.

and your also saying that PP hasn't been out all that long so is not as good and should be coming out with something new between Avid and FCP.

and your saying that I should get the one that is most used with consumer namely FCP so that I will have people to chat with about it.

and lastly that Avid is at the same price as PP or FCP.

If PP is coming out with something new is it best to wait, or can you upgrade always, or is it a whole new program?

So, other then usage and consumer help I don't see why one would be superior to another? Is Avid more technical yet also more detailed and FCP easier to use yet less detailed and Adobe being in the middle or what?

I was also thinking that if you have to get Aaftereffect's then you might at well get PP since you can get them together as a package for cheaper? Unless that is there are other after effects programs?
 
Cassius,

so your saying that Final Cut is the standard. That is one of the main things I am wondering is if Final Cut is better then the other or foreseen to be ect.
 
Mac/PC,

As for the Mac PC thing. I do not mean to get off track on the subject. It does however somewhat tie into my situation so..

If Final Cut is way better then I would go with a Mac.

I know Mac's are good computers and that they also come with a lot of software ect and so are worth it.

However, I could probably get a good PC for the price of an IMac or less and so will if I don't need FCP.

I think it is cool that Mac can use Adobe or other things.

I also feel like the Mac Pro has been out for a while and if I were going to spend a lot of a comp then I would probably just get an 17 processor. But, at this point I don't even need an i7 so will probably get a comp cheaper then that probably at the power of an IMac.

Plus, I know Mac cant play games and I have fears there are other things I would want to use that I am not conscious of that would come into play. I remember when I got my first laptop and the reason I didn't get a Mac is because because you couldn't use Windows with it. Well, that has changed so who knows what else will change. I will say though that I got an HP and they are the Co. doing the best right now.

Anyways, this is not meant to say one is better and I'm def not a comp expert. I'm just saying that there are pros and cons and I am guessing unless FCP is substantially better that a PC is for ME.
 
johnathandoe said:
then your saying that Avid is the most used among professionals, FCP is used most among consumers, and PP is neither but still somewhat used.

and your also saying that PP hasn't been out all that long so is not as good and should be coming out with something new between Avid and FCP.
Click to expand...

Not at all. Avid had been the standard since the beginning but it was way more expensive than either FCP or Premiere.

Premiere had been out for about as long as FCP, but for a long time Adobe considered it as more of a consumer program and didn't really implement many of the professional features that would make it attractive to professionals. Apple took a different tack and they started adding new features and marketed the hell out of the program as the professional's choice. Most indies filmmakers couldn't really afford Avid so they went with FCP and the program gained respectability as the NLE to know besides Avid. Within the past 4 years however Adobe had taken an aggressive approach with Premiere, implementing many of the professional features that were missing while FCP development begins to lag. If you look at the development cycle Premiere is updated every six months or so while FCP can take more than a year to come out with a new version. Feature wise I would say Premiere is comparable or exceeds FCP in many respect (such as native P2, XDCAM and AVCHD support), but unfortunately the perception of Premiere as the amateur's choice remains and FCP still commands a healthy market share.
 
johnathandoe said:
and lastly that Avid is at the same price as PP or FCP.

If PP is coming out with something new is it best to wait, or can you upgrade always, or is it a whole new program?

So, other then usage and consumer help I don't see why one would be superior to another? Is Avid more technical yet also more detailed and FCP easier to use yet less detailed and Adobe being in the middle or what?

I was also thinking that if you have to get Aaftereffect's then you might at well get PP since you can get them together as a package for cheaper? Unless that is there are other after effects programs?
Click to expand...


I have not used Premiere, even though I have CS4 Production Premium... one of these days I'll learn the nobology enough of Premiere to do something then compare...

I have been using Final Cut Express, but I think with 4 I may not be continuing with that, because Apple seems to be making Express more like iMovie... but maintaining the nobology of Final Cut.

The reason I selected Final Cut Express in the first place was because I had After Effects and only need something to do more live video editing. AE is not an 'editor'... and especially not an audio editor... so FCE at the time had Sound Trak, better video editing, etc...

I've been aware of Avid for years, but for most of those years the cost of the software, or the cost of the hardware+Software was prohibitive, and so even though things have changed somewhat, just have not been inclined to look into Avid much.
 
Yea, Avid has VERY specific hardware requirement. It will only work with Nvidia cards and it has to be the Quadro series which is very expensive.
 
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