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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Final Cut vs Adobe Premiere

Michael Millichamp

Michael Millichamp

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Hey guys! So, for about 4 years, ive been a huge FCP fan, until recently I decided to build a super computer and possibly make it into a hackintosh. I decided that, that probably wasn't the best idea, since they can be somewhat unstable. So, since im not editing on a Mac, I have to switch to Adobe.

I haven't really heard much things about Premiere, all my friends use FCP so I don't know too much about it. Has anyone made the switch from FCP to Premiere, and if so, could you tell me about it?

Also, im really sad about leaving Color behind. I love Color.
 
Instead of FCP vs. Premiere a more appropriate title may have been "So I just switched to Premiere".

As far as I'm concerned all you need to know is mark an in point mark an out point and place the edit, everything else pretty much explains itself over time.
 
I put the vs part in there to maybe get peoples opinions on why they think the other is better and for what reasons. Im interested to hear.
 
Michael Millichamp said:
Hey guys! So, for about 4 years, ive been a huge FCP fan, until recently I decided to build a super computer and possibly make it into a hackintosh. I decided that, that probably wasn't the best idea, since they can be somewhat unstable. So, since im not editing on a Mac, I have to switch to Adobe.

I haven't really heard much things about Premiere, all my friends use FCP so I don't know too much about it. Has anyone made the switch from FCP to Premiere, and if so, could you tell me about it?

Also, im really sad about leaving Color behind. I love Color.
Click to expand...

The whole thing sounds rather unfortunate. You quit to use tools that you liked and worked with successfully just because you changed the platform. And you changed the platform because your hackintosh turned out to be a bad idea. This is the most wrong way to choose tools.

The FCS-Suite is not a zero cost bundle. You are throwing away over 1k. Buying an alternative software bundle from Adobe does not only introduce extra costs above 1k but also eats quite a lot of time to get familiar with them. Time that is lost to make films.

I suspect that selling your Windows machine, buying a MacPro and stay with FCS would be the best solution. The box is not doing the work, the tools and you are. I use a legacy MacPro 3.1 from 2008 with an outdated Quadro 5600fx, worth now roughly 1K on Ebay. I use Smoke with this old box and it works fine. Hardware power is much overrated. Think about that.

Otherwise Adobe's production suite running on Windows does a good job for many. We use it on Windows on a daily basis in our facility but FCP is not dead yet, on the contrary. And there is no application like Color in the Adobe bundle, plus on Windows you cannot render to ProRes. This might be necessary for you because you may want to collaborate with your friends who all use FCS.

Hans
 
I think there are a couple things to consider, as always, there are things to consider:

Which program is most up to date?

Both programs are great but the above question led me to Premiere.

Now I can work natively with any kind of footage pretty much. I can do a rough edit, apply rough color work all without rendering, (when using effects supported by Mercury Playback). I can playback what I've done and take a look at it and I still haven't rendered anything out. If it is going to go to someone that works in FCP or Avid.

If you need a more advanced system and you've got the money it's up to you how you spend it.

Now I'm just a small timer and it works for me. I've found plenty of tutorials on the net to unlock many cool things.

Another thing I like is upon opening Premiere it asks you to set up a project, yadda yadda. Now I just click OK, OK, to just get into Premiere. I import my footage, select the files in the BIN window and drag them down to 'New Item" and a new Time-line/Sequence is set up with the exact settings needed to work with the footage I'm bringing in.
So after importing, lets say from a 7D, Red1, (4K n slow mo) and GH2 I will categorize my media. Then inside each BIN/Folder I drag the media to "new item" and a new Sequence is produced with the settings matching what the footage was captured in.

The draw back about PC's is that there is more variety so many people end up getting an underpowered PC to use with CS5. With a MAC most that work, not all, but most would use the Power products.

I don't have an opinion either way, these are just reasons I like working with Premiere CS5.
 
I actually prefer Premiere CS5, but I don't want this to turn into a one vs. another debate. Some people really like Final Cut, and that's fine. Personally, I don't see that much difference. Of course, I'm not a dedicated editor, though I do happen across it from time to time. My preference comes mostly from my system as well, I have always built windows/linux machines and I use Adobe software. So, my bias comes from my familiarity with the software, though I can and do sometimes use Final Cut on other machines. The only extreme things I see better about Adobe is that it's been updated more than once in the last 5 years, and the new realtime playback options are really nice.

Premiere has made a lot of progress in the last few years, though as has been noted in another thread, it's color grading is a bit limited. But so is FC, that's why they have Color. I wish Adobe would develop a dedicated grading tool. There are some plugins that are good, and you can always use After Effects (but I'm actually not a fan of AE so much). The plugin to check out for color correction in Premiere is Magic Bullet Colorista, it does a pretty good job. However, I actually use a different software (Nuke) for more advanced stuff.
 
lightworks is in beta (some say alpha) over at editshare.com. Have it on my machine while I finish up a feature in Vegas (Sony, not NV), am eager to get into it. Really like the interface and what I've seen demoed for functionality, and some version of it has been used on "major motion" pictures, some in the list I actually recognized. And so far, it's free.
 
DCC Erickson said:
lightworks is in beta (some say alpha) over at editshare.com. Have it on my machine while I finish up a feature in Vegas (Sony, not NV), am eager to get into it. Really like the interface and what I've seen demoed for functionality, and some version of it has been used on "major motion" pictures, some in the list I actually recognized. And so far, it's free.
Click to expand...

I played with lightworks and found it to be very laggy and unstable compared to CS5. However, my machine is old and slow, I'd be curious to see how it works on a high-end desktop.
 
Lightworks is very stable and responsive on my 2 year old Core 2 duo laptop running Vista 64bit, at least for DV footage. Limited feature set at this point but looks be potentially a very flexible and powerful system for long form projects.
 
I personally know dozens of people who are bailing on FCP and moving to Adobe. I don't know anyone leaving Adobe and moving to FCP. Adobe is the way of the future, IMHO.
 
if i'm not mistaken i think there is supposed to be an upcoming release of a new final cut... now, what that will offer is another question. we'll see.

i agree albert. and tom.
 
Haven't checked with CS5 but ONE thing I absolutely miss about FCP is the ability to take unrelated audio/video clips and make a master clip that can be loaded and marked for in/out points.

why doesn't premiere have this functionality?

Can anyone confirm whether or not this is available in CS5?

I'm not talking about nesting clips either as they can't be loaded into the viewer for in/out points.

Much love
 
i think you can link them in premiere. i don't really use in/out points for anything though... don't kill me, i'm not an editor.
 
paulherrin said:
i think you can link them in premiere. i don't really use in/out points for anything though... don't kill me, i'm not an editor.
Click to expand...

Yeah, linking doesn't allow for a loadable clip.

PS: how do you edit without in/out points?
 
Premiere and Final Cut were written by same person ... :wink5:
 
Im actually kind of excited about using Premiere. I can't wait for those long nights of editing my film, trying to conquer tasks that I tell myself will only take an hour, which end up taking about 3. Then waking up for class the next day. It's going to be superb. :)
 
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