Should I convert to Premier?

[John Poore]

I am an FCP user who is very happy with it. It does everything I could want from an edit line. However there is a dark cloud on this particular horizon and that is that I need to upgrade my computer to cope with HDV. I've given up the idea of buying another Apple simply because the current G5 system will be discontinued in favour of intel chips. Why buy something that's going to be made redundant? So I am going for a PC setup and I've looked at all the software available and Premier Pro seems to be the best gig in town. Does anyone have experience of Premier vs FCP by way of a comparison, does it measure up? For example I am told that Premier cannot deal with native HDV, or that it cannot do multiple tracks?

Anyone's experience with this would be most useful.

[Patrick King]

John,

The oft mentioned approach in this forum is to download the free versions of the programs and play with them to see how they fit you.

Each program has its advantages, PPro is to the PC what FCP is to the Mac. I personally prefer Sony Vegas and edit with it except when the job requires I use PPro. I think if upward mobility is a possibility you might want to look at Avid's line of editors as that is the industry standard for big production houses.

But all three (and some others) have free trials. Use the trials to see how they work out for you.

[Steven Gotz]

I was responsible for creating the Premiere Pro tutorials for http://www.lynda.com

I took the FCP tutorials and used the same footage to create the same video using the same general techniques as the FCP tutorials. I found them to both have some unique features, but on the whole, I figure I could be about 95% as good at FCP as I am at Premiere Pro in a couple of weeks or so.

Sign up for a month of Lynda.com, watch both sets of tutorials, and see for yourself.

However, if I were you, I would stick with a new G5. When the new OS comes out for the new chips, then figure out what you really want to do.

[Brian Handler]

I cut daily on premiere and some avid, but I've spent plenty of time next to a G5 cutting on FCP. If you are coming from a FCP environment you will easliy take to premiere. I really do enjoy premiere of FCP, but each has their own pros and cons. Looking back the reason I started with premiere over FCP is my ability to upgrade easily and cheeply, I haven't looked back since.

Come to the dark side :)

[John Poore]

Thanks for the replies. I have used Premier a bit on someone else's PC, and yes it was impressive. Obviously I have an Apple and cannot run the demos. The only question I have is if the latest version runs native HDV, or does it do some kind of time consuming conversion codec to have to deal with it.

Again thanks for the replies, I feel I am now one step closer to becoming a premier user.

[Steven Gotz]

It uses the Cineform intermediate codec, converting to AVI on the fly as it captures. You can buy the MainConcept MPEG plugin that allows you to edit in the native M2T, but it is cumbersome, and I recommend buying Cineform Aspect HD so you can get a realtime editing experience. It is worth the wait for the conversion.

[Peter Ferling]

Ditto on the cineform. PPro 1.5 has a "lite" version of that codec. I don't do HDV. Most of the stuff I do is either uncompressed SD in a Video Toaster, or dv25 in PPro. But I've dumped my toaster in favor of PPro.

Back when I was working in v.6.5, I was seriously scoping FCP, as I work on both platforms (I'm typings this on my dual G4 now), Anyway, PPro came out and it was a no-brainer. A completely rewritten app, with FCP appeal.

FCP, I believe, is unable to output 5.1 surround sound. With PPro you will have a direct means to export windows media files also, (if that's in your bag of tricks -so no need to get Flip for mac). You can also burn a simple DVD from the timeline.

PPro also has nested sequences or timelines. What's particularly useful is when I have SD projects that I want to embed/repurpose in HD projects. No need to export an intermediate AVI/MOV and build from scratch. Just import that project and continue to edit.

If you get the video suite, you can export a project into AE. You can edit audio files directly into Audition, and have them update on the timeline. You can also exchange files in photoshop. So what-ever you do in FCP side of things, you can find an equivalent in the Adobe suite.

Since your decision to switch is based on platform, and the Apples intent to move to an intel chipset (my reason to stay with windows, and not upgrade to a G5 as well), PPro and the adobe suite is about as close to home as you'll get in that respect.

[Hugh DiMauro]

I have been a loyal Vegas user since version 3. Unfortunately, it does not work with the Windows XP 64 bit O/S. So am am now teaching myself PPro (from the Adobe Video Collection Professional) and I am slowly but surely getting the hang of it while navigating around with Jacob Rosenberg's book balanced on my lap. I like th efact that I can edit on the timeline (like in Vegas) instead of the trimmer window if I want. More later.

[Scott Lovejoy]

Just because Apple is moving to an Intel (x83) setup doesn't mean that the system will be redundant. I have a PC, but if I had the money I'd get a dual cpu G5 without question. FCP is gorgeous and I would jump at the chance to use it full-time (my roomate has a mac so I use it to play around with).

[Hugh DiMauro]

I now use Premiere Pro 1.5 and find it fabulous so far. If you have an idea on how NLE software works, you will learn PPro at a nice pace. I have no regrets switching (besides the initial anxiety of having to learn a new interface).

[Dan Euritt]

john, before jumping ship take a look at how much $$$ you have invested in mac software, and how little of it will port over to a pc... there will also be productivity issues with having to learn a new platform and editing system, although to what degree would depend on the user.

try spending some time on the premiere boards over at adobe, as well... get to know about potential issues before making the leap.

[Steven Gotz]

I believe if I were you, I would stick with what you know best. And this is coming from a Premiere Pro fanatic.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by John Poore

I've given up the idea of buying another Apple simply because the current G5 system will be discontinued in favour of intel chips.

With all due respect, I don't think this is any reason to switch to Windows. It will probably be about two years before Apple rolls out a top of the line Intel desktop machine, and many people are going to be leary of buying that first generation. So any Mac you buy now is certainly going to have plenty of support over the next three years, which is about the time you'd be ready for another upgrade anyway.

If you don't like FCP or MacOS, or if you think it's too expensive, then those are good reasons to switch. But if you're happy with FCP and OSX then stick with it. I started editing video with Premiere on the Mac, when Adobe was still supporting it. After being less than happy with the program and its interface I switched to FCP3 and it was like a breath of fresh air. No doubt the software has improved a lot since then, but I certainly wouldn't consider switching back myself.