Switching from FCP to Adobe
 

I made the switch a few years back from Avid to Apple for various reasons and never looked back, but lately Adobe has caught my eye. Has anyone made the switch from FCP Studio to the Adobe Production Suite?

What do you like better about Adobe? What do you like better about FCP?

How do the complete suites compare? How do you like Encore as compared to DVDSP, or Premiere as compared to FCP, etc.

I actually just made the jump the other way...from PP CS3 to FCP 6.

Here are some noticeable differences:

Unless you have a multiprocessor machine and the full 3.25 ghz, expect much slower render times.
You cannot view HDV files as you capture them without expensive hardware upgrades;
If you want to do fancy text, forget it in Premiere...you'll have to use After Effects, which is a whole 'nother program to learn, then bring those files into Premiere. Dynamic Link, which is designed to allow you to work with files in AE right in PP is nowhere near as seamless as LiveType or Motion.
There are literally thousands of cool affects for type, plus filters and effects in Motion and Livetype...to mimic this in AE, plan on spending thousands in plugins and it'll still never be as easy or seamless as it is in Motion or LiveType.
As for adding filters to projects in Premiere, you cannot add them as you did in FCP...which was as easy as adding a layer. Here, you must add them in each clip...a small, simple step, but another step nonetheless.

If, for some reason, none of this sends you running for the hills, consider this:

Adding Red Giant software to give you a good range of filters (i.e. MBLooks) will cost you from $300 to $2500 to get all of the plug ins...some of which work ONLY in After Effects.

Adding other plugins range from $99 to $2500. Again, many only work in After Effects.

Don't even get me started on compression software for output/rendering....

In short, if you want a longer workflow, the hassle of bouncing between two programs, slower render times and more headaches, by all means, switch to PP CS3.

Now, a brief disclaimer:
I've been using Premiere Pro for 7 years...I am still a rookie. I have a moderately fast single core PC with 3.25Ghz ram. I am mostly self taught on After Effects with some training in Premiere.

I bought my FIRST MAC two weeks ago. I've worked in FCP for less than a month. Already I find it easier, faster, more intuitive and far more powerful.

In short, I'm a rookie....it'd be interesting to hear what the pros say.

Id say one big reason for FCP over Premiere is being able to work with a lot more editors if that is an issue you need to consider. It was one for me. After the move I also found FCP to have a more stringent workflow which is a good thing IMO. Its not as strick as Avid by any means but used right, it'll save you a lot of post headaches. I like both a lot and would love to affordably (without dropping $500 on Automatic Duck) to be able to move in and out of both. It looks like thats becoming possible now with the new CS4. Premiere is solid but editing in FCP and using the Adobe suite to move into for finishing effects and pushing out to Encore or Flash is much better I think. There are pros and cons for both but I'd say it depends more on how you have to work would be the deciding factor.