Avid, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro?
 

I hear different things all the time. One thing is that these are the three major NLE's for pro use, the other is that Avid is the only major NLE. I also heard that before PP 1.5 they were a little behind industry standard but did 1.5 send Adobe back up with Avid? I learned on PP 1.5 and have never really used any others. A friend of mine has Vegas so I've seen that and I've messed around with Final Cut Pro at a Mac store, but Avid I've never seen in person or used. I really like PP so I don't plan on switching so I guess this is just for some random knowledge.

Avid has traditionally been the editing tool of choice for most broadcast TV work, but lately an increasing percentage of that is reportedly being done using Final Cut Pro. A recent survey of independent video producers indicated that Premiere Pro is popular with them, so it all depends who you ask. If you're happy with what you're using then that's all you really need to know, unless you have some specific reason you want to learn more about other options.

I fell in love with PPro 1.5 when I was forced to abandon Vegas because it did not support a 64 bit operating system and crashed all the time. I didn't take me long to figure PPro out and rendering is fast and smooth. From what I've read, PPro is giving Avid and Final Cut Pro a serious run for its money on the PC platform.

I'll stick with PPro 1.5 until something about it forces me to change.

Different NLE's have different market shares in various markets. For 'The industry" (Broadcast and professional film production) It's still AVID hands down. More than 90% of feature films and television cut on Avids. FCP is making inroads, but still way behind.

In the 'indy'/advertising market, I think FCP has a major share, at least on par, if not in excess of Avid. These will be small advertizing agencies, boutique production shops, 'ones stop' producers, and independent film/documentary makers and such.

In terms of 'event' (Weddings/Parties etc) I'd say it's a toss up with Vegas and Premiere Pro. (Of course, there are people using Avid, FCP and Liquid etc for this as well). Premiere had the early lead in market penetration from the early prosumer days, because it was bundled with so many hardware and computer systems. Vegas is the relative newcommer, and has an entirely different approach to the graphic interface. (All the others have an 'avid like' approach)

So, to echo what previous posters have said. Identify your NEEDS first... then go with the NLE that best suits those needs and meets your budget. Don't get caught up in the 'brand name' bragging rights.

(For what it's worth, I cut on Avid XpressPro. Because I needed to cut FILM)


Digital Video Market Share:
31% Pinnacle
24% Avid
11% Adobe
08% Apple
05% Discreet
21% Other
Source: Computer Graphics World, April 2005.

The above table is in reference to combined pro/consumer market. NOTE: AVID has just acquire Pinnacle, and it is unclear how the Pinnacle lines will be integrated into Avid's line.

Thanks for the responses. I have no plan on changing from PP, I'm very happy with it, this was just a question out of my own curiosity.

Rich, I think that based on the reports out of WEVA, Final Cut Pro is gaining lots of market share in Event Videography. Almost all ofthis gain is at Adobe's expense. They have done some really bone-headed things with their OEM & Channel partners, and the result is massive loss of marketshare in some key segments - Event Video being one of them.

Avid is going after the Event DV merket with Xpress Pro HD & Mojo. While this soolution is expensive, it offers capabilites and tools that fit so well.

- Real-Time multicam support
- the ability to mix SD & HD footage on the same timeline

- automatic color correction
Put 15 clips ont he timeline and with a few mouse clicks they are all color corrected. each clip is individually analyzed and corrected.

- Nayural Match
What an amazing tool. you do a two cam shoot of the best man doing his toast. In one cam the guys face looks blue. With this tool you can match the bad clips to the other cam. The flesh tones are automatically matched/corrected and the results are pretty amazing.


- Incredible media management tools.
Media Management. There is something we all here, but it's so damn hard to explain. Lets try this on for size:

The Brides mother tells you her aunt is coming to the wedding, and she has been battling some disease. Could be the last time the family sees her. You (Mr Videogrpaher), can go through the video and annotate every scene she is in, or you can have the clips color coded green.

You did a great 2 camera shoot, but the 2nd camera guy forgot to white balance the camera after the party moved from the outdoor balcony into the ballroom. No problem, you color code all the clips with the poor wehite balance. Now you know the footage is good, but it needs work.

You pride yourself on the great highlight footage you add at the end of each video. As you are editing, you can color code the clips that have "highlight' footage in them. And you can place markers in the clips as well. Think about the time you can save.

You get the chance to shoot a shrot 5 minute video for use on the local cable station about someone in your community getting a special award. You need releases from anyone in the video you are going to put oin the air. Add a field for release in the media bin, and check it off for each clip that has all the releases signed. Now you can go back and sift the bin so that only those clips get used.

I posted an article last month that goes into the Advantages of Xpress Pro http://www.videoguys.com/avidsummer2005.html

Gary

I am a long time user of Premiere and Premiere Pro with the Matrox RT.X100..While it works well for the corporate video arena.. I am actually looking into the Avid setups for wedding productions.

I am looking into the amount of effects and multicam editing as well as it's composition software integrated into it..

But then I just saw a Final Cut Studio HD demo and I'm not one for macs, but it looks slick it has everything you need into one program..

Hey, I know you didn't include vegas....but my DP uses vegas. The thing I like is that in vegas you don't have to strip timecode prior to capturing the footage. I use premiere...and from my experience and Jacob Rosenbergs Studio book, you should. because after "3 sec" it PP1.5 thinks that its at the end of the tape. Vegas you don't have this issue.

Or maybe my DP did something I don't know. I don't know about Vegas, so he might have done something different. But does Avid or final cut you need to blacken your tape too?

Jun,

The original post was concerned with the "Top Three" NLE's. Vegas, while absolutely coming on strong, still does not occupy that market share, hence it was left out.

No... Avid does not 'require' you to stripe the tape. It will read whatever timecode the camera puts on it. If there is a break in time code, it will stop and note that, unless you mark 'capture across breaks'... but you really wouldn't want to do that.