Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale (Post 1919991)

Just be aware you'll get just as strong testimonials from users of their own NLE of choice. Fortunately, you can try each NLE for a trial period, so you can check them out, although the first limiter of choice will be the operating system. If you go with Windows that rules out FCP X, but if you go with Mac, the same applies to Vegas.

I've heard a few people liking Power Director, although the import options are limited, it's more a consumer NLE, than one that supports the higher end codecs used by many professionals. It really depends on the end purpose for the productions.

First question would be does he want to work with a track based editor or a non track based editor? For the latter, the only professional option is FCPX, all the others are track based.

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst (Post 1920015)

Brian makes some good points about NLEs. You can download trial versions and test them out for free on your current computer(s). As mentioned, the OS decision narrows the available choices.

I would beware NLEs that are limited to the lower end of the market. A lower-end editor might be attractive at first, but you might run into limits. Changing to a different NLE can then be challenging as we always compare it to that comfortable one that we learned first.

Avid, FCP, and Premiere are probably the main pro NLEs. IMO, Avid is overkill, FCP is a good option, and Premiere is not easy to learn.

The next set includes Vegas, Edius, Resolve and possibly others. Vegas is nice in that it has an inexpensive version with an upgrade path to a pro version. I've never used Edius, but from what I read, many like it and it seems to be very capable. Resolve is quite interesting as it's used professionally and BlackMagic Design is opening it up to the masses. These may all be good choices, depending on which falls to hand most easily.

I would stay far away from iMovie, MovieMaker, and other editors that are for consumers only. They are too limiting and could be hard to leave behind, once learned. (And this is why I recommend avoiding Simple Edit Mode in Vegas.) I don't know if PowerDirector falls in this category or is in the next tier above.

Another consideration is the prospect of long-time development and support of the software. Avid, FCP, and Premiere are on solid ground. Sony just sold Vegas to Magix. Magix seems committed to it, but I don't know about their financials. BlackMagic is solid and seems committed to Resolve. Edius is now owned by Grass Valley, which is owned by Belden, so they have a broader financial base than just software editors. Sometimes companies lose interest in smaller product lines. (Ask me about Tascam's treatment of GigaStudio sometime - or others about Gibson and Opcode.) But each of these software bases seem mature enough that they can be sold and continued, rather than suffocated.

Anyway, FCP, Vegas, Edius, and Resolve would be the ones I would look at. Maybe PowerDirector is in that list as well, but I can't answer that.

Originally Posted by Steven Digges (Post 1920036)

Michael,

All of this stuff your considering on the computer and software side of things warrants a call to Videoguys. Building video editing machines is their specialty. They will custom build you one or you can go turnkey. They are the industry experts in knowing which hardware components work the best with which software. You can check them out here: Video Editing and Live Production Hardware and Software - VideoGuys.com

I would encourage you to call them too. There reputation is for first class customer service to taylor a custom machine to meet the needs of the caller.

They are also a DVINFO sponsor and at least for me that matters. If you call please let them know you heard about them here.

Kind Regards,

Steve