Sorry to invade the Chronicle with a work-related post — I rarely ever do this — but I thought there might be some other video editors out there that would be willing to share their opinion with me. We’re considering whether to stick with Avid or switch to Final Cut Pro for our editing suite at work. If you have any experience with one or both systems, what’s your advice from an editing standpoint? I’m thinking in terms of ease of use/learning curve, quality of output, tools/features, etc.
Final Cut Pro! FCP is more user friendly, very easy to learn. With that said, it still has plenty of neat tricks and tools at your disposal. I think it might be cheaper than Avid as well, but not sure. Avid isn’t a bad program, I just prefer FCP. The basic idea of editing is the same in both programs, I guess it comes down to interface preference.
I’m sure Dave Marks would have something useful to say if he weren’t on vacation. I’ll remind him to contact you when he’s back.
Final Cut Pro. It’s easier to learn. The interface is much more user friendly and it’s cheaper. Avid has a lot of tools you will never use or never learn how to use. Which version of Avid do you have or looking to buy? That would make a little bit of a difference, but if I were going to buy something, it woudl be FCP.
That Ryan Johnson knows what he is talking about.
I will have to second all those motions. FCP is the way to go. Easy to learn for both the inexperienced and experienced user. Also allows for more flexibility between programs such as Photoshop and After Effects.
We work with six camera angles on our show each week; how well does FCP handle multiple video streams? Also, we want to be able to have two editors working on the same project for our Christmas program; how well does FCP handle multiple users?
To answer an earlier question, we’re comparing an Avid Media Composer Nitris DX system with a FCP bundle/Aja IOHD system.
Are you using this as a switcher or a makeshift EVS? How exactly are you using this during your service?
What do you mean by two editors? Two people working on the same project at the same time or two different people working onthe same project at different times?
The Avid seems a little excessive for what you do. Are you shooting HD or do you have plans to in the future? Why are you looking to upgrade?
We tape our worship service each week (six cameras/ISOs and a line edit directly off the switcher). I bring the line edit into the Avid and cut it to 58:30 for broadcast on WEEK, adding the video open, closing credits, remixed audio, titling (lyrics to songs, nameplates, etc.), and fix any errant shots with footage from the ISOs that are all SMPTE timecode synced. I also add closed captioning. For our Christmas program, we do essentially the same thing, only we have four night’s worth of footage, so it’s a bigger project. For Christmas, we would want to have two editors working side by side on the same project (the Christmas program) at the same time. I’m working on an Avid now, so I’m using Avid terminology when I say “project.” Obviously, we wouldn’t be working on exactly the same portion of the project at the same time — I may be editing one song on one sequence and the other editor would be working on another song in a different sequence. But it would all be within the same project for easier media management. (Currently, we have a standalone system, so I end up editing the whole project myself.)
We have plans to shoot HD in the future. We’re looking to upgrade because our church is going to be moving and we’re going to jump from analog equipment to digital, and because our current Avid Xpress system is about 7 years old and needs to be replaced.
We’re working with a vendor and have narrowed things down to the two systems I mentioned. FCP is significantly cheaper, primarily because the Nitris DX hardware is much more expensive than the Aja IOHD hardware. I’m familiar with Avid, so there would be no big learning curve for me to stick with it, and I hear that it has a better media management system than FCP. So obviously I’m leaning toward Avid. But if we end up switching to FCP because of cost, I want to know if FCP will adequately meet our needs, or if it would be worth our while to pay the extra and stick with Avid. There are only two of us, so efficiency (fast render times, efficient media management, fast learning curve, etc.) is important.
Wow. That’s a pretty big production. I can’t honestly answer the question about FCP that way. I’ve never used either system the way you guys do.
Just as an editor, FCP is a better program when it comes to learning curve, functionalty, and ease of use. Avid is a much, much harder program to learn, but you’ve got a lot more bells and whistles.
I’ve been using Avid for 10 years and I’ve never worked with it like you described. I’m always in an edit suite by myself importing from tape. I don’t know much about FCP’s media management between two systems. I’ve always worked off a laptop in the field, so that situation has never come up. I’ve worked with Avid’s Unity Media Manager and have been happy with it, but it creates a lot of duplicate files and fills up hard drive space really fast.
If I were doing what you did, I would I would run the line out into a capture, but I wouldn’t ISO all 6 cams…I’d ISO a static wideshot as a cover into a VTR to try and simplify my life..
That’s a tough call. It sounds like you’re happy with Avid. I really don’t know very many people that actually like Avid. Almost everyone I know loves FCP.
Cost and learning curve would go to FCP.
Media Management I would probably give to Avid.
Render’s a toss-up. I seem to have better luck with FCP, but that will depend on your computer’s memory.
Again, if it was me, I would buy FCP, but I can’t tell you for sure based on your needs. I’ve never used either system the way you have. Sorry.
I don’t mean anything by this, but this seems like a lot for a church. The commercial stations in town don’t have half of what you’re talking about. I think they all have Avid now, but they’re running Avid Newscutter XP which is a really scaled back version of Avid. My next question would be what do you mean about switching from analog to digital? I assume you’re using Beta SP now? What are you switching to? I can totally understand wanting to upgrade a 7-year old system. Who is your vendor? Can they bring you examples of a system just so you can see the user interface on both? Media Composer is a really powerful system….that’s what most high end production houses that use Avid are using.