FCP Studio 2 vs. Adobe Premiere CS3

I started editing for the first time ten years ago on Premiere. I knew nothing else and loved the program until my computer started crashing endlessly.

Switched to a mac, switched to FCP. Love FCP.

I wasn't a good enough editor to recognize any major differences. (I've never even touched an Avid.)

With CS3 coming out, I'll likely get AE (for the first time) and one of the options has it bundled with Premiere, Illustrator, Flash.

Has anyone used Premiere in a while. What do you think? (I know, great place to come looking for an unbiased answer...)

Appreciate any thoughts.

Mike

I have the CS2 production bundle and love it, I will love it that much more when I get CS3 on the Mac.

My opinion is that the Adobe production bundle is integrated much better than FCS2. Too many people confuse the integration between application to the ability to dynamic link, and it is so much more than that.

Regarding PPro, its probably the weakest link in the chain however having said that its still a very capable NLE. An addition benefit to adobe's creative suite is the common interface, learn one you've pretty much learned them all.

The way I characterize it is that if your a single artisan working on a single project it doesn't matter which suite of tools you choose, choose what you like best. Where the advantages of the Adobe production methodology become apparent is if your one of many artisans collaborating on one or more projects sharing elements.

I realize that in FCP6 you can mix formats on a single timeline and roundtrip elements between applications etc.. These are things that Adobe has been doing for more than fours and not only have they improved with every upgrade but they have added more applications to the mix which significantly opens up the functionality to outside developers. If those things are important to you then I think CS3 is a great solution but these issues aren't important to most of FCP users.

As much as I like FCP, openness and media management aren't two things that roll off the tongue easily when describing Apple products. I'm just glad that CS3 is on the new Mac Pro's so I have a choice.

I dropped Premiere when they dropped Macs. I was a Premiere 4.0 editor from '96 before I even sniffed an Avid or heard of FCP. I thought that great things would come with upgrades...then they dropped Macs. I went straight to Avid Express DV & FCP - never looked back. With all the development of FCP these days, I haven't even touched my Avid in over 4 years.

I find it humorous that Adobe brings Premiere back to the Mac with it's tail between it's legs

I guess Macs aren't so bad after all, huh!!

- Joey

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

im actually very much looking forward to premiere pro CS3 bundle. i was a tried and true premiere user from like version 1 (early 1990's) until i had to move to media100 in 1997 and then to FCP in 2000.

there have always been a few things that premiere does that come in handy, and i keep whatever latest mac version has been available installed on a mac somewhere in the office.

i have a handful of premiere pro (windows) friends who simply cannot get their heads around FCP and though ive always thought that was strange - but the premiere workflow does seem a bit more straight forward.

im gonna try it the moment it becomes available.

Wow. Great responses, thanks.

Wayne, I'm curious what differences you see -- I saw only negligible differences in '99, but then again, I barely knew what a three-point edit was.

I rarely share my un-finished project files with other people, but when I do, it's good to remember that other people are probably going to have only FCP. (At least in my world.)

Mike

when i left premiere way back in 97 or so it was still using the old style timeline ("pre-3point" or "a/b roll with an edge" i guess you might call it?) where you have various video tracks with thinner transition tracks between them. call me oldschool but that made so damned much more sense.

that way you didnt have to futz about with invisible "handles" in your source clip - if you could see it or drag it out in the timeline, it was there. if not, too bad! the whole handles thing is certianly why we get soooo many of the "why cant i add a transition?" questions.

it was also about this time when it started getting buggy and went the whole avid/fcp muted greys and pastel colors look.

Wayne,

That was before my time, so I don't even know what you're talking about!

I did just post a "three-point edit" question, though, coincidentally.

From what I remember, Premiere did what seemed reasonable (the in and out points were the "outside" of both frames) and not what FCP does (the in and out points are the front end of both frames.)

Am I to understand that you use both systems today?

Mike

Not so. FCP and Premiere I/O behavior is identical. The In is at the start of the frame, and the Out is after the frame you're on.

I switched to macs and FCP after several years with Premiere. I have not looked back and am a total convert. However the Pro version is a very good editor and has a couple of features i prefer to FC. I particularly like the trim edit tool compared to FC, and i still find the track designation/auto select buttons/patches a PITA in FCP.

There are definitely some good features to PP, but by and large (and with the help of the good folk on these pages) i'm very happy i switched.
Also, if like me, you enjoy grading/CC you'll develop a deep loathing for the colour wheels in the Adobe suite. And that was before we got Color!

I've just spent the afternoon helping a friend who runs Premiere Pro and I have to say that if you're an FCP editor who knows FCP pretty well, you could probably get up and running on Premiere Pro in under an hour. The interface and controls are very similar, the functionality is almost identical. There are just a few differences in the keyboard shortcuts (, and . for insert and overlay, 'enter' to render etc).

Very different from the last time I used Premiere. It seems pretty solid.