Final Cut or Adobe Premier Pro???

[delsoldude]

I'm in the process of buying an computer to use as an editing suite for my video production business. I'm torn between the Mac with Final Cut Pro and the PC with Abobe Premier. I've used both and like both. The PC I've priced seems to be much cheaper than buying a Mac Pro. Anyone else been faced with this decision? If so, which route did you go?

 

[Tapeape]

you're right, a PC will always be more power for the dollar unless you get silly and go with something like an Alienware.

I'd get the PC myself. But then, I despise Apple and everything it does

 

[Filter_5]

I used to edit daily on a PC, it was nothing but crashes and the blue screen of death.
Now i'm on a mac everyday and haven't looked back. But beyond the pc vs. mac debate, i've personally found that for video editing you cannot go wrong with final cut pro. Tapeape is right, you're going to get more dollar for dollar out of a pc than a mac, i guess i would rather spend a little more for the mac and avoid the headaches i've experienced editing on a PC.
hope this helps

 

[Necktie Boy]

Both programs get the job done. I have little problems using a PC for editing or graphics. Even the cost is pretty close. PP will pretty much run on any PC with the right horse power. Both will take third party cards..If you are/moving up to HD, you will require a third party card for playback. Even HDV needs a card for playback. Both suites have about the same software. Color in FCP is very sweet, but you need a powerful Mac to run it. If you go PC, use a Nvida video card. You can build/buy a PC cheaper than getting a mac. And, whatever software you find that you can get the job done....I have cut on both, and I had no problems jumping back and forth.

 

[patssle]

The big thing for me with PP is the compatability with After Effects and Photoshop. You can move back and forth between the programs very easily...importing each into each.

 

[rocky1138]

the nice thing w/ Final Cut is that there are a lot of a lot of a lot of people using it, so finding support through google or some forums is really easy.

the other nice thing is that final cut studio is a pretty nice package that has most everything that you could do video-wise until you start building a full production house. BUT if all you need is cuts & dissolves, go Final Cut Express & get a macbook.

Macs still have a strong cult following & many graphics / video pros make money off their macs, so apple makes money jacking the price up on their computers. ONE mac pro is the price of FOUR mac minis. aka the more you spend on a mac the less you get. (cheap for the family, expensive for the apple obsessed professional)

so...... yes you are very right, w/ a PC you get a lot more bang for your buck, but then your NLE, OS & Hardware are all made by different companies.

I like Final cut b/c I do more than just cut & had an old version so the upgrade was cheaper than going to any other NLE. but an edited project is an edited project

 

[Necktie Boy]

FCP Express doesn't have some features that FCP Pro does. The version I had to work on didn't spilt the audio. You can get TC from the source tape. It doesn't show up as overlays. Some other little things that I have heard. But I was using an older version.

 

[Canonman]

the nice thing w/ Final Cut is that there are a lot of a lot of a lot of people using it, so finding support through google or some forums is really easy.

the other nice thing is that final cut studio is a pretty nice package that has most everything that you could do video-wise until you start building a full production house. BUT if all you need is cuts & dissolves, go Final Cut Express & get a macbook.

Macs still have a strong cult following & many graphics / video pros make money off their macs, so apple makes money jacking the price up on their computers. ONE mac pro is the price of FOUR mac minis. aka the more you spend on a mac the less you get. (cheap for the family, expensive for the apple obsessed professional)

so...... yes you are very right, w/ a PC you get a lot more bang for your buck, but then your NLE, OS & Hardware are all made by different companies.

I like Final cut b/c I do more than just cut & had an old version so the upgrade was cheaper than going to any other NLE. but an edited project is an edited project

What often gets left out in these Mac vs. PC comparisons is that the bang for the buck factor looks only at system specs. I used to think this way also and at first blush, it seems the Mac is 'way overpriced'. Well, it really isn't. If you take a brand new PC out of the box with stock Windows XP, and a new Mac out of the box with standard OSX Tiger, you should notice a couple differences.

The Mac, based on the very efficient UNIX OS, will run circles around a PC with equivalent processor, ram, hard drive.

Also, the cost of your PC is being subsidized by all the 'bloatware, shovelware, trialware', or whatever you want to call it that is loaded on your out of the box PC. You'll find none of that on your new Mac desktop.

The included iLife suite of applications are actually useful and can be used in a limited professional capacity. For example, I often hear Garage Band audio loops being used in tv commercials and some tv shows. The programs are limited in functionality, but what stuff they include is high grade stuff, not cheesy unusable crap. To get your Windows box up to that capacity, you'd need to spend a few hundred dollars in software purchases.

In real world terms, I bought my first Mac about 2 1/2 years ago after getting a taste of Final Cut Pro while fighting to keep Liquid Edition Pro from crashing all the time. I also bought a Compaq laptop within a month so both systems are roughly the same age. My Compaq now boots up like a slug, because of the ongoing bloating of the Windows registry. By comparison, the Mac boots as fast today as it ever did, even with Leopard installed.

Want to lower your stress level? Buy a Mac. Seriously, how much is your health worth in dollars and cents.

I was the biggest Apple hater on the planet a few years ago with the same misconceptions expressed in this thread.

cm