Final Cut or Vegas

A

Astrid

I need some help! I have a new job at a university and I need to give them a list of my equipment needs - tomorrow- which includes computer and software. I have used Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Production Suite and I love it and I am much more comfortable on PC than a Mac. However, a lot of people tell me I should switch to Mac and Final Cut. The university teaches all their students on Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express and I will be working with the students on some projects. I'm sure I could learn FC pretty quickly. Aside from the students using Final Cut, I'm wondering if there are advantages to working with Final Cut instead of Vegas? Are there good reasons to make that switch or are they both pretty equal programs? Vegas Movie Studio is cheaper than Final Cut. Is there something about a Mac that is better for video than a PC? Also, I really need to be mobile, so I'll need to work on a laptop. I'm thinking of getting a laptop and that I can connect to a larger monitor when I'm at work. Given that, would Mac would be a better option. Thanks so much!!
 
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You have already stated the obvious answers as to why you should go with Final Cut.

I don't want to start another PC vs. Mac debate - both can do the job quite well - but Mac tends to be the choice for most professional facilities. Up until about 10 years ago it was Mac = Artistic Usage, PC = Business Usage. At the consumer level PC is the choice mostly from a monetary position (PCs are cheaper) and at the professional level Mac is the choice from sheer inertia - for many years Mac was the only choice for artistic endeavors, and the cost for a complete transition to PC would be prohibitive.

The de facto indie standard for video editing is Final Cut (Mac only), just as the standard for audio is Pro Tools (Mac only, until about 6 years ago). Why? Both were there first, are well entrenched and well supported; also, Final Cut is an Apple product and, until 7 years ago, Digidesign (now Avid) had a very cordial relationship with Apple. Other programs work just as well, but if you want to freelance at or own/run your own "professional" facility you had better have what people want.

Go with a Mac and Final Cut; you can probably get a discount through the school.

I'm sure that others will chime in with similar and contrary opinions, so remember - Opinions are like assholes; everybody has one and they all stink!!!
 
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Alcove hit it right on.
The students already use it.
Most professionals use it.

One is really no better than the other, but Final Cut will make you speak the same language as the students, and serve you better professionally.
 
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I've pretty much settled upon getting Final Cut Studio, mainly because I've found Vegas to be counter-intuitive in places and my attempt to install Premiere on my computer ended in disaster...

Plus Macs look really pretty.

So my (extension) question is this: What is the cheapest way for me to get Final Cut Studio? I see it listed at a very high price, but I also hear that there are ways that you can get discounts...etc. Assuming that every I could, possibly, have access to any of the potential discounts, what is the cheapest way to get hold of it? As a student? Or is it cheaper if I buy it from somewhere like Japan or Hong Kong?
 
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I personally use Vegas Pro on a Windows 7 PC and have never used Final Cut nor have I ever owned a Mac. With that said, Alcove and Gonzo make solid arguments as to why you should go Mac and Final Cut. It would ridiculous for me to make a counter argument just because I use Vegas. As was already said, either choice will work for you except in the scenario you painted above I think you stand to benefit more going the Mac/Final Cut route.
 
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If someone else is paying for it, I'd say it's six or one-half-dozen of the other. Final Cut, Avid, Premiere, Vegas, Edius, they're all basically the same. Little differences here and there, but if you can use one, you can use the other. Just takes a little time getting used to where different buttons are, etc.

I like Premiere. Then again, I'm a PC-guy. I've used Final Cut, and it's just dandy. Is probably a good idea to use same software as the rest of the school.
 
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I have been working with Vegas for more than 10 years and I love it, my company is centered around this software. It's not always perfectly stable though, sometimes it crashes,, no big deal it reloads autosaved sessions. And there was this thing that I was unable to load several clip of 1080p footage after a total of 5 mins of film, they were outputting red.... It is not dramatic for me, because I always render in EXR image sequences (if you don't work with image sequences, you always compress more and more your footage, so it's fine with me). Vegas has no limitations for image sequences. Honnestly it is an awesome software, and it has the fastest and most simple interface I've ever seen. If I was to teach video editing, I would go with another software, because Vegas is too simple to be academic! The learning curve is 5 minutes.

That's for video... I also record professionnal soundtracks and music in Vegas, mix in Dolby Digital 5.1 without quiting the software.

If cost is a critical issue though, you should ask Sony if this applies to you: with one license of Vegas you are allowed to install on 5 different computers (through activation), as "long as they do not run Vegas at the same time" Sony told me or something like this.... hum... What they meant exactly I have no idea.
Oh by the way it's Sony that told me you could install Vegas on five computers, I now have 3 valid activated workstations...
:seeya:
 
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RickToxik said:
I'd really like to know: do you have video files number/length limitations in other soft (or mac)?
Click to expand...

Not since moving from os9 to osX in 1999/2000 (# of files) and hfs to hfs+ in 1998 (size of files - like the difference between fat32 and ntfs with the 4Gb file cap due to addressing problems).

NickClapper said:
What is the cheapest way for me to get Final Cut Studio?
Click to expand...

Student discount, they've changed the licensing terms since I complained about it last to allow owners to use the software for commercial work/gain so long as it was purchased as a student. I got mine on a corporate discount which was not as deep as the student discount, but still quite good and got me the license I wanted at the time.
 
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Ahmm.... I'm sorry I should have done my homework before talking.... I resolved the 5 mins hd footage limitation, it was just a setting to tweak (Dynamic Ram preview and Rendering threads). It's really better though to always render in image sequences in Vegas though... I read somewhere this guy that had 18 hours of footage in a vegas 9.0 session...

I'm kind of starting to doubt: Vegas crashed in a image sequence rendering. Unable to handle HD rendering?

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OK i ran some tests and it seems that whatever setting I try from the Sony support threads, I can't render a 19-min 1080p 24 sequence in Vegas (64 bit) without low memory issues and crash. Wow, I am very disapointed, I think I will have to switch to Premiere, and I don't like this software.... I must stay in PC , no mac is possible for me. How much is AVID software-only, is it compatible with PC? Wow that sucks...
 
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