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Final Cut Studio 3 or Creative Suite 4 Production Premium

Graeme

Graeme

Your advice is sorrily needed.

I'll be doing the post-production on my own videos, so I'm looking into which software I should buy so I can practice using it in my series of shorts before I go do a bigger production.

I'm looking at either FCS3 or CS4PP, and I don't have the budget for both...
I would use it on my Mac Pro 2GHZ quad core with 9GB of ram (Leopard), Nvidea 7300GT.
Cameras would be:
A Roll - DSLR
B Roll - Small Pro-sumer Camcorder (Currently A Flip Ultra HD, but I'm looking at upgrading to something a bit better)

I'm asking because I have limited CS4 experience (1-month trail version just ran out on FCP) and have never used FCS (and I can't get a trail of that program).

Currently I see the pluses as this:
- FCP is designed by apple and from video tutorials look easier to use and understand with clearer process to doing things.
- CS4 has After Effects which everyone seems to be using and there seems to be more support (Video tutorials etc like Video Copilot)
- Both should be able to handle the files from the camera, I'm intrigued by "ProRes"
- I have a really old PC version of Adobe Software (Photoshop 7 era) which has an old AF, but I don't think it will do HD stuff (but its an option, I also have an old PC computer of that age as well).

Other Thoughts:
- Down the line I hope to get a better video camers, maybe a RED scarlet or something
- Initially I though 1080p and higher is what I needed, but as I learn more about video, 720p sounds like it will work well enough for most of my needs before I go 2k (aka likely could skip 1080p) as most of my work will go to web or DVD (and I'll premier the features here in town at a small local theater for Friends & Family of the production cast & crew)
- My movies will likely be more "action" then "docu/drama"
- Time is money, so I want a program that can fully use my computer's hardware/software to get things done fast
- I can green/screen a lot of shots and use Hi-Res photos I got from my world travels (I also travel so I can capture footage abroad to use in future movies with actors - yeah a bit cheesy but again I don't have discretionary income to pay for extra plane tickets).

So what's your experience / advice?
 
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RED is specifically working with apple to make their cameras work with FCP seamlessly. If the RED is your future, Final Cut Studio may be your present ;)

Both have great features:
Final Cut is a post-production standard
Final Cut Pro is made to use different filetypes on the same timeline without having to re-encode
Color is amazing!
Well rounded suite of tools.
caveat: lots of ram to use Soundtrack effectively.

Premiere (as most NLEs) has almost all of the same features as all of the other NLEs
After Effects is the Standard for Mid-Level VFX work
Well rounded suite of VISUAL tools
caveat: The audio package for Adobe is non-standard
 
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Agree 100% with knightly.
FCP Studio gives you access to Color, a powerful color grading application. If you are starting, and need basic motion graphics Apple Motion will help.
FCP is easy to learn, there are many plugins and comes with DVD Pro and Compressor (useful for your web/dvd output).
ProRes works fine (if compressed files are needed). Check this whitepaper for the 422 version. http://images.apple.com/finalcutstudio/resources/white_papers/L342568A_ProRes_WP.pdf

Check the Red support here:
http://www.red.com/support/release_history/8

Some general links to FCP info here:
http://editinglinks.com/film/film_25.html

Hope this help.
 
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I'll also add the FCP is better at delivering OMF files. (OMF being the vastly preferred export format of production audio out of NLEs).

CS4 can do it now (CS3 and earlier couldn't) but it still doesn't work 100% of the time.

So if you want to work with a sound editors / designers / mixers, then FCP is a more reliable system for delivering audio to them.
 
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There is another option.

1) Buy the Final Cut Studio package.
2) Buy Adobe AFTER EFFECTS only.

Use After Effects for your VFX stuff and render it for a quicktime format in which FCS will recognize.
I have the Adobe CS4 Suite and it is really nice except the render time, I don't know if its because of the size
of my processor or my amount of ram, but let me tell you, a 2 min video with 1 video track and 2 audio tracks takes close to 25-30 minutes to render. That is ridiculous!

I have FCE 4 currently but am preparing to upgrade very soon to FCS.

I can compare Premiere Pro now to FCE 4 and say FCE is seamlessly easier to use but lacks some small features that Premiere has. Ofcourse these things will be fixed in FCS, for now, I would get Final Cut over Adobe, even with just the Express Version. Now if we want to go into detail about Photoshop and illustrator and all the others stuff, and how the immaculately flow together, then yes It's a tough decision. If only you could get both.

Like Steve said: If you were already on a PC and not a Mac it would be a different story....
 
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Totally agree as I have worked with both and Final Cut is vastly superior to Adobe. After Effects and Photoshop are the only two Adobe elements worth getting, in my opinion.

And as for version, if you can afford it go Pro. Express is ok, but it is missing quite a bit if you are looking to do some serious editing.
 
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I think I'll splurg for FCS, the films I'm doing general rely on special effects (cause I like them) and things like flying spaceships etc, If I use motion I can film the ships close up and let motion take care of the scaling for me, that should save me some time assuming I can figure out how to move things in motion.
 
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I would disagree with most here and say I think the Adobe bundle is the way to go. ESPECIALLY with cs5 coming out in a few days. Premiere cs5's mercury memory optimization is killing other editing programs in HD rendering. And After Effects is definitely superior to motion. What FCP might have over premiere in features you will more than make up for in After Effects. Add photoshop for graphics, soundbooth for mixing, and encore for DVD menus you're good to go. And personally I use premiere and prefer it's interface over FCP.
 
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Graeme said:
I think I'll splurg for FCS, the films I'm doing general rely on special effects (cause I like them) and things like flying spaceships etc, If I use motion I can film the ships close up and let motion take care of the scaling for me, that should save me some time assuming I can figure out how to move things in motion.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I've been using the FCS bundle, including Motion for FX. Everything has gone well except for the Motion part. Motion seems to be hugely processor intensive, and because I'm using an older Mac (G5 with dual 2.7MHz processors) if my FX shot has more than a couple of layers it bogs down so badly that I can't even move through the shot frame-by-frame. If I'm rotoscoping something, it often shuts down right in the middle without any warning -- I've lost hours of work and nearly smashed my keyboard more than once. Then, when I finally get all the elements in place, it refuses to render correctly, adding artifacts during the render. I've had to render things three and four times, re-booting the software each time, before I finally get a usable shot.

My cousin heard about my troubles and taught me to use After Effects. What a difference!!! No more rendering problems, and I can pile on as many layers as I want and, while it does slow down some, it never shuts off on me. I can even watch the clip in real time (after it does a preliminary render), which I was NEVER able to do with Motion, even with only a layer or two applied.

I agree with Spiderlimbs, if you go the Final Cut route you may want to pick up AE as well, especially if you're using an older computer.
 
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I just saw the rotoscoping tool in the new AF, blew me away

2001 Productions said:
I agree with Spiderlimbs, if you go the Final Cut route you may want to pick up AE as well, especially if you're using an older computer.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just saw CS5 and its new rotoscoping tool [unbelievable!] and some Photoshop tools so I'm going to pick up the production package. Suffer through Premier in order to ease my FX requirements in AF, PS being a bonus for the photography side of my life. Then once I get some payback from my first few films look into picking up Final Cut Studio which should work out better for me in the long run (unless I actual start to like Premier).

Computer Specs for me is a Mac Pro 1,1 with four 2GHZ cores (2x2 configuration) and 9 GB of ram so I think I will be able to get the software to run well, I'm only dealing with 720p files.
 
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Tons of tutorials out for AE too. Blender can do some of that but isn't necessarily made for it, Shake is no longer supported, but you can still get it on ebay and what not... it works like a champ.
 
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Hi there,

I am also using both. I came from Express to Studio and was fascinated of Color and Compressor.
The Adobe Suite ( I own CS3 ) is good, but I don´t like their stuff that much. The only program I often use is After Effects, which has much potencial. The workflow between Final Cut and After Effects is okay.
If I have to decide between FCS and Adobe ( maybe CS5 will be better ) I would pick FCS and buy just After Effects...

Please excuse some mistakes in language. I am a german student..., but I think my English will improve, by reading and writing here :)
 
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We demand perfect English or we will refuse to answer the questions... just kidding ;)

We've got a bunch of Final Cut people on here (myself included) who can help work through the learning process for you :)
 
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