In the next few days and weeks, you’ll find audio interviews, both with editors who have made the switch from Final Cut Pro to Premiere CS5, and with Adobe officials who will describe the product, and answer my unusual questions. These interviews will be available in two languages (Castilian and English) both via the TecnoTur audio channels on iTunes, and here via the TecnoTur channel in ProVideo Coalition
You have some basic misconceptions about Apple. First, Apple does not discuss unreleased products. Their “complete silence” means nothing. Second, you are assuming that the MacBook Pro hardware collaborates with the FCP development team. Yes, a lack of Express34 on the 15” is annoying, but you are reading too much into a manufacturing/features decision. As for the “Exodus”, give us some actual statistics or find a better word.
Posted by marc_grubb on 05/06 at 10:55 AM
I think it’s a bit too early to be claiming any “exodus” from FCP. I’m not saying Premiere CS5 isn’t an amazing release that, at least in terms of new technologies, blows away FCP7. It is. But it takes more than that to draw very loyal users to a whole new platform, especially one that has a history of lackluster performance on the Mac. I think most FCP users (myself included) are going to wait until FCP8 to make any such decisions. If it’s still 32-bit carbon by then, THAT’S when I’ll start looking at Adobe.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/06 at 12:04 PM
Alan, come on. It’s like you don’t remember the Avid vs. FCP fighting between editors over the last few years.
There will not be a sudden exodus to Premier.
Likely many FCP houses will add Premier to their kit for it’s additional new features. If over time they grow to like it better than FC then they might switch.
But you mistakenly underestimating the loyalty/comfort factor with many editors despite the grass being greener on the other side of the fence.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/06 at 01:41 PM
I get about a dozen requests a day to join lafcpug, a user group I run here in Los Angeles. I ask for a bit of information about them when they join, and most comply freely. The overwhelming majority of them are joining lafcpug to learn more about FCP and either are adding FCS to their tool set or are switching from another NLE. No one I know is switching FROM FCP to another NLE. Adding, yes. Switching, no. You’d be crazy not to add MC5 and CS5 as you are bound to run into situations where they are simply the “better” tool to use. That and you should know them just to complete in this town.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/06 at 04:00 PM
I love what Adobe is doing and certainly want FCP to catch up in certain features ... true 64 bit being one of them but I don’t think it’s very practical to jump from one editing system to another just because of a momentary up-lift to an NLE. Everyone has a lot invested in their editing systems ... plug-ins being a major headache if you are switching ... it’s just not practical for me to do so!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/06 at 06:55 PM
Firstly, Michael Horton is, without a doubt, the eminent authority on FCP. He even invited the Adobe Team to demo CS5 (on a PC no doubt) to LAFCPUG.
There wasn’t a stampede to switch, in fact, most people in the group simply gawked at the integration of Adobe’s design: Integration that pointed directly back to Apple.
Native editing on a Canon 7D, 5D or T2i?
Edit RD3 files native?
A completely redesigned render engine leveraging every CPU in 64-bit?
These are all features that Final Cut Users have longed for but now have access to through Premiere.
Adobe’s XLM export function to FCP shows that they’ll not be an Exodus: Merely a marriage made in heaven.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/07 at 01:30 AM
Since the words “Apple” and “silence” go hand in hand, there’s no news here. It’s also a bit of a stretch to suggest that regular-as-usual silence means Apple have abandoned Pro Apps. With the introduction of 64-bit Snow Leopard, we can pretty much be sure that major changes to FCP are being worked on right now.
I think you’re also forgetting that third party support is a major reason why FCP enjoys the success that it does. Adobe are very far behind Apple in that area.
Posted by Martin Baker on 05/07 at 05:23 AM
Apple makes it’s lion share of profit now from it’s consumer devices and software apps for those devices. FCP was an Apple copy of Premier and Avid and all three are so similar that a good editor can move between them with a little experience. Adobe’s tight integration in CS5 will lure many to switch from FCP. The biggest advantage of Premier Pro over FCP is that it runs on both Mac OS and Microsoft OS, something FCP can’t claim since Apple has never seen fit to make a PC version. I believe it was in another post on this site that an Apple fan explained that Apple didn’t bother with making their software with PC versions because they didn’t make money on their software. There may not be an exodus from FCP to Premier, but there is no doubt that many FCP users will opt for the more robust features of Adobe’s CS5 suite.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 05/07 at 05:30 AM
Exodus? Where? More importantly, why?
Pretty much all modern NLEs will do pretty much anything you need them to do (though some get new codecs / new features a bit before others). The biggest differentiator, as far as the poor bastard sitting in front of the NLE is concerned, is the interaction design. Does the NLE work the way you think? If so, it’ll disappear from your view, leaving you unencumbered to proceed with your work. If not, it’s always in your way: where was that function? How do I make this work? Where did they hide that option?
FCP users aren’t going to switch just because CS5’s APP adds a few new formats or offers a few performance improvements over FCP; the mental overhead of having to squeeze an FCP-compatible mindset into the very different APP mental model isn’t worth the gains—just as folks for whom APP is THE way to work aren’t likely to switch to FCP. Adding a new and different NLE or compositing app to a toolkit to fulfill a specific need, sure, but not an abandonment of current tools already well-understood and in comfortable daily use.
FCP, APP, Vegas, Media Composer, DS, Edius… each has its strengths and its weaknesses, and its own niche. Sometimes the requirements of a gig will force a choice, and people do migrate from one NLE to another as they seek their natural “home”, but absent any groundbreaking leaps in functionality or in UI design (revolutionary changes, as opposed to evolutionary changes), I don’t see any sign of an exodus from one to another.
Disclaimer: I use FCP as my primary NLE, because it’s closest thing I’ve found to an NLE that works the way I think. I’ve used APP CS4, but not CS5; AP 4.2 and 5.1 were my primary NLEs prior to FCP. I’ve also used Edius; Vegas; Avid NewsCutter; Media100; DPS VideoAction; EditDV; TAO Editizer; RM-440; ECS-90; SERA, Steenbeck, and Moviola six-plate flatbeds; and upright benches with long-shaft rewinds, 4-gang synchronizers, and Moviscop viewers. And I’ve probably forgotten a few, at that.
Posted by Adam Wilt on 05/09 at 01:22 AM
While we are not moving from FCP we are scaling down our FCP operations.
We are currently in the process of a facility move and we will go from 4 FCP suites to 1 FCP suite, 1 AVID suite and 2 Premiere suites.
Apple has been very poor in support and feedback in our experience.
Posted by Jay Gannon on 05/12 at 07:31 AM
Well you certainly know how to generate response - you would think you just questioned the validity of Darwinian evolution - lol -
I made the exodus about a year ago with CS4 - apple hardware was just too expensive - bought a powerful PC for almost half the cost - I was sitting with a client the day after I installed the software and worked without a hitch - had never used Premier Pro prior to that day aside from a quick tour -I’ve demoed CS5 and Adobe has improved the product where it matters most for someone like myself - who just wants to get the job done and spend more time with my kids -SPEED- Mercury Playback Engine is as advertised -
Integration with all of the industry standard tools is an added plus - PHOTOSHOP - AFTER EFFECTS - Media Encoder is far more intuitive than Compressor. Apple Motion? - is nice but it’s not AE let’s face it - If you have the choice you’re going to use AE - Color? Eh - if somebody needs serious color work - they are going to go to somebody who specializes in that - if you are selling yourself as an editor then - it’s overkill. I can correct well enough for my business with Premier Pro or AE or Photoshop - or I could spring for Magic Bullet Looks and still come in under budget.
If you aren’t in Hollyood or NY or San Francisco and your clients aren’t obsessed with legacey brand names then Adobe is a valid, economical and logical choice. Hey, wasn’t Paranormal Activity edited on a Dell with Sony Vegas? Just the get the job done.
Posted by Jim Hines on 05/12 at 07:59 AM
