Post-Production : Adobe or Avid by Tony Fisher

I think if you want to be a versatile editor you should be proficient in both. It might not be an "or" question.

So FCP is out?

As a tool for pros, yes. FCP is out.

D Marcus has made good points. It would be most advantageous to have good working knowledge of both Avid and Adobe although its likely to give my wallet a hernia. As for FCP from what I have read it is not as highly regarded as being a professional tool for movies but more for short videos (thinking youtube).

I still see some filmmakers using Sony Vegas, but the most popular NLE with Indies right now is Adobe Premiere. I have been moving from FCP to Premiere myself because, while FCP 7 is an excellent pro editing platform, FCPX seems to have backed out of the pro-grade category and Avid is pretty costly for start-up indie filmmakers. Also, Adobe After Effects, at present, is the only software that has the power and features to handle full on effects and compositing. Other software titles can handle aspects of VFX, animation or compositing, but none offers the combined power and ease-of-use. Virtually every serious effects artist uses AE, and it integrates with Premiere nearly seamlessly. That has been very nice. :) So, if you must choose, I would go with Adobe. :) Hope that helps!

Good morning, it very much depends on the country and the company. In Germany and France they use Final Cut and Avid, depending on the company. Similar for Italy and India. In India they use less Avid. Adobe is not used often. Good luck, Katharina

I hear Adobe is getting popular these days. It's good to learn every software we can. AVID is a nightmare to use. It's best to pick what you like and go from there. You don't want to learn on something you don't like? My film school say AVID is what professionals use.

I must admit my experiences with Avid so far has not been a smooth one, there seems to be a multitude of additional plug-ins that could/would/should be used to get the fullest out of the software.

AVID is great and easy to use, I would personally go for AVID but it might be more expensive. I used Premiere a long time ago back in 2000-2004, also easy to use but this was on a PC, when I changed to Mac in 2005 which by the way is a must, I switched to FCP, Easy and friendly and professional, but I work on FCP 7, I haven't moved to FCPX and I didn't know that Premiere had become a PREFERRED choice than FCP.

AVID has something that others don't have. That safety thing. I have been told AViD is safer for saving projects than Adobe and FCP. Not exactly sure what it is.

It's more stable and powerful.

I am reading all the comments and seriously, each tool have their strength and weakness and there is no "one tool to rule them all" sort of thing anymore unlike 5 or 10 years back. I totally agree with D Marcus and Katharina. Learn both Adobe and Premiere if you can. Adobe can get you the indie and corporate gigs but if you want to step up and go into film, you need to know Avid. And lastly know your market like what Katharina said. Knowing and mastering a tool is of no use if nobody else uses it and you can't collaborate with them. So know your location, what you clients expect and then work backwards. For example I am in Singapore and the people here use mostly Adobe. So I use that too for all the local jobs, but for international gigs, I prefer to market myself as an Avid editor to get the jobs in :)

Hello Robin, thanks for your input. Lots of useful information and plenty to think about.

FCP homie!!!

I came to editing from a design background, moving from Illustrator and Photoshop into motion graphics. Started with FCP and found that Premier and After Effects are a easier to use combination. Adobe has built a mostly seamless, easy to use workflow. If you're starting from scratch and doing standalone work it's less of an upfront investment.