What Editing Software Do you use?

[Will2]

Final Cut Pro Studio just works well for me. The flexibility in codecs and how it handles anamorphic video so well is a big plus. Glad that Apple is really pushing it and constantly updating. Support of AVCHD was a welcome addition on the last upgrade.

While color shows some potential, its really buggy and certainly not very user friendly. But that will improve over time. That application might be one of the more imporant apps for us as filmmakers.

[Mafishus]

...I worked on Premiere for over 4 years and have been working with FCP in the last year. I like FCP more than Premiere and plan on getting a Mac Pro the this summer and not using premier anymore... I guess there isn't a big difference between the two it's just FCP has better P2 support ...

Actually with the latest update, Premiere Pro CS3 edits P2 content natively vs. FCP trancoding into Quicktime. It's also on both Mac and PC now. I've been using Premiere Pro on my MacBook Pro to edit P2 content and it's been working really well. And of course I'm also using it to edit my telecined Super 8 content as well

-Michael

[Will2]

It's all what you're used to. Most Avid editors I know like Avid for the power of all that dedicated hardware on higher end systems, not always for the software itself. Almost all of them get calls to edit on FCP systems at some time or another as well; more and more often these days.

I started with Premiere many years ago on the Mac then switch to FCP since Adobe dropped Mac development of Premiere.

Good to hear Premiere is back on the Mac, competition is always good.

[mattias]

While color shows some potential, its really buggy and certainly not very user friendly.

what is not user friendly about it? i'm not disagreeing, just curious. i mean it's a powerful tool, and knowing how to use that power is a skill that i'm not sure a different interface will help learning, maybe even the opposite.

i use colorista and magic bullet looks for grading myself. much easier to get very far very quickly, obviously not with as much control but i've seen colorists work for two days on a 30 second spot and who has time for that?

i've chosen fcp for editing, it's really the only professional tool that's still affordable. avid systems are only good when they are systems, the standalone software version sucks.

/matt

[Will2]

While color shows some potential, its really buggy and certainly not very user friendly.

what is not user friendly about it?

Perhaps I should say Color has a steeper learning curve than Final Cut had for me. Color's general interface is not quite "Mac-like" yet since it was just aquired... it's more like Smoke or Flame. Both incredibly powerful tools but a much different interface than Final Cut.

Color actually forces you to learn about color correcting on a level I haven't had to yet, so that is a positive for sure. I'm used to sitting behind the colorist saying, "yeah... more like that..."

[johnnhud]

BTW... been a while John!

I've been busy but I still check out the forums. I'm working on a feature length movie right now with a small film crew I've met in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. It's been eating up a lot of my "spare time." I'll post some details about it when it's done. Right now we have completed shooting and I'm editing the flick in FCP Studio 2.

Unfortunately, my Workprinter has sat quiet for the past several months with a large stack of film next to it waiting to be transferred.

[Will2]

I'm working on a feature length movie right now with a small film crew I've met in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.

I'd love to hear about any shooting opportunities you run across in Dallas. Please post more info on your project when you get the chance!

[Jean Poirier]

Very interesting thread. I am also thinking going with Vegas using transfer on hard drive. Thanks to all for the comments. Jean

[super8man]

"Soney" Vegas

[johnnhud]

"Soney" Vegas

I saw that after I posted but was to lazy to change it. 8)

I'd love to hear about any shooting opportunities you run across in Dallas. Please post more info on your project when you get the chance!

Sure, the name of the project is "Between Heaven & Hell" it's a feature length movie shot digitally in the suburbs of Dallas/Ft Worth. Mostly around Mansfield area, south of Arlington. The website of the production company is http://www.pocketlintpictures.com however it's not very updated. The director is also the web site maintainer and as you can imagine, he is quite preoccupied. Also, try to look past the incorrect way the film is running through our logo....I made the producer aware of it.

The story is about a man who has lost his faith who is a witness to murder. The story delves into the corruption of human nature and how we all ultimately have to live with the choices we have made.

I have just finished cutting together a "looong" trailer for investors as we spent our whole budget shooting the thing and now can't afford to purchase some songs that we would like to have in it.

We are also in the beginning stages of scoring.

Technical details are as follows

Shot on Canon XL-2’s
Recorded over 40 hours of tape (insane amount)
Editing in Final Cut Studio
Composing in Logic Studio

Locations range from Cheap Motels to Country Churches, Fields in OK and the Mansfield Police Station. There were a total of about 38 locations we shot at. Most local.

[bulldogpictures]

I use Magix Video deLuxe for editing and Adobe Premiere 6.5 for stop-motion capture.
Video deLuxe gives you all you need for editing, is user-friendly and is well priced.
I also use VirtualDubMod and Avisynth.

Rob.

[fred621962]

I use Grass Valley (ex-Canopus) Edius, and it really rocks. Never seen a bug in that software, and codec management is really cool. Full-featured,professional editing software, can be compared to Avid IMHO

[David M. Leugers]

Premiere Pro 2.0. I finally upgraded from 1.0 (which really sucked most of the time) as it is the latest and last Premiere that works with my Matrox RTX 100 Extreme card. 2.0 works very well, has lots of excellent features and have not had any problems. There may be easier programs out there, or better buys, but I like it and it works well with the Matrox which I need for use with my transfer set-up.


David M. Leugers

[MovieStuff]

Premiere Pro 2.0. I finally upgraded from 1.0 (which really sucked most of the time) as it is the latest and last Premiere that works with my Matrox RTX 100 Extreme card. 2.0 works very well, has lots of excellent features and have not had any problems. There may be easier programs out there, or better buys, but I like it and it works well with the Matrox which I need for use with my transfer set-up.


David M. Leugers

I use the Matrox RTX2HD edit suite with Premier and it totally rocks. Real time color correction and unbelievably sharp picture quality. I don't know what type of smoke and mirrors that Matrox uses but my final edit looks just as good as my field tapes. Even multi-generational footage maintains sharpness with no blocking. I love it.

Roger

[David M. Leugers]

I use the Matrox RTX2HD edit suite with Premier and it totally rocks. Real time color correction and unbelievably sharp picture quality. I don't know what type of smoke and mirrors that Matrox uses but my final edit looks just as good as my field tapes. Even multi-generational footage maintains sharpness with no blocking. I love it.

Roger

On my wish list for some day when I can afford it! I really like my present setup and the only draw back is that Cine Cap doesn't handle the Matrox codec for more than about 50ft of transferred film. I just use uncompressed for the initial transfer, beautiful results.

David M. Leugers