Digital editing programs

[bfjames74]

I'm about to start editing the short I've been shooting on S8 for the last few months. I'll be working at a community media center (no $$ left for my own equipment) and they have Imovie, Premiere, and Final Cut Pro. I haven't worked with any of these, and I would appreciate suggestions on which one to use.

So far I'm not planning on doing much more than cuts, fades to white and black, and crossfades, but I'm sure the more the software lets me do the more stuff I'll come up with. My impression is that Imovie is pretty basic and probably the easiest to use but the least powerful. Between Premiere and Final Cut Pro, I'm not sure what the differences are other than price.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[crimsonson]

skip iMovie. Go straight to FCP or Premiere.
The difference is between is up to you. For basic narative editing both will more than suffice. You just need to decide which interface is better for your editing style.
They can be complex in the beginning. You will need to rack up some hours before you will feel comfortable.

[wahiba]

Try

http://www.puremotion.com

For a budget editing programme that really works. Similar to Premiere, about 1/10 the price and less hassel.

Can be down loaded as demo and bought as an unlocking key cheaper than waiting for the CD.

[Arnie]

If that's all you're going to be doing then- yes, iMovie will be all you need. And it'll be easier than Final Cut Pro. But Final Cut Pro has way more features, and it's interface really doesn't take time to learn at all. Adobe Premiere, while a nice program, is clunky and old-feeling in comparision to Final Cut Pro. It also doesn't have as many features. I would recommend you open each and use each one for a little bit to get the feel of things, then decide what you feel is best! Hope that helps.
Arnie.

[Guest]

Greetings,

I use Premiere 6 with a firewire card, and I have never had a problem or dropped frames. It's simple to use and professional.

[Guest]

Greetings,

I use Premiere 6 with a firewire card, and I have never had a problem or dropped frames. It's simple to use and professional.

[mattias]

If that's all you're going to be doing then- yes, iMovie will be all you need. And it'll be easier than Final Cut Pro.

i disagree. it only looks easier for somebody who doesn't even know what editing is, but it only takes a few hours to get used to basic editing in fcp or premiere, and after that time you'll get so frustrated with imovie if you try it that you'll want to throw it in the trash.

*everything* takes at least twice as long in imovie, and many really basic things, like editing video and audio independently, can hardly be done at all. it's not about features and about what you can do as far as effects and such goes, but rather about how easy it is is to trim a few frames off the end of a shot or quickly reordering a sequence.

on top of that the interface is far from intuitive, and it's *mode based* for christ's sake. the rest of the world stopped using that paradigm when the dec terminals were thrown out. no, it's not easier to use at all, and you should stay away from it.

i'm an editor by profession, so i might be biased, but i find other entry level software, like pinnacle studio, to be far superior to imovie, so it's not just elitism...

/matt

[wahiba]

I will give another plug for http://www.puremotion.com for while being a good programme they have a forum as good as this one and the company actually answers most of the questions and will do all it can to solve any problems.

As far as I can make out it is a small British set up. On past form this means they will probably soon be bought out by Microsoft looking for a programme to go head to head with Premiere.

[Arnie]

Yeah- I guess I was thinking more in the line of which would make more sense to my grandma. As a movie editor- yes, programs like Final Cut Pro and Premiere are easier. Doing inserts and overlaps in iMovie is really really hard compared to Premiere or FCP. I don't think iMovie is quite as bad as you say though- there are tons of other editing programs that try to "mode" everything off a lot worse than iMovie.
But Mattias is right- if you are going to be doing a lot of editing- iMovie will most likely not meet your needs. To trim a frame in iMovie just hold down shift and drag over what you want, then hit delete- doesn't take long at all. But if you want those frames back- then you run into trouble. FCP lets you keep pulling the Out to wherever you want. I guess I kind of jumped in too quick before thinking about the troubles I've faced with iMovie. I suggest you do learn Final Cut or Premiere first- that way you're not coming from the different world of iMovie. I've never tried Puremotion; but I'm assuming you're using Macs at the media center because you say there's Final Cut Pro on them.
Hope that helps!
Arnie.

[bfjames74]

Thanks for the responses. I have to admit that I'm leaning towards Final Cut Pro. I will probably skip Imovie and try both Premiere and FCP and see which I like better.

Two more questions:

1. What does "mode based" mean?

2. Any broad estimates for how much time I'll be spending editing (outside of syncing the sound) after I learn the basics of the software? I have shot about two hours worth of film and anticipate the final product to be 20-30 minutes. I realize there are lots of variables here, but I don't have much of an idea, except that it will take a long time.

[Arnie]

To me mode-based refers to how there's a storyboard view and then a more complex view in iMovie. The way how many of these entry-level programs work is you have a "storyboard" where you just put which clips you want in order, and maybe do some basic trimming, and then there's a "timeline" view where you can go in and edit in sound effects and do some more complex stuff. It also has a mode where you switch to Import your video. That's what I assume mode means-- because in FCP or Premiere, you're pretty much presented with a workspace that you can do whatever you want in. Rather than it being step-by-step, it's one big timeline that you can do tons more stuff in than you can with the step-by-step programs.
It is very hard to say how long it'd take you-- it all depends on how much you know you want to get rid of, if you're going to be trying a bunch of different edits, or if you know exactly what you want to do. I can tell you I did a movie a couple of years ago, that I probably shot about 2 hours worth of footage for, before I cut it down to 30 minutes. I edited this as I shot it (it was DV), and it took about 3 months, doing a little each day (maybe an hour or so). But it could be very different for you.
Enjoy!
Arnie.