Vegas (Windows) vs. Final Cut Pro (Mac)
by Orson Kellogg
on
Dec 5, 2007 at 2:27:40 am
I'm on the verge of either setting up a small video production facility using Final Cut Pro on a Mac or Vegas 8 on a PC.
I like much about Vegas, have been evaluating it for a couple of weeks on and off, have tried a few things, checked out the tutorials. Encountered a couple of anomalies -- such as rendering to WMV that came out as an all-black (essentially empty ) 40MB file; but when I tried a second time, it turned out fine. A little unnerving, but I'm very much a beginner at this thing, and I realize there are a ton of variables/settings. (I also have a lifelong knack for discovering bugs in software that other people never experience.)
We have an experienced Mac user who's used FCP and swears by it, and says the Mac is a superior platform for video production. I tend to think a beefy PC these days can equal a Mac in having what it takes, and I've read multiple Vegas users (including those with FCP experience) say that Vegas has a faster workflow and is overall simpler/speedier to work in, with plenty of power.
I'm not producing feature-length films, but short (max. 40 mins.) marketing videos for display at customer meetings and on the web. But we are shooting in HD, so the software must handle this well.
Anyone got advice, opinions, experiences to share? Has Vegas proved to be robust, reliable, etc. I'd love to hear especially from anyone who's used FCP on a Mac and yet is using Vegas 8 on a PC now....
Re: Vegas (Windows) vs. Final Cut Pro (Mac) by Rick Mac on Dec 5, 2007 at 3:59:29 am
Orson,
I have experience with both FCP and Vegas.
Where I work has 8 FCP Systems and I edit
a lot in Vegas.
My observation is this. FCP and Vegas are both very good
editing systems. Both have there really strong points and a few weak spots.
FCP Thoughts:
Lots of wizbang. You can create some really slick stuff in a hurry (after learning the program) and you get a lot of help via templates.
Motion is really cool.
You need a strong, fast, computer and hardware to make FCP get off the ground well, (can you say money).
Some task that should be quite simple are not. Vegas kicks butt in this area.
FCP is a bit closed. It does not like to play with other editing system formats.
Many times you have to do a render before you can preview.
This drives me crazy.
Vegas Thoughts:
Simple to use compared to other editing systems
including FCP. Very good preview rates when used with a
fast computer. PC's are less expensive than Macs.
You can play a whole lot many different formats of
audio and video files from the Vegas timeline.
You can mix and match diffrent types of files and formats
on the Vegas timeline without a render step as in FCP.
Vegas has some really strong pan/crop and compositing
tools. Vegas has scripting featuure which can automate
certain task for you saving much time and effort.
Simply the best audio toolset of any editing software.
Vegas 8 Pro Multicam tool is way better than FCP's.
You can cut a project very quickly in Vegas.
Weak spot, not a lot of templates for the wizbang.
You have to learn how to create it yourself.
I will stop there and give others the chance to say a word.
As you can tell I like Vegas a lot.
I also like FCP. For most things I like Vegas over FCP.
If you will be working with other FCP users and you
have the money and time to learn FCP that might be the way
to go. If you want a very capable system that is more afforable and much easier to use, and I think more enjoyable to edit on and you do not need to worry about editing projects from other FCP files, Vegas is the way my son.
Regards, and happy editing, Rick.
Rick Mac
Director of Audio Production
TCT Network - Directv 377
Re: Vegas (Windows) vs. Final Cut Pro (Mac) by leslie wand on Dec 5, 2007 at 8:38:51 am
i think rick has said about all there is to say and quite fairly.
i am an editor of 30+ years and have used them all at some stage or another. they all have their good points (avids is certainly media management), and their bad. for me it's been vegas since 4, and everytime i have to do a job on anything else, i really wonder why i bother. for me vegas is what i want from an editor - sophisticated simplicity. i know others who think i know fa about what's a good nle. then again, none of them have ever edited seriously with vegas. i have with fcp, avid, premiere.
Re: Vegas (Windows) vs. Final Cut Pro (Mac) by JaModi Robinson on Sep 5, 2008 at 4:56:03 pm
I hear you, Leslie! I've been an editor going on ten years and I deal with this issue quite a bit. I have experience with Premiere, FCP, Vegas, and some Avid experience and prefer Vegas over them all. I think this debate is over hyped and it should be up to the editor to choose which program they want to use to cut. Too many times a system is determined for a project with no regard for workflow, output, etc. If that was the case, all you would have to worry about is seamless workflow between multiple editors and final output format. Each of these programs is capable of doing a great job. I think that through great marketing by Apple (and little to no effort by companies like Sony) and a naïve/programmed response to have to use FCP or Avid we miss the point of putting the right editor for the project in the most comfortable position. We are specialists who know our craft and do our homework, and we should let that be known more. This is such a counter productive topic, that I know editors who cut in Vegas and have to import a quicktime file to the FCP timeline just to get credit for doing the job right. It's not about the product, it's about the results you get from the person pressing the keys and moving the mouse.
Re: Vegas (Windows) vs. Final Cut Pro (Mac) by Joel Perez Irizarry on Jan 8, 2009 at 9:32:45 pm
I've been editing for about ten years now, and I have used several system including Avid, Premiere, FCP, Vegas and even more advanced finishing products like Smoke and Avid DS. That said I'm currently using FCP as my main editing software and to be honest I'm not necesarly a big fan, but I do find that because is prbably the most popular of all the software mention above I can share my projects with more ad agencies than any other. So if you need to share your work with a variety of clients that also own their own editing suites your probably better off with FCP. It's also hard to compare them only in terms of the editing programm since now a days is the bundle that counts. For me Color is a deal breaker and only Apple offers something like it. Color is very powerfull, it actually used to cost $6,000 when it was called Final Touch HD before Apple bought it.
DVD Studio Pro, Compressor and Motion ( even though I think After Effects is way superior) are also very usefull. So when you're considering buying an editing software you should consider what is included apart from the editing software since nowadays they're all very similar in terms of features and performance.
