Re: The Great Debate: FCP X or Adobe Premiere?

Last night, I attended a Final Cut Pro users group meeting which meets on a monthly basis. Regardless of the evening's topic, the host usually takes a quick poll of the audience and asks how many are editing with FCP X, FCP 7, Adobe Premiere, Lightworks, etc. Last night, there was no poll but a rep from Adobe spoke. He gave a Power Point presentation listing all the benefits of Adobe and the Creative Cloud and why any forward-thinking editor would want to ally him or herself with Adobe instead of FCP X. Of course, his big selling point was the editing of the big studio feature, "Gone Girl", on Adobe Premiere with all its effects-laden AfterEffects scenes. Of course, I was aware that the purpose of this presentation was to present an alternative, the competition's point-of-view.
What did surprise me were the comments of the crowd afterward. Most were along the lines of "I loved FCP 7 but could never get my head around the completely alien format of FCP X with its magnetic timeline so I wound up hating and abandoning it. Thank God Adobe came along with the perfect answer with a track-based editing program like Adobe Premiere Pro and links to all those other great Adobe programs like Photoshop, AfterEffects and Audition."
As a longtime (since FCP 2) FCP 7 editor, I tested Adobe Premiere for a month and did indeed like many features about it, especially the masking & tracking and its innate ability to handle any codec. However, after I gave FCP X a month trial, I saw how quickly I could manipulate the clips in the timeline and make changes plus many great effects features, including terrific keying. It made Adobe Premiere seem slow and a bit clunky.
I had to make a choice and I chose FCP X as the editing direction I wanted to move in.

But after leaving last night's meeting, I felt a bit discouraged. Did I make the right choice? Will be regretting my decision and switching to Adobe and the Creative Cloud subscription plan in a few months?
I guess what made me feel this way was a roomful of FCP editors seeming be "switching teams".

Phil

P.S.

Kind of ironic since all this happened on my birthday.

Phil,

Debating over an NLE is as senseless as debating over a choice of car. There is no debate, and there are many more great options than just FCP X or Premiere. Just use whatever fits you. If I were to make my decisions based on what other people are doing I would be working 9 to 5, drive a pimped up town car, watch cookery shows or reality tv and get drunk every Friday evening. But I don't do that. I make my own choices, and I think they are better.

Best wishes,

Ronny

Well put, Ronny.

I guess I should steer clear of these editors meetings. That's all they do is talk about and compare what NLE systems they're using.
My brother is a writer and refuses to attend any writing seminars or compare notes with other writers. He says he doesn't give a crap about what other writers are writing about or their problems getting published, etc. He focuses exclusively on his own work.

I think that's a very sane attitude, Phil. Many user groups these days have been sold out to their sponsors because without the sponsors they would not even be able to survive. You are the only one who can judge what works best for you.

Best wishes,

Ronny