Should I go Mac??

Trip Hazard

Simply Question

Looking for opinions really.

I'm getting a laptop some that will primarily be used for Video Editing, I'm looking to get into the Industry and everything seems to be Final Cut This and Final Cut That, so as a long time Windows used should I convert to Mac for editing?

Advice on each system appreciated

Cheers

decob

I would say if you are serious about getting into the game and not a weekend editor who does the odd bit for friends/ family/ youtube then yes from a cost point of view a mac and final cut pro would be a good investment.

To be honest there are only 2 real options. Avid or Final Cut. Now i know there is the likes of premier pro, and sony vegas but to be honest how many post houses around town use either.

One of the main reasons why final cut is used so widely now is down to the cost of getting set up wth one. It's cheap compared with avid's offerings.

lodgepole

If you want to set yourself up as a freelance editor using your own equipment then stick with what you're comfortable with. Final Cut Pro is no more capable than Avid and no more accepted in the industry. What I have noticed, however, is that jobs for hire seem to be increasingly for Final Cut Pro editors.

What is your training on?

Trip Hazard

Ok Well I do want to get into in fairly seriously, I wanna try set myself up as a freelance editor also gonna start shooting my own stuff, Shorts Etc. Everything seems to be FCP thats why I think I should change over.

My training is Avid, from college but I used premiere Pro a fair bit too. Although Haven't sat in front of an edit suite in over a year ,shame, I know but gonna get that sorted soon

lodgepole

Trip Hazard wrote: »

Ok Well I do want to get into in fairly seriously, I wanna try set myself up as a freelance editor also gonna start shooting my own stuff, Shorts Etc. Everything seems to be FCP thats why I think I should change over.

Personally speaking, I wouldn't switch to Mac based on that. Once you become a proficient editor it won't make much difference what software you use and you'll be able to migrate to FCP easily enough if you ever need to. If it's your own stuff I would say it's an expense you can happily avoid for the moment.

Lump

FCP is affordable, and professional enough to edit videos on. Avid is probably out of your price range. Saying that, I would go with FCP as it will give you a much better editing package compared to what you could afford on a PC (Premiere etc)

lodgepole

If you count the cost of the Mac and FCP, you're well past €2000. Assuming the OP has existing hardware he could buy Avid Xpress Pro and still have a few hundred euros to pimp up his existing PC. You are obviously right though, starting from scratch FCP is the cheaper option.

portomar

i work in an irish mainstream broadcaster and my advice would sat on the fence somewhat: if you are setting up on your own, FCP is the way to go. what i would say is to KEEP UP your avid. the broadcasters (and the big boys in the independent sector) are all still tied to avid. Two larger broadcasters have, i hear, just upgraded their entire avid infrastructure. this is a large move and will keep them on avid for 5-10 years. the problem is that avid is the incumbent, and if they are to replace this with FCP, it will cost them lots more than upgrading their avid infrastructure because every piece of hardware and software in the company will probably have to be replaced with it, whereas with an incumbent you can do it gradually.

I like avid almost exclusively because

1 its easier to edit fast

2 i know how to use it, whereas the majority of beginners only know final cut.

now, i also use final cut, because much of the industry is gone that way, my opinion is any editor who wants to move jobs in the next few years and or be in any way flexible, needs to know both systems. get your mac, with final cut studio, and get even a demo version of avid, or the cheapest version you can get just to keep up to speed. my interview for the broadcastetr i work for now consisted of an interview followed by 20 minutes to cut a news package.

Trip Hazard

Cheer for the incite Portomar,

Taking into the account the Laptop in General and the fact that I want to get using Final Cut I think I'm gonna go with the Mac. I've convinced myself that its the best move to make, we'll see how it goes.

I would like to keep up with using Avid but since I've finished college I have no way of getting access to an Avid System but at least I have a grasp on it if it comes up in the future.

In Regards to setting up myself as an editor, in the mean time I just wanna get used to Final Cut and the Mac OS and put together my own Shorts, music Videos Etc, and soon enough start taking on freelance editing jobs. I'll be traveling in the next few months so the plan is to rack up any experience within the Industry I can, but we'll see how that works out.

Cheers for all the Advice guys!!!!

lodgepole

Good luck with it. I also work with one of Ireland's broadcasters (although not as an editor) and it can be a tough nut to crack.

Avid have a free version of their DV software that you should have a muck about with every few months to keep some of the differences fresh in your head. You don't want to lose work because you're out of practice.

Trip Hazard

A hard nut to crack... So I hear:D

Yeah I'm sure to frequent these boards more often once I get the Laptop and start editing again!!!!

decob

Lodgepole wrote: »

Good luck with it. I also work with one of Ireland's broadcasters (although not as an editor) and it can be a tough nut to crack.

Avid have a free version of their DV software that you should have a muck about with every few months to keep some of the differences fresh in your head. You don't want to lose work because you're out of practice.

Avid free dv was discontinued last september, granted you will probably be able to download a copy of the last version - it won't be updated. However Avid Xpress Pro is available on the mac, well it's bundled with the pc version.

lodgepole

decob wrote: »

Avid free dv was discontinued last september, granted you will probably be able to download a copy of the last version - it won't be updated. However Avid Xpress Pro is available on the mac, well it's bundled with the pc version.

Was it really? That's a shame, it was a wonderful idea.