What editing s/w do the pros use for video?

[db]

Also, is there a site where professionals discuss their tools?

Thanks

 

[FenrisUlf]

My ex-GF is a professional video editor. The industry standard is an AVID workstation. They start at $15K and go up to about $150K. These use Apple hardware and an add-on proprietary hardware/software configuration. Avid also makes an NT platform, but it isn't as stable (read: Avid can't write good Windows code yet) and therefore not as well accepted. For a top of the line pro editor who costs about $300 an hour, reliability and uptime are more important than a few MHz. She's used Adobe Premeire, but doesn't like it only because it's not what she's used to. Many smaller production houses use Premeire on PCs because they can't affort Avids. I've used several editing programs, and Premeire is about the best you can use without going into the extreme realm. It has a pretty high learning curve, but I think it's worth the extra time and effort. Also, pofessional editors use really expensive gear. Beta and 3/4" tape are the standards rather than VHS (some digital is used, the FCC is relaxing the rules on broadcasting compressed digital). A good tape "deck" (a player/recorder used to input and output video to and from the computer) starts at about $5,000. I don't know of any discussion boards or web sites, but there's probably something out there.

 

[mitchelt]

Forums...try: World Wide Users Group

 

[pulse8]

Well, most of what FenrisUlf is accurate.

Most pros do use Avids. Very few use Premiere, but some do.

I hate Premiere. When it comes to professional video editing software, it has to be the worst out there. The rising star in the editing world is Final Cut Pro by Apple. It only runs on Macs, but it's a wonderful piece of software and it just keeps getting better and better every year. A system with the right hardware and Final Cut Pro can do just about anything an Avid can do for about 1/2 the cost. The problems arise because all the hardware is 3rd party and it isn't always supported well. Avids are much more stable because they are all created by the same company. There is also the reputation of Avid which comes into play as well. If you are paying a guy $3500 a day to edit your high end commercial, you don't want to see him using a $20,000 Final Cut Pro system, you want him to be using the $150,000 Avid.

 

[jeepers94]

I agree! I use Final Cut Pro!

 

[SolrFlare24]

Yeah I have to agree that if you are talking proffessional video editing your either talking an extreme video editing specific system(like Avid), or you are talking about Macs with a variety of editing software. Likewise audio wise although to a lesser extent as there is a decent amount of stuff available for the PC.

As powerful and almighty as we like to think our PCs are, Macs still reign in the multimedia area either from hardware or simply due to the software base. Since I'm guessing you may be talking about using a PC only....while I don't like it as much either, Premire is probably going to be your best option for video editing.

If, however, you are talking about going out and getting a machine for Video editing, then unless oyu have an extreme budget, you can not go wrong with a powerful new Mac computer as it will be an audio and video editing paradise.