#premeirepro

Drive in N-Tower, SEOUL, Korea.

By Braden Storrs June 29th, 2015

This is in response to this question from a current FCP 7 user, 7Presley, looking to update: FCP X vs. Premiere for a Feature I started typing and realized it was so big I might as well make it into an article. Everyone has different needs as an editor so I’ll just share my experiences for what they’re worth. I’ll cover 7Presley’s questions as well as my own thoughts. This is not an exhaustive comparison, or a bashing session, these are observations and opinions based on user experience. 

Unfortunately I don’t know the details of 7Presley’s production workflow or cameras used. Not all productions or workflows have the same requirements so for anyone to say one program or another is the only way to go for everyone is a bit short sighted. There are many factors to consider. That being said I personally believe FCP X is the best option for most productions, if you know what you are doing with the tool. I’ll explain below. Wether it is capable is not a question anymore. Unfortunately comments like that still come up. It’s been proven in every type of production. From the smallest family movies upwards to wedding videos, web series, corporate and commercial productions, broadcast television, and Hollywood and otherwise feature films.  

Of course it's worthwhile to know various tools. While I highly prefer FCP X, I use Premiere when needed. I came from FCP 7 but haven’t had to use that professionally in 3-4 years. Going back to it now it’s amazing how antiquated it feels/is. Avid is still widely used due to its being engrained in so many long standing workflows. I would never use the adjective innovative and Avid in the same sentence though (except this one). 

Color Grading

7Presley mentioned wanting to use the Red Giant color plugins. They are compatible with both Apple and Adobe suites so there's no difference there. Though I prefer Color Finale from Color Grading Central personally. It's a lot faster to work with and more accessible then Magic Bullet while still having the tools I need. Magic Bullet has a few extra tools that are nice at times. PPro CC just got the new Lumetri color system which is a big step up for its built in color effects. FCP X has the Color Board which, while not as advanced, is very intuitive and quick to work with. FCP X has key-framable shape and color masks for all effects. Premiere has shape mask tracking built in for effects. I’ll cover a few more app specific tools below.

Premiere Pro/CC:

Pros (I’ll just mention ones FCP X doesn’t have)- 

All in one package that interacts and exchanges elements and media fairly efficiently between applications. Gives you video, motion graphics, design, web, and photo editing for one monthly price.

Access to After Effects, which is a powerful, though unnecessarily complex program. Older UI and lack of modern hardware optimization.

Speedgrade gives you an included color grading suite.

Basic audio mixer for rough mastering inside PPro.

Custom Window layout presets. Those are nice.

Cons-

Subscription based business model. I really, really, don’t like the forced subscription model. If you ever stop paying them, for example if you switch to another platform, you loose access to all your work on all of their programs. Video, design, etc. You can save XML for some things but you’re out of luck for the most part. As opposed to a license where you can always go back as long as your hardware supports the software. Let’s be honest though, that’s the point, to keep you paying. To have access to your work and to stay compatible you have to keep paying them $600 a year. It has ZERO to do with being able to deliver updates faster/easier. That’s just marketing speak. They are so integrated into so many workflows they can get away with it but it’s dirty business to me.

Aside from the subscription the thing that has really turned me off to the platform has been reliability. I don’t care how many features they have, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter. Apparently on Windows it’s actually stable but for us in the Mac-sphere that’s not the case. I don’t trust the software to let me deliver on time, especially on large or complex projects. The bigger it is and longer I work on it the nastier things get. It’s been the same story on Mac Pros, iMacs, Macbook Pros. It’s not the hardware. There been so many missed deadlines, angry supervisors/producers, clients that won’t return. So much lost productivity that I almost got to a point of refusing jobs that require PPro. It costs me money and reputation and that’s bad for business. I definitely let people now what I think about using the NLE when I have to. it’s just warning from experience. It’s not a capabilities thing, it’s a trust issue with a tool that has failed me dozens of times in so many ways. To Adobe’s credit they are very responsive in their forums and via email. I appreciate how prompt they are. Unfortunately though, it hasn’t paid off. Having worked with PPro consistently since CS5.5 through CC 2015 I can confidently say the problems have gotten worse not better. It literally took minutes for some nasty bugs to show up in CC2015 on a new project. The same bugs go from one generation to the next. For more info on what happened a couple years ago when I switched to FCP X here’s that article: An Editor’s Journey to FCP X

Tracks. They’re proven and strait forward, but they are inefficient and slow you down.

Playback performance has been generally improved but both PPro and AE are no where as optimized to take advantage of newer hardware as the Apple applications. Too much old code in there.

FCP X/Apple Pro Apps:

Pros (some built in, some 3rd Party)-

It’s a modular system. You only have to pay for what you need. FCP X, Motion 5, Logic Pro X, and Compressor 4 make up the Apple Pro Apps. Just buy the ones you need. Those don’t do something you need? I bet you there’s a plugin that does. Since the initial cost are so low, getting any needed 3rd party tools is a lot easier cost wise. Buy it once, use it forever. I’ve heard FCP Compared to a RED camera. Buy the base and add the accessories that fit your needs.

Perpetual License! FCP X and it’s companion apps came out 4 years ago (except LPX which came out a little later). $600 for all four apps and free updates since. Roughly $150 a year. Not including any third party tools of course, which depend on the case, but you get the point. 

Performance in general is much higher. The newer, optimized, 64 bit code takes full advantage of the newer hardware and they continue to improve this aspect of FCP X. Seriously impressive export and render times. Amazing thing is for many projects the need to render is either very limited, or not needed at all. Just edit and export.

Stability, in general, is much better. Every application has bugs, no way around that, but FCP X’s bugs are almost always just annoying at their worst. They are very rarely cost me any significant amount of time. In nearly every instance, if there is a crash, I can open FCP X back up right away and I haven’t lost any work because of the autosaving database design. Then I’m right back to work. After feature addition updates in particular there’s generally an update or two needed to smooth out new hiccups. They always work them out though, that’s what’s important.  

Media/asset organization in FCP X is hands down the king. The FCP X Library system combines the very best aspects of a database combined with the flexibility of a project file. Libraries can live anywhere and be moved around like any other file. Inside there’s metadata, Keywording, Smart Collections, multiple retainable in and out ranges, Roles, the Timeline index, and that’s just scratching the surface. Premiere hijacked some of that functionality in an update (they’ve done that a lot since CS6) but the implementation is no where as intuitive. It’s harder to implement and harder to review at a glance. For more info on how insanely organized you can be quickly in FCP X check this out: FCP X Quick Tip: Organize at High Speed

Multicam in FCP X is also king of the hill. It’s the best implementation of Multicam I’ve seen in an NLE. The general design is excellent but also includes built in tools to sync via audio, markers, content creation date/time, timecode, or a combination of elements.

The Magnetic Timeline takes away a lot of the track based mechanics that stood in the way of editing efficiently. It’s now more of a spine to which elements attach. I’ve also heard it called a canvas. It’s more free flowing then tracks, but not to the point that you’re not in control. As long as you know the tools available to you. If you do learn them, you can move faster then you ever have. If you go in and try to make it work “your way” then you’ll end up with headaches. In the words of Yoda, “You must unlearn what you have learned.” Newer editors find it very intuitive while established editors have a harder time “getting it.” This article shows how it is an effective part of speeding up workflows: FCP X is Faster!  

FCP X has an excellent, mature, and current XML that can be used to get project or clips into about any program. Smoke for example supports the FCP X XML. PPro still uses the old FCP 7 XML language unfortunately. XoCC and 7toX are useful XML converters. Intelligent Assistance has created some amazing tools for large productions like Sync-n-link and The Producers Best Friend that use the XML to save you DAYS of work.

Motion 5 is a huge improvement over Motion 4 (which I never cared for). For me, it’s replaced AE for most things. Especially with many of the plugins from MotionVFX at my disposal, one of which I mention below. It’s playback/rendering/export engine is so much better and I find it far more intuitive then AE.  

DaVinci Resolve Lite is a very, very, powerful color correction suite and naturally fills that hole in the FCP X suite. It is the best coloring suite out there and has been used on countless movies. It natively supports the FCP X XML. Amazing thing is that the “Lite” version is free.

Logic Pro X supports the FCP X XML and provides an excellent mixing and composing tool for your FCP X projects. I like it a lot better then Audition personally. Here’s a detailed video with a lot of tips for that workflow: Workflow: FCP X to Logic Pro X and Back  Alternatively, if you properly use the Roles system and run your project’s XML through X2Pro you will have an AAF that will be the best organized project your ProTools guy has ever seen. It’s a well worn, proven, workflow.

Slice X, Track X, and Drive X are all tools from Coremelt that use the famous Mocha tracking engine. They have various uses from tracking color corrections, masking and compositing, tracking 2D and 3D text, to tracking 3D particle generators. The possibilities are pretty endless and they all work in your FCP X timeline without having to go to other applications.

mObject from MotionVFX is an amazing plugin. As of a recent update, FCP X and Motion 5 have built in, really nice, true 3D titling tools. mObject takes it further. It can do 3D text with far more complex customizability, plus extruding vector artwork to make 3D logos for example, and you can open up the mObject extension app and build 3D scenes with actual 3D models which can then be animated. This works inside FCP X and Motion 5 with full 3D control over the elements and the camera. After Effects has a similar tool called Element 3D but it only works in After Effects and not Premiere.   

One more 3rd Party tool. Frame.io has released a free plugin that lets you seamlessly export and upload to their online collaboration/client review system without leaving FCP X.

Cons-

Audio is a mixed bag in FCP X. There are some excellent, built in, audio plugins carried over from Soundtrack Pro and Logic. Editing wise I LOVE not having to manage audio tracks all the time when moving clips around. Not having tracks though means visual organization can get pretty messy. Many people want color coding based on Roles but we don’t have that yet. I have a quick, easy, method though that works really well. Check out the article here: Audio Organization Tip For FCP X The other challenge is that without tracks you can’t have a track mixer. Once again Roles could be the answer but there’s no Roles based mixer yet. Really though, we have Logic Pro X for mixing so that’s covered if you plan your workflow.   

Being there’s no dynamic linking things can take a little longer when going between applications. Not enough to be an issue but thought I’d mention it. Unfortunately, while Motion is very integrated with FCP X, once something is in the timeline there’s no “Open in Motion“ option.