Has Adobe finally caught up to Final Cut Pro X? Jason Vong was testing the latest MacBook Pro when he saw an obvious issue with Premiere Pro. It was struggling to keep up with the same timeline on.
So, you have a bunch of video and you want to edit it together into something that tells a story — you're going to need some video editing software. Which video editing software you ultimately choose is going to depend on a number of factors ranging from what capabilities you need to how much you are willing to spend. To the extent that it helps, we'll break the contenders down into categories. These days, professional video editing software often means one of,.
Each of these are packed with features to get you from a collection of source footage to a final cut as quickly as possible and with the highest quality possible. That said, each has its own approach to video editing and one may be better suited to a particular workflow than another. Beyond that are considerations as to what other software is either bundled or available as an option — typical video editing software systems extend beyond the core features of non-linear editing software and often support advanced color grading, motion graphics, visual effects and multi-channel audio processing.
Final Cut Pro Initially developed by Macromedia, the video editing software that eventually became Final Cut Pro was bought by Apple in 1998 with the first release of Final Cut Pro being made in 1999. Up until 2011, Apple continued to develop Final Cut Pro to the point that it was competitive with the then dominant Avid Media Composer while being a fraction of the price of a full Avid system. Then, at NAB 2011, Apple announced a radical rewrite of the much beloved Final Cut Pro to be released under the name Final Cut Pro X. Unfortunately for long time Final Cut Pro users and for Apple, the initial releases of Final Cut Pro X were both too different from the previous version of Final Cut Pro, as well as missing needed features that were present in the previous versions. While not ultimately fatal to Final Cut Pro X as a product, these reasons were enough for many video editors to take another look at competitor offerings, in particular Adobe Premiere Pro. Fortunately for Final Cut Pro loyalists, Apple has continued to refine Final Cut Pro X and to add missing features to the point that of recent releases are much more positive. Only time will tell if Final Cut Pro will regain the momentum lost during the rocky transition period.
As is the case with most Apple software, Final Cut Pro will only work on Mac OS X. How much does Final Cut Pro cost? Final Cut Pro is only available via Apple's and as such, only available for Mac OS X.
Licensing is as a perpetual license and the price is $299.99. Complementing Final Cut Pro are Apple Motion for motion graphics, visual effects and compositing and Apple Compressor for advanced encoding. Both of these can be purchased from the App Store for $49.99 as a perpetual license. Adobe Premiere Pro Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems was initially focused on. It was not until 1991 that the first release of what would eventually become Adobe Premiere Pro was made. Then known as Adobe Premiere it was later redesigned and relaunched in 2003 as Adobe Premiere Pro.
Since the launch of the rebranded Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe has been aggressively improving Premiere Pro to better compete against Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro. The CS6 release in particular featured a significant redesign as well as integration with for video logging and ingesting, for color correction, and Adobe Encore for DVD authoring. While Adobe Encore has been discontinued as the importance of DVDs for video distribution has declined, Adobe Prelude and Adobe SpeedGrade are useful complements to Adobe Premiere Pro. Adobe also offers for motion graphics, visual effects and compositing and for working with multi-track audio. Adobe Premiere Pro, along with the other applications in Adobe Creative Cloud, runs on both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. How much does Adobe Premiere Pro cost?
Since 2013, Adobe Premiere Pro is only available to be licensed as a subscription via Adobe Creative Cloud. That being the case, the pricing is aggressive and should be flexible to meet the needs of most people who are open to subscription licensing. Software Term Price Adobe Premiere Pro Annual $19.99/mo. Adobe Premiere Pro + 1 other creative cloud application Annual $39.98/mo. Full Adobe Creative Cloud Annual $49.99/mo. Full Adobe Creative Cloud Monthly $74.99/mo.
In comparison to Final Cut Pro, the licensing model for Adobe Premiere Pro is its polar opposite. While Final Cut Pro offers a known total cost of ownership, at least as far as video editing software licensing fees, the subscription licensing of Adobe Premiere Pro or the whole Adobe Creative Cloud is easier on your cashflow. Avid Media Composer In terms of professional video editing software, there are really three NLEs that dominate: Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. Of these, Avid Media Composer has been around the longest with a lineage going back to 1989 when version 1.0 was released. Due to that long lineage as well as being a highly capable system, Media Composer has, until recently, been the dominant video editing software for film and telivision.
More recently it has been facing stiff competition from Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro. Up until Avid Media Composer 2.5 was released in 2006, Avid Media Composer was only available as with corresponding hardware. Since version 2.5, Avid Media Composer has been available as a software only system with optional hardware components. While the optional hardware components are in some cases useful by providing additional processing and input/output interfaces, the standalone Avid Media Composer on its own is a very powerful video editing software system. For high end finishing work, the Avid Symphony option adds features for secondary color correction, working with incompressed HD and improved real-time performance to the stock Avid Media Composer offering.
Avid Symphony is aimed at TV and movie professionals and as such comes with a professional grade premium. Avid Media Composer is available on both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. How much does Avid Media Composer cost?
License Term Price Subscription (crossgrade) Annual $39.99/mo. Subscription Annual $49.99/mo. Subscription Monthly $74.99/mo. Perpetual n/a $1299.99/mo. While the price points are aligned with Adobe Creative Cloud for the subscription licenses, pricing for Avid Media Composer is more complicated than either Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. With Avid Media Composer you can choose to rent the software and pay monthly with either an annual commitment or month-to-month. As a bonus, if you qualify for a crossgrade you can save an extra $10/mo.
On a subscription with an annual commitment. Avid also offers a perpetual license if you can afford to pay up front. Unfortunately, whether you license Avid Media Composer on a subscription basis or perpetually determines what exactly you get as part of that license.