OT: Thoughts on Vegas vs FCP, PC vs Mac

smhontz wrote on 11/25/2003, 5:10 AM

I work with a friend who uses FCP 4 on the Mac; I work with Vegas on the PC. We gently kid each other about our respective choices of NLEs. I have another friend who is just getting started in video and can't decide between a PC and a Mac. Naturally, I extol the virtues of Vegas to him, while my other friend promotes FCP.

I took a look at the FCP forum on the Cow just for fun, and BOY, it sure seems like they are having big problems! The upgrade from FCP 4.0 to 4.1 breaks things. The upgrade from Quicktime 6.3 to 6.4 breaks things. The upgrade from jaguar to panther breaks things. Many of the posts are now "this doesn't work anymore..." instead of "how do I do this creative thing?"

The guy at Best Buy told my newbie friend how great Macs are - they never crash, they just work, the G5 is the fastest/bestest personal computer on the planet, yada, yada...

I told my friend if he wants to edit video and have it be a pleasant and fun experience, get Vegas and a PC. If he wants to spend hours twiddling this, trashing preferences, resetting permissions, and hoping that things hold together long enough to finish a project - get a Mac.

So, for any lurkers out there who may not have decided on Vegas yet - make "stability" one of your high-priority checklist items.

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Comments

stepfour wrote on 11/26/2003, 10:44 AM

I just downloaded the DVD LAB install file. When I get back this weekend will install it and give it a whirl. From what I read here, the out-of-spec thing has to do with DVD LAB being able to IMPORT out-of-spec source files, not DVD LAB outputting out-of-spec material. I always use DVD-ready audio and video so I should't have to worry. Thanks for the tips on DVD Lab. Maybe it's the answer.

Jsnkc wrote on 11/26/2003, 10:54 AM

There is a lot more to it than just being able to "Import" out of spec files, if I had a few hours to waste I would go into more detail. Basically, don't use the program for anything you plan to distribute to clients, have replicated or duplicated. If you're just using it for your home movies and don't have any problems with it on your DVD Player then by all means use it for your own purposes, but a professional authoring program it is not.