A while back I posted a few words about Final Cut Pro’s Smoothcam feature over on the Editblog. How well it worked vs. how long it took to analyze a clip. There got to be a little debate in the comments about the usual Avid vs. FCP stuff. The other day a poster named Karl added a comment that is probably one of the best Avid vs. Final Cut Pro thoughts that I’ve read. Thanks for that comment Karl and I do think it is worth sharing:

i started out on the AVID about 13 years ago and since then have been going back and forth between FCP and AVID depending on what the clients can afford.

technically, AVID is tits. she’s solid, flexible, and broadcast industry standard more or less. tight, sexy EDLs and producers love to sound boss hissing into their cell phones “steven, deal with that idiot DP youself, i’m in the AVID suite and this is costing me $350 an hour, jerkface!”. or something silly like that.

FCP is loose, funky in many areas, sloppy in the areas it’s not funky, unstable and sort of schizo. producers in the FCP room get more creative, buy me the best coffee and have muffled phone converstaions like “this render is taking forever, but i can’t believe how whe saved the footage that idiot DP gave us!”.

AVID gigs pay more, but by and large I actually enjoy my FCP projects. How many talking head corporate rhetoric pieces can you slice on and AVID before going brain dead and not caring anymore? For me, not many. How many zombie themed library commercials, blaxplotation valet training videos and performance art inside kinetic installations can i work and still stay interested? About ten years so far…

Comes down to personal preference, I think. AVID pays for my motorcycle and carbon fiber mountain bikes, but FCP makes me want to pedal fast and bunny hop into the suite.

My 2.97 cents.

-k

That really sums up the Avid vs. Final Cut Pro experience quite well. I often use automobile analogies in my opinions on the debate. I’ve often said they are both tools, FCP like a Craftsman wrench and Avid more like a Snap-On. Both will repair your car in just a little different way with their form and function. To use another auto analogy, Avid is the steady yet powerful BMW 5-series sedan that can get me from point A to point B in style and comfort. Final Cut Pro is more like the Lotus Exige that can get me there with a few bumps and bruises but is a heck of a lot more fun to drive. When I know I’m on a deadline and there is little room for error I’ll drive the BMW. But when I want to have the most fun and take a few curvy detours along the way then it’s Final Cut Pro.