Hi all,
Im looking into getting dv raptor bundle for editing purposes and have read that assemble editing in frame mode is unreliable. Has anyone cut xl1 stuff with raptor and premiere? Does it work ok? Would anyone recommend a different editing package for a newbie with a limited budget? Thanks.

I haven't used Premiere, but know a number of people who have. It is very important to know which version of Premiere they are talking about. Versions before 6 were notoriously buggy. Version 6 is pretty much considered stable.

The second thing you need to remember about all these MS based NLEs (Non Linear Editors) is that their stability is frequently a function of how well the host PC works. Its very easy to put together a system with enough subtle bugs to give any NLE absolute fits.

Further, there are a lot of Premiere systems out there. Just by the sheer numbers of installed systems alone it is only reasonable to expect that every bug will become common knowledge. Whether or not the bugs are statiscally significant are another matter.

I use Media 100's (now Discreet's) CineStream (use to be EditDV). It is a very good product and Premiere's principal competitor. CS (CineStream) is pretty stable if you are using the current crop firewire boards and Windows 2000 (it worked fine under W98SE). Most of the CS listserves groups like W2K over 98 and Me. Most still do not see any reason to use XP.

Nathan Gifford