Experiences switching from Vegas to FCP? at DVinfo.net

Erwin van Dijck · January 7th, 2008, 12:09 PM

Does anyone of you recently switched from Sony Vegas to Final Cut Pro and could you tell about your experience please? Or have both and can compare?

I am a long time Sony Vegas user and really like the software, it works amazingly fast and is very intuitive.

Yet I am looking for a better platform to work on instead of Windows. Something more reliable, faster, more stable and a platform that does not stand in the way of my productivity. A better integration between Photoshop and animation tools (like Motion perhaps) would be a plus.

Many issues lately: rendering at night to find out in the morning that the virus-scanner kicked in slowing the PC for 50%, or spontanious reboots in the middle of your work, the many of popups for virus-scanners, backup questions, update windows - without a deny button - program errors, explorer.exe taking over 20% CPU power, etc. always while you are right in the middle of a flow.

So switching to Mac and FCP comes to mind and I am reading a book now on FCP to get an idea. I will also ask someone for a live demo soon.

What are your thought on switching to FCP from Vegas? Learning-curve? Ease-of-use compared to Vegas? Did you make a window lay-out that resembles Vegas? Do you make your cuts and transitions on the timeline or in the viewer? Did you miss functionality that would make you work faster? Did you find new tools that proved to be very comfortable? Compatibility? Does it have realtime preview without rendering? Please tell me!

Regards,
Erwin

Carl Mischke · January 10th, 2008, 10:23 AM

Erwin
I didn't spend that long on Vegas --- I worked on Premiere Pro for a much longer time. Switching from Premiere to Final Cut Pro is relatively easy for a variety of reasons you'll find discussed on these and other forums. Going from Vegas to FCP is a nightmare; at least it was for me. Everything, and literally everything, is different. I had to spend quite a bit of time with even the most elementary things.
Switching from Windows to the Mac operating system was easier, but I also again found that I spend hours hunting down things I could do with my eyes closed in Windows.
Initially, I found that I spend a lot of time with the mouse; now, after about four months, some of the keystrokes are getting stuck in my mind.
But once you've got most of the learning curve behind you, its great. There are none of the irritating little things you talk about. The Mac is remarkably stable --- but beware, despite what the marketing hype says, Macs do crash (they call it a kernel panic), especially if you go crazy with things like Motion. But while After Effects would crash the PC all the time, I've yet to get it to crash on the Mac (and I've thrown a lot at it in AE). Not that Motion and AE are the same thing --- by no means.
FCP Studio 2 integrates well with Photoshop and others for virtually everything that I need it to: I'm not that demanding as far as that it concerned.
At times, FCP feels somewhat slower than Vegas, but that will depend, of course, on your machine and what you're doing with it.

Enjoy the jump and give yourself some time to deal with it.

Carl
Jo'burg

Jason Boyette · January 10th, 2008, 11:13 AM

I recently switched as well, the best advice I have received from this forum is to use the online video tutorials from Lynda.com. It cost 25 bucks a month but I learned 25,000 worth of information from it in the first few hours I watched. Just watching the first few tutorials in how to setup your disks in FCP was a lifesaver.
The great thing about Lynda.com is that you can learn about 100's of different software titles. I even went back and watched Vegas tutorials and learned quite a few things I didn't know about Vegas (used that for the last 3 years).

It's worth it!

Hope this helps

Erwin van Dijck · January 13th, 2008, 02:52 PM

Thanks for your opinions!

I checked out a few of the free turorials on lynda.com and they are very very helpful, thanks for the advice.

Regards,
Erwin

Paul Newman · January 13th, 2008, 03:11 PM

Erwin, I'm surprised at the problems with your PC system, turning off all automatic updates, whether for the operating system or for application software is just common sense.

Also allowing antivirus software free range on an edit computer is crazy, turn off the scheduler, so you tell the software when to scan, preferabley don't have your edit system connected to the internet at all. This is standard practice on any computer used for intensive work such as video or audio editing.

You certainly should not be suffering from these easily fixed basic issues, wow, it must be driving you mad !!

I can leave my system rendering After Effects graphics and Vegas 8 Looks at the same time, night and day, and not a twitch.

That said, FCP and a Mac might be the way to go anyway!!

Paul

Matt Hagest · January 17th, 2008, 12:42 PM

I went from Adobe to Vegas, and fell in love when i was using PC. Switching to FCP was hard for me at first only because i was very used to Sony's way of doing things. I started using Vegas back in version 3 when it was Vegas Video. Things like Velocity envelopes for sound, and speed were very nice to use. haven't figured a good way to do the same thing in FCP. Being able to easily edit sound in vegas was nice too. Everyday i learn something new for FCP, and i love it. I just found it was hard to relearn everything over again. I love Vegas, and i love FCP, just takes a while to get used to a different OS and different interface.

January 7th, 2008, 12:09 PM	#1
Erwin van Dijck Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hoofddorp, The Netherlands Posts: 75	Experiences switching from Vegas to FCP? Does anyone of you recently switched from Sony Vegas to Final Cut Pro and could you tell about your experience please? Or have both and can compare? I am a long time Sony Vegas user and really like the software, it works amazingly fast and is very intuitive. Yet I am looking for a better platform to work on instead of Windows. Something more reliable, faster, more stable and a platform that does not stand in the way of my productivity. A better integration between Photoshop and animation tools (like Motion perhaps) would be a plus. Many issues lately: rendering at night to find out in the morning that the virus-scanner kicked in slowing the PC for 50%, or spontanious reboots in the middle of your work, the many of popups for virus-scanners, backup questions, update windows - without a deny button - program errors, explorer.exe taking over 20% CPU power, etc. always while you are right in the middle of a flow. So switching to Mac and FCP comes to mind and I am reading a book now on FCP to get an idea. I will also ask someone for a live demo soon. What are your thought on switching to FCP from Vegas? Learning-curve? Ease-of-use compared to Vegas? Did you make a window lay-out that resembles Vegas? Do you make your cuts and transitions on the timeline or in the viewer? Did you miss functionality that would make you work faster? Did you find new tools that proved to be very comfortable? Compatibility? Does it have realtime preview without rendering? Please tell me! Regards, Erwin

January 10th, 2008, 10:23 AM	#2
Carl Mischke Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 26	Switch Erwin I didn't spend that long on Vegas --- I worked on Premiere Pro for a much longer time. Switching from Premiere to Final Cut Pro is relatively easy for a variety of reasons you'll find discussed on these and other forums. Going from Vegas to FCP is a nightmare; at least it was for me. Everything, and literally everything, is different. I had to spend quite a bit of time with even the most elementary things. Switching from Windows to the Mac operating system was easier, but I also again found that I spend hours hunting down things I could do with my eyes closed in Windows. Initially, I found that I spend a lot of time with the mouse; now, after about four months, some of the keystrokes are getting stuck in my mind. But once you've got most of the learning curve behind you, its great. There are none of the irritating little things you talk about. The Mac is remarkably stable --- but beware, despite what the marketing hype says, Macs do crash (they call it a kernel panic), especially if you go crazy with things like Motion. But while After Effects would crash the PC all the time, I've yet to get it to crash on the Mac (and I've thrown a lot at it in AE). Not that Motion and AE are the same thing --- by no means. FCP Studio 2 integrates well with Photoshop and others for virtually everything that I need it to: I'm not that demanding as far as that it concerned. At times, FCP feels somewhat slower than Vegas, but that will depend, of course, on your machine and what you're doing with it. Enjoy the jump and give yourself some time to deal with it. Carl Jo'burg

January 13th, 2008, 03:11 PM	#5
Paul Newman Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Agua Blanca Ibiza Posts: 305	Erwin, I'm surprised at the problems with your PC system, turning off all automatic updates, whether for the operating system or for application software is just common sense. Also allowing antivirus software free range on an edit computer is crazy, turn off the scheduler, so you tell the software when to scan, preferabley don't have your edit system connected to the internet at all. This is standard practice on any computer used for intensive work such as video or audio editing. You certainly should not be suffering from these easily fixed basic issues, wow, it must be driving you mad !! I can leave my system rendering After Effects graphics and Vegas 8 Looks at the same time, night and day, and not a twitch. That said, FCP and a Mac might be the way to go anyway!! Paul __________________ Another Sunny Day in Ibiza

January 10th, 2008, 11:13 AM	#3
Jason Boyette Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Garner, NC Posts: 145	I recently switched as well, the best advice I have received from this forum is to use the online video tutorials from Lynda.com. It cost 25 bucks a month but I learned 25,000 worth of information from it in the first few hours I watched. Just watching the first few tutorials in how to setup your disks in FCP was a lifesaver. The great thing about Lynda.com is that you can learn about 100's of different software titles. I even went back and watched Vegas tutorials and learned quite a few things I didn't know about Vegas (used that for the last 3 years). It's worth it! Hope this helps

January 13th, 2008, 02:52 PM	#4
Erwin van Dijck Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hoofddorp, The Netherlands Posts: 75	Thanks for your opinions! I checked out a few of the free turorials on lynda.com and they are very very helpful, thanks for the advice. Regards, Erwin

January 17th, 2008, 12:42 PM	#6
Matt Hagest Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Dana Point, California Posts: 63	I went from Adobe to Vegas, and fell in love when i was using PC. Switching to FCP was hard for me at first only because i was very used to Sony's way of doing things. I started using Vegas back in version 3 when it was Vegas Video. Things like Velocity envelopes for sound, and speed were very nice to use. haven't figured a good way to do the same thing in FCP. Being able to easily edit sound in vegas was nice too. Everyday i learn something new for FCP, and i love it. I just found it was hard to relearn everything over again. I love Vegas, and i love FCP, just takes a while to get used to a different OS and different interface.