Opinions of which software to stay with

[Kenneth Maultsby]

Hello All

I am just hobbies \ independent editor. I basically shoot Airshows, Car shows, family events, vacations. Making long story short I am the Family video photographer and editor. After taking a break for about a year I am getting back into editing and have been demoing different editing software. And would like some opinions from other on work workflow. Below is what have demo or have worked on before. The good and the bad. My camera is Canon Vixia GX10 4K camcorder and Canon 70D camera.
First up Vegas Pro: Got this program free because I purchased a Sony camcorder years ago it was owned by Sony call Sony Vegas 11 never really use until Vegas 13 free upgrade, but I didn’t like it at the time and upgraded to Vegas 17. Anyway

Magix Vegas 17 Pro:

I love what it offers but crashes to point where I can’t even use it especially for 4K. This even after updates, Youtube Videos and forums. My mistake because I purchased the upgrade.

Avid Media Composer 2019.9
Wow I know why Hollywood uses it. Big learning curve. I have completed one project with this software. Not the best for one-man band but it cuts through my 4K footage like butter after converting it DNXHR. If I wanted to do some serious color correction, I would have to round trip it though DaVinci Resolve. Not the best if you do a photo montage. DaVinci Resolve and Premiere is best for this.

DaVinci Resolve 16.1 Studio:

Speaking of DaVinci Resolve this is my go-to for the moment for HD projects. For 4K projects I don’t like all the tweaking you have to do. Because edited on Premiere Pro and Media Composer using keyboard short cuts, I find myself editing a little faster on these two compared to Davinci Resolve, but the rest of the workflow is great. The other thing I do not like I have been upgrading my computer and as soon as your driver letter change on computer for your cache Resolve gets very on happy very quickly, but that my fault.

Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro is kind of my first editing software after Final Cut pro. Note: I am using windows now. I was using Premiere aback when it was 5.0, to 6.5 but when they went to subscription that turn me off but now it is more of the norm. That when I stop using it after one year of CC. I have downloaded some demo version and seems ok but just like Media Composer you will never own it. My worry is if I go back I am seeing a lot of editors are moving to DaVinci Resolve because Premiere is crashing and slowing down which has be worry, plus you are only getting Premiere on After Effects no Audition etc unlike

DaVinci Resolve.

Would like opinions:
I would like here from others who went through this and what ended up using. Are you using just one program or multiple for your editing workflow? I am trying to pick one no more than two editing software programs.

[Andrew Smith]

I'm sticking with Premiere CS6. Not only have I paid once only to use it, but I can edit 'right down to the frame' etc with it. It does the job.

Andrew

[Steve Game]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Maultsby

Hello All

I am just hobbies \ independent editor. I basically shoot Airshows, Car shows, family events, vacations. Making long story short I am the Family video photographer and editor. After taking a break for about a year I am getting back into editing and have been demoing different editing software. And would like some opinions from other on work workflow. Below is what have demo or have worked on before. The good and the bad. My camera is Canon Vixia GX10 4K camcorder and Canon 70D camera.
First up Vegas Pro: Got this program free because I purchased a Sony camcorder years ago it was owned by Sony call Sony Vegas 11 never really use until Vegas 13 free upgrade, but I didn’t like it at the time and upgraded to Vegas 17. Anyway

Hi, I have a similar involvement in video to you, plus up until a couple of years ago, I was involved with a local filmakers club. I currently use a Lumix GH5 (sometimes with a borrowed GoPro Hero5 in support) and shoot in either UHD or 1080p. I occasionally also use a Canon 70D or a Sony CX730E.

Originally Posted by Kenneth Maultsby

Magix Vegas 17 Pro:

I love what it offers but crashes to point where I can’t even use it especially for 4K. This even after updates, Youtube Videos and forums. My mistake because I purchased the upgrade.

I was using Vegas from version 6 when I moved to HDV. I found it easy to use and not too demanding on hardware. I upgraded to Vegas Pro with version 10 (which didn't require any more hardware performance to run) and currently have version 15, which was the first version to be upgraded to use current GPUs to enable their assistance in rendering. It is still my go-to editor for a quick edit and simple grade as an edit with just crossfade and jump transitions can be put together very quickly. It also has (for me unique on a PC) the ability to create pro-res files as intermediates which can be used elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Kenneth Maultsby

Avid Media Composer 2019.9
Wow I know why Hollywood uses it. Big learning curve. I have completed one project with this software. Not the best for one-man band but it cuts through my 4K footage like butter after converting it DNXHR. If I wanted to do some serious color correction, I would have to round trip it though DaVinci Resolve. Not the best if you do a photo montage. DaVinci Resolve and Premiere is best for this.

I have never used an Avid editor.

Originally Posted by Kenneth Maultsby

DaVinci Resolve 16.1 Studio:

Speaking of DaVinci Resolve this is my go-to for the moment for HD projects. For 4K projects I don’t like all the tweaking you have to do. Because edited on Premiere Pro and Media Composer using keyboard short cuts, I find myself editing a little faster on these two compared to Davinci Resolve, but the rest of the workflow is great. The other thing I do not like I have been upgrading my computer and as soon as your driver letter change on computer for your cache Resolve gets very on happy very quickly, but that my fault.

Resolve is my default editor, it's grading facilities are unequalled, but the overall learning curve is very steep. Currently running version 15, it is quite responsive using pro-res footage recorded on a Atomos Ninja V and having bought a dongle which I hope will be usable for the forseeable future, that is fantastic value. My workstation is not the latest: Skylake i7 6700, 16GB RAM, GTX970 4GB; but rendering and grading using the GPU for H264 & H265 is pretty reliable and fast enough for home use.

Originally Posted by Kenneth Maultsby

Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro is kind of my first editing software after Final Cut pro. Note: I am using windows now. I was using Premiere aback when it was 5.0, to 6.5 but when they went to subscription that turn me off but now it is more of the norm. That when I stop using it after one year of CC. I have downloaded some demo version and seems ok but just like Media Composer you will never own it. My worry is if I go back I am seeing a lot of editors are moving to DaVinci Resolve because Premiere is crashing and slowing down which has be worry, plus you are only getting Premiere on After Effects no Audition etc unlike DaVinci Resolve.

I have dabbled with Premiere and Premiere Pro on a friend's workstation and found that it wanted to make too many decisions about where assets were stored and other workflow issues. Premiere Elements was a handholding anathema to me and I'm prepared to admit that memories of its style may have driven me away from Premiere itself. Premiere is also now ridiculously overpriced for anybody not able to offset the cost as a business expense.

Originally Posted by Kenneth Maultsby

Would like opinions:
I would like here from others who went through this and what ended up using. Are you using just one program or multiple for your editing workflow? I am trying to pick one no more than two editing software programs.

I hope the above notes help.

[Juris Lielpeteris]

My choice has been dependent on the format of the footage.
For VHS material I used Adobe Premiere, for DV, HDV and AVCHD material I used Sonicfoundry / Sony / Magix Vegas Pro, for UHD XAVC material I tried Premiere Pro CC, for HDR HLG material was best used Davinci Resolve Studio. The Avid MC is designed for a large production complex and is less suitable for home video processing.

[Kenneth Maultsby]

Thanks all for the feedback I am going to try to master Resolve and hopefully get Vegas to work.

[Roger Gunkel]

I am different to just about everyone else here as I use Magix Video ProX. I have used Premiere and Edius, but feel more comfortable with VPX and have used various versions for many years.

Most of my work is wedding video and some school productions, which is my full time income in partnership with my wife. Typically we film with two Panasonic FZ1000s with a third as a backup and two Yi Gopro clones. All filming is in 4K and we also use a couple of voice recorders for close miking.

Timeline in the editor is usually four x 4k video streams with audio tracks and two separate audio recorder tracks for ceremony and speeches. Any colour matching/tweaking needed is carried out in the programme as is audio synching, stabilisation etc. Output is to 1080 mp4 to allow for panning zooming and cropping in the edit from the 4K as required.

I'm using a PC with Intel I7 6700 cpu and 16Gb of DDR4 ram, although we will be upgrading to another PC with faster cpu and 32Gb ram next year. I don't use a graphics card as the programme makes maximum use of the Intel graphics.

Roger

[Roger Van Duyn]

I switched from an older version of Avid Media Composer to the free version of Resolve a while back. I took the time to learn keyboard shortcuts and worked through a lot of free tutorials I found online. I especially liked the "Goat's Eye" tutorials on YouTube despite they were for even earlier versions.

I have not upgraded to a newer version of Resolve since the one I have is stable on my old PC and does everything I need. Of course, I'm only doing HD... That being said, I've done well over 200 projects for my clients in the past 18 months or so using what I've got. And, with that much practice, I'm at least as fast now with Resolve as I was with Media Composer.

Currently using Resolve 14.3 (the free version) on my vintage 2009 i-7 PC that has been upgraded somewhat. (It still has same motherboard, CPU, and case). The old PC now has 12g of ram and a 2g GTX 710 video card. Also an SSD for boot drive and a card to give USB 3 ports. Works fine. Don't do many effects, but do use Resolve's excellent color grading a fair amount. When rendering, task manager shows CPU usage anywhere from 60-100% using all cores and threads. GPU usage stays near 100% on most projects. Render speeds are around real time, 25-30 fps. Not bad on such an old machine.

Not interested in spending a lot of money to save minimal amounts of time. What does save time is to learn your software thoroughly and analyse your workflow to eliminate where the way you do things could be more efficient.

Hope this helps.

[Rainer Listing]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Maultsby

a lot of editors are moving to DaVinci Resolve

Out of context, but me too. Long-time Vegas user, longer ago user of Avid and PP. Just bought Resolve Studio, after spending about a year going through what you are going through and gradually using Resolve free more and more and more and more coming up against "you have reached a limitation...". Unfortunately there's no outstanding reason to switch, Resolve studio has many features I'm never going to use, but as you become accustomed there's enough to make you realise Vegas' limitations, plus Vegas does crash randomly more often than Resolve, which also has its stability issues. Final deciding factor, I am inclined to think Resolve is the NLE of the future.

[Paul R Johnson]

The reality of swapping software is a practical one. Don’t do it until your existing setup you quick and familiar with starts to slow you down. The better you are, the more painful the process. For years I did not swap to photoshop, my existing software could do all I wanted and the brief demos of photoshop just showed me how hard it was. Until my software could not do what my advancing needs required. Took me a good two months to get competent to the level I used to be, but then I advanced. Still learning. I have been using premier for a much longer time and like the integration adobe offers and so far, nothing will make me swap.

If I was starting from scratch I suspect I’d be editing on something else. I don’t think any software is’best’ just tailored for different people’s needs.