On Tue, 06 Jul 1999 13:20:09 -0700, newvideo@amug.org (Mikey Davis) wrote:
>In article <378a0d95.4045745@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu>, d_ruether@hotmail.com wrote:

>> (This is for DV - though analogue can be input using
>> the Sony converter box...)
>>
>> I recently compared the render times of P-5.1a with
>> DPS Spark, P-5.1a with Canopus Raptor (on 450MHz
>> PC's), and with Final Cut Pro (on a new Mac G-3,
>> CPU speed unknown). A 10 second cross-dissolve
>> was used. Times: Spark, 75 seconds; Raptor, 43
>> seconds; FCP, about 150 seconds! S - L - O - W !!!
>> I preferred the user interface of P-5.1a also - more
>> direct involvement with timeline manipulation
>> (FCP seems [in a brief view...] to require more
>> operations [with less direct feedback] to edit
>> video - I was not impressed...)
>> David Ruether
>> d_ruether@hotmail.com
>> http://imperium.bayside.net/ruether

>Excellent, David.
>
>You've uncovered the truth.
>
>FCP at 2 months old, in some ways isn't quite as fast in some areas when
>it's compared with the FIFTH MAJOR REVISION of its primary competitor.
>
>I guess the lesson here is that if pure "production speed" is your basic
>criteria for your work, FCP is probably not the ultimate choice for you.
>(P5.1 probably isn't as well, with enough money to throw around, there ARE
>true real-time solutions out there, but that's another discussion!)
>
>Personally, I'm more interested in flexibility, a creative tool set, and
>the ability to get my vision on the screen than I am with pure rendering
>speed, but that's just ME. I don't want to be a PRODUCTION ARTIST - I
>don't want to be bogged down in the interface ‹ I just want to make and
>sell interesting videos.
>
>I started doing that less than an hour after I plugged in my FCP system.
>I've sold, produced and billed two additional projects and currently have
>four more in production.
>
>My aggregate down time? ‹ NONE. My total number of system crashes so far ‹
>NONE. Maximum layers of video I've used so far - 16. Time spent
>rendering: about 6 hours over three projects. (I started getting pretty
>complex with motion-path TEXT as my experience and confidence grew and,
>admittedly, if you're doing motion paths or lots of text in FCP, rendering
>is pretty slow.).
>
>I've spent about half of those rendering hours playing with my son, a
>couple talking to my wife, and the rest were short (<5 min) breaks from
>work for trips to the bathroom and stretching my legs. What a BURDEN!
>
>As to your note about "more operations" I simply don't get that.
>With FCP, once clips are logged and batch captured you can just drag all
>your logged clips to the timeline in one mouse drag. FCP automatically
>snaps them in the timeline, sequentially, as straight cuts. If you were
>careful with your in and out points, your basic edit is DONE right there.
>Plays in real time, adjust as needed. How exactly does that consitiute:
> require more
>> operations [with less direct feedback] to edit
>> video"????
>
>This is (hands down) the simplest, fastest basic editing tool I've ever seen.
>
>Final note, the fact that FCP is REV 1.0 and only 2 months old and that
>P5.1a has had YEARS to test, fix, and improve, isn't it REMARKABLE that
>FCP's FIRST rev is way more than holding it's own?
>
>You've got me thinking... what will FCP 5.1 look like?... WOW.
>
>Sorry, couldn't resist...;)

You have made some good points...
But they point out that different people have different
preferences in how they like to work. If you are making
nothing but straight cuts and like using a trimming window,
FCP is fine. If you like to work directly with the timeline,
adjusting in/out points and the exact timing and effect of
the transitions, well....;-) If you like After Effects effects,
and have the time to wait, fine. If you just want
to do the best you can with footage undoctored but for
color corrections, sharpening, basic transitions, etc.,
well...;-) For my kind of work, FPC appears to be
hopelessly slow, with a lotta extra "layers" of commands
between me and a film-strip type of timeline for me to be
very happy using it. I will stick with (yes, buggy to the point
of exasperation, all too often ;-) P-5.1a, since it works
better for me - but, heck, I've heard some people like
Video Action, and Media Studio Pro, too...! ;-)