Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro are the two leading digital editing platforms in the consumer market. Filmmakers love to debate the pros and cons of both platforms, leading those who are new to filmmaking wondering where to start. To help you choose the best platform for you, I’ve broken down some of the most basic pros and cons of Premiere and Final Cut Pro.

Adobe Premiere

Adobe Premiere Pro is part of the Adobe Creative Suite, which is known for its other software such as Photoshop and After Effects. When Apple discontinued Final Cut Pro, Adobe surfaced onto the market and made the argument that Premiere could fill the void that was left behind.

Pros: The most similar editing platform to the original Final Cut Pro, which makes it a good transition for experienced Final Cut editors. Also it Integrates with Photoshop, After Effects, and other Adobe programs. So you are able to purchase just Premiere pro, purchase it as a part of the Creative Suite, or lease this from the Adobe cloud.
Cons: With all of this control comes tiny buttons, and processes that take numerous clicks. Like Photoshop, it is very powerful, but not completely intuitive. There are numerous price options, including monthly rental.

Recommendation: Ideal for photojournalists, filmmakers, or other professionals in the visual creative fields. I recommend this to users who work with more than one creative professional, or on more than one computer.

Final Cut Pro X

Rather than store clips and edit them into a sequence, users of Final Cut Pro X now sort in events by keywords and edit them into storylines.

Pros: At only $300, Apple has made this software appealing to the average Mac consumer. It has numerous powerful editing tools making it easier in most ways to use than other edit software, such as the “Ken Burns effect” an effect that moves on still images. As updates come out, Apple has included some key editing tools that editors have come to want and expect, such as multicam editing.
Cons: Editors with experience may be frustrated by the “magnetic timeline” and it may not have all the control and features they’ve come to expect.

Recommendation: People who are already Mac users and use Mac programs such as iPhoto and iMovie will feel at home in this software.

If you are interested in learning more about the basics of photography or videography, please don’t hesitate to reach out! We’d love to hear from you. You can reach The Burnette Agency by email at info@theburnetteagency.com, give us a call at 404-850-2081 or fill out our form here!