Product Final Cut Pro 7.0 Avid Media Composer 5.5 Adobe Premiere CS5 Sony Vegas Pro 10Industry news US Navy Combat Camera uses FCP.

Overall, the product is being scaled for

prosumers and home users. There is a

large user base and commercially

available training. Final Cut Pro 8 is

expected to be announced at NAB 2011

in April, 2011.

Avid is the defacto standard for the broadcast

and movie industry and leads the way in video

workflow. Version 5.0 saw the most

improvements and feature additions ever.

Product development is a high priority. There is

a large userbase, training opportunitites

(DINFOS and commercial) abound and

certifications. CHINFO and DMA have

standardized on Avid for video editing. MC 5.5

is fully released and will be highlighted at NAB

2011.

Adobe Premiere is used widely the Army,

USCG and at NPASE.

There is not much talk about Vegas.

However, Sony has kept the program in

development and has given it decent

priority. The price point is well below its

competitor's. The program has seen good

development, testing and offers some

support. It is clearly the underdog, but is

worth a look if money is an issue. Vegas is

stable and works reliably. Users tend to

become fanatical about editing with Vegas.

Training and a qualified user base may be

hard to find.

Price $999 $1885 on GSA Schedule. $760 $600

Upgrade $299 $298 for software-only downloads $269

Bundle Final Cut Studio: FCP 7.0, Motion,

Soundtrack, Color 1.5, DVD Studio

Includes more than $4000 worth of free third-

party applications: Boris Continium Complete 6

(high-end compositing and effects), Avid FX

(Boris Red/Graffiti), Sorenson Squeeze 5.1,

SonicFire Pro 5, Avid DVD (Sonic DVD it -

BluRay Authoring)

Included with Adobe Master Collection DVD Architect 5.0,

Hardware Reqirements Intel Based Mac computer, 1GB RAM

(2GB recommended)

Intel-based Mac or PC. 2GB RAM Minimum.

4GB RAM recommended. GPU supported, but

not required.

PC or Intel based Mac 1GB RAM (2GB

recommended)

1GB Ram, multiprocessor for HD

Operating System Requirements Mac OS X v10.5.6. No Windows

support.

MAC OS 10.5, MAC OS 10.6, Windows XP

SP2, Vista or Windows 7

Mac OS X v10.4 or Windows Vista or

Windows 7

Windows only. XP, Vista or Windows 7. No

Mac OS X support

Video File handling QuickTime Files Only Native industry-standard MXF file support.

True AMA Native format support for Quicktime,

XDCAM HD, EX, P2, Ikegami GFCAM, JVC

MP4, Red and AVCHD. (AMA requires no

import, with editing supported directly from

source camera media). DNxHD support

(Ratified by SMPTE as VC3) with free

Mac/Windows DNxHD QuickTime Codec. Can

also import AVI, MOV and DV formats.

Capable of keeping footage in the native format

in export. Also, can edit Final Cut Pro ProRes

and Premiere files.

Can edit natively M2T, P2, Red, AVCHD,

AVC-Intra and XDCAM. However, it can

not export to many of thes formats

natively. It can only export to: QuickTime

formats and P2 movie.

Widest range of files handled of any of the

edit suites. AA3, AAF, AIF, ASF, AU, AVI,

BMP, BWF, CDA, DIG, DLX, DPX, DV,

EXR, FLAC, GIF, HDP, IVC, JPG, M2T,

M2TS, MOV, Sony MXF, MP3, MP4, M4A,

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video, MTS, OGG,

OMA, PCA, PNG, PSD, QT, R3D, SFA,

SND, SWF*, TIFF, TGA, VOX, W64, WAV,

WDP, WMA, WMV

Handling of File-Based Camera

Formats

HDV, AVC-Intra, XDCAM MXF,

DVCPro HD can be imported (must be

QT playable) and re-wrapped as

QuickTime. MXF Metadata ignored.

Native MXF support for Panasonic P2, Sony

XDCAM, Sony XDCAM EX, JVC MP4, Ikegami

GFCAM, Canon XF media and DVCPro HD.

With Avid Media Access (AMA), no import is

required from these formats. Instant editing is

supported directly from the camera media is

supported with no re-wrapping of media, and

full support for all embedded MXF metadata.

All of these camera manufacturers have

standardized on MXF, which is also Avid's

native file format. (More native formats

planned for 2010)

Can edit natively M2T, P2, Red, AVCHD,

AVC-Intra and XDCAM. However, it can

not export to many of these formats

natively. It can only export to: QuickTime

formats and P2 movie.

Natively edit and export XDCAM, HDV,

P2, RED and AVCHD, AVC+AAC in .mp4,

and AVC+PCM in .mov.

3D editing Yes. Create stereoscopic 3D projects

utilizing the same workflow we’ve provided

for 2D media! Vegas Pro 10 provides the

ability to import, adjust, edit, preview, and

output stereoscopic 3D media — all using

industry-standard professional delivery

formats including single or dual files with

side-by-side, top/bottom, or line-alternate

encoding. Anaglyphic monitoring and

output are also supported.

Mixed Frame Rates Mix frame sizes, frame rates, and

formats in the same Timeline in real

time (Poor Quality frame rate

conversion, requires render)

Mix frame rates, resolutions, aspect ratios and

formats in the timeline.

Mix frame rates, resolutions, aspect ratios

and formats in the timeline.

Mix frame rates, resolutions, aspect ratios

and formats in the timeline.

capture tools intuitive intuitive, capture and log during ingest settings not intuitive. Serious and

documented issue capturing HDV. Audio

sync drifts after 1 minute.

Not tested

batch capture tools intuitive Superior Batch Capture - Expert Decompose basic Not tested

Audio File handling Most files (QuickTime Files Only) WAV. BWF, AIFF, MP3 and CDA import.

Import of any audio format handled by

Quicktime.

most files WAV, MP3, WMA, PCA, AIF, MPEG audio,

AA3

HD resolution Supported Standard support for all HD codecs included in

base software. HDMI output with embedded

5:1 surround sound available via optional Mojo

DX or Nitris DX hardware. Can also use third

party Matrox MXO2 Mini.

Supported Supported

Output Does not export WMV. Will export

Quicktime and archive format (ProRes).

Quicktime, WMV, archive formats (XDCAM

MXF, P2, HDV) and more direct from Media

Composer. Bundled with Sorenson Squeeze

Professional for output to every industry-

standard delivery format. Watch folder

capability allows unattended batch encoding to

multiple formats with FTP delivery to any

server. Supports multi-core CPUs (more

cores/faster encodes). Free QuickTime

CODEC available for Mac and Windows,

allows rapid file exchange with any Quicktime

compatible third-party application. Industry-

standard (SMPTE certified) AAF and MXF file

interchange with 3rd party software and

hardware systems.

WMV on PC only. Quicktime supported.

P2 Movie is the only Archive format

supported

AA3, AC3, AIF, ATRAC, AVC, AVI, DPX,

EXR, FLAC, HDP, MOV, MP3, MPEG-1

and MPEG-2 video, MP4, M2T, Sony MXF,

OGG, PCA, RM, W64, WAV, WMA, WMV