Digital Video - September 2007 - (Page 41)

package. Instead, it will present a framework for making an informed decision by providing a synopsis of each system’s components and its relative strengths and weaknesses. A suite concept As the NLE market has matured, manufacturers have been hard-pressed to add value to NLEs by adding genuine editing features. Incremental improvements such as improved keyframing and dynamic trimming are useful to editors, but don’t make for great marketing copy. To get more bang from the systems, manufacturers have adopted the “suite” approach—offering a package of highly integrated applications that streamline the postproduction process. A cursory glance at the marketing materials for Adobe’s Production Premium CS3 ($1,699 MSRP), Apple’s Final Cut Studio 2 ($1,299), and Avid’s Xpress Studio Complete ($5,995 MSRP) might leave the customer believing “a suite is a suite,” but that’s not the case. Each manufacturer has its own approach to this evolving trend. Apple’s Final Cut Studio uses the “hub-andspoke” approach. All the applications interact with Final Cut Pro, but few interact directly with each other. This is a natural software worldview for an editor. Adobe’s Production Premium is best described as a “web” of applications, most able to communicate directly with each other. This enables some truly revolutionary workflows. Designers and others who are new to editing will find the Adobe suite very approachable. For itself, Avid established partnerships with third parties to bundle software, while adding basic connectivity between those tools and Xpress Pro. As unglamorous as it might sound, it’s a highly flexible approach that allows Avid to choose partners that offer best-in-class solutions, with each partner sticking to what it does best. Final Cut Studio is, not surprisingly, Mac-only, while Xpress Studio Complete is Windows XP-only. That leaves Production Premium as the only cross-platform suite offering. Common to Production Premium, Final Cut Studio and Xpress Studio are a software-only NLE, a DVD authoring application, and a light version of each company’s flagship digital audio workstation (DAW). If your needs begin and end with those tools, determining which product is right for you comes down to taking a test drive—something more easily said than done. While Adobe offers downloadable trial versions of all Production Premium components, Avid and Apple are stingier on that front. Users have to go to a reseller or colleague to take the software for a spin. Also, neither Apple nor Avid allow returns of opened software. Advantage goes to Adobe for the first-time buyer. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s take an inside-out look at each solution. above: Apple employs Final Cut Pro as the hub of its suite. Clips are sent to an application from FCP. Adobe applications, by comparison, can talk to more than just the NLE. Adobe CS3 Production Premium Without question, the Adobe suite is the most versatile of the three packages, offering a potent arsenal of applications for creative professionals. Bundling them and adding drag-and-drop interoperability brings them to the next level for editors of the widest variety of projects. The Production Premium bundle includes: Premiere Pro CS3 (version 3.0) The NLE has not changed significantly from version 2.0, except that it above: Editors who often work remotely will appreciate Adobe’s Clip Notes feature. Video is embedded in the PDF format; upon receiving client feedback, comments can be imported directly into the timeline. WWW.DV.COM DV SEPTEMBER 2007 «« http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - September 2007

Contents News AG-HPX500 HD Camcorder First Look: Color V8000HD 8" LCD Monitor Shoulder Mount System Instant Expert Close-Ups Fest Cercuit Q&A Flight Plan Cutter's Way Imagination in Action Motion Graphics Production Diary

Digital Video - September 2007

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