Windows based editors

[griffithimage]

Hi, I'm a newbie when it comes to video. What are the most common PC based HD video editing programs? I know Final Cut Pro is the standard for Mac, is there a similar program for Windows?

[Chris Sanderson]

You will not go wrong with Adobe's Premiere. Also, check out Sony's Vegas
Chris S

[griffithimage]

You will not go wrong with Adobe's Premiere. Also, check out Sony's Vegas
Chris S

how do these programs compare with final cut pro?

[Chris Sanderson]

Premiere compares favourably with FCP in most applications, where it really shines is in its compatibility with other Adobe CS4 software such as After Effects and Photoshop.
I am not that familiar with Vegas except by reputation - but certainly those who use Sony cameras and are PC based will be well served.

Chris

[tgipson]

I am familiar with:
1. Avid Liquid - great program but end of the line so no further development.
2. Avid Media Composer- very steep learning curve and very expensive for event type videography. Also very picky about hardware. Heavily kepboard driven so requires a different way of thinking about editing than the drag-and-drop type of editing with most other programs.
3. Adobe Premiere Pro- this is currently my preference for several reasons:
a. it just works and is fairly stable
b. absolutely wonderful integration with other Adobe products like Photoshop, Encore (for DVD production), Soundbooth for basic audio editing, amd After Effects for motion graphics compositing
c. loads of plug-ins
d. hardware agnostic in the Windows world
e. lots of format conversion codecs

Unfortunately I cannot comment on Final Cut, but I think Premiere is a sound choice in the Windows world.

[Les Sparks]

For lots of real world user discussion of windows video editors check out HV20/30 forum. Go to the PC (non-Mac) - Computers, Editing and Software discussion area. Use the forum search function to get an idea of what's going on, and then ask your question. Most users use  Adobe Premiere Pro or one of the versions of Sony Vegas.
Other options are Magix's Movie Edit Pro 15+ (MEP) (MEP 15+ forum) and Video Pro X (VPX) (VPX user forum). MEP15+ is less than $100 and is a good buy.  Vegas 9 Platinum Pro version is also quite good.
I've used Vegas Pro 8, MEP, VPX and Premiere and they all work.
All have free trials so look at the info and download one or two and see how they work.

Have fun.
Les