90-day free trail of FCPX or free editors?

[Denist]

Hi,

New there. I’m using the free version of Premiere Pro knowing it is illegal. (Sorry) As it is not an official release, there are lots of bugs and crashes.

And I happen to see that the FCPX now allows for a 90-day free trial.

https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/trial/

I can use Premiere to make some simple edits, so perhaps I’m not a complete novice on editing, but heard that the workflow of FCPX is very different from PR. I want to know it is worth to install and learn FCPX if (very possible) I won’t pay for FCPX once the trail ends.

Or I should go with some free editing software like DaVinci Resolve, HitFilm. I read lots of posts like:

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/best-free-video-editing-software

https://www.videoproc.com/video-editor/free-video-editors-software-review.htm

However, as you can see, there are too many options, the best 6/22/46 editors. Also, I don’t know whether I could trust those monetized sites or not. If set on free apps, which is your recommendation? Could you share with me some real use experience.

Thanks!!

 

I'm using HP ENVY X36 (Windows) + Macbook Pro 16(Almost forget) . BTW😨

[heart0less]

DaVinci Resolve is superb, there's nothing I miss from Premiere.

It's stable, power-efficient and ticks all the boxes - you can do everything in it, including editing, color grading, sound designing and VFX.

[Snowfun]

What’s the point of learning FCP if you know or strongly suspect you will not buy it? Surely it’s more sensible to invest the time in learning Resolve - which is free. It’s a steep learning curve and I (a total amateur) find some things much easier in FCP (so I tend to use both). 
And I agree with @heart0less - Resolve is superb.

[Jay60p]

Does the free version of Resolve do 4K60p now? Last time I looked it didn't so never tried it.

On my Mac mini (i5) I use FCP and it always plays HEVC 4k60p smoothly at the viewer's

"better performance" setting. Maybe due to the mini's T2 chip acceleration for H265.

I expect FCP will always be optimized for performance on a Mac sooner than the non-Apple apps.

But definitely try both! You never know what is going to work best on any particular machine.

And the time lines are very different, you should try both to see what you prefer.

 

[fuzzynormal]

1 hour ago, heart0less said:

DaVinci Resolve is superb, there's nothing I miss from Premiere.

My workflow relies heavily on proxy editing.  When I gave Resolve a spin a few years back it performed horribly by failing to consistently create and use their version of proxies.  What did they call it "Optimized media" or something like that?  Any advice if that aspect of their software has evolved? 

Like many I'd like to just get off the Adobe subscription plan.  I'm tempted by Resolve, but am skeptical.  

I'm also drawn to FCP, but would need to modify my PC into a hackintosh to get it rolling.  Not a big deal, just a hoop to contend with.  

All these alternatives can take up my attention now that all my gigs have been canceled, but it's always good to get feedback from people actually using the software.

[Mark Romero 2]

52 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

When I gave Resolve a spin a few years back it performed horribly by failing to consistently create and use their version of proxies.

I haven't really experienced any problems with optimized media since Resolve 12. Although I rarely need to create optimized media. But in the times that I have used it, optimized media has been fine.

The render cache, to me, is a bit weird because if it renders a clip, and then there is a ripple delete earlier in the timeline, that clip will have to be rendered again. That's using the standard smart render feature. there might be a way to avoid this behavior if I dig around.

[heart0less]

52 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

My workflow relies heavily on proxy editing.

So does mine, unfortunately..

53 minutes ago, fuzzynormal said:

When I gave Resolve a spin a few years back it performed horribly by failing to consistently create and use their version of proxies.  What did they call it "Optimized media" or something like that?  Any advice if that aspect of their software has evolved?

I can't really say that it has evolved - I hadn't used it at its beginnings - but it's very reliable now.

My workflow is: I dump all the footage into my PC, open Resolve, import all the media and click 'Generate Optimized Media'.
After a while (in my case it usually lasts twice the length of the footage) it's ready to use - I can smoothly operate on 4K 400mbps H265 files.

This video is quite useful and thoroughly explains all the features that can speed up your video editing:

 

[Mako Sports]

I used Premiere Pro for 5 years, recently had the chance to try Final Cut Pro X this year at school.

Even though I hate Apple I gave it a fair chance. Safe to say i'll be sticking with Resolve Studio. 

[Denist]

Thank you all.

I just installed DaVinci Resolve 16 on Windows, and tried simple edits on some minute-long 4K clips following the video shared by heart0less. (Also watch other video about DaVinCi Resolve from John’s Films). I never thought a free editor could be so versatile. I don’t see any necessary features missing comparing to premiere.

Color grading and VFX pages is not straightforward for me, but guess it is not a big deal as there are a number of awesome tutorial resources I can follow.

  

[Denist]

My Macbook has much better performance than laptop, and the majority of my clips are 1080P and 4K footages. So hopefully I may skip creating proxy media.😄😄😄

 

[Thpriest]

If you have a Mac and are going to do quick turn around stuff then FCPX is great. For me that's it's strong point. I used Premiere years ago but I always found it slow compared to FC on my Macs. I'm starting to try a few edits with Resolve and I can see it will be great for more complicated projects (docs etc). But I'm sticking with FCPX for all my quick corporate stuff.

[Denist]

22 hours ago, Thpriest said:

If you have a Mac and are going to do quick turn around stuff then FCPX is great. For me that's it's strong point. I used Premiere years ago but I always found it slow compared to FC on my Macs. I'm starting to try a few edits with Resolve and I can see it will be great for more complicated projects (docs etc). But I'm sticking with FCPX for all my quick corporate stuff.

Thanks for the response. I finally used DaVinci Resolve because $299 FCPX is a relatively big cost for me.  😆

[Video Hummus]

I hope this is a sign that Apple is going to give FCPX some updates and new features. I know it’s not full featured or as good as something like DaVinci but I just can’t switch. It feels like home after so many years. It also has had solid performance and has maybe crashed on me a handful of times in the past 4 years.

I bought FCPX on a student discount special. For $199 I got FCPX, Motion, Logic X, and Compressor. It was a great bargain. No stupid subscription costs.

It could use some quality of life features that would improve its use:

A neural engine that will speed up, and maybe even mesh with their accelerator cards, things like up-scaling, tracking, color matching etc...

Built-in tracker to simplify masking in video. The tracker could be used for so many things as well (beauty mode for tracking a face, etc...)

A more advanced stabilizer.

More intuitive audio controls.

Better integration with Apple Motion.

Get rid of the cheesy effects and transitions and replace them with well-know effects and film orientated, low key ,transitions that can speed up workflows.

Enhanced Performance with Mac Hardware! Go back to your roots. Give me something special. Integrated accelerating chips (a la T2) that give me edge when editing on an expensive 16” MacBook Pro or IMac Pro.

If I was Apple I would definitely rip out the A13 Bionic Chip and repurpose it’s neural engine accelerator stick it in a Apple MacBook Pro. Makes so much bloody sense.

[Michael Steiner]

On 4/16/2020 at 9:00 AM, Thpriest said:

I'm starting to try a few edits with Resolve and I can see it will be great for more complicated projects (docs etc). But I'm sticking with FCPX for all my quick corporate stuff.

Completely agree with your impression that FCPX is very good for quick turnaround work, but I'm curious for your assumption Resolve might be better for docs. My impression is FCPX especially shines in doc work where you spent a lot of time organizing, tagging, transcribing etc. For me the media management capabilities of FCPX are still unmatched by all other NLEs I know (can't speak about Avid). That, its multicam feature and the integration with Motion 5 for me are very good arguments for FCPX. If it comes to Audio though... 

[Video Hummus]

28 minutes ago, Michi said:

My impression is FCPX especially shines in doc work where you spent a lot of time organizing, tagging, transcribing etc. For me the media management capabilities of FCPX are still unmatched by all other NLEs I know (can't speak about Avid).

Yes, the organizing features, keywords, show used media, favorites, rejected etc... are a sleeper features.

[Michael Steiner]

32 minutes ago, Video Hummus said:

are a sleeper features.

As a non english native: are „sleeper features“ something positive? Or something unspectacular? 

[homestar_kevin]

2 hours ago, Michi said:

As a non english native: are „sleeper features“ something positive? Or something unspectacular? 

Sleeper typically means under the radar, or a good thing that not enough people talk about.

 

[Thpriest]

On 4/20/2020 at 6:39 PM, Michi said:

Completely agree with your impression that FCPX is very good for quick turnaround work, but I'm curious for your assumption Resolve might be better for docs. My impression is FCPX especially shines in doc work where you spent a lot of time organizing, tagging, transcribing etc. For me the media management capabilities of FCPX are still unmatched by all other NLEs I know (can't speak about Avid). That, its multicam feature and the integration with Motion 5 for me are very good arguments for FCPX. If it comes to Audio though... 

hi, I don't yet know Resolve enough to say but it does seem like you can really work on the footage, grades etc (not that you can't with FCPX). With a a quick turn around job the color options etc are more than enough in FCPX I just had a feeling there was a lot to explore in Resolve although that might be due to it's layout.

Personally I find FCPX's multicam is very buggy. I'm quicker editing by eye.

[Denist]

On 4/21/2020 at 4:06 AM, homestar_kevin said:

Sleeper typically means under the radar, or a good thing that not enough people talk about.

 

Thanks, new words acquired. 😁

[Michael Steiner]

13 hours ago, Thpriest said:

hi, I don't yet know Resolve enough to say but it does seem like you can really work on the footage, grades etc (not that you can't with FCPX). With a a quick turn around job the color options etc are more than enough in FCPX I just had a feeling there was a lot to explore in Resolve although that might be due to it's layout.

Yes, I agree. For grading, compositing and probably even Audio finishing/fine tuning Resolve is a more feature rich application. Also I would't I say Resolve is a bad application for editing, I haven't done enough editing in it to judge that. In my experience FCPX is simply very good for editing, for "assembling" a film. And in this regard especially good for doc work and anything that requires lots of organizing and preparation before doing the first cut... I'd bet that any movie I edited in FCPX would have taken way longer in Premiere, with way more crashes during editing. But yeah, I personally hate Premiere from the bottom of my heart and find it very frustrating that Apple messed up the launch of FCPX so badly that Premiere could become an industry standard.