Ihave been using Adobe PremierePro 1.5 for several years now in the production of documentary films. My collaborator is now moving (right off the continent) and taking the software with him. I find myself having to purchase a replacement production suite.
I have been exploring the trial version of Ulead Studio Pro and have found it a bit frustrating in terms of importing and opening clips and so on. Possibly a learning curve... Now I have begun to read through some of the threads on here and among other "bugs" I read that the program sometimes crashes and files cannot be recovered. This is a great concern to me as my projects are often in excess of an hour in length and many many hours of editing.
I would love to hear from users who can argue in favour of the Ulead production system, or who would suggest something else. Premiere Pro is a very expensive option and I have been hoping to find something that would do what I need for less.
If you have an opinion of Ulead, or can offer some experience-based comparisons of this and other programs, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Why Ulead?
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Ron P.
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Hi Nora, welcome to the forums..
First I'll agree that Premiere Pro is an expensive program. It is considered one of the mighty industry standards. It has the branding of Adobe, so that adds to the cost. However being objective, it is not nearly as expensive as some of the real heavy weights, like Avid.
While you seem to think that Ulead's Media Studio Pro has a learning curve, I tend to think that Adobe PP does. It's just a matter of learning how each software works, most of which is just learning the UI. Since you are experienced with video editing, then just figuring out where all the tools are located, is the main hurdle.
There are posts about MSP crashing, unable to recover files, but most of the time the crash can be related to the system. Since you are in business, I would certainly have a dedicated machine for nothing but editing, and would not allow anything on it that didn't relate to that. It would be tuned for the programs needed for editing. Doing so you will find that MSP, is very stable. There are members that in their jobs, work with some of the big name programs, and have posted about the difficulties they have with them, and that MSP seems to be more stable, and easier to work with.
It has been a few years (Premiere Pro 6), since I have worked with Adobe. I find MSP alot easier to get along with, and accomplish what I need, which is a serious hobbiest.
Another possiblity would be Sony's Vegas 6. I have toyed with it, and I find MSP better, but that is my opinion. Vegas 6 costs just a little under Premiere Pro. MSP 8 will only set you back about $200, yet can do everthing that Vegas can do.
Finally like all other similar posts, I would recommend downloading trial versions of those products that seem most likely to perform to your specifications. Then you will get a real good idea which one would best work on your system, and for your business.
First I'll agree that Premiere Pro is an expensive program. It is considered one of the mighty industry standards. It has the branding of Adobe, so that adds to the cost. However being objective, it is not nearly as expensive as some of the real heavy weights, like Avid.
While you seem to think that Ulead's Media Studio Pro has a learning curve, I tend to think that Adobe PP does. It's just a matter of learning how each software works, most of which is just learning the UI. Since you are experienced with video editing, then just figuring out where all the tools are located, is the main hurdle.
There are posts about MSP crashing, unable to recover files, but most of the time the crash can be related to the system. Since you are in business, I would certainly have a dedicated machine for nothing but editing, and would not allow anything on it that didn't relate to that. It would be tuned for the programs needed for editing. Doing so you will find that MSP, is very stable. There are members that in their jobs, work with some of the big name programs, and have posted about the difficulties they have with them, and that MSP seems to be more stable, and easier to work with.
It has been a few years (Premiere Pro 6), since I have worked with Adobe. I find MSP alot easier to get along with, and accomplish what I need, which is a serious hobbiest.
Another possiblity would be Sony's Vegas 6. I have toyed with it, and I find MSP better, but that is my opinion. Vegas 6 costs just a little under Premiere Pro. MSP 8 will only set you back about $200, yet can do everthing that Vegas can do.
Finally like all other similar posts, I would recommend downloading trial versions of those products that seem most likely to perform to your specifications. Then you will get a real good idea which one would best work on your system, and for your business.
Ron Petersen, Web Board Administrator
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Like Ron said you have to get used to a different interface.
I have downloaded trial versions of just about every Video Editing Program and looked at the relevant user groups.
Obvioulsy the users of those systems swear by their item and provide glowing reports. You also find on those forums the same sort of complaints that you read on this forum.
No software is perfect, but the same is true of our computers. they can work great for months then all of a sudden develop a strange fault which sometimes defies all attempts at rectification. System Restore has got me out of trouble a couple of times where I was able to wind back the clock!
I also edit videos well in excess of a hour in length and can spend a few weeks on a single project. The Wise thing to do here is the same as you should be doing with any computer software when you are working on a large project, whether it be editing a video or building a spreadsheet.
Don't just save your work, but save it under different names so that you can always revert to an earlier copy.
This isn't just a way of avoiding disaster when a file fails to open, it is also a method where you can change your mind about recent additions / changes to your project.
The easiest way to do this is to start off a project and save it with a name and number, then increment that number at each major change.
myproject01
myproject02
myproject03 etc.
Then of course you should also back up important stuff somewhere other than on the computer you are working on, such as another computer on a network or on discs or tapes.
As for the question "Why should I buy MediaStudio Pro?" - there is only one answer to that. Download the trial and see if you feel comfortable with it. What suits one person does not suit another.
I have downloaded trial versions of just about every Video Editing Program and looked at the relevant user groups.
Obvioulsy the users of those systems swear by their item and provide glowing reports. You also find on those forums the same sort of complaints that you read on this forum.
No software is perfect, but the same is true of our computers. they can work great for months then all of a sudden develop a strange fault which sometimes defies all attempts at rectification. System Restore has got me out of trouble a couple of times where I was able to wind back the clock!
I also edit videos well in excess of a hour in length and can spend a few weeks on a single project. The Wise thing to do here is the same as you should be doing with any computer software when you are working on a large project, whether it be editing a video or building a spreadsheet.
Don't just save your work, but save it under different names so that you can always revert to an earlier copy.
This isn't just a way of avoiding disaster when a file fails to open, it is also a method where you can change your mind about recent additions / changes to your project.
The easiest way to do this is to start off a project and save it with a name and number, then increment that number at each major change.
myproject01
myproject02
myproject03 etc.
Then of course you should also back up important stuff somewhere other than on the computer you are working on, such as another computer on a network or on discs or tapes.
As for the question "Why should I buy MediaStudio Pro?" - there is only one answer to that. Download the trial and see if you feel comfortable with it. What suits one person does not suit another.