The choices in software for video and audio editing/mixing are wide, with a few well-known frontrunners and a larger number of less well-known options available. If you're like me, you'd prefer to know what other people in your shoes are using, and what they like or don't like about the selection
they made.
For this article on NLEs and audio editing software, we thought we'd take a different approach and ask you what you are using and what you think of it. Our survey ran for about a week in June 2010. In this issue,we present a summary of what you had to say. Note that for the likes and dislikes, what is reported are items that multiple respondents commented on. For example, if only one out of 30 users of a particular product felt it was too expensive, it would not be listed as a "con" of the product. It should also be pointed out that the respondents' comments are on whatever version they are using, not necessarily what is currently for sale as the latest version.
Video Editing
We learned that of the 304 respondents who do video editing, 126 (41%) are using Apple's Final Cut Pro, followed by 63 (21%) using Adobe Premiere, 32 (11%) using Sony's Vegas, 29 (10%) using Pinnacle Studio and 54 people (18%) using a wide variety of other applications, including iMovie and Windows Movie Maker.
Sony Vegas has the highest user loyalty rating, with 96% saying they would buy Vegas again. Apple's Final Cut Pro was a close second, with 96% saying they would purchase Final Cut again. Loyalty falls as we head into the other choices; Adobe would keep 84% of their current users, Pinnacle would keep 82% of their users, and of those who listed "other" for their software choice, only 66% would make the same choice again.
Apple Final Cut Pro users appreciate the ease-of-use of their software, the stability of both Final Cut Pro and the Apple Mac platform, the high-quality appearance of the edited video, and the fact that Final Cut Pro is the industry standard for video editing. Some negatives mentioned include the price tag and having to render before being able to preview.
For Adobe Premiere, users like the integration with other Adobe products. While some mentioned ease-of-use as a positive, more complained about it being complicated and having a steep learning curve. Other negatives mentioned were its high cost, consumption of memory and processor resources, and some instability.
Sony Vegas users love its ease of use and low learning curve. Many commented on it being the best value for video editing on a PC. For negatives, one user mentioned having some DVD authoring issues, while several would like to see more Codecs included and more availability of plug-ins for effects.
Ease-of-use and low cost are two primary factors attractive to Pinnacle users. Many users wish it had more effects and features that are standard on other platforms, and several complained of crashes during rendering.
Audio File Editing
For software used to edit a single audio file (as opposed to multi-track mixing, handled in the next section), the playing field is a bit larger. Of the 275 respondents that use audio file editing software, the free program Audacity is the frontrunner for a number of users with 83 (30%). Adobe Audition has 31 users (11%); Sony Sound Forge has 24 (9%); Apple Soundtrack and Avid's Pro Tools have 21 (8%); Apple Logic Studio has 18 (7%), Adobe Sound Booth has 17 (6%), and Steinberg WaveLab has nine (3%). Another 51 users (19%) specified other tools.
So, how does the customer loyalty play out in this field? Apple Logic Studio was the leader with 100% of the respondents saying they would buy it again if they had the choice to make over. Next in line was Sony Sound Forge with 95%; Audacity came in third with 93%, followed by Adobe Audition at 82%; Adobe Sound Booth at 87%; Avid Pro Tools at 86%; Apple Soundtrack at 85%; and Steinberg WaveLab at the bottom with 67% saying they would buy that product again.
Adobe Audition users like its ease-of-use and powerful functionality, enabling them to do anything they need from one package. Users would like to see more plug-ins available, as well as easier access to the effects functions.
Adobe Sound Booth users like its simplicity and ease-of-use. For "cons," people seemed to have come from using Adobe Audition, and miss the more advanced features of Audition.
Apple Logic Studio users find it easy to use and powerful, with its functionality similar to Pro Tools but without the higher price tag. There wasn't a common thread for what could be improved in the product, but "more standard instruments" was one suggestion, and making it "simpler for volunteers" was another. Several like it primarily because it is for the Mac platform.
With Apple Soundtrack, its integration with Final Cut Pro was a big selling point, along with ease-of-use and stability. On the flip side, others complained about the steep learning curve and suggested that the interface could be more like Final Cut Pro.
Now on to Audacity. Its users like that it's a free program, easy to use, powerful enough to meet their needs and that, overall, it works very well. People would like to see Audacity's interface be made even more user-friendly and adopt some of the common UI aspects of its peer applications, as well as offer more plug-ins and the ability to save common effect settings as a preset.
For Avid Pro Tools, many people like that it's the industry standard. They also appreciate its wide capabilities and that it integrates with their audio console. The price tag was the main negative.
Sony Sound Forge users appreciate its ease-of-use, flexibility, and integration with Sony Vegas. The only con mentioned was that one user would like to see spectrum editing added to its capabilities.
Simplicity and its ability to handle high bit rates and resolutions are Steinberg WaveLab's pluses. More file format compatibility and having it available on the Mac platform are desired.
Multitrack Digital Audio Workstation (Daw) Software
The last category we surveyed was software for multi-track mixing. With the wide variety of choices, I'll summarize only the products that had at least nine users in this survey.
Our front-runner for number of users is Avid's Pro Tools, with 27%. Of those users, 95% of them would buy the software again. Users like it for its ease-of-use, stability, and that it's the industry standard for multi-track DAW software. What could be improved is the price tag and its interoperability with video editing software. Pro Tools users also don't like that track bounces have to happen in real time.
Next up is Adobe Audition with 13%; 84% said they would buy this software again. Users like that it's powerful and easy to use, includes a multi-band compressor effect, and can be used to edit audio files directly without having to go into another tool. For improvements, one user reported that the user interface could be more intuitive, and another reported that surround sound mixing support is poor. And as an aside, Adobe recently reported that Audition will soon be available on the Mac platform as well.
Steinberg Cubase is next with 9% of our respondents using that software package, but only 64% of them would buy the software again, the lowest entry in customer loyalty. This seems somewhat odd as there were few specific complaints about the software. Users generally reported that it was easy to use and does what they need it to do.
Apple Logic Studio and Apple Soundtrack were tied with 7% of our respondents each, and for both, 100% of their users say they would buy the programs again. For Logic Studio, users report that it's easy to use, has a straightforward UI, and works well on Macs. On the "con" side of things, users feel that it could use more professional features. For Soundtrack, users like the integration with Final Cut, and say it's powerful and has never failed them. No "cons" were listed by any of the users.
Sony Vegas came in with 6%, which is somewhat interesting as Vegas is primarily a video editing application. Few pros or cons for multi-track mixing with Vegas were noted. Some said that they bought the program for video editing and found it works well for multi-track audio work, as well. One user would like to see better access to audio effects. All Vegas users reported they would buy it again.
Rounding out the list was Cakewalk's Sonar, with 5%, all of whom would buy Sonar again. Users like that it's powerful and integrates with their Roland M-400 mixer; several stated that it needs to become easier to use.
Other Facts About Our Respondents
We also took the opportunity to collect some additional information from our respondents that we found interesting.
Very few of you are doing surround sound projects-84% don't utilize surround sound at all.
For a typical three- to five-minute video editing project, 48% of you spend between one and five hours working on it; 30% take six to 10 hours.; 11% spend 11 to 15 hours; 7% spend 16 to 20 hours, and a mere 4% spend over 20 hours on this size project.
Sixty-six percent of you utilize stock video footage in your projects; 77% use stock photography; 72% use stock production music, and 72% use stock sound effects.
As far as who is doing your church's video production work, 37% are paid staff, 60% are volunteers, and 3% are outside contractors.
It is great to see that 82% of respondents honor U.S. copyright laws and pay royalties when they are due. Fourteen percent of respondents report that their church occasionally honors copyright laws; 3% admitted they ignore copyright laws; one person felt that copyright laws do not apply to churches; and three respondents were not familiar with how copyright laws affect your video and audio production work at all.
Copyright Laws
While 82% of you adhering to copyright laws is great, I'd like to state for the other 18% that yes indeed, copyright law does apply to churches, and the use of copyrighted material in your video productions is illegal without permission from the copyright holders. For more information on how copyright affects you and your church, I recommend several recent articles at:
www.churchproduction.com/ copyright2005, www.churchproduction.com/ copyright2010.
In Conclusion
So are there any wide, sweeping conclusions we can draw from this data? I'd say that most of the products out there do what they were designed to do fairly well, and you probably can't go too far wrong with most of the options listed here.
Many software providers offer free trials of their applications, and it would behoove you to try out several before plunking down your hard-earned cash.
