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Revision as of 20:00, 10 April 2006 by Baryonic Being (talk | contribs) (High Def)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)This is a comparison of non-linear video editing software applications. See also a more complete list of video editing software.
General information
This table gives basic general information about the different editors:
| Developer | Released | Latest version | List price (USD) | License | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Adobe | 2003 | 2 | $849 | Proprietary |
| Avid Xpress DV | Avid | ? | ? | $495 | Proprietary |
| Cinelerra | Heroine Virtual | 2002 | 2 | Free | GPL |
| Final Cut Express | Apple | 2003 | 3 | $299 | Proprietary |
| Final Cut Studio | Apple | 1999 | 5 | $1299 | Proprietary |
| FORscene | Forbidden | 2004 | 5 April 2006 | N/A | Proprietary |
| iLife | Apple | 1999 | 6 | $79; free on new Macs | Proprietary |
| MainActor | MainConcept | ? | 5.5 | $199 | ? |
| Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Pinnacle Systems (now part of Avid) | ? | 10 | $129.99 | Proprietary |
| Vegas | Sony Media Software | ? | 6 | $449.96 | Proprietary |
| Creator | Released | Latest version | List price (USD) | License |
Minimum system requirements and operating system support
This table lists the operating systems that different editors can run on without emulation, as well as other system requirements. Note that minimum system requirements are listed; some features (like High Definition support) may be unavailable with these specifications.
| Windows | Mac OS X | Unix | Processor | RAM | Disk space | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | No | No | 1.4GHz | 512MB | 4GB |
| Avid Xpress DV | Yes | Yes | No | 933MHz Pentium, 667MHz PPC | 1GB | 20GB |
| Cinelerra | No | No | Yes | |||
| Final Cut Express | No | Yes | No | 500 MHz | 384 MB | 1 GB |
| Final Cut Studio | No | Yes | No | 867 MHz | 512 MB | 4 GB |
| FORscene | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | 256 MB | N/A |
| iLife | No | Yes | No | PPC G4 or faster | 256MB | 10GB |
| MainActor | Yes | No | Yes | 700MHz | 128MB | |
| Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Yes | No | No | 1.4GHz | 512MB | 1.7GB |
| Sony Vegas | Yes | No | No | 800 MHz | 256 MB | 200 MB |
| Windows | Mac OS X | Unix |
"Unix" includes the similar Linux, BSD and unix-like operating systems.
High Definition support
The table below indicates the ability of each program to import various High Definition video formats for editing.
| 720p HDV | 1080i HDV | DVCPRO HD | Uncompressed HD | IMX | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes (with 3rd party support) | Yes | No |
| Avid Xpress DV | No | No | No | No | No |
| Cinelerra | |||||
| Final Cut Express | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Final Cut Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FORscene | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| iMovie | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| MainActor | |||||
| Sony Vegas | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Pinnacle Studio MediaSuite | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| 720p HDV | 1080i HDV | DVCPRO HD | Uncompressed | IMX |
Feature set
| High Definition support | Non-destructive editing | Full-screen playback | Storyboard mode | Video tracks | Audio tracks / max channels | Timecode display | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | ||||||
| Avid Xpress DV | |||||||
| Cinelerra | Yes (any resolution) |
Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | Unlimited / 16 | Yes |
| Final Cut Express | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | 99 | No |
| Final Cut Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Unlimited | Yes | |
| FORscene | Input only | Yes | No | Alpha test | 2 | 4 | Yes |
| iMovie | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 | 2 | Yes |
| MainActor | |||||||
| Sony Vegas | Yes
(any resolution) |
Yes | Yes, on seperate monitor | No | 99 | 99 / 24 | Yes |
| Pinnacle Studio | Depends | Yes | 2 | 2 | |||
| HD | Non-destructive | Full-screen | Storyboard | Video tracks | Audio tracks | Timecode display |
Output options
| DVD | HD DVD | Smart phone | Java phone | QuickTime | Windows Media | XML/EDL | Print to tape | Web, not hosted | Web, hosted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Premiere Pro | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Avid Xpress DV | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No |
| Cinelerra | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | |
| Final Cut Express | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | No |
| Final Cut Studio | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| FORscene | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (MPEG 2) | Yes (MPEG 2) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| iLife | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (with .Mac) |
| Sony Vegas | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pinnacle Studio | Yes | No | ||||||||
| DVD | HD DVD | Smart phone | Java phone | QuickTime | Windows Media | XML/EDL | Print to tape | Web format | Web hosting |
Target market
| Consumer | Prosumer | Professional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Least expensive Most expensive |
Avid Free DV Clesh |
MainActor |
Cinelerra FORscene |