Although probably impossible to prove, it is more than likely the most popular and widely used NLE is Adobe Premiere Pro.
If you look through the various forums on video editing programs however, any number of people will tell you that they will not use it as they do not want to get roped into the Adobe eco-verse of subscription payments as against owning their software outright.
Fair enough. It’s also fair to say that the way an NLE operates is very important to the way your personal workflow is setup. In my case, for more than 10 years I have been using Vegas Pro, and only recently switched to DaVinci Resolve for major projects. I still use Vegas Pro for quick and dirty stuff though as I can bang out a 30 second clip in just a few minutes.
But even the paid Studio version of Resolve is incredible value for money for what it is capable of, especially if, as I do, you also get the Speed Editor editing console.
Before Vegas I did use Premiere Pro though, and in fact its fair to say I learnt digital editing via that program, before that being mainly analogue based.
So, it is hard for me too to justify the Creative Cloud subscription for Premiere Pro at around 40 bucks a month. And if that is all there was in the “people versus Premiere Pro” argument pool, that would be the end of that.
But it isn’t, is it? And this is the bit that more often than not is precluded from the Premiere Pro vs the rest subscription argument.
$40 a month for Premiere Pro as I say, I cannot justify. But $80 a month for a subscription that includes Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects with InDesign thrown in I certainly could if I was a serious editor.
Sure, Bridge I would not use (Kyno is my app of choice for asset management) and Rush doesn’t work on my mobile devices so there is a no point there either.
But to your serious video editor, Photoshop and After Effects are almost indispensable.
So my tip is certainly keep using the NLE of your choice. That really does not affect things in the greater scheme.
$79.99 per month (or $871 on an annual basis) I would have thought is an easy choice to make though for the benefits the other apps give you?
Of course, if you have never used Premiere Pro, you might turn out to be surprised how good it actually is. And the very tight integration between all of the Creative Cloud apps is an added bonus, being a great time saver as well as enabling a fantastic workflow.
If you have never used After Effects, then frankly, you do not know what you are missing! You can get a trial of it and have a play. Grab some tutorials and run through them. While initially you may have NO idea what you are doing, you’ll soon pick up the concept and probably think of a million things you could use it for and a few million more you COULD have used it for!
Get the trial After Effects here. And have a look at your first tutorial here.