Software

I currently use Adobe Audition for editing podcasts and other random audio recording needs. The essential sound tools aside, It feels tired and uncared for in comparison to many other audio and Adobe tools, so I am looking for a replacement.

Much of the reason I stick to Adobe tools is that I am grandfathered into an education license at a great price, so it’s hard to switch away from a deal I will never receive again. However, Adobe have also now changed their pricing model and this discounted rate will stop at the end of 2026, so I am weighing up alternatives.

However, I have so much set up with it, and given my simple audio requirements, it’s hard to find the time or motivation to switch. Open to suggestions!

I currently edit almost all of my videos with Adobe Premiere. Much of the reason I stick to Adobe tools is that I am grandfathered into an education license at a great price, so it’s hard to switch away from a deal I will never receive again. However, Adobe have also now changed their pricing model and this discounted rate will stop at the end of 2026, so I am weighing up Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve as alternatives.

For some time, Premiere felt as tired as Audition and was treated with disdain by many video professionals. However, in the past few years, it has upped its game, and while some of the new AI features I have less need for, tools like text-based editing and sound enhancement have been a great productivity boost.

I have been building libraries of assets for text and graphic overlays while editing. But the way Creative Cloud applications save and sync different styles and assets into synced libraries remains confusing to me, as does what I can store as an asset versus what I need to keep separately as an After Effects project. But I will keep pursuing it, as my current workflow (embarrassingly, copying and pasting previous overlays from older videos) is problematic.

A few years ago, Descript was the only option for text-based editing of audio and video, and when the company merged with Squadcast for remote recording for one reasonable price, it was a no-brainer for me. But I found myself using the editing features less. Transcription has become something of a commodity in tools, and many of the features I used to use, such as an interactive transcript, I feel I no longer need. Recently, Descript, like many companies, is adding a bunch of AI features I don’t need or can get elsewhere. Oddly, Squadcast remains one of the cheapest options for remote recording, so the Descript features are almost a bonus on top of that. I cancelled my subscription a few months ago, but I renew it, I am still deciding.

I use OBS for recording almost all my YouTube videos.

When I record, I mostly use OBS as a simple two-scene switcher, one for face-to-camera and one for screen sharing. I don’t add any filters or effects, as I add those in editing for recorded videos. I use Prores 422 LT for the codec, as my video work is not complex enough to need anything higher in terms of quality, but I like having uncompressed footage to edit with. OBS settings are a topic unto themselves, so guess what? That will be a future post 😁.

I have been looking at other commercial options, but haven’t made the switch yet.