by Bob » Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:07 pm
Sound Forge competes with Adobe Audition. But, many prefer the Sound Forge interface which many feel is simpler and more intuitive. I think either can do the job.
Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro are probably the two most used NLEs in the industry. Final Cut Pro is only available for the Macintosh platform. Vegas Pro 10 is also good, but doesn't have the market penetration that the other two do. These are all fairly comparable products.
After Effects is a motion graphics and compositing tool, not a NLE, and is by far the most widely used tool of this class. Apple's Motion is similar, but, even on the Macintosh platform After Effects is dominant. Higher end (and more expensive) compositing tools are available, but you generally see those used mainly by the big film effects houses which may also use custom in-house developed tools as well.
Often, the choice of which to use comes down to personal preferences, computing platform, or what the company you work for chose, rather than technical merit.