NLE systems

[DVX100Shooter]

If you take some or all of the effects out of many of the popular non linear editing systems and imported say 10 minutes of really good footage that was well exposed and lit well. Performed straight cuts or dissolves, can you tell if it was edited on Avid, Final Cut Pro, Vegas, Premiere, etc.??? My job uses Avid's to cut just about everything and they want me to learn Avid so I be thrown into the mix but I am very fluent at Final Cut Pro and have been bringing work home and cutting it right here instead of at work. I am sure Avid has some things that FCP doesn't and vice versa but the average person watching a piece you did on TV is not going to say I wonder if he used FCP or Avid to edit that! LOL!

[Zak Forsman]

i couldn't tell you what it was cut on but i could give pretty good odds. btw, if it doesn't matter what you cut on, why not learn the one they are willing to pay you to use? generally speaking, proficiency on an Avid will make you a faster, more efficient editor on other NLE systems. the reverse is rarely as true.

[David Jimerson]

In my opinion, Avid the most backwards, least intuitive, and most thoroughly hateful editing experience you could possibly have. It makes you a more efficient editor on other systems the same way being force-marched through the desert for days makes you thinner, whereas simply eating right and jogging is a much better way to go. Wheneve anyone tells me it "isn't that bad," I"m reminded of the old legal secretary in my former office who said that doing footnotes on a manual typewriter (as oppsoed to having Word set it up) "wasn't that bad."

But it IS a marketable skill, and like cygnet74 says, they're paying you to learn it -- and there is no useless knowledge. I'm for learning anything I can.

[Greggl]

Learn the AVID... its the industry standard. FCP is still making 'in-roads'.

[Steve_Arm]

You can tell an AVID by it's dissolve, it's superior than others. Not the standard image that just fades to reveal the other.
If you learn the AVID editing philosophy you will understand that this is the way things have to be "edited". It is more efficient and helpful, that is only if you know it's "quirks". I have worked many years with Premiere and AVID and seen other NLE's, my quote is this: AVID software was created by people that make movies and all the others by people that just write software. That's the difference with AVID Suites.

[Zak Forsman]

before i go into this little rant, first let me say that the NLE you use will not make you a better editor, just a more or less efficient one. developing a sensitivity for structure, rhythm and a personal signature only comes from the experience of working with material.

its true that avid has a steeper learning curve. i can see why editors that are used to more mouse/trackball dependent NLEs find the media composer interface frustrating. the reason is that you're *supposed to be* using the keyboard more often than with other systems. in my experience, i can punch in a two frame cross fade starting on the cut (F4, 2, TAB, 0, ENTER) much faster on an avid than i can drag one on, double click it and re-adjust the alignment in FCP. you can always tell when someone is new to the avid because they have all two rows of buttons going on the timeline as wel as under the source/record monitors. whereas the more experienced editors usually turn off all the rows of clickable buttons in the customizable interface.

what I really dread is taking an offline cut to online on a final cut pro / kona system. nothing more backwards than having to redo all my speed changes and freeze frames. you can't even output a sequence to digi without using a work around because of a certain bug in the system they refuse to fix. and again, if you know the avid (and better yet own one) you can charge more. clients and producers look at other NLEs as a way to cut corners and save a buck. i cant tell you how often I've heard the phrase "we're thinking final cut pro numbers" when negotiating a budget proposal. i usually withdraw my bid at that point.

[Greggl]

If you learn the AVID editing philosophy you will understand that this is the way things have to be "edited".

Hehe... there is a 'right way' to structure an AVID edit and use the tools. Its really
frustrating for a lot of people.. especially those that generally only cut short format
projects or longer format, 'event' work like weddings, sporting events, etc.

When you start getting into television or feature cutting, with shared assets,
assistants, multiple cuts per session, dailies, previs and vfx versioning, etc...
THEN the AVID does start to really shine and all those neato tools on FCP and
the others fade cause you are trying to emulate AVID's data management...
not how its so much easier to slip footage in system X.

For a project studio... pick anyone you want... for a career with at least a portion
of your time dealing with high end post.. learn the AVID and learn how to do
things 'the standard' way.

[TimurCivan]

i am spoiled rotten by vegas.

its so easy..... So fast. and works so well. i love it.

Final cut is good too, as is Avid Sytem, the big one. it treats footage very nicely.

[DVX100Shooter]

Thanks for all of your comments. I am very aware that Avid is the industry standard. Its just a matter of being set back (time it'll take me to be fluent with it) if I decide to go that route. I mean there are some of the departments at my job that DO edit with Final Cut Pro..but the vast majority of the edit suites are outfitted with Avids.