POLL: Which NLE will be the "industry standard" a year from now?

[VMT]

Avid, I hardly knew ya. Laying off more people and selling assets...not much confidence in it being the company of an "industry standard" NLE.
http://fcp.co/hardware-and-software/...slowly-sinking

Apple forward-looking with FCPX while Avid on life support. It's kind of ironic considering Avid was once the king of NLE, and recently some FCP editors jumping to Avid with the release of FCPX.

Competition is good. Without Avid, there probably would've never been an FCP as we know it. So hope it stays around for a long time, at least until I'm retired.

[Shooter]

Avid aquired by COREL / Pinnacle

http://newsletter.pinnaclesys.com/HM...Vsje_HxHDV71Px

[bruceallen]

Avid aquired by COREL / Pinnacle

http://newsletter.pinnaclesys.com/HM...Vsje_HxHDV71Px

Avid sold off some of their consumer stuff.

The pro stuff - Media Composer and Pro Tools etc - has definitely NOT been sold to Pinnacle.

I never used the consumer stuff much and am quite frankly glad they're focusing on pros.

Which, as far as I'm concerned, nearly a year after this post was written, remains "industry standard"... if FCP X or Premiere ever add the needed, that can change of course.

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[KINOKS]

Avid sold off some of their consumer stuff.


I never used the consumer stuff much and am quite frankly glad they're focusing on pros.

I'm glad also. Avid is a pro software company.

[BenB]

There's a big misconception about corporations here. The folks at Avid who work with MC and PT have nothing to do with the consumer products. Avid keeping or selling those divisions have no effect on the divisions they're keeping. There is no "one group" of developers who work on everything at once, as some seem to think. So this fire sale has no effect on Avid being "more focused" on anything. It's the save dev teams doing the same work they've been doing, nothing changes for them.

Avid has been struggling to stay financially alive for a very long time now. They sold off products once before not too long ago. This is like the third massive layoff they've had. They simply need enough cash to not be forced by creditors to undergo bankruptcy reorganization, which is a death blow to the majority of corporations that reach that stage. Avid needs cash and sold these divisions to survive, simple as that. They are in major financial trouble, staring down the barrel of bankruptcy, and needed cash to stay afloat.

Avid has never been considered a true "innovative" company. They don't have a large of a market share as some folks assume, not like they did way back when. They have not kept up with the innovations of other NLE developers. The latest verision of MC only just now gained features and innovations PPro and FCP have had for years.

Let's not sugar coat this. Avid is in serious trouble, has been for a very long time. None of the divisions they sold off were losing money, they were no different financially than the PT and MC divisions. The ship is slowly sinking. "Be more focused" is simply not how things work. If it were, most major corporations in the US should be dead now.

And 167 people voting in a poll tells us basically nothing about the industry which is made up of millions.

[bruceallen]

There's a big misconception about corporations here. The folks at Avid who work with MC and PT have nothing to do with the consumer products. Avid keeping or selling those divisions have no effect on the divisions they're keeping. There is no "one group" of developers who work on everything at once, as some seem to think. So this fire sale has no effect on Avid being "more focused" on anything. It's the save dev teams doing the same work they've been doing, nothing changes for them.

Well for one thing... their website should change quite drastically! A much less confusing website, clearly focused on creative pros would help a lot, actually.

Also, I think it means that they will be a bit more competitive with their audio interfaces for Pro Tools now that they just got rid of M-Audio.

Avid has been struggling to stay financially alive for a very long time now. They sold off products once before not too long ago. This is like the third massive layoff they've had. They simply need enough cash to not be forced by creditors to undergo bankruptcy reorganization, which is a death blow to the majority of corporations that reach that stage. Avid needs cash and sold these divisions to survive, simple as that. They are in major financial trouble, staring down the barrel of bankruptcy, and needed cash to stay afloat.

Totally agree... although I would imagine that they will likely be bought out by Blackmagic or someone before going bankrupt! Their stuff is too valuable.

Avid has never been considered a true "innovative" company. They don't have a large of a market share as some folks assume, not like they did way back when.

Gosh, if they were never innovative, how did they ever get a large market share "way back when"?

Later... lots of things were innovative and still haven't quite been matched: Avid Unity with its collaborative editing... or the rock-solid media management... or the brilliant trim tool... or the whole idea of exporting your edit as an OMF file to go straight into a Pro Tools mix.

Upcoming... I like their cloud editing stuff. Only thing is that it's in their news division - though that makes sense since it's needed most urgently there.

They have not kept up with the innovations of other NLE developers. The latest verision of MC only just now gained features and innovations PPro and FCP have had for years.

And PPro and FCP are only just now gaining features Avid has had for years... for example PPro actually supported dual-system sound with timecode as of CS5... and finally got a decent Avid-style trim tool as of CS6. FCPX is incredibly Avid-like in many ways (media management, the concept of "filler" in the timeline, for example)

Still waiting for either PPro or FCP to actually offer proper collaborative editing. Which is essential to us.

Let's not sugar coat this. Avid is in serious trouble, has been for a very long time. None of the divisions they sold off were losing money, they were no different financially than the PT and MC divisions. The ship is slowly sinking. "Be more focused" is simply not how things work. If it were, most major corporations in the US should be dead now.

And 167 people voting in a poll tells us basically nothing about the industry which is made up of millions.

Especially since the "industry" hasn't been defined either

All I know is that for the stuff I do, Avid is industry standard. Once you start getting into things which need editorial teams... there is no other option anywhere near as good. Yet!

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com

[WhiteMonkey]

Over the years I've started builiding systems that are camera specific, all based around the Adobe Creative Suite. I've used Premiere since version 4.0. It was cross-platform then and it was the only thing we had to make CD-ROM videos with. A lot cheaper than the Media 100 we bought and used for broadcast SD. So, I had both in my office.

I've stuck with Premiere, even through the part where Mac users became Final Cut crazy and you couldn't get a job editing if you didn't run a Mac with FCP. Anyone else get caught on the outside of that one too?

I still use Premiere. I'm pre-ordered for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and I'm waiting to see what Adobe is going to do about Native Support for cinemaDNG files. The thing that keeps me using PP is it's Dynamic Link now so I can online in AE. XML is wonderful too and does the same thing as the dynamic link in a lot of ways between programs, like FCP 7 and Resolve.

Industry Standard? Who cares? If it comes down to a PC vs. Mac thing again, or Apple vs. The World, I am out. I build my own workstations to save money.

[BenB]

bruceallen, you give Avid credit for more market share than they actually have today. They have not been top dog in many years now. Legacy FCP blew them out of the water. Adobe is very obviously stepping in as FCP 8. The features in both PT and MC have only just caught up to what legacy FCP and PPro have already been doing. They've been way too expensive for years. As for Unity, so many other competitors have been out pacing Unity for a few years now, too. And at much cheaper prices. You never used Final Cut Server or any of the other proucts that blow Unity away in features and price, eh?

If you think Avid was innovative and FCP/PPro are only now catching up to it, then you've been living under a rock. Best of luck.

Top Dog doesn't fight bankruptcy for the past few years. Bottom dog does.

I've consult for production facilities all over the country for years. Very few use Avid today. Just my perspective.

Fanboys will be fanboys.

Not to mention Walter Biscardi found Avid to be woefully behind the times. Actually sold off brand new Avid stations, bought more Adobe stations.
http://magazine.creativecow.net/arti...e-fcp-switcher

[Zak Forsman]

Let's keep this about the NLEs and not each other, yeah? No need to insult each other's intelligence.

[alpi69]

If THE INDUSTRY is feature-film/Hollywood/Bollywood then Avid is and will be the standard, because it has workflow that seems to work fine (for now). The ISIS is a strong point for Avid in big production-houses, despite its ridiculous price.

If THE INDUSTRY is the rest of audiovisual creation......FCPL, PP and FCPX are strong contenders and have probably multiple times more editors out there than Avid.