Thinking about going AVID
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cheezweezl
Veteran
this kind of drove it home for me. watching this guy go through all these steps to to a simple insert had me screaming in my head. this goes sooooo much quicker in fcp and the adjustment he made would never require undo-ing the edit and starting over. a simple adjustment with the roll and slip tools and i'm done. even the way he went about getting the clip out onto the timeline to begin with was more complicated that it needs to be. i'm not slamming avid. it must be cool to be so widely used but maybe this kind of stuff is a big reason why fcp is nipping at it's heels in a big way....
3-point editing is a fundamental technique that is not unique to Avid. This would fall under the category of editorial 101 - something all editors should understand.
I'm puzzled why he chose to undo the edit and start over. He's teaching basic stuff here and probably chose not to go into advanced techniques. I would have used the trim tools to fix the shot as requested. Avid's trim tools are the best in the business. I have yet to meet an editor that uses both FCP and Avid that prefers FCP's trimming functions.
fevercity
Well-known member
Yeah - what milksac said. Avid's trim mode is hard-to-beat.
DC
Cinematographiliac
Indeed. That video tutorial is just illustrating basic Avid editing techniques via an "Editing 101" mindset. There are many more advanced, yet easier ways, to cut with Avid. The Trim Tool is one example of this. Plus, hot keys are your friends.
cheezweezl
Veteran
uhhhh yeah i'm familiar with a 3 point edit. my point was that it seemed to be more complicated to make than i'm used to with FCP.
maybe the guy was doing it the slow way because it was a basic tutorial. i dunno.
cheezweezl
Veteran
ya know there is a key command in pro tools for trimming audio that i wish fcp had for video. you can hit the "a" key and it trims the clip from the clip start to the playhead or cursor on the timeline. i think it's called trim forward, there is also trim back. does avid have this function for video clips?
I installed my Media Composer 2.8 on a 5 year old 2.0ghz pentium 4 single processor with 512mb of ram just to see if it would run and it did! Couldn't believe it but it ran fine although not supported by Avid. Yep, the effects take forever to render but it does run fine and I can cut 720p HD video. I do get into problems with 1080i or 1080p HD video.
arrestthisman
Well-known member
I just love it when someone comes on here and expresses an opinion. And, after all, ALL of these posts are opinions--someone angrily flames you because you "hurt their feelings" regarding a piece of gear that they like.
Avid is crap, in my opinion. Hundreds of years ago 99% (or more?) of people thought the earth was flat. That didn't make them right. And if 99% or whatever the number is who use Avid, in fact, use it, that doesn't make it a great product.
I think the interface is great. Their design is superb. But their software engine is buggy as all hell. And a bug doesn't mean it will happen to everyone. There are plenty of people with rock solid setups. But all you have to do is look at the forums on Avid's own website to see they have enormous problems with stability. (BTW, I worked with programmers @ Boris FX regarding the Studio bundle for AVID, so don't lecture me on credibility. Besides, even if I'd never used Avid before, that doesn't make me wrong.)
So Take 1. You have a right to your opinion, and I have I right to mine. And in my opinion your opinion is crap, just like Avid's software engineering. I'm sure you're a very nice person when you don't type.
BTW, if Avid was so great when you wrote your post last month, then why are they all of a sudden, "thinking differently."
It's quite embarassing when part of an ad campaign says, "We're actually listening to our customers now!"
Avid is crap, in my opinion. Hundreds of years ago 99% (or more?) of people thought the earth was flat. That didn't make them right. And if 99% or whatever the number is who use Avid, in fact, use it, that doesn't make it a great product.
I think the interface is great. Their design is superb. But their software engine is buggy as all hell. And a bug doesn't mean it will happen to everyone. There are plenty of people with rock solid setups. But all you have to do is look at the forums on Avid's own website to see they have enormous problems with stability. (BTW, I worked with programmers @ Boris FX regarding the Studio bundle for AVID, so don't lecture me on credibility. Besides, even if I'd never used Avid before, that doesn't make me wrong.)
So Take 1. You have a right to your opinion, and I have I right to mine. And in my opinion your opinion is crap, just like Avid's software engineering. I'm sure you're a very nice person when you don't type.
BTW, if Avid was so great when you wrote your post last month, then why are they all of a sudden, "thinking differently."
It's quite embarassing when part of an ad campaign says, "We're actually listening to our customers now!"
That is a completely insane argument to make.
I work at a school, where at any given time, we could have 50 instances each of FCP and AVID running. If AVID ever does fail, its because one of the students did something wrong, and screwed up the system. When FCP fails, there is no reason. And it happens much, much, much, much more often.
For instance, something people take for granted is AVID's project management. Most students here don't realize that and AVID project is just a folder. With all their bin information saved independently. Meanwhile, FCP saved a project file. I believe in the past year or so, I have seen between 15 and 20 FCP project files become corrupted, causing the students to have to start over from scratch. Never have I seen this in AVID. Even when students aren't paying attention, and delete or lose their AVID project, I can send them back to the Attic, and they can grab it again.
Attacking AVIDs stability is totally asinine.
grinner
Carbonite Member
not really.
It's stability is what made it "avid". That went away with the change to software-based setups. They now are only as stable as the system it's on... always the case but they use to build those systems.
Things really have changed, man. From a users point of view, it's ok. Good cheap software. From a teacher's point of view it's delightful...just another flavor to offer.
To the post-production shop owners of the world, Avid's steps in the last 3 years have simply made it impossible to purchase another avid product. They have run their old six and seven-figure paying clientele for the swarm of customers with a couple of grand and a best buy card.
Business is business but it sure makes a brother wish he didn't owe 5 figures on his out of date "media composer".
It's stability is what made it "avid". That went away with the change to software-based setups. They now are only as stable as the system it's on... always the case but they use to build those systems.
Things really have changed, man. From a users point of view, it's ok. Good cheap software. From a teacher's point of view it's delightful...just another flavor to offer.
To the post-production shop owners of the world, Avid's steps in the last 3 years have simply made it impossible to purchase another avid product. They have run their old six and seven-figure paying clientele for the swarm of customers with a couple of grand and a best buy card.
Business is business but it sure makes a brother wish he didn't owe 5 figures on his out of date "media composer".
S
SeanEmer
Guest
The best help for deciding on an editing program is to try it out. Asking what people think is better will only end up starting a flame war. Try the tools, see what works for you, and choose whichever you prefer. As long as you produce the work you intended to, it doesn't matter what tool(s) you used.
If you're looking for a mainstream job, people will tell you to learn Avid, or(increasingly) Final Cut Pro. If I were you, I'd play it smart and just learn everything. A guy who knows Avid might beat out a guy who knows Final Cut (or vice versa in the coming years), but a guy who knows both will beat both of them.
If you're looking for a mainstream job, people will tell you to learn Avid, or(increasingly) Final Cut Pro. If I were you, I'd play it smart and just learn everything. A guy who knows Avid might beat out a guy who knows Final Cut (or vice versa in the coming years), but a guy who knows both will beat both of them.
adkimery
Veteran
You bumped a month old thread to re-start a flame war?
A couple of years ago I was AEing on a reality show w/four Avids and we had a corrupted bin problem spreading between the editors since they were all sharing each others bins. Any project opened from the attic become corrupted as well which obviously compounded the problem. We (the other AEs and myself) were finally able to figure it out, the editors only lost a little bit of work, and thankfully the show stayed on schedule. Moral of the story is nothing is perfect. For the last 18 months I've worked at a final cut house w/11 other editors, collectively creating around 16-24 projects a week, and off the top of my head I can only recall 1, maybe 2, projects that couldn't be saved by using the Auto-Save Vault.
-A
Take_1
Well-known member
No one angrily flamed anyone (except for you, which interestingly enough is an indication that you felt threatened and had no real ability to intelligently defend yourself in a clever manner).
Another brilliant statement displaying advanced education, understanding and enlightenment... (sarcasm intended)
If their "software engine is buggy as all hell" as you put it, I would have to call into question the judgment of nearly every post production supervisor in Hollywood for starters. Maybe they've missed something that you seem to have figured out? Perhaps you should contact someone? Your dream job might be just a call away!
Avid has always stated that you are to run their software on a certified system. If you don't, thats your choice and risk. If you want to see a real gong show though... take a look on FCP's own web site and see the truth that they've been hiding... stability... please!
Look who's lecturing... and is this where I'm supposed to be impressed...? "worked" thats past tense right? Though I wouldn't want to speculate as to why you aren't there anymore...
Your right! I do have the right to my opinion, you have me there (good one btw)! And you can have your opinion too OK...?
Well if thats not a personal attack I don't know what is. Nice back peddle there at the end though to try and soften it a bit so you don't get banned for breaking forum rules. Anyway, I won't even dignify that little tantrum with a response.
They cleaned their house of some bad management and are now putting things back on track. And yes, I'm sure that it was embarrassing for them as a company. But at least they had the balls to fix the problem and come clean with it.
Look dude, if you don't like Avid FINE. There are plenty of other choices out there for you. But, as was stated elsewhere, this is the Avid Forum. If you have some issues, this is the place to try and find solutions and workarounds so that you can get your projects completed. What I (and others here) have issue with is the non-constructive, blatant bashing of a product which serves no purpose other than to piss off others and spawn bad will.
Last edited:
Take_1
Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by arrestthisman
I just love it when someone comes on here and expresses an opinion. And, after all, ALL of these posts are opinions--someone angrily flames you because you "hurt their feelings" regarding a piece of gear that they like.
.
.
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Originally Posted by arrestthisman
I just love it when someone comes on here and expresses an opinion. And, after all, ALL of these posts are opinions--someone angrily flames you because you "hurt their feelings" regarding a piece of gear that they like.
.
.
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Interesting isn't it?
DC
Cinematographiliac
Mr. T1, I sincerely appreciate your Avid fervor and understand your frustration over recent forum posts, but . . .
And this goes for everyone . . .
Let's please please PLEASE start playing nice again. Let's drop the bitterness, negative remarks, personal attacks, etc.. Let's get back on topic and HELP EACH OTHER with our Avid-related issues.
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