Thinking about switching from FCP

S

sublimesnfu

Well-known member
Hello,

I've been editing with FCP since version 1, and now with version 7 I am seriously starting to consider AVid MC, I edit every thing from Social Media spots to long form documentaries and features like Script sync look to nice to pass up.

My question is this, how big of a jump is it in editing work flow to move from FCP to Avid. The biggest thing I've heard from fellow editors is that many like the way the timeline works in FCP more and I have to say I love the work flow in Final Cut. What I don't like is how damn antiquated the code.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Alan
 
sublimesnfu said:
What I don't like is how damn antiquated the code.
Click to expand...
I'm not a developer so I don't know anything about the underlying code. I do know that Avid has continued to update MC at a faster rate than Apple has updated FCP. FWIW, MC can now use ProRes source files.
Avid has also updated certain aspects of the UI in version 5 to make it behave more like FCP. I'm told that the FCP users appreciate the addition of a more mouse based approach to MC. I'm more of a keyboard cutter myself so I don't use some of the new tools.

sublimesnfu said:
features like Script sync look to nice to pass up.
Click to expand...
Apparently the creators of Script Sync have realized how nice their application is as well - they are changing their licensing fees with Avid. MC5 is the last version that will include ScriptSync free of charge. Pricing has yet to be determined for adding ScriptSync on to future versions of MC.


sublimesnfu said:
My question is this, how big of a jump is it in editing work flow to move from FCP to Avid.
Click to expand...
Non linear editing is more or less the same regardless of application choice. The biggest challenge in moving from one app to another is letting go of the death grip that you may have on the existing editor. When I first learned FCP I struggled because I wanted it to behave like MC. Once I let go of that and started using FCP the way that FCP was intended to be used the transition became much easier.

You can download a demo of MC5 and take it for a test drive for 30 days to see if you like it or not.
 
You can add much of the funcionality of Script Sync with a program called Get. It's based on the same technology. http://www.getphonetic.com/

FWIW, if you know both FCP & Avid, and are good at both, you will greatly improve your market base.
 
milksac said:
Apparently the creators of Script Sync have realized how nice their application is as well - they are changing their licensing fees with Avid. MC5 is the last version that will include ScriptSync free of charge. Pricing has yet to be determined for adding ScriptSync on to future versions of MC.
Click to expand...

Actually, if you own Media Composer already and you upgrade it to 5 you get a final license of ScriptSync free. If you purchase 5 brand new it's an additional $1,000 licensing fee for ScriptSync.

Your best bet, if you want ScriptSync, is to buy an older copy of Media Composer and upgrade it. If it's pre-4.0, the upgrade cost is $795. If it's 4.x it's $695. But this way you get ScriptSync free.

Michael
 
arniepix said:
You can add much of the funcionality of Script Sync with a program called Get. It's based on the same technology. http://www.getphonetic.com/

FWIW, if you know both FCP & Avid, and are good at both, you will greatly improve your market base.
Click to expand...

"Get" is different. ScriptSync allows you to sync all of your takes to an imported script, which you can then search. So you can go directly to a scene (or search for a line of dialogue), and from the script view watch all the takes of that portion of the script. It's more than just indexing and searching your audio. Although Get looks awesome, it's a different product (unless they've incorporated it with scripting now).
 
Butcher said:
Actually, if you own Media Composer already and you upgrade it to 5 you get a final license of ScriptSync free. If you purchase 5 brand new it's an additional $1,000 licensing fee for ScriptSync.

Your best bet, if you want ScriptSync, is to buy an older copy of Media Composer and upgrade it. If it's pre-4.0, the upgrade cost is $795. If it's 4.x it's $695. But this way you get ScriptSync free.

Michael
Click to expand...

I really need to do this. I knew the power of scriptsync, but just haven't taken advantage of it yet. If this blasted movie I was cutting now actually USED more of the written script it would be helpful!

I'll try to run down the procedure to get Scriptsync this week maybe. Any tips? It seemed a pretty onerous process when I looked at it back in June.
 
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