-
A few Avid questions from a potential convert.
I’m very close to purchasing a new MC. It will be the first Avid I’ve worked on in about 8 years. Since then I’ve been using Premiere Pro and I’ve been very happy with it. I am now financially able to buy my own Avid, so I’ve been trying to figure out which set up to get over the past few months. I just have a few questions that will help me decide if I can take the plunge or not. For what it’s worth, this system will also be my first step in converting to HD. For now most of my HD will come from the Panasonic HVX. While it would be nice to have the option to work with HDCAM, I hear that the addition of HD-SDI into any of these systems adds quite a bit to the price tag. Here are my questions:
1. What is the difference in street price between a Media Composer with Mojo as opposed to a MC with Adrenaline?
2. What are the major differences between the too, specifically on the accelleration side? How much better will the performance be with Adrenaline?
3. What would be the most versatile option that would allow me to add HD-SDI down the road?
4. Finally, I have really enjoyed Premiere Pro because of how easy it is to move between After Effects and Photoshop without rendering. How well does Media Composer work with these programs? Can you easily import photoshop layers, AE comps, etc.?
I have a meeting with the Avid dealer tomorrow but I thought it would be good to get some user feedback before I see him.
Thanks for any input!
-
13 Replies
-
Why are ya movin’ from Premiere Pro? Have you looked at FCP too? Ever checked out Vegas?
I have been on an Avid product since 1994. I’ve seen many changes… most for the better but I can’t say I’m a fan of the new Media Composer. I had a Meridien-based Symphony and I got more than my money’s worth. It was VERY used when I got it and I went on to kick the heck out of it daily for the next 2.5 years. I billed out well over a half million dollars on that box before it finally croaked. Now I have an Adrenaline HD and I can’t tell you how much I wish I had just fixed the ole Symphony. The Adrenaline is buggy, overpriced and in a few more software upgrades, I’d say it may be ready for a version 1 release to the public. Right now, we as paying customers are beta testing for Avid as they try to sift through the buggyness. It use to be a new software version from Avid meant added bells and whistles. Now they are bug fixes… or attempts at them. While I crashed maybe once a month on meridien-based Avids, I crash daily with the new and improved and frankly, it’s taken alot of the fun out of editing for me.
I never priced a mojo MC so I can’t compair the two. MC will import seperate layers one at a time from psd files but won’t bring in a single psd file with layers. It won’t import AE comps but you can export QT refrences from Avid, do yer thang in AE then import a rendered quicktime or image sequence as media.My decision to buy revolved around my clientele/workflow needs. Yours should too. If you have clients demanding the A word, find the best Avid solution for your workflow. If nobody is requesting it, I’d do some more shoppin around.
-
To add to what Grinner said, the cost of MC-soft (Media Composer 2.6.x software) plus Mojo SDI is around $7500, though you can get better prices with the dealers if you haggle a bit. If you go with regular Mojo, the price is about $1000 less. Adrenaline can be picked up for as little as $10,000, and with some hard haggling, you can get the “Adrenaline HD” system for around $18,000. Avid REALLY dropped their prices this year, which is not something I’m going to pride them over, since Avid has overcharged the snot out of its products since they first started selling them!
Getting opinions of Avid users isn’t going to help you much, since they’re just subjective, and you want OBJECTIVITY in this case. My suggestion is to go into the Avid dealer in the morning with an open mind. Don’t fall for the marketing hype the dealer is going to throw at you…they want to sell you a product! Instead, really focus on what the product has to offer, and make sure they give you some “stick-time!” (Hands-on time) If they don’t, don’t buy anything from them. Drive the software yourself and see what you think of it. Then go home, mull over what you were shown, then make a decision in a day or two. If you like the Avid, then by all means, buy it! If you don’t like it that much, then find another NLE platform. No one’s going to criticize you for going with a non-Avid NLE, instead of an Avid (and if they do, don’t worry about it, since they’re narrow-minded immature folks, regardless of how much experience they have). An NLE system is a pretty major purchase, and you have to buy what you’re going to feel comfortable with and be satisfied with. Don’t buy anything that doesn’t satisfy you…buy the PRODUCT, NOT THE NAME!!!!
Good luck!
-
[AK-Jake] “Adrenaline HD” system for around $18,000. Avid REALLY dropped their prices this year”
I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
and suddenly my bunghole hurts.
-
[AK-Jake] “you can get the “Adrenaline HD” system for around $18,000″
Thanks for the info guys. I want to follow up on a few things you each said but I only have a minute to send this quick note. When you say $18,000, what exactly are you talking about? I’m assuming you mean the Adrenaline hardware itself and NOT the MC software and the workstation. Is that correct? Even with the additional cost of those other components that’s cheaper than I was expecting!
-
Grinner, you’re obviously tweaking your machine harder than I do my Adrenaline. You are one of a couple of people I’ve heard make disparaging comments about Adrenaline’s stablility. I’m curious about the nature of your “daily” crashes, since mine has been very stable. Also, how has your dealer responded to all this?
-
My vendor is awesome. I will buy from them again and again. They worked with me on the sale and offer great support. I have no beef whatsoever with Midwest Media Group. They are always wonderful to work with. It’s the product thats a dog. I have noone to blame but myself, really. I knew it was a dog when I bought it. Ironicly, after paying more than what it’s supposidly selling for now, I still owe more than it’s supposidly selling for now.
oi vay
With the death of my Symphony, mondo projects dangling and a clientel that is use to only Avid, I felt it was a have to deal at the time.
My work flow is no more demanding than anyone elses. I grab material, chop it all up then add lotsa layers of love. Late in the day it wines about memory issues. I don’t keep photoshop and after effects open in each session anymore because it just can’t handle it. Drag, considering I have 4 times the amount of ram I had on my stable system. It gets REAL cranky when capturing via firewire. I try to do all my capturing in one swoop because it may take it 15 minutes of rebooting and talking nice to it to finally grab one. Most fixes are just creating new user settings, which I am quite tired of. The audio pops on rendered audio dissolves are annoying, having to render them at all is a joke, having to do mixdowns to make DVDs is cheesy and the DVE is still old school. Then there is the two crash a day for no particular reason that always makes clients happy. I’ve had to start keeping up with sports so I can turn around with a “how bout them Rams?” while we wait. It’s affected my bottom line as I give consessions over and over again for this thing. I honestly see it as a $45k mildy tweeked version of Xpress Pro.
Avid use to take pride in being the industry leader in non-linear editing. That pride went away long ago. This is exemplified by thier dropping Adrenaline prices rather than increasing it’s quality to match it’s original price point.So after that warm set up, anybody want a slightly used Avid AdrenalineHD?
-
[grinner] “I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
and suddenly my bunghole hurts.”
Grinner… I have deep sympathy for you & the problems you’re having with your edit rig, I really do, but I read this post… while in mid-chew of a PB&J sammich… now I’ve got sprayed PB&J bits across my monitor. DOH!
I needed the laugh, thanks for that 🙂
Bill
-
That $18K would get you the MC software, Adrenaline, DNxcel card, and all manuals/cables/3rd-party software that comes with an Adrenaline system. The computer will set you back another $5-$7K (depending on which computer you get, an HP xw8200 BETTER NOT cost you more than $3K, especially since HP’s phasing it out now for the uber-spendy xw8400–which is NOT a certified system yet). For storage, that will set you back more money (LOTS more if you get an Avid storage array). Finally, computer monitors, broadcast monitor, decks, scopes, etc. will all cost you additional money, too.
Make sure the dealer throws in a $100 Avid Media Composer Keyboard for free with your purchase. I’d lay heat on them for a hat and nice winter jacket, too. 🙂
The $18K is NOT a set-in-stone price. The final price you pay for an Adrenaline HD system (DNxcel) will depend upon your haggling skills, and how much of a profit your dealer wants to make. You might not be able to do any better than $21K, hard to say. My dealer quoted me $18,500. Make sure you get a complete package price from your dealer for the complete system–Adrenaline, computer, storage, monitors, etc. Buying in package-form can save you lots of money over buying individual pieces.
Another thing: get quotes from a couple of different dealers. Then get them in a bidding war. Tell them the lowest price wins. You might get some more wiggle-room on the final price if they know they’re in competition with another dealer. You don’t have to give names, but just let them know that there’s another dealer competing for your money. You might save a few extra bucks that way, too.
What’d you think of the demo?
-
I know…I feel the same way. 🙂
Still, $18K is a heck of a lot better than the $35K it would have cost you in March!
-
Yikes! I would hope that with all those problems Avid or your dealer would help you out! You spent a lot of money on what sounds like a big headache. There’s nothing worse than buggy gear that gets in the way of editing. I hope things work out for you.
Thanks for all the input concerning my questions. I had a good long talk with the dealer today and spent about an hour cutting on the Adrenaline and Mojo powered machines. I’m actually starting to lean back toward the Axio since I can get some pretty robust performance with HD-SDI and uncompressed 10-bit HD, and it’s about half the price of the Adrenaline. Plus I still have all my Adobe integration.
I’ve been comparing so many numbers on so many systems that I’m about cross eyed right now, so I think I’ll sleep on this for about a week. Thanks again for all your input!
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up