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Avid dilemma (not technical)
First post, but I use the hell out of this forum when I need to problem solve.
I’ve been working as an editor for the last six years, moved to senior editor March of this year. Now in the position to make changes… I’d like to. We have three edit bays, 2 pc based 1 mac, 2 run off mojos with one Adrenaline. We mainly produce television commercials, between 1 and 7 per bay per day. We have been moving more towards motion graphics over the last 6 months (which is fine by me) working with photoshop, illustrator, and after effects. The bosses are toying with the idea of adding Maya 3ds (on one system), which I’m thrilled about. Although I’m concerned the financial commitment may hold my 3d future in jeopardy. Breathe…
Here’s my question… Can I cut some corners with the Avid hardware aka high leases every month, to get some cash flowing towards new software/plugins?
We only have one bay hooked to a deck, so playback doesn’t need to be smooth. We upload spots online or to ftp sites. I spend 75% of my day working with the Adobe programs, and don’t capture any footage through my system, all imports. I just don’t see the need for 3 edit bays to have full video capabilities, while sucking my budget dry. It’s getting in the way of progress. I’m not sure when the leases run out, but I’d like to have a game plan for the future. I don’t want a ton of responses telling me to entirely switch editing systems, but suggestions are welcome. What I’m hoping I hear is the Avid software alone will meet my needs for the bays without the deck, or at least one. We bring in most footage through P2, and when my media drives are full and I don’t have time to archive projects I work of the external hard drives that hold the P2 footage instead of the media drives. Have had no issues with this method, is it a possibility to do away with some of the media drives as well? They are part of the lease.
Was also wondering if there is any hardware I can get for Adobe programs and or Maya. If I can get a system entirely set up for motion graphics, while still being able to cut video when need be would be awesome.
Thanks ahead of time for any help!
Beau Baker
Editor, Graphic Designer, Animator,
Professional MMA Fighter -
3 Replies
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How many on staff are use to FCP? It offers much more bang for the buck than any Avid product today. If sticking with Avid stuff, you don’t need an adrenaline suite. Today a mojo offers more capabilities, ironic as that sounds. You may also find value in throwing one guy in an adobe room with Premiere Pro and After Effects. It depends on your clientele and workflow, really but there are many ways to save moola without giving up capabilities.
I’d think two mojo rooms for quickies and one nice FCP suite would take care of all editing, freeing up fundage for that 3D station you want.
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Yeah we have a guy starting next week with FCP experience. My only concern is having 8+ years of Avid projects archive and having one edit system that can’t use them. Guess I should refraise my question. Can I have an edit system devoted soley to motion graphics and just run Avid software for cutting video? Maybe what we have is the way to go. Thanks for the post!
Beau Baker
Editor, Graphic Designer, Animator,
Professional MMA Fighter -
[Beau Baker] “Can I have an edit system devoted soley to motion graphics and just run Avid software for cutting video?”
Yep. If you have your Adrenaline hooked to your broadcast monitor just turn one of your Mojo systems into a graphics station and use Media Composer in software only mode. The issue will be that you can’t properly monitor your footage on an HD display (Mojo is SD only), but if you rememeber to color check everything on your Adrenaline before you export for FTP uploads or dump to tape you should be fine.
Also, find out about your lease. I’ve seen a lot of leases with $1 buyouts when they expire. If your leases are close to being up, you may be close to owning everything for cheap. Then you should have plenty of money for Maya.
Michael.
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I’ll be working late.
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