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Avid is no bicycle
I just came back from a very frustrating (and short) Avid session with a friend. It is always difficult to jump on a project at the end and try to make sense of it (especially if the editor is not very organized). My friend is finishing up his thesis film from school, which he is cutting on an Avid (the whole school does). Throughout college I used Avids, and then my first editing gig out of school was on Avid, which I did for about a year. I had become very proficient using the program and when I bought FCP, I thought that I would never get used to it. Well, I have not used an Avid for over a year and a half and have strictly been cutting on FCP, and I love it. But, I always liked that fact that I was proficient in both platforms. Well…Avid is not like riding a bike…I have unlearned everything that I once knew on Avid. I kept getting that annoying warning sound every move I made, because I was trying to do things like I do it in FCP, and couldn’t. I am not saying that both programs should operate the same, what I am saying is that FCP makes sense, and working on an Avid felt so wrong. I could not believe how dated and clunky it felt working on an Avid…it just felt old and outdated.
Well I am done ranting…I wish that I could always cut on FCP, but there are still a lot of Avids out there. I guess that I am going to have to buy a copy of the Avid DV software just so that I don’t completely forget how to use the Avid interface, because you never know, your next job could be done all on Avid (I hope not).
Best,
Elip.s.
Has anyone else found it difficult to go back? Plus, does anyone know if the basic interface for AvidDV is the same as it’s higher end systems? I don’t want to buy it and then find out that I still don’t know how to use other Avids efficiently. -
25 Replies
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When we first started with FCP we realized how hard it was going back and forth between our Matrox systems and FCP. In the end, I “burned the ships” and went all FCP so we could concentrate on developing the same proficiency with it. It was a bold move and resulted in some unbillable hours in the beginning, but in the end it was the right move.
FWIW, I agree with your sentiments on the Avid. I have never understood the attraction to it…
Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com
http://www.insightproductions.com -
I couldnt agree more, and i cut on an adrenaline a few times a month. I use FCP as much as i can, i am kinda famous for insisting on FCP out here in LA. Many a fights I have had over this, however from time to time i loose the battle and have to cut on an adrenaline ( i would rather it be a mac composser maybe i wouldnt fight so much). First off I hate PC based anything, and adreanline is not only a really bad product it’s based on a really bad platform, the PC. just for all of you out there who may have to fight the big fight, heres what i always tell those old out of touch producers and havent had a job in years directors, I can do this my way and you will look like a god, or we can do this your way and you wont work in hollywood again. so if you hear this in the hollowed halls of an LA editorial house stop in and say hello.
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I am the reverse. I am proficient at both, but I find FCP just can’t keep up with me. Trimming, adjusting, scrolling, JKL’ing. Either platform, a messy projct is a mesy project. Pain in the arse. However, I do find Avid’s media management much more useable.
What I like about FCP is that everyone pretty much uses the same keyboard shortcuts. I have my own, but no big deal if I have to use the default.
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Interesting. I think one of your problems, and I am being serious here, is that you did not spend eight years or more doing Avid all day everyday. I too bounce back and forth between the two and have not yet had too much of a problem. When I do a long Avid project after a long FCP project I find myself looking at the interface/work flow sort of outside myself and I understand the thing and why it works as it does. The big message it tells me is that it (AVID) thinks that in order to get things done reliably and repeatable you MUST do things its way and its way is rigid and absolute. You have to appreciate what they are doing, they are putting you on a track that you must not get off in order to do your work. Sometimes this gives you a warm feeling, maybe it a feeling a deep familiarity. Whichever, its good. Certainly I feel like I can roar at supersonic speed and have no fear of falling off because I follow the guide rails I
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Yes, it’s amazing how quickly you forget. In my case I used avid from 1990 to 2001 then switched to FCP. Last year I started using Avid DVPro andfound it difficult.
I use dedicated key boards for both applications which helps, but I am definitely an FCP convert.
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Tell you what… you can go ahead and give me your Adrenaline jobs… I’ll be happy to do them without complaining. Do people really call you back after all your moaning about PC’s, and your insistence on using FCP?
I know both, and there are things about both that I like… I think Avid’s trim function is more advanced/streamlined than FCP at this point… 1 trim tool for Avid, 4 trim tools for FCP… on the other hand, I think Avid’s Segment Mode is retarded. I am equally comfortable on either PC or Mac platform… although I definitely appreciate the ease/simplicity/logic of the Mac way.
I have to believe that, as a freelancer, you are much more marketable by knowing both, and keeping fresh and fast on both. If someone is willing to pay me my rate to edit for them, I’ll be happy to cut on whatever system they have… I’ll save my opinions until I’m asked “what type of system should I build?”
Pain is temporary… film is forever.
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Yeah, the DV software will probably be sufficient to keep you fresh on Avid. Not as many features, certainly, but the interface is quite similar.
Pain is temporary… film is forever.
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No app is a bicycle. I used Quark for 13 years, and after a two year layoff I forgot nearly all my shortcuts.
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Adrenaline job? The guy with the adrenaline nearest me thought those existed until his clients found me and the FCP systems. FWIW, he has an FCP system in the building now (then again every Avid post house here does at this point).
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the compositing and layering of FCP. Avid has no answer for what I do in FCP each single week.
Your comment on “film being forever” definitely helped me put your views in perspective…
Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com
http://www.insightproductions.com -
Why don’t you download the free DV application from Avids site then you can relearn the editing process. It works for dv only and is perfect for learning kepyboard shortcuts etc. Start here, then buy later if need be. You can’t map the keyboard but everything else is the same.
cheers Nick
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