Advice for a machine to edit HDV with Xpress Pro

[Grinner Hester]

Hi Phil.
My honest opinion of what you buy with the Avid package is the buzzword of Avid. This was a big deal when producers sought out places only with the A word. Now, they often don’t care or know or the dude pushin the buttons is the producer. With that comes looking hard at the budget and in looking at that, it’s easy to see more bang for the buck is in the FCP system. From being able to tear into HDV projects for a smaller amount of money to being able to upgrade that same system to an uncompressed HD suite with the greatest of ease and
…well, I’d go with the FCP system.

[Oakmozart]

It’s sad, but in one respect, I strongly agree with Grinner. In another, I strongly oppose him. Be that as it may, Grinner knows what he’s talking about. There are a great many things that FCP lacks that Avid has, and vice-versa.

Before jumping on one NLE or the other, I STRONGLY suggest you find a dealer (or dealers) that sell both FCP and Avid solutions. Arrange to have a demo, where an editor sits down and gives you an in-depth tour of how the software works, edits, and all the whiz-bang features included in each. Very carefully study for stability, and see which NLE seems the most natural for you. When the demo’s done, make sure the dealer gives you some “stick-time” (aviation-speak for hands-on time to drive the software yourself and play with it)…this will give you a better personal feeling of which program is the one for you. If the dealer won’t give you the stick-time you want, thank them for their time, walk out of their dealership, and don’t come back. DO NOT give them a penny of your money if they’re not going to give you a chance to see what the product they’re selling is like! Would you buy a new car from a dealer who simply took you for a ride in the car you were interested in, but wouldn’t let you actually drive it yourself? The same goes true for an NLE…which when in complete package-form will set you back as much as a new car…more MORE!

If you buy an Avid solution, factor in the cost of a certified workstation as part of the price. If you don’t go with a certified workstation, you’re opening yourself up to a world of hurt. I’m NOT saying that you can’t build your own box to run Avid on–people do it all the time with great results. However, they also run into a lot more problems than folks on certified boxes do…ESPECIALLY when adding in Avid hardware to the mix! For Avid-software-only solutions (XPro without Mojo, for example), a home-built box will probably be just fine…so long as you follow Avid’s system requirements EXACTLY!! NO AMD processors! NO ATI graphics cards!! A DIY-box will save you some major bank, too.

Avid still seems to be hanging on to the past, when they were the be-all/end-all of the video world when it came to post-production. They don’t seem to realize that they are slowly being defeated by their other competitors, which they also don’t seem to be taking too terribly seriously. This is unfortunate, as they’re going to get pancaked and find themselves at the end of the pack, as opposed to the lead. Avid has had some wonderful opportunities to bury FCP and other competitors in the past 3 years (this year, especially!), but they’ve passed on each and every one of them. Now, with Apple taking 2 years to crank out FCP 6 and the new FCP Studio apps, I literally shudder with what they’re going to put to market come April’s NAB ’07. If Avid doesn’t match them with an equally-awesome upgrade for their products (namely XPro and Xpress Studio), things could get REALLY ugly in Tewksbury, and beautiful in Cupertino. And you know, if you think about it, FCP really ISN’T competing with XPro anymore…it’s going after Media Composer, for 1/5th the price. If that doesn’t scare the sh!t out of Avid, then I don’t know what will.

Keep in mind, I say this as a passionate lover of all things Avid, and merciless hater of all things Mac. I will admit I’m growing tired of waving the Avid flag when they’re not backing me up as much as they should be. I’m also finding that I’m using the Avid flag more and more as a protective shield to hide behind all the crap that people all slinging at me for waving the Avid flag, too. I would not be surprised if in 2 years I work exclusively on a Mac-Pro (as opposed to an HP xw-series workstation), with FCP installed on it. Whether that FCP be my primary NLE or simply sits on the Mac partition while I work away in Boot Camp under Windows Vista with Avid’s newest NLE as my main cutter remains to be seen.

Take care.

It’s not the tool you use, it’s the end product that counts.

[Philippe Orlando]

Grinner and AK-Jake, thanks a lot for your answers, I appreciate.
SInce I’m not a pro, I’m going to buy a mac, I’m thinking about the new Imac 24″, the Mac Pro is a little too expensive for me. I’ll install FCP on it, when and if Xpress Pro ever runs on it I’ll install it later.

Yes,AK-Jake you were right to remind me tht with Avid I have to be carefull to get a certified system. I now remember horror stories on a few forums about people who had problems. I’ve also noticed that the system AVID certifies are always high end and not the cheapest. FCP might be easier and cheaper for me to start with.
thanks a lot for responding
P.