Avid possibly?

[Al Levine]

Avid feels like a giant step backwards IMO. Just everything about it.

This is just how most NLEs work… and ProTools… Maybe Adobe should start certifying certain systems with their software, similar to what AVID does.

They say something like 7.2.2 is certified with 10.9.2
Not certified with 10.9.3.

[Tim Kolb]

The biggest challenges to solving technical issues are first, recording circumstances surrounding the crashes as accurately as possible (yes, it’s tedious, but critical)and second, getting to tech support personnel who can actually run the issues to ground as opposed to the sort of ‘baseline’script.

Have you pursued your difficulties with any technical staff at Adobe?

As much fun as changing NLEs every two years or so would be…I have to believe you’d rather fix the current problems and get on with it, yes?

I left Macs some time ago, but I do sense that many who adopt Apple’s OS updates early and often seem to be the final wave of beta testers relatively frequently these days…and if the OS is frequently tweaking stuff that ends up messing with SDK details, chances are that most software vendors are pulling hairs out, even though from vendor to vendor, the particular hairs might be different.

Have you checked out the Avid forums to see what challenges those users may/may not be having? Does Media Composer run on the new MacPros more trouble-free than Adobe? (…not a rhetorical question…I really have no idea.)

TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

Adobe Certified Instructor

[Brian Cooney]

Looks like Avid is certified for use with new MacPros running OS10.9.1 . Might possibly be certified with 10.9.2 . since the article I received it from was dated March 31st. Unfortunately Adobe doesn’t do any certification to let you know which platform is rock solid.

Head of Post Production, Coca-Cola Studios Atlanta, GA. Telly Award Winning Editor and Motion Gfx Artist.

[Tim Jones]

Brian,

I understand your rift with Apple on the FCP7 death (I also jumped from 7 to PP at that time), but have you taken a moment and looked into FCP X? I’ve monitored all three majors over the last 3 years and I have to admit that FCP X 10.1 is quite an impressive creature compared to 10.0. I especially love the multi camera and audio matching features. Granted, I edit training vids and tradeshow trailers versus feature films or TV episodics, but I’ve come to appreciate the fluidity that FCP X provides – once I released my hold on “but it’s different.”

OTOH, I’m also running PP CC and 14 on a new Mac Pro with 10.9.3 and both are running rather well over the past couple of days. While I’ve not exceeded a 20 minute project, both versions work as expected here. The only thing I did run into is that AE 14 seems to be much more memory hungry than AE CC was.

I also both own and subscribe to Avid’s MC/Symphony, and their latest is also running fairly well under 10.9.3 on the new Mac Pro.

All anecdotal, but maybe a new look at FCP X might be in order.

Tim
—
Tim Jones
CTO – TOLIS Group, Inc.
https://www.productionbackup.com
BRU … because it’s the RESTORE that matters!

[Andrew Kimery]

Brian,

I’ve read many complaints about Mavericks 10.9.2 and 10.9.3 from people running software that is heavily GPU dependent (such as Resolve and PPro). It certainly seems to be a problem with the OS.

You mentioned Creative Suite so are you still running CS6? Can you upgrade to Creative Cloud or does the subscription service not jive with your employer since it’s not a capital expenditure? I ask because CC does a lot of things better than CS6 (especially when it comes to PPro).

What types of projects do you do? You mention multiple Macs, do you have shared storage? I ask because Adobe and Avid have different strengths and weaknesses so the best fit depends a lot what workflow you have. Avid MC, IMO, is at it’s best when used in a large multi-editor, shared storage environment (running ISIS) as a straight up editor. Also, Avid MC, AFAIK, still leverages the CPU more than the GPU for rendering so one of the biggest selling points of the New Mac Pros (the dual GPUs) is moot when it comes to Avid.

[Shane Ross]

Avid MC 7.0.4 and MC 8 are certified with 10.9.2. And is Avid better? All depends on your needs. There are times when Avid is better than FCX and Adobe, and times when PPro would be the better choice. Know that with Avid you need to transcode all your footage to Avid codecs…workflows are VERY different than FCP or PPro…so you’ll need editors/assistants that know the app well, and training if it’s just you. Avid isn’t the best at dealing with importing and working with stills, so you’ll need to look into that.

It’s rock solid for many uses…but also the absolute wrong choice for many other uses.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Brian Cooney]

Thanks Andrew. Sorry, I meant Creative Cloud. thanks for the info. good to know. doing all kinds of stuff from internal talking head, to web advertising to motion gfx and some animation. As we have just got up and running in the past couple months, the goal is to get the macros connected to our internal, designated server. had a software company come in yesterday to pitch their product. I wish Adobe could just address all this stuff and give a clear concise roadmap to a solid platform. I’m just not finding it. Even with talking with Adobe personnel.

Head of Post Production, Coca-Cola Studios Atlanta, GA. Telly Award Winning Editor and Motion Gfx Artist.

[Ericbowen]

If you use Apple then your at the mercy of Apple’s R&D time frames and communication or lack there of to partners. 10.9.3 had major changes to Open CL which broke applications that used it and not developed by Apple. This is going to be an ongoing problem long term because Apple doesn’t give the partners the mobility, communication, or R&D flexibility with OSX to resolve these issues themselves. Cloud based R&D development cycles and time frames are far to fast for Apple’s model and far more suited for Microsoft’s model. Adobe is working fine on Windows along with CUDA or Open CL.

Eric-ADK
Tech Manager
support@adkvideoediting.com

[Brian Cooney]

Thanks Tim. I haven’t run FCPX because I guess I nudged it off as prosumer. Just its siamese twin relationship with iTunes and all that. I do own it and use it from time to time for certain fx it has. I haven’t really gone into depth with it though. I use dual 27″ monitors and can FCPX even be configured for dual monitors? have the given the ability to unlock and size the frames/panels? not sure.

Couple questions…how is it performing lately is it really solid? how does it handle Red footage, etc.

Thanks so much for responding,

Brian

Head of Post Production, Coca-Cola Studios Atlanta, GA. Telly Award Winning Editor and Motion Gfx Artist.

[Brian Cooney]

Thanks. I guess my frustration right now is in reliability. I could give a lot up for that.

Head of Post Production, Coca-Cola Studios Atlanta, GA. Telly Award Winning Editor and Motion Gfx Artist.