Avid slyly opening up at NAB for those that noticed

[Andy Neil]

Avid is just a constant source of disappointment. Their features list for new versions reads like technical bug fixes rather than significant additions to the software. And who gives a rats ass about 4K support when they can’t even get the little things right? They will forever be a one step forward/two step back company because they allow themselves to be held hostage by a small number of intractable and unimaginative editors who can’t be bothered to learn anything new. Say what you will about FCPX and Premiere (and now Resolve I suppose). They are not afraid to make significant changes to the way their programs operate.

But hey, at least I got an annoying little icon on my audio clips that can raise an lower the volume now.

Andy

https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos

[Scott Witthaus]

Seems like the focus of the company is now shared storage, cloud, etc.,. Editing software is just a bolt-on to Avid Everywhere. Between premiere, X and now R11, I feel Avid is in real trouble outside their broadcast stronghold.

Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
1708 Inc./Editorial
Professor, VCU Brandcenter

[Oliver Peters]

Gosh. At the end of the day, I’ll take reliability over features. I’ve had far more frustrating experiences with FCP 7/X and Premiere than I’ve ever had with Avid. I ran into friends at the show running Premiere and heard some stories that certainly give me pause. Most of the issues in both cases seem to be related to bad exports.

Avid is what it is. Whether there’s a true change in the works has yet to be proven. The folks who actually attended the Connect event came away feeling positive about the experience. I think rumors of Avid’s demise are premature. For editors who like Avid, there really is no compelling reason to change to another NLE. The subscription model (as an option) may well attract new users.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Craig Seeman]

I’ve been one of those who has been negative on Avid but I think Oliver is absolutely right.

I think the new pricing model for the NLE is exactly what they need to make software a bit more valuable to them and more palatable to the user.

Avid’s not so much about bleeding edge features as their base is about reliability. What needed wasn’t a “wiz bang” but a more profitable and attractive software business model. They’ve done exactly that.

Low cost of entry to subscribe complete with Symphony Option.
A buy option with subscription for updates and the ability for the user to exit, if they chose, and still have MC.
The ability to jump back in if you’ve exited, even though it’s full price again (protecting Avid from loses from upgrade skippers).

Lots of options for the users and more revenue for Avid. Rather than antagonize their base, they now have avenues to expand their NLE sales and revenue… for those who value a conservative approach to features in exchange for reliability and key features other NLEs are still far behind on.

[Andy Neil]

[Oliver Peters] “At the end of the day, I’ll take reliability over features.”

I feel that Avid’s reliability is more based on reputation than actual working software. I’m working on it now and I have plenty of reliability issues. As close to as many as I have with X or Premiere.

AMA is and always has been glitchy. Buffer underruns are common. Hardware glitches are more apparent in 7 than in any version since 4. And even if I’m not crashing or getting errors right and left, it shows it’s age at every turn. I select a clip with audio scrubbing on and move it and the clip jumps back and forth for seconds before settling in the spot I want it to. If I turn off audio scrubbing, it works fine. You still can’t raise and lower clip volume with a keyboard shortcut from the timeline, nor nudge keyframes or any of the time saving things you can do in pretty much every other app. Animating stills with any sort of finesse is a nightmare. The list goes on; this is just what is currently bothering me today about it. Yesterday, the timeline disappeared from my monitor while I was in the middle of working. I had to jump out of my settings and back in to get it back. As far as I’m concerned, Avid reliability is a myth or at the very least, a thing of the past.

[Oliver Peters] “Whether there’s a true change in the works has yet to be proven.”

After 30+ years? I’d say the default position is that Avid will always remain as it is. If down the road they surprise us, then I’ll know that hell has frozen over and it’s time to take another look.

[Oliver Peters] “For editors who like Avid, there really is no compelling reason to change to another NLE.”

That’s the same argument for any NLE. But in Avid’s case, a small number of old film cutters with the ear of the company, resist any an all advancements in the way Avid works. There are tons of things that Avid could address in the UI alone to make it not feel so damn ancient, but old guard won’t allow it. Just look at the ridiculous ire that was spewed with Avid’s last major UI advance: the smart tool. I half-expected them to get rid of it after one version the way people cried about Avid being turned into FCP. Avid could use a little more FCP.

Andy

https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos

[David Mathis]

[Craig Seeman] “A buy option with subscription for updates and the ability for the user to exit, if they chose, and still have MC.
The ability to jump back in if you’ve exited, even though it’s full price again (protecting Avid from loses from upgrade skippers).
“

I would like to know why, in the name of Jupiter that Adobe is really against this type of business model. Avid is taking a much better and fair approach. Yes, at the end of the day it is nothing more than a business decision but one I must respectfully disagree with. My two cents, whatever it is worth.

[Craig Seeman]

[Andy Neil] “but old guard won’t allow it.”

FWIW I think the risk of offending the old guard has a bigger price for Avid. A portion of the old guard are dependent in ISIS and the like and people switching away from Avid means a lose of hardware sales and maintenance contracts.

One question Avid is probably grappling with is making it attractive enough for those who aren’t buying into ISIS systems so software becomes more profitable for them.

While I’m not sure what their next steps will be of course, it’s noteworthy that the monthly subscription includes Symphony option. It’s an additional cost if you go the purchase and subscribe route.

I think this is an attempt to expand their base with what they currently have.

https://www.avid.com/static/resources/common/documents/datasheets/Media_Composer/Media_Composer_License_Comparison_Guide_cs_A4.pdf

[Craig Seeman]

I can think of two reasons for the difference in approach.
Adobe is much more concerned about complete abandonment from users, hence the “no painless exit” strategy.
Adobe, a software only company, gives you everything with CC even if much of the software is completely unrelated to your business.

That doesn’t make it a good business decision for a good portion of their users but Adobe, unlike Avid, is very willing to cut their user base while increasing profits IMHO. Apparently Adobe didn’t have a model for maintaing or increasing their user base as well as profitability. I suspect a lot of it rested on development and marketing costs.

[Andy Neil]

[Craig Seeman] “FWIW I think the risk of offending the old guard has a bigger price for Avid. A portion of the old guard are dependent in ISIS and the like and people switching away from Avid means a lose of hardware sales and maintenance contracts.”

In my opinion, this is the perfect time for Avid to offend the old guard. What are they going to do? Jump ship from Avid? To what? Most of the people I work with on Avid would actually like to see some innovation from them. It’s just a few codgers who don’t want to change how they work, even if it makes them faster/better that are holding Avid up.

One of the biggest issues Avid has in my opinion is that they can’t decide whether they’re a software or hardware company. If they’re a hardware company, then why not make ISIS a compatible and workable solution for other NLEs? They could become the workflow innovators. ISIS could be in FCP shops and Premiere shops and Avid shops. Then they could make a profit and not tie their hardware success to a singular piece of software.

Andy

https://plus.google.com/u/0/107277729326633563425/videos

[Ricardo Marty]

avid had a chance to aquire new younger uses when they purchased liquid, saddley they preffered to start change to a prosumer editor called avid studio wich could have been developed. into full pro nle but was sold to corel, now called pinnacle studio ultimate. hopefuly adobe will develop it further.

ricardo marty