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AVID – Why Not?
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I’ll just comment on your first paragraph and leave the rest cuz to me that’s the interesting question. In my opinion, they changed X so substantially because very smart people with world class understandings of both modern computing power and developments in editing saw that the hardware and internet landscape had already shifted hugely and would likely continue to do so. And saw that they could better re-architect media manipulation for that future. It’s certainly uncomfortable for editors who just want everything to work perfectly during the transition. I get that. But progress is messy. And it’s also necessary. Simple as that.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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[Bill Davis] “And saw that they could better re-architect media manipulation for that future. It’s certainly uncomfortable for editors who just want everything to work perfectly during the transition. I get that. But progress is messy. And it’s also necessary. Simple as that.”
Except that – given some advance development time – they’ve had 5-6 years to get it right and it’s still not there. That’s what’s frustrating. Many of us who regularly use X on challenging projects start off well enough and then the complexity of the project simply grinds you to a halt at the point when you can’t turn back.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
I have no problems with FCPX architecture. I hate the fact that it slows down so much, that it’s unpredictable in its bugs, in things that seem simple but have many weird pitfalls, that you need so many workarounds and that there are things that it can handle for like 90% but the other 10% causes huge time delays. And I find it bothersome that there is hardly any support.
There’s a endless list of little things that make FCPX not entirely reliable in some basic features: the audio meters – what are they peaked to? There’s no reference. Color correction: if you change the black or highlights in Exposure, the midtowns also vary, audio synchronisation using timecode – works great expect if there are variations in tracks of the seperately recorded audioclips, etc etc etc. It goes on and on.
So to work with it: fine, it has its merits, some very nice features, some very good, others are meh but okay to work with if you have the speed.. And I often don’t, so to work ON it usually means a lot of time delays, work arounds, the occasional crash and mysterious things that don’t work for some reason etc. etc. That is my main gripe with FCPX. And the usual answer I get it: it will be fixed in the next update, hopefully.
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I don’t doubt that this is your experience, Oliver. But there’s a LOT of high end video production and programming coming through the X pipeline now – broadcast, film and corporate – and while I absolutely hear of folks complaining about having to come around to working the X way – what I don’t hear much about is shops hitting a blind alley and not being able to go forward.
News, Networks, Agencies, Sure I hear grousing = particularly from shops in their first year or two. But for the folks who’ve put the same amount of daily production time into X that you’d expect a well experienced editor to have in their primary shop tool – whatever it is – I just don’t hear more than the regular amount of complaining.
I’ve been arguing for years here that it’s not easy to dump and re-learn the stuff that X requires.. But at the same time, I’ve preached that if you put in the effort – you can get outstanding and very efficient results.
What I do tend to hear is that editors who come from years on other NLEs – who do a few projects on X – then go back and do more projects on AVID – or Premiere – then back to X again – they tend to sound just like the folks who work primarily on X sound when they have to cut something on AVID or Premiere. They miss what they’re used to.
It’s a world FULL of old style timeline editors with decades of experience in that.
The most experienced of us “magnetic” editors have 4 years in now – and with the slow uptake that X went’ through for whatever reason, even in pro shops using X full time – the seat holders may have a year or two if you’re really lucky.
Looking back at the early days of FCP Legacy, AVID or anything else, we had a term for editors with just a year or two experience on those new systems – even if they had years of cutting on a Steenbeck.
Newbies. (I guess now that’s noobs.)
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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[Mike Warmels] “There’s a endless list of little things that make FCPX not entirely reliable in some basic features: the audio meters – what are they peaked to? There’s no reference. Color correction: if you change the black or highlights in Exposure, the midtowns also vary, audio synchronisation using timecode – works great expect if there are variations in tracks of the seperately recorded audioclips, etc etc etc. It goes on and on.
“Okay. I get it. The glass is super half empty for you. I get that.
For me, I see none of those delays. Don’t know if it’s my hardware, my formats, my types of jobs or just random dumb luck. But I see none of that.
For me, it’s fluid and easy and super responsive.
All this does, maybe, is inform the discussion that what you’re seeing is not the only thing that all other X editors are seeing. Take that for what it’s worth. That’s all.
Know someone who teaches video editing in elementary school, high school or college? Tell them to check out http://www.StartEditingNow.com – video editing curriculum complete with licensed practice content.
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[Bill Davis] “I don’t doubt that this is your experience, Oliver. But there’s a LOT of high end video production and programming coming through the X pipeline now”
Nor do I doubt that either. But that’s where the disconnect happens. Comparing the various forums, I see far more situations where performance with FCP X is inconsistent than I do with the others. And by inconsistent, I mean the same people who have good experiences also have some really bad ones. With Avid or Premiere it tends to be universally bad or good. So clearly there’s an issue with project size, media type, plug-ins, the OS, etc. I don’t know that answer but it seems to be the case a lot with X. I think Mike’s posts are a very good example of that.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Bill Davis] “my formats, my types of jobs”
What formats are you using Bill and are you doing any long form work with over 1000 clips?
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[Oliver Peters] “I think Mike’s posts are a very good example of that.”
I think the system Mike is using is pre – 10.2 and Yosemite, which doesn’t help with project size issues and beachballing.
I’ve found there have been big improvements in both of these since 10.2
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[Steve Connor] “I’ve found there have been big improvements in both of these since 10.2”
I’m on the newest stuff and I’m seeing improvements, but nothing significant, I’m afraid. A lot of this varies with the kinds of projects. Here’s an interesting example. Watch this demo by Denver Riddle of grading a feature using Color Finale. The points to notice are when he drags an adjustment layer title over a clip (about 4:45 into the video). Note how “sticky” the UI becomes before it settles down. This is the sort of UI interaction that shouldn’t happen in X but does, whereas the same sort of thing in Premiere pr Avid is completely smooth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTro81QcivE
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Bill – troll may just be trolling.
There’s a small percentage of posters both here and on fcp.co forums who often seem angry. Maybe they just have an inelegant way of expressing themselves. Or maybe they really do look at anything that is counter to their needs or expectations as worthless and inferior. Not sure. I just know that there’s no reasoning with the anger bears. Just move on to the next post. Life’s too short.
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