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Avid Xpress Pro Academic
I am a student and thus qualify for the Avid Xpress Pro Academic version. I’ve worked with editing software in the past though and don’t want quality or feature loss because I’m trying to save a buck and buy the academic version. So, my question is, does the academic version contain all the features and software extras of the professional version. And is quality the same? Thanks so much in advance.
Ryan
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5 Replies
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The Xpress Pro software is exactly the same, what you won’t get are all the third party application that come bundled with the retail version.
Michael
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How important or useful is that third party software? Thanks so much.
Ryan
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Sorenson Squeeze, for encoding to MPEG2, WM9, Real, etc. DVD authoring and some other things I can’t recall right now.
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What do you intend to do with your video projects once you’ve finished editing them? If you plan to burn them on DVD or stream them on the web, you’ll need an encoding application. Sorenson Squeeze Pro is that application…and it’s VERY important. Happily, there’s a student discount on that product too, so you should be able to acquire it for a fairly inexpensive price. The included ReelDVD software is a basic DVD-authoring program, but you can live without it. I’d recommend looking into Adobe Encore or another DVD app. Sonic’s programs pretty much suck (with the exception of Sonic Scenarist, but that’s a bit out of most of our price-range…got $40K or more?). Encore can be had in an academic version for a lite price.
You’ll also find the paper manuals missing from the academic version of XPro HD. They ARE included, but they’re in PDF (Acrobat) format, on a CD. You can purchase the manual’s fairly inexpensively from Avid.
I don’t know what kind of moola you’re sitting on, but consider this: I know a few people who have purchased the academic version of Xpress Studio Essentials. At $995, it’s a steal…even though it’s still a grand. HOWEVER, they all came with Smartsound SonicFire Pro and Sorenson Squeeze (2 of the 3rd-party apps included in XPro HD retail version). In addition, you’re getting 5 different apps for video, effects, 3D and 3D effects, audio, and DVD, plus DigiDesign Mbox hardware for an audio i/o. Chew on that for a while…it might be your best bet. Then again, it might not be.
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Excellent! Thanks for all the great info. I’m going to look into all those programs. At this point, I may simply purchase the Avid Xpress Pro software and then build from there. I really appreciate all the great input though.
Ryan
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