Bad grass, too much gas

[Tom Matthies]

I tend to agree with this one.
I regularly work on both Avids and FCp systems and I’ll take FCP anytime.
I can’t disagree (because I don’t know the numbers here) with the statement that most feature films and TV programs are still being cut on Avid systems, but to make a blanket statement that this is the best or the only path for an up and coming editor to take if he/she wants a “professional” editing job is just not valid. Editing feature films might constitute 1% of those editing professionally. How about the other 99% of us that make our livings at editing every day? And, in watching TV shows on cable/satellite these days…I’d venture a guess that there is a much higher percentage of these shows being cut on non-Avid systems than ever before. I can’t watch satellite for a couple of hours and not see something that was cut on a FCP system. There are tell tail looks to a system that can reveal what was used to cut a show.
I agree that giving such a deep educational discount is a good plan. Get the young ones hooked on and used to Avids and they will continue that allegiance into their professional lives. It’s a very good strategy for Avid to take.
I always felt that Final Cut, despite it’s shortcomings (and make no mistake it does have them) gives a good value and a lot bang for the buck. I’d guess that many thousands of editors would agree on this point. Is it perfect? Nope. Does it do what I need it to do? Yep.
Use the right tools for the job you need to do. Simple.
Tom

PS: A couple of posts below on a similar thread, Michael Alberts refers to his MC-9000’s. Avid’s are still being bought out there these days. I just bought a fully equipped MC-9000, complete with CPU, RAID, monitors and all of the I/O hardware-complete and working…for $1100. I’ll use it for smaller projects or for spare parts for the two Symphonys We still run. My 2¢ worth. Back to making a living with my Final Cut system! 🙂
The former owner bought a Final Cut system to replace it.

[Rennie Klymyk]

[Nate Stephens] “and I didn’t vote for Bush either, Both times
“

Me thinks you smells more than gas….. Word in the Shire is $ÅỰRON also powers this ÅṾİḋ “New Thinking” campaign.

[Tom Matthies] “Editing feature films might constitute 1% of those editing professionally.”

Could it be Hollywood had the deepest pockets and Åvid was most deeply entrenched financially from the getgo so they will be the last to switch as the roots are so deep.

[Tom Matthies] “. Get the young ones hooked on and used to Avids and they will continue that allegiance into their professional lives.”

The Pied Piper strategy worked for MacDonalds.

I still think the FCP student package is a better deal because it is a full package and not something that is less than the full package like the Åvid solution. Media 100 did this with about 6 levels. If you bought in at the bottom and jumped up one level at a time you paid way more in the long run. Even if you bought the student non upgradable FCP by the time you were ready to convert to the pro license you would be likely facing a paid upgrade anyway so buying a full license totals an investment of $2300.00 and you update in the process, still cheaper than the Åvid offering. And lets not forget about Motion, Color, DVDSP etc.

Given their track record do you think if Åvid ever achieved 1,000,000 licenses cornering the market, would they continue this “New Thinking” trend of reasonable pricing or would they start turning the screws?

“everything is broken” ……Bob Dylan