Beyond Basic Training

[Don Logan]

AVID do offer classes directed more toward post production. like a 2 day introduction to effects…etc.

What kind of editing are you wanting to do News stories and documentary or commercial music vids etc?

Also always browse the cow for the excellent video tuitorials.

[Bill Stephan]

There are plenty of classes around that teach how to operate an Avid edit systems, but it sounds like you want training in editing creatively. Many editors spend years in film schools and universities learning the craft of editing. Learning to edit is a process that begins before you get your first job, and it continues throughout your entire career.

So aside from doing the film school thing or becoming the apprentice to a master editor, you can read book on the craft of editing such as Walter Murch’s for inspiration.

But an editor edits, and a lot of the craft is learned by doing — sitting there in the edit room, working out the problems, and finding new ways to tell the story. So you need to get into the game somehow and begin playing.

Avid does offer master editing classes at the factory in Tekwsbury, but these are geared mostly to the mechanics of accomplishing sophisticated post production processes used in feature film editorial. Those who take these classses tend to be expert editors and assistants.

Bill Stephan
Senior Editor/DVD Author
USA Studios
New York City