Can you do this in AVID timelines…

[Mike J.]

Hello…

Did you even read what I wrote before you launched your rant. Geez 🙂

Additonally… I must add, Avid saturated the market many years ago with full turnkey systems for television and film. That truly is why they controled the industry… they were the first serioulsy adapted and they were a serious monetary investment as well. It’s hollywood. They held onto Moviolas for how long? If it ain’t broke…aka not really a town for embracing changes.

– “Any good avid editor can plop themselves down on a FCP and be up and running with no training in 15 minutes.
NOT ONE FCP user can come over to avid and have any idea what they are doing without some sort of crash course.”-

– A interface that is difficult to figure out without assistance you say as if that’s a bonus. Great… write that up for the marketing department 🙂

My point was a specific one and I thank you who offered help and assistance.

Anyway.. I get just as mad a FCP for Apple issues as well.

Point was though… the task I was searching to do in Avid isn’t as productive or easy to do as it is in FCP.

Again… sorry to generalize or be percieved as generalizing the negative point.

Thanks again.

[Edit Bay rat]

It is just as easy if you’ve taken the time to learn how to do it. And I feel compelled to point out here that you brought these comments on yourself by blaming the system you were working on (i.e. “outdated and simpistic”)for your lack of knoweledge of how to use it.

If you need to boost you skill set, glad to help. There’s a lot to know. Don’t blame the hammer if you bend the nail.

EBR

[Brian]

well said

[Mike J.]

Look I was an avid editor for 5 years – before FCP even existed. The general avid work me was creative/storybased picture cuts, titles, basic keyframing basic audio work, and edls outputs.

The color corrector in XPRESS is new to me and I recieved assitance (literature) to get me up to speed with that. My negative comment was regarding the my personal extended use of it for advanced grading and lighting/color specific color correction using the avid timeline’s basic tools – which work and look the same as they did in the 90’s.

I’ve been able to make a informed judgement between the two regarding the workflow I am searching for and feel a bit impaired by the avid tools/timeline for this and I commented on that.

It’s not a your football team vs my football team.

My error was typing my comment in this quickly becoming “Stepford Wives” -like thread.

Obviously this a sore spot for some of you, and it seems your looking for a target…

so again…

thank you for you the help, my apologies for generalizing or being percieved as generalizing your heartfelt product of choices.

Sorry…

GO AVID!!!!!

[Oakmozart]

It’s the best on the market, but it needs some overhauling. No transfer modes (who wants to use a plugin for those?). You have to nest effects to apply more than one (why not make it like After Effects’ Effect Editor, where you click and drag as many effects as you want to a clip, and the effect parameters stack on top of each other in the Effect Editor?). You have to tap a key/click a mouse to get into segment mode just to be able to click and drag your clips around in the timeline, then tap that key or click that mouse again to get out. (Why not just make it a click-and-drag interface period? Why even keep the segment modes?). Don’t even get me started on having to use different modes to trim, color correct, move clips around the timeline, tweak effects, etc.

I use, love, and will always stick with Avid. But the interface is so 1993…it’s 2005, and time for some updates. Those of you who love the “old-school” approach could easily be appeased if Avid used one of its specialties when it comes to the interface: user settings. The Avid interface is the most tweakable one I’ve ever seen. So, I say update it, but allow a user setting to leave it in the “old” mode for those old-school die-hards who want it left alone, while allowing a “new” mode for those who want to use it the way it is. I’d also love a loopable timeline, one that will allow you to play your sequence endlessly, while being able to tweak all your parameters in real-time, without stopping playback (unless you do so yourself). That’s one of the best features of the Media 100 844x line, may it rest in peace. Neither of these would be that hard to implement…I’ve even had Avid programmers I know tell me it’s a realistic idea. Those same programmers whispered about possible changes coming to the interface, though no specifics were given. I welcome those changes, myself. Don’t believe me? Look at the Advanced Keyframe editor and AVX 2. I’ve heard that’s only the beginning. I have nothing to back that up, so I’m just stating opinion and “whispers” I’ve heard from the folks who make the Avid products.

Avid’s interface hasn’t been changed in over a decade and we’ve become spoiled by that. Many have become opposed to any changes. Undestandably so. Who wants to relearn a revised interface when they’re comfortable the way it is? But take a look at the other companies out there who have changed the interfaces of their products: it usually ends up benefitting the users more (not always, but usually). Adobe and its After Effects application is a classic example of this.

Just my $0.02.

[Nick]

oakmozart,

Not to add more fuel to the fire, but its true. Avid media composer interface is outdated. I hate it, although I use it.

What I really want Avid to do is bring the DS interface to the lower end systems as well. I was really excited when Avid bought Softimage, thinking it might really bring amazing leaps in the Avid lineup.

But I haven’t seen it yet – not on the lower end machines yet.

Avid, if you are listening, can you PLEASE make a DS interface based low end machine that can blow FCP out of the water?

Thanks,
Nikhil

[Annaël Beauchemin]

[mike] “My specific was regarding color correcting in AVID vs Final Cut. The color correcting tool is great in AVID..but the limits in the interface make it simplistic primary color correction friendly and less helpful in the ability to specify masks and grade like I can in FCP timelines.”

It’s funny, but I would like Avid’s (yeah, even xpress pro) color correcting tool anytime instead of FCP’s. FCP doesn’t have curves and the GUI is much less productive for long form color correction. And masks are a pain to work with in FCP… they are ok for basic garbage mattes, but forget about rotoscoping.

But as far as timeline work goes, FCP is so much quicker by being more “direct”. You can really move things around fast, precisely and intuitively.