From FCP to AVID

[Crjoe]

I went from Avid to FCP a few years back and now I work on both. They both have thier advantages and thier disadvantages. FCP tends to be a little more free, while AVID tends to be a little more regimented on how things are done. But once you know one the other is a lot eaiser to pick up. There are some great books that give tips and shortcuts for both programs.

Good luck,

crjoe

[Anders Haavie]

I have used FCP for years now, but for this one broadcast production I am working with now, I am working with Avid. I do find Avid much harder, especially when I want to do “fancy” editing (why do i have to make a subclip for slomos, and what if I need the slomo to be one frame longer.. i have to make a NEW subclip ??? ARGH)

However, this is my subjectiv opinion, and other people might just think it is the other way around… but still.. I find FCP to be alot more liberal in a way that you can do things in many way.. and just drag things around.. while as I am not even allowed to put a slug at the end of my timeline in Avid.

Again.. this is MY opinion.. and other people might think otherwise

Anders

[Todd Beabout]

I would have to say that AVID is much slower to learn than FCP. If you have experience with linear editing, then AVID will make sense to you in that aspect, but if you have only edited on FCP you are probably going to be suprised at how slow it is to pick up. I’m just saying this in case you are thinking of accepting a position somewhere as an Avid editor, and you think you can fake it. Probably not.

That said… Avid is a great tool for cutting video, and it is an industry standard so you should definitely learn it. If the work you are doing requires more of a compositing setup (i.e. lots of graphics/keyframing, transfer modes, etc.) then FCP will probably work out better for you IMO. If you want to see more info/ranting about the comparison between the 2 programs, do a simple search in this forum and the FCP one “FCP vs. Avid” and you will be suprised at how much discussion there is on the topic. I say learn both and then decide what to use for each project. (I use both daily.)

Hope this helps… Good luck!

-Todd Beabout
Vazda Studios

[Annaël Beauchemin]

[Anders Haavie] “(why do i have to make a subclip for slomos, and what if I need the slomo to be one frame longer.. i have to make a NEW subclip ??? ARGH)”

You can use the Timewarp effect instead. You just apply it like any other effect on a clip in the timeline. It works very well this way. I’m not sure xpress has it, tho. MC adrenaline and Symphony both have it.

The slomo-subclip method seems to be used mostly by “older” editors. It seems to me that the timewarp effect was missing until very recently… it still has the advantage of having been pre-rendered, so you don’t need to render when you edit.

I’m saying all this but I am an Avid newbie myself. What I can say so far is that with Avid it’s not just the shortcuts and the buttons that are different. The entire editing workflow seems different. You don’t work with a tool, you work with trim handles in Avid. And learning the shortcuts doesn’t make editing just a bit faster in Avid, it’s a night and day difference…