Is Avid the same company it was 10 years ago?

[Job Ter burg]

The latest incarnation of version 3 of MC is much less than 10 years old. Avid has absolutely changed for the better.
Download the free (yes free) 30-day trial version of the current MC 5.5 and see how many improvements there have been the last few years.
Then visit the Avid Community Forums and see how much tighter the company is involved with its user base.

[Jan Maitland]

I had the same experience(s) you did Bill, back in the day, and haven’t touched one of their products for quite a long time. To your question about the “new, user-focused AVID” I have to say they seem to be practicing what they’re preaching. I met Gary at a user-group event and he gave a very serious mea culpa to the assembled users, touching on pretty much every issue that both former, and current, users have had with the company as a whole. That was a good two years ago and, if version 5.5 is any indication, the company is clearly listening to its users, at least in so far as implementation of requested features is concerned. Also, as has been stated in other postings, their opening up to third-party hardware manufacturers (i.e. AJA and Matrox) is yet another sign of positive change.

As was suggested: I downloaded the free, 30-day trial and was so impressed by the changes to MC, that I purchased a cross-grade seat for our shop to try out on a couple jobs. There was an issue with the install disc and, due to the fourth of July holiday, I was unable to get AVID tech support on the phone. However, I’ll be placing that call today and that should serve as a good test for just how much they’ve changed in that way (old tech support from the late ’90’s = shivers…).

Should I have anything less than a 100% positive experience with their support, I’ll post here and share it.

So far though, so good. It’s the original, professional NLE (in terms of broad acceptance) and it feels every bit of it.

[John Stephens]

I think AVID finally heard the footsteps, after they became a stampede.

But not everything has changed at AVID. When AVID started to finally embrace alternative IO options I was excited and pleased that I had hung tight with AVID. But then I bought an AJA lo and out came the old AVID all over again. It became clear that AVID was not sending HD closed captions (using the great new 5.5 caption features) via the HD SDI output of the AJA. To access that feature you had to buy the AVID IO box at seven times the cost of the AJA.

Old habits die slowly at AVID.

[Bill Dawson]

>you had to buy the AVID IO box

That’s part of what I am concerned about. We have 12 AJA Kona 3 cards that currently are not supported by Avid. I have no desire to buy proprietary video output gear from them. Been there, done that.

Bill

[Job Ter burg]

It’s been clearly indicated by Avid that the Io Express and the MXO2 Mini were the beginning of more things to come. AJA seems to have suggested they are working closely with Avid to get support for more stuff, so the near future should be interesting, especially with 64-bit on its way.

For now, if you want to stick with Kona, I’d stick with FCP7, and wait and see what IBC brings us.

Also: before you buy any I/O device for use with Avid, check out the detailed spec sheet for each box:

https://cdn.pinnaclesys.com/SupportFiles/attach/HW-Capabilities_1.2.pdf

It clearly states what features are and are not implemented.

I’d like to bring some nuance to the suggestion that the limitation of features is ‘old Avid’, as just as much of the limitations stem from the capabilities of the third party box, its drivers, or the priority given to any feature by the third party manufacturer. Matrox had limited 24p support at first, but they have improved it in a next release (still no 24p PAL, but at least 1080p24 and PsF24). So things are still changing and very much in progress. The good thing is that AJA, Matrox and Avid appear to be in direct connection with each other on keeping things going and improving on currently supported solutions too.

Finally, I think tech support is pretty OK these days (I hardly ever need it as things just work mostly), but also check out the Avid Community Forums. Marianna Montague (formerly at Media 100) has joined Avid as a Customer Advocate some years ago, and that means fast and direct participation on these forums. She and her team have helped out many customers, no matter the size of their shop. So a lot of that support is available for free.

[Brad Bussé]

I’m in the same boat. I’m in no rush, I had planned to wait a couple of months to migrate to FCP X even if it hadn’t been a disaster. I’ll be downloading and evaluating the trial for MC 5.5 and comparing it to PPro CS5 which I have as part of my production suite. I’m sure AVID has come a long way, but I’m still somewhat wary from years ago when AVID and Pro Tools were touchy with other software or hardware being installed on the same workstation (to the point that my experiences have been using systems that were 100% dedicated to one or the other–no Adobe, etc.).

I demoed an MX02 last year, and found that it had a lot of issues. I haven’t used an Io Express before, but it looks like it’s the same sort of design, where the PCIe card is just sending the data to the external box where the actual hardware resides, rather than all of the hardware being on the PCIe card which has a breakout box external. I think if Avid is serious about competing with Adobe for the FCP user install base, they need to get a deal with AJA set in stone for Kona support, and announce it ASAP. In my experience, the Konas are pervasive as the de facto hardware i/o standard for most FCP suites. Perhaps they are waiting to announce support for the next TB hardware from AJA, but time is of the essence judging from the posts in the FCP X forum, and those making the decisions now are going to want to know that their existing Kona 2/3/LHi cards are going to be supported before they board the AVID ship.

[John Stephens]

AVID is clearly changing, but they are fighting and scratching to keep as many of their old ways as they can. Take MC 5.5 and how it works with AJA lo. Somehow AVID left out HD closed caption support for AJA while including support for HD captions in the AVID I/O box.

When I finally reached a human at AVID and they admitted the omission, they said it would be quite a while before they corrected the problem.
Why ? Is their I/O so different from AJA ? Or is it to drag every penny they could out of their old I/O systems ? Or is it because those of us who are not in large facilities or broadcast operations still third class at AVID ?

[Brad Bussé]

Hey, I haven’t been following the Avid forums since my last post, but recently my interest in Avid’s future and commitment toward being the “new Avid” over the “old Avid” to compete with Adobe’s commitment in the fight for FCS users, has become very relevant.

I would really like to get an update from the members who have previously posted in this thread.

Thanks.