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Need To Learn Avid
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[Danielle Warren] “I also forgot to mention when I wrote the post that the reason the client gave me for wanting to switch to using Avid is because he thinks that FCP will no longer be updated, version 7 at least as that’s still what a lot of people are using including he and myself. I haven’t looked, but apparently you can’t buy it from Apple anymore, you can only buy X. “
FCP7 is dead. It’s replacement is FCPX and it doesn’t do most of what 7 did, hence the reason to look at other NLE options.
[Danielle Warren] “What do you guys think about this? Is that really a valid reason?”
Yes. FCP7 is incredibly dated already, and every release from Adobe and Avid leaves it further and further behind. When new acquisition formats are released by Panasonic or Canon or Sony, FCP7 won’t be updated to accept them (FCPX probably will). It’s days are numbered and it’s now an unsupported platform. I wouldn’t trust my business to it any longer than I had to.
I started on Avid, worked on Media 100 and Edius for a while, I’m now on FCP, at the turn of the year we’re going to Adobe. If I do freelance at home I’ll use Avid. I doubt I’ll ever use FCPX. Software comes and goes sometimes, best to get comfortable on a least two of them (I’d recommend Avid and Adobe right now).
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
“FCP7 is dead. It’s replacement is FCPX and it doesn’t do most of what 7 did, hence the reason to look at other NLE options.”
I see what you’re saying, but I don’t really agree. To be honest, I haven’t seen anyone desperate to switch over and leave FCP completely at all. As a freelancer, I see way more job postings for FCP editors than Avid (or any other NLE), and many offline houses still use FCP with no desperate view to switch anytime soon.
I really don’t believe that with so many users and a huge industry built around the software that they’re just going to let it disappear. I have to think that there’s more to come from Apple.
“FCP7 is incredibly dated already, and every release from Adobe and Avid leaves it further and further behind”
How is it dated exactly? As I said, a lot of editors I know aren’t jumping to FCPX, but are also quite happy to stick with using 7. It feels like after the negative response they received from FCPXs release, they will probably go back to then update 7 instead.
Again, different NLE programs work for different projects. In work I do, FCP is better and less expensive to use since nothing is done online. It just doesn’t make sense for big companies to switch something after years of using one system. Most of those editors don’t know Avid either.
But I still want to know Avid just to know it, but I cringe at the idea of ONLY using that. Even the way it’s laid out, the icons, the buttons etc. seems awful to me, lol!
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[Danielle Warren] “I really don’t believe that with so many users and a huge industry built around the software that they’re just going to let it disappear. I have to think that there’s more to come from Apple.”
There’s FCPX from Apple. There is absolutely nothing more coming from FCP7. DVDSP is EOL, Color is EOL, FCP7 is EOL, I believe Soundtrack Pro is EOL. All that remains is FCPX, Motion, and Compressor, and they’re all sold separately.
[Danielle Warren] “How is it dated exactly?”
Can’t read P2 footage natively. Can’t read XDCam native. Can’t read AVCHD. Can’t play DSLR natively. Can’t read Red natively. Requires way too much rendering compared to the other NLEs out there. Hasn’t had a significant update in about 4 years. The list goes on and on.
[Danielle Warren] ” It feels like after the negative response they received from FCPXs release, they will probably go back to then update 7 instead.”
That isn’t going to happen. The Final Cut Studio you know is dead, in the ground, and turning to dust. Apple is not bringing it back to life. Their replacement is FCPX, end of story.
[Danielle Warren] “Again, different NLE programs work for different projects. In work I do, FCP is better and less expensive to use since nothing is done online. It just doesn’t make sense for big companies to switch something after years of using one system. Most of those editors don’t know Avid either.”
Most post houses were Avid and switched to FCP. If the FCP editors don’t know Avid but the post houses switch back (and they are), the FCP editors will be out of a job. It’s a lot easier to find a seasoned Avid editor than FCP editor, because most Avid editors had to learn FCP when things shifted that way. Now they’re shifting back, they’re in a better position than the FCP only editors.
[Danielle Warren] “But I still want to know Avid just to know it, but I cringe at the idea of ONLY using that. Even the way it’s laid out, the icons, the buttons etc. seems awful to me, lol!”
Learn Premiere too, you might even want to learn FCPX. Then you can choose the right tool for the job.
Regarding the interface – I love the Avid interface because of its simplicity and bare bones design. I despise the Adobe interface and the FCP interface drives me up the wall. But I use them.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
Danielle,
We can all relate to your pain. Whenever we switch from one program to another or from one OS to another, it’s a learning process. When I edit on a PC, my fingers need to hit CTRL+Z, versus CMD+Z on the Mac. If you have been doing this for years, you are used to working at a certain speed. Then when you switch to a new program, you feel frustration with not being as fast. That is a common feeling.
When I learned FCP, having worked with Avid for years, it took some time to train the fingers to find new places. I agree with Andrew that training is the best route. I took a three day class and spent the $1,000. That forces me to train versus buying a book and trying to fit that into my schedule.
With that said, I know Steve Hullfish is working on a book that is titled something like, Avid for FCP users. Haven’t seen it yet.
This book,
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Pro-Training-Final-Editors/dp/0321741927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321567707&sr=8-1
can help, but I joke that you have to read it backwards.Hope this helps.
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Anything worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
– Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield -
Thanks Ed. I’m glad I’m not the only one hurting! Perhaps it was my timing because I was young when FCP was out and it was obviously something you could buy for cheap, relatively. I bought FCP 3 with a student discount in 2002, just before I started college and just went from there. I was never around for Avid and to me it seemed like this beast of a machine/software that cost 100s of 1000s of dollars and only huge studios used it. Anything I’ve ever wanted or been paid to edit has never needed something specifically that Avid offered.
I was just reading through another thread that kind of goes along with what I’m saying: “Out here in LA, Broadcast production/post houses are sticking with FCP 7…looking at alternatives for when they NEED to switch. No need right now, as FCP 7 does everything we currently need”
This is my thinking right now. I don’t see anyone switching any time soon as so many of those people working there now are young editors, like myself, that really only learned FCP, for better or worse. In a lot of post/trailer houses, which is where I have worked and freelance, FCP does everything you need. So why all the fuss to switch? (at least right now).
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If it’s working, then keep using it. However, realize that at some point Apple will release an OS which will make it stop working. At that point, you’ll want to be somewhat versed in the alternatives, so you aren’t suddenly playing catch-up with all the other editors who have already made the transition.
Chris
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Thought I’d chime in. Avid has some tutorials on their own site you may have missed.
Please note, one is called FCP to Avid….
Best,
Jeff G
Apple Master Trainer | Avid Cert. Instructor DS/MC | Adobe Cert. Instructor
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You should follow me (filmgeek) on twitter. I promise to be nice.
New- my book (with Richard Harrington and Robbie Carman)- An Editor’s Guide to Adobe Premiere Pro
Compressor Essentials from Lynda.com
(older but still good) Marquee, Media Composer (3.5) and Basic/Advanced Color DVDs (1.0) from Vasst.com
Contact me through my Website -
I’m having trouble too picking up on Avid. I’m a short-term FCP and long term Adobe user, and I’m finding Avid… well, clunky. The old-DOS style font GUI, file import procedure and clunky titler haven’t blown me away at all. I’m going to persist as I really want to learn MC6.0 (bought it in the crossgrade offer), but so far I’m not seeing a viable alternative to CS5.5.
Peter Corbett
Powerhouse Productions
http://www.php.com.au -
For the font In the edit menu, feel free to change the font for any window.
The import settings? They’re setup to make sure you preserve the full quality of your media throughout your workflow; the tradeoff, is that it’s not as intuitive as we might like.
Trimming, media management, the editorial tools, are part of what makes it such a great editor. If you’re dragging and dropping (and I’m not saying you are), those just aren’t the best ways to edit. I’m not even talking about script sync or phrase find.
Avid’s biggest weakness is that it should be more user friendly; but that would break ways that very fast, very experienced editors want the tool to work. Yes, I’d like it to be more intuitive, but if you can get past the font stuff, there’s great depth there.
Best,
Jeff G
Certified Master Trainer | Adobe, Apple, Avid
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You should follow me (filmgeek) on twitter. I promise to be nice.
New! FCPX DSLR workflows; What’s new in Media Comopser 6; Full Media Composer 6 basics from macProVideo.com
Come see me speak at the Government Video Expo Nov 30 – Dec 1; Seminar link here
My book (with Richard Harrington and Robbie Carman)- An Editor’s Guide to Adobe Premiere Pro
Lynda.com – Compressor Essentials 3.5 and 4
Contact me through my Website -
[Peter Corbett] “I’m finding Avid… well, clunky. The old-DOS style font GUI, file import procedure and clunky titler haven’t blown me away at all.”
This is an age-old story; believe me, I went through the same stage coming from Speed Razor, Incite, and D/Vision. I just didn’t get it for a while, and I was cussing it up and down. But as soon as I started to accept “the Avid way” and not try to make it work like the other tools I was used to, it started to click. Now, more than a decade later, it’s the fastest most fluid editor I’ve ever used and I wouldn’t cut with anything else unless somebody held a gun to my head.
There’s a reason that probably 90% of all Hollywood TV shows and features are cut with Avid. It’s fast, it’s robust, stable, and powerful.
Stick with it, and eventually it’s secrets will reveal themselves to you.
Chris
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