Andrew Kimery
Forum Replies Created
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[Oliver Peters] “For the most part all of this is entirely irrelevant. “
I think’s pretty relevant. It’s 2013 and when I import an image file into Avid it gets transcoded into a video clip. If I want to import a 720p60 clip as 720p60 my project settings have to be 720p60. If my project is set to 1080p24 the imported clip will be changed to that format and frame rate. Avid’s timeline can easily handle mixed media but ingesting mixed media is a chore. I don’t think Avid can truly leverage the advantages of modern code if the limitations of the old code are maintained.
I feel like Avid can retain the basic look and feel and MC, which will keep users happy and hopefully streamline the process as they shouldn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, while removing workflow limitations that made since in the ’90’s but don’t make sense today.
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[Chris Kenny] “It’s not ‘the most bizarre method of media ingest into Avid imaginable’, it’s the standard method for importing pre-existing MXF files without having to copy or transcode anything.”
Ah, since the hypothetical situation was a neophyte importing footage I jumped to a situation where the person was handed DNxHD camera masters and told to get them into Avid.
[Chris Kenny] ” And this stuff is all going to be tied up with Avid’s shared storage solutions as well, making things even more complicated. There’s probably a reason they went and did AMA instead of adding more flexibility to ‘native’ media handling in the first place.”
I agree and didn’t mean to imply that I thought it would be a simple fix. AMA was definitely a stop-gap solution and they will have to unify how Avid handles media. Just like I think they’ll have to work on interfacing with the timeline. The SmartTool looks like it will give you FCP-like functionality but it’s so kludgy in practice that I rarely use it even though I really like FCP Legend’s timeline interfacing.
[Chris Kenny] “In my view, if Avid wants to reverse its long, slow decline, they need to pull an FCP X — except with much better communication with users, no radical new timeline paradigm, no immediate discontinuation of the legacy product, and a more complete feature set in the 1.0 product. I think they really need a clean start”
I don’t think anyone would disagree with that and it sounds plausible to me. Update the backend, give the GUI a facelift but keep the look & feel intact so users don’t feel like they have to relearn the program from scratch.
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[Chris Kenny] “I’m aware of these methods, but they still don’t really match the expected behavior (since they always generate new media and might in some instances cause transcoding)”.
You are aware that you can drag and drop into Avid yet you choose to come up with the most bizarre method of media ingest into Avid imaginable. Not really an apples to apples comparison.
[Chris Kenny] “FCP X manages these problems in significantly more comprehensible way with its ability to automatically generate optimized and proxy versions of imported clips.”
Doesn’t that put the user in the same position as Avid w/regards to new media generation? Albiet X’s way of working with natively media, doing the transcoding in the background then invisibly relinking to the new media when it’s ready is much cooler than sitting and watching Avid’s import bar. X also provides a unified approach than Avid as working with AMA requires a different workflow than working natively inside Avid.
Overall I’m okay with Avid’s fundamental approach to asset handling material because even though it can be restrictive at times the pro’s outweigh the con’s (at least in my experience). Some aspects, like AMA, need improvement but what software doesn’t? On a related note, one of the things I most loved about FCP Legend was it’s flexibility. The downside to that is that the program would readily give you enough rope to hang yourself and happily watch as you did it. It might sound odd that I like some of the restrictive parts of Avid and at the same time like the lack of restriction in FCP7 but some situations benefit from rigidity and some situations do not. Horses for courses as they say.
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Betteridge’s law of headlines: “Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge‘s_law_of_headlines
😉
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[Chris Kenny] “In Media Composer, you have to go create a /Avid MediaFiles/MXF folder, then create a numbered folder within it (numbers only, please!), then quit Media Composer, place your media in that folder, re-launch Media Composer, access the Media Tool, check all the correct boxes (which is a little confusing in its own right), and then drag the clips from the resulting window to your bin. This is completely undiscoverable, and, frankly, crazy. And it’s not an isolated example.”
You can also open Avid, create a bin, drag & drop the media files from the desktop into the bin or use the File->import command and your files will import into Avid (it automatically creates the folder structure it needs). Material already in an Avid codec that matches the project settings will be rewarpped into MXF, not transcoded. The only Avid wrinkle here is that users need to understand that imported media will be transcoded to match the current format and framerate settings of the project (with the previously mentioned exception). Though is that really worse than users tossing in every format under the sun, wondering why performance sucks and eventually transcoding into a less CPU/GPU dependent codec?
From an asset management perspective having everything given a unique alpha numeric file name and kept in a centralized place is great especially in multiuser, shared storage environments. Sure, it forces some aspects of asset management on the user but I don’t really see that as a bad thing in the long run. I’ve worked in places where you could import whatever you wanted from wherever you wanted and it’s an operational nightmare. I spent years editing and developing workflows in a FCP7 mutli-user environment (over a dozen editors and a 40TB Xsan) and when I got a new gig working in a similar situation but with MC and ISIS I had forgotten what a joy it is to work in an all Avid environment. Yes, it has it’s problems but it is very easy to tell that Avid’s sweet spot is shared storage, multi-editor environments.
To walk the dangerous road to Analogy-ville… without instruction sit one new user behind the wheel of an automatic, another behind the wheel of a manual and tell them to start the car and drive around the parking lot. The user of the automatic will probably be on lap 30 around the lot before the user of the manual figures out how to start the car and successfully get in first gear. Is it accurate to extrapolate from this that manuals are inherently inferior to automatics?
There are certainly things I dislike about MC (stills imported as video, the effects handling, etc.,) but things like it’s media management are great and I’d hate to see that disappear because no other NLE currently has anything comparable.
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[Bill Davis] “Honestly the largest “issues” come from those who just can’t escape the very natural urge to view the new thing through the lens of the old thing.”
I agree that people need to approach new tools with virgin minds. My advice to someone learning a new NLE has always been to pretend that you’ve never used an NLE before. If you come at it with the attitude of, “Well in XYZ I always did it like this. Why doesn’t ABC do it like that too?” then you are sunk. I don’t see FCPX being any different in that regard other than that it was introduced with a lot of bagage (which we are all aware of so I won’t rehash it here).
Many people that aren’t keen on FCPX may have started out editing on film or tape-to-tape editing before moving on to (and most likely bouncing between) various NLE’s such as Media Composer, Media 100, Discreet Edit, Premiere, FCP Legend, Liquid, etc., so I’m skeptical that the largest issue is that old dogs can’t learn new tricks. Contributing factor? Of course, but there other things at play here as well.
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1. Great suggestion for turning lemons into lemonade, Mark.
[Mark Suszko] “I don’t mean to brag, but after I edited the Zapruder film, everybody was convinced it was just one guy…:-)”
2. Best. Sentence. Ever.
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BetaSP would be a step down from DV50. I remember an article a number of years ago by Adam Wilt where he discussed how BSP and DV25 were basically the same in terms of image quality. And that’s to the power of the internet here is a synopsis of said article, https://www.adamwilt.com/DV-Beta.html
Just to echo what others have said, if you have the budget go with LTO. If not, go with mirrored HDDs.
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Possible? Of course. Easy? Probably not. I’m in LA, not NY, but I assume the job market and cost of living are similar.
Best way to get work? If you are young do everything you can. Look online, go to user group meet ups, find other industry people in NY via online forums like the COW or Twitter and reach out to those people. Don’t ask for a job but ask to meet up for lunch or drinks so you can pick their brain.
As Mark said you’ll be slummin’ it for a while (like a few years most likely) before you find your groove but don’t let that stop you. It’s an adventure so go for it.
Long story short, I came out to LA after college, crashed & burned, moved back to the Midwest to lick my wounds then moved out to LA again a couple years later. It’s worked out much better this time around (thankfully). You only live once and it’s better to try and fail than to ask ‘What if?’ when you are 50.
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I’m inclined to agree with Craig that a high school level class might be using the term ‘broadcast’ in a very loose sense but I think that’s beside the point.
IMO a HS curriculum shouldn’t be overly concerned with the tools as I don’t think any college program is going to tell a kid, “Oh, you don’t know NLE XYZ? Sorry, we can’t accepted you into our program.” Plus, from a professional standpoint, the landscape could be totally different by the time the students graduate college and get into the workplace. Teach the fundamentals of production (which are applicable regardless of which camera you shoot with or which NLE you cut with) and get kids into work study or internship programs with local production facilities.
For juniors or seniors in college I can see the value in trying to get them exposed to software and hardware that they most likely will encounter once they hit the job market but for HS students I think it’s too soon to worry about that kind of thing.