[Bill Mark]

Dear Butch:

I just nailed it.

Thanks much.

[Bill Mark]

Much appreciated, but the link doesn’t work.

[Bill Mark]

Thank you very much, but where do I find your email address?

[Bill Mark]

Do you think that it is safe to go to Elvis’s tutorial now, or should I still worry about the virus.

Thanks,

Bill Mark

[Bill Mark]

Thanks for the heads up, Alan and Butch. Unfortunately I already clicked on that link. How can I tell whether or not my laptop has been infected?

Bill

[Bill Mark]

Okay, between your last post and Michael’s very long offering, I’ve come back to earth, and I realize that I’m from the wrong side of the tracks vis a vis Avid.

Meanwhile, I notice on your bio that you have Vegas experience, and I also noticed that you have said nothing about it.

My basic question is: Can most of the Vegas short comings be fixed by third party pluggins?

I also see that you have experience with both Sound Forge and Acid. I cannot read music, nor can I play an instrument, but nevertheless, I’m still very musical. I would to be able to create my own original loops to be used as the building blocks of larger pieces. Is there any software that will enable me to create these loops?

Bill

[Bill Mark]

Thank you Michael for the time you took to lay it out chapter and verse.
While I can afford Avid, the environment within which it needs to operate appears to be somewhat out of my reach.

Thanks again,

Bill

[Bill Mark]

What exactly am I getting for 10k?

I didn’t mean to mislead, but I don’t know Vegas. I only know a lot about Vegas.

As far as Avid is concerned, what is the difference between the various offerings. For instance, you mentioned Xpress Pro w/mojo. How does that differ from Avid Media Composer? Avid is offering the Media Composer with Avid Pro tools with Mbox2, Avid 3D animation, Avid FX, and Avid DVD by Sonic for $995 (educational pricing). The only thing missing is the mojo.

B&H has the xPress Pro HD with the Fx, 3D animation, Sonic DVD, and the Mojo for $999. The only thing missing is Pro Tools LE.

Which of these things are a must and which are nice to have but can be done without? Also where does Vegas stand vis a vis Pro Tools LE?

[Bill Mark]

What exactly am I getting for 10k?

I didn’t mean to mislead, but I don’t know Vegas. I only know a lot about Vegas.

As far as Avid is concerned, what is the difference between the various offerings. For instance, you mentioned Xpress Pro w/mojo. How does that differ from Avid Media Composer? Avid is offering the Media Composer with Avid Pro tools with Mbox2, Avid 3D animation, Avid FX, and Avid DVD by Sonic for $995 (educational pricing). The only thing missing is the mojo.

B&H has the xPress Pro HD with the Fx, 3D animation, Sonic DVD, and the Mojo for $999. The only thing missing is Pro Tools LE.

Which of these things are a must and which are nice to have but can be done without? Also where does Vegas stand vis a vis Pro Tools LE?

[Bill Mark]

Dear Jon:

Thanks for your response, and I am sorry for my lack of one. For the better part of a week I’ve been busy with a family wedding.

I do not know why you are apologetic about talking down to someone as abysmaly ignorant as I am of high tech or even low tech considering that I still view fountain pens as being on the cutting edge. That said, your analogy to hammers was something less than perfect because the reason one would never see the question as to hammers posted on some saw dust site is that they are essentially identical. Can you say the same for the NLEs that you mentioned?

I am looking for an NLE that:

1) has a rather beneign learning curve
2) can do what I need it to do without resort to numerous work-arounds
3) can handle text well- be it scrolling text, subtitles, full page text, or foreign charachter text (i.e. Arabic,Korean,Hebrew), with the ability to cut and past from a program like Word.
4) leaves a lot of wiggle room for voice overs.

Translated, this means that I am looking for the ultimate flexibility in the manipulation of voice and text.

I would also like to see the DVD burning component/companion of the NLE easy to use and functional.

Yes, I would like to save money by buying Vegas 6.0 for $99, but I would drop a $1,000 or more for something that would play to my needs.

I will be doing documentary work, special events, educational videos and some biographical sketches. Everything will be written to “A LIST” standards, therefore even though I will be doing “small stuff” I want it to have the look of something big.

The only NLE that I know anything about is Vegas, but my knowledge runs more to what it can’t do as opposed to what it can. I recently downloaded the trial version, and watched it expire before I got a chance to take it for a spin.

I’m looking for an NLE that is above my present needs and abilities , and that is sophisticated enough to take me as far as I my immagination will allow me. I don’t want to learn a new program every to years, but I do want to learn the one I’m about to choose, so that means that adequate tutorials will be necessary.

Is there a site out there someplace that gives over the truth vis a vis the NLEs? All that ever comes my way is hype.

So what’s it going to be? Avid (and if so, which flavor?), Liquid Edit- ion (regular or Pro?), Vegas, Premiere, Canopus,
Edius,etc.

This should give you a feel for my situation. Any light you can focus on this sea of darkness will be appreciated.

Bill