Michael Hancock
Forum Replies Created
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I’ll start with a disclaimer–I wasn’t around when the Meridien systems came out. I cut on one for two years, and it was fast and stable. But I learned on an Adrenaline–version 1.0, I think, and it was stable. I’ve since cut on Adrenaline 2.5 and Xpress Pro for the last year, and haven’t had any big problems with any of them. Maybe I got lucky and was using a golden system, but I’ve never had the majority of the problems I’ve seen other people with, so I guess I never understood how buggy/unstable it was.
That said, there seems to be a big double standard. FCP sells for dirt cheap, and there’s no arguing that it’a a great value. Avid has been historically more expensive. For the longest time, the big cry was that Avid is too expensive and is having its lunch eaten by FCP. Avid was buggy with the Adrenaline release, and it doesn’t seem to have been made a secret that the last year or two was dedicated to bug fixes. Why else would a new release be a $50 upgrade? It was to fix bugs while also adding new features. But still Avid was declared too expensive, even when Media Composer software was released.
Fast forward to today. Now Avid has cut the price of their flagship product to half of what it was, and I’m willing to bet they’ll make some hardware announcements before/around NAB to try and compete with AJA et al. What’s the new cry? Too cheap! They’re screwing the customers that bought it when it was expensive…they’re giving it away…but it’s still not cheap enough? Which is it? Too much or too cheap? It’s not a studio bundle like FCP, that’s obvious. But it’s still a damn fine editing system, and if they didn’t piss off their current customers with a big price drop they’d be dead because their software would still be too expensive. They lose either way, and I guess this was their way of trying to stay in the fight. If they cut their hardware prices/release some amazing new hardware, I’d say they’re right back in the game for a while.
I guess I just don’t get it. I like cutting with Avid, much better than any other editing systems I’ve used. There’s no denying the competitors offer more products for a lower price, but their biggest competitor–FCP–has much deeper pockets and can afford to sell their software so cheap. They also sell the only hardware it will run on! $2,500 is very affordable–again, if they get their hardware figured out or opened up to third party hardware, what will be the new problem? Still too little too late? Or will Avid finally be on par/near par with the competition?
I’ll say it again–I haven’t been using Avid nearly as long as likely everyone else who has posted, but I still see this as a good thing. Perhaps this will force FCP to do something dramatic? Competition between the companies benefits everyone–hence the price cut and upgrade price from Xpress Pro.
I don’t want to sound like a fanboy, and I hope you don’t read this as an angry rant. I just saw people complaining that Avid was overpriced, then when they make their software affordable it’s just a front and they’re still a dead company. I guess time will tell. Until then, I’m buying Media Composer. For cheap. 🙂
Michael.
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What you’re wanting to do is known as the “McFly” method. I’ve never done it, and couldn’t begin to help you since you’re on a Mac–I’m a PC guy. However, typing McFly in the Avid forums yielded a decent list of posts to read over.
Maybe give these a read and let us know if you get it working.
Michael.
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[Shane Ross] “They FINALLY have user forums for peer support, only after Apple has being doing this for 4 years? And the Cow now for 2 or 3?”
Um, I was reading the Avid forums in 2004, and they had been around a while. I think they started them because their tech support was so bad, it was easier just to let other editors field the questions. Or other editors actually knew the answers.
It is nice to see them responding to FCPs massive inroads. Hopefully it will continue the competition between everybody, because when these companies compete–we typically win.
Michael.
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Don’t know if this is PC only, but here’s a list of old Quicktime downloads.
Michael.
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N.A.B. The National Association of Broadcasters. There’s a big NAB convention in Vegas every April, and it’s typically when companies make new product announcements.
Michael
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[Mark Job] “Uh, no. I will pass on Premiere thanks. I”
Why? Have you used it lately?
Considering what you want to do, you really should consider Adobe. The integration between products is rather amazing, and it will truly fly on your Avid setup. Plus you don’t have to buy all new hardware just to solve a software problem.
Download the Adobe demos and try them out. You might be surprised, then switch to a Mac when fund allow you to buy the right gear.
Michael.
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What do you mean by “importing using the media tool”? The only time you import in Avid is when your choose File–>Import. This takes the file you choose and converts it to an OMF or MXF format, which Avid then puts into its media folders.
If you’re trying to use the Media Tool to “import” masterclips you should choose to show only the MasterClips in the Media tool option. Then just select the ones you want when Avid is done loading them and drag them to your bin.
If you’re trying to import an MXF file you might have problems. Typically you just drop the MXF file into Avids media folder, then use the media tool to show the masterclips.
If you’re starting Avid and it’s giving you this error then you have corrupt media.
Give us some more details about what exactly you’re trying to do, the steps you’re taking, and when the error message appears. And system specs would be good too, including the version of Avid you’re running.
Thanks,
Michael.
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I can’t believe you guys.
Here’s the truth…
Nobody eats hotdogs anymore. Hotdogs are dead and gone and bankrupt and anyone who eats hotdogs is living in the past and is afraid of change. Their tastebuds are afraid to taste something new and they only eat hotdogs because they don’t know better. In a few years all the hotdogs will be gone and these people will starve because they haven’t started eating the hottest, best food on the planet. What’s that food?
The new food is finely cut pastrami. Everybody eats its. It goes down easy, works with all the new condiments, is cheap as dirt, and even Walter Murch likes it. He’s eaten it for a few lunches! The best part is that eating pastrami is intuitive–there are 13 year olds all over the world making top shelf sandwiches in their mother’s basement, and they’ making those sandwiches with pastrami!
Don’t even bother with the hotdogs, the future is in our kitchens and it’s finely cut pastrami. Anyone who tells you differently just doesn’t get it.
🙂
Me…I’m still eating hotdogs. They taste better to me.
Michael.
PS. The announcement has been delayed due to recent management changes. Here’s an official word on it:
https://www.avid.com/exchange/forums/thread/310868.aspx
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Thank you Greg. Looks like the replacement cost is more than I thought it would be.
If anyone has a clue about the tripod head I’d love to hear them. Otherwise I’ll just pick a tripod I like and list it’s price for the replacement cost.
Thanks again Greg.
Michael.
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Avid won’t import RAW images (does any NLE?). Convert them to targa, jped, photoshop, or png. My favorite is png–small file size, beautiful quality, great alpha support.
Also, make sure the files are RGB–Avid won’t accept CMYK.
Michael.