Oakmozart
Forum Replies Created
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To add to what Grinner said, the cost of MC-soft (Media Composer 2.6.x software) plus Mojo SDI is around $7500, though you can get better prices with the dealers if you haggle a bit. If you go with regular Mojo, the price is about $1000 less. Adrenaline can be picked up for as little as $10,000, and with some hard haggling, you can get the “Adrenaline HD” system for around $18,000. Avid REALLY dropped their prices this year, which is not something I’m going to pride them over, since Avid has overcharged the snot out of its products since they first started selling them!
Getting opinions of Avid users isn’t going to help you much, since they’re just subjective, and you want OBJECTIVITY in this case. My suggestion is to go into the Avid dealer in the morning with an open mind. Don’t fall for the marketing hype the dealer is going to throw at you…they want to sell you a product! Instead, really focus on what the product has to offer, and make sure they give you some “stick-time!” (Hands-on time) If they don’t, don’t buy anything from them. Drive the software yourself and see what you think of it. Then go home, mull over what you were shown, then make a decision in a day or two. If you like the Avid, then by all means, buy it! If you don’t like it that much, then find another NLE platform. No one’s going to criticize you for going with a non-Avid NLE, instead of an Avid (and if they do, don’t worry about it, since they’re narrow-minded immature folks, regardless of how much experience they have). An NLE system is a pretty major purchase, and you have to buy what you’re going to feel comfortable with and be satisfied with. Don’t buy anything that doesn’t satisfy you…buy the PRODUCT, NOT THE NAME!!!!
Good luck!
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I just want to reiterate that I was NOT bashing you, and NO opffense meant, Michael! Honest…just wanted to warn him (a bit facetiously) just how long the renders can be.
You’re the man!
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This is NOT a bash on Michael–he’s a legend, for Pete’s sake–but REALLY take his words “takes time” to heart. Depending on the length of your sequence and how much of it you’re applying the FluidFilm effect to, your children can grow up on you while you wait for it to render. Your newborn daughter will be going to prom by the time you finish rendering it to an entire 30-60 minute sequence! I kid you not…BEWARE!!…the render times can be ridiculous!
Otherwise, yes, I am in absolute agreement with Michael in that the results
can be downright awesome.🙂
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Mark, have you been following your thread over at the Avid Forums? To reiterate what was said there, it’s probably your graphics card (or rather, LACK of graphics card)…onboard graphics usually doesn’t play well with Avid. Get a Nvidia card (ideally a certified one) and that should solve your problem.
HOWEVER, before you shell out money on a video card, try pressing/holding O and G when starting up XPro. See if that fixes your issues. If no errors, it’s your video card…I’d bet money on it.
Keep us posted…
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System specs? Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling XPro? Is your dongle hooked up to the computer?
It’s not the tool you use, it’s the end product that counts.
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Don’t waste your time/money. They are uber-limited as to what they can do (compared to today’s standards), they are weak, old, not really upgradeable, hard to find parts for (except on Ebay, but then you’re usually buying used parts, so what are you REALLY getting?). Jon’s term of “Money Pit” is excellent…they usually are.
Also, remember this: Avid systems are electronic. Electronics eventually wear out and die. An Avid Media Composer 7.1 is 10 years old…why would you waste money on a system that could die any DAY, that is hard to get parts for, and almost virtually impossible to find parts for the computer?
Get a new Avid system…you’ll be MUCH farther along in the long run. I’d rather have a software-only copy of Xpress Pro than a full Media Composer 7.1 system…I can do A LOT more with XPro (and a copy of Boris Red) than the MC 7.1.
The choice is up to you.
Good luck.
It’s not the tool you use, it’s the end product that counts.
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Right on, Mike. XPro doesn’t run on XP64, so don’t even waste your time trying to get it to go.
I wouldn’t expect to see 64-bit Avid NLE’s until they release for the Windows Vista Platform in ’07 or ’08…probably like XPro 6.5 or 7.0. That’s just a GUESS, mind you, and nothing official! (If it were official, I wouldn’t be saying anything, or Avid would have my tail!) 🙂
It’s not the tool you use, it’s the end product that counts.
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Ditto. If that doesn’t fix the problem, reinstall the software. I once had the same problem, and had to fix it by reinstalling. After doing that, all was good.
Ciao.
It’s not the tool you use, it’s the end product that counts.
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It’s sad, but in one respect, I strongly agree with Grinner. In another, I strongly oppose him. Be that as it may, Grinner knows what he’s talking about. There are a great many things that FCP lacks that Avid has, and vice-versa.
Before jumping on one NLE or the other, I STRONGLY suggest you find a dealer (or dealers) that sell both FCP and Avid solutions. Arrange to have a demo, where an editor sits down and gives you an in-depth tour of how the software works, edits, and all the whiz-bang features included in each. Very carefully study for stability, and see which NLE seems the most natural for you. When the demo’s done, make sure the dealer gives you some “stick-time” (aviation-speak for hands-on time to drive the software yourself and play with it)…this will give you a better personal feeling of which program is the one for you. If the dealer won’t give you the stick-time you want, thank them for their time, walk out of their dealership, and don’t come back. DO NOT give them a penny of your money if they’re not going to give you a chance to see what the product they’re selling is like! Would you buy a new car from a dealer who simply took you for a ride in the car you were interested in, but wouldn’t let you actually drive it yourself? The same goes true for an NLE…which when in complete package-form will set you back as much as a new car…more MORE!
If you buy an Avid solution, factor in the cost of a certified workstation as part of the price. If you don’t go with a certified workstation, you’re opening yourself up to a world of hurt. I’m NOT saying that you can’t build your own box to run Avid on–people do it all the time with great results. However, they also run into a lot more problems than folks on certified boxes do…ESPECIALLY when adding in Avid hardware to the mix! For Avid-software-only solutions (XPro without Mojo, for example), a home-built box will probably be just fine…so long as you follow Avid’s system requirements EXACTLY!! NO AMD processors! NO ATI graphics cards!! A DIY-box will save you some major bank, too.
Avid still seems to be hanging on to the past, when they were the be-all/end-all of the video world when it came to post-production. They don’t seem to realize that they are slowly being defeated by their other competitors, which they also don’t seem to be taking too terribly seriously. This is unfortunate, as they’re going to get pancaked and find themselves at the end of the pack, as opposed to the lead. Avid has had some wonderful opportunities to bury FCP and other competitors in the past 3 years (this year, especially!), but they’ve passed on each and every one of them. Now, with Apple taking 2 years to crank out FCP 6 and the new FCP Studio apps, I literally shudder with what they’re going to put to market come April’s NAB ’07. If Avid doesn’t match them with an equally-awesome upgrade for their products (namely XPro and Xpress Studio), things could get REALLY ugly in Tewksbury, and beautiful in Cupertino. And you know, if you think about it, FCP really ISN’T competing with XPro anymore…it’s going after Media Composer, for 1/5th the price. If that doesn’t scare the sh!t out of Avid, then I don’t know what will.
Keep in mind, I say this as a passionate lover of all things Avid, and merciless hater of all things Mac. I will admit I’m growing tired of waving the Avid flag when they’re not backing me up as much as they should be. I’m also finding that I’m using the Avid flag more and more as a protective shield to hide behind all the crap that people all slinging at me for waving the Avid flag, too. I would not be surprised if in 2 years I work exclusively on a Mac-Pro (as opposed to an HP xw-series workstation), with FCP installed on it. Whether that FCP be my primary NLE or simply sits on the Mac partition while I work away in Boot Camp under Windows Vista with Avid’s newest NLE as my main cutter remains to be seen.
Take care.
It’s not the tool you use, it’s the end product that counts.
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Great tip, Mike! I’m definitely filing this one away for future usage.
I must admit that I’m lazy though…I tend to just throw money at a problem to make it go away. That’s why I bought Avid FX (well, Xpress Studio if you want to get technical). Create my media, drop into Avid FX, add motion-blur and anything else I want, pop-out of Avid FX back to XPro, then render. Voila! Motion-blur!
Take care.
It’s not the tool you use, it’s the end product that counts.