What's the difference? « Videomaker Forums

FDEditor
Member

I know that people (regardless of occupation) have preferred tools for various reasons, whether it's familiarity, sentimentality or whatever.Â In the most recent issue of VM, there's a review of the new Avid. Living within walking distance of WB, Disney, Nickelodeon, etc, I'm fully aware of Avid's position in the industry. However, I'm wondering why it holds such prominence in the industry compared to Premiere or other NLE's. I'm well aware of its dominance early on, but why do Avid users contiunue to say it's so far ahead of Premiere? At home,Â I have a version of Premiere from a long time ago (I've mainly concentrated on web design for the past 10 years), but now I'm editing video at work and am using CS3 and the difference is night and day.

The reason I ask is for my home system. When I upgrade my system at home, I might get Avid, but is the difference in the software great enough to justify paying for a new version of Avid that would be twice as much as anÂ upgrade to Production Premium CS4? Also, I look at what happened with QuarkXPress. It was the industry standard in print because there was no alternative that could touch it. However, InDesign came along and now people are jumping to ID (and there are several Quark-hating blogs out there) and leaving Quark behind. If Avid is better, why is it so much better? What can it do that Premiere can't?

Posted 1 year ago # Login to Send PM
robgrauert
Member

Â "but is the difference in the software great enough to justify paying for a new version of Avid that would be twice as much as anÂ upgrade to Production Premium CS4?"Â

Â

Probably not. I think Avid becomes "better" when you get an Avid system that has all of Avid's goodies. But if you buy just Avid Media Composer, I don't see how that will be more beneficial overÂ Premier or Final Cut Pro.Â

I actually hear a lot of people say that Avid will be left behind in the industry because of programs like Final Cut Studio (and I'm sure Adobe products as well). What can't Final Cut Studio + Shake do that an loaded Avid can't? Then you've got companies like RED who design their cameras with a Final Cut editor in mind. Also, more students are learning FCP or Premier and not Avid. What's going to happen in the industry when it needs editors but no one knows Avid?

Â

Robert J. Grauert, Jr
http://www.robgrauert.com

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bestshot
Member

I agree with the post above ... Avid was a great editing tool .. and has its market dominance because it was one of the first non-linear systems out .. and was ground breaking when it first came out this was a time when tape suites was all that was available and to do a basic dissolve you had to dump of the shot and do a a-b roll with a 3 machine suite .. or to cut a bit out the middle you had to dump off the second half of the edit and re recording then came Avid (non-linear) .. and shook up the editing industry ...

Its an old school snobbery ... I use avid everyday at work in production houses ... but when I come home and edit I use prem pro because its so well integrated with other programs Encore / After Effects / Photoshop and much easier and less time consuming ... Avid has had its day and is losing its dominance ..because it cant keep up or is a pain to integrate ... you have to have the right hardware (soundcard etc) .. the right operating system (Avid not working with Vista etc) while newer non linear systems plug and play and integrate so much easier

plus Kids coming out college are all trained on other editing software .. and it will be the norm to know prem pro / final cut etc as the old schoollers get left behind just like the software

If your looking to get a home system go with FCP or Premier it can do everything Avid can quicker .. but its good to know how to operate Avid at the moment for work reasons ... but its resting on its laurels ... the other software will soon surpass it

This also goes for Hardware in the old days every tape suite had ... DVEs, timecode Generators, Waveform Monitors the list is endless now these all come as standard with the most basic of home editing software .. which ever option you choose for your own home edit system is still better equipped than the most professional 10 - 15 years ago for a lot less money and better quality ...

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jerronsmith
Moderator

Â Avid was and is still best as a turnkey solution. It's DeskTop editing component was late on the scene and is OK but not phenomenal. However, keep in mind that AVID wasn't intended for the same user base that FCP and Premiere Pro (by the way, thats how you spell it guys) are. The AVID system is based around the work habits and lingo of the traditional film editor as this was their target audience. If you have an AVID system, and you have the right hardware and the recommended configuration, and you take the time to learn the programs work flow it is very sweet to work with. AVID also has the media management aspect of editing down better then anyone else. If you have a large scale project with different editors working simultaneously AVID is a very useful tool to have.

FCP, PP, Vegas and the other common desktop editors are built around completely different work flows from AVID. They are built more to appeal to people who use computers frequently and other computer programs, so to many they are more comfortable/intuitive to work with.

>>Also, more students are learning FCP or Premier and not Avid. What's going to happen in the industry when it needs editors but no one knows Avid?<<

Schools don't push the industry, Industry pushes the schools. Quark was mentioned above, that is how it happened in Print design as well. Design schools used to only teach Quark Xpress, then InDesign gained a foot hold in the industry and grads who only knew quark were told to learn it. This trend got back to the schools who adjusted their curricula accordingly, at least the smart ones did. Now InDesign is the primary page layout program taught in design schools. Whats going to happen is that the graduates from these schools who only know Premiere or FCP are going to be told by employers using AVID to learn AVID if they want a job. The schools that don't teach AVID but instead teach Final Cut Pro tend to be gearing students to become independent producers themselves or work in Indy film or news or low end cable TV where FCP is the primary editing tool. I have no idea what schools that teach Premiere are gearing their students for as it really isn't standard in any industry that I am aware of, though it is popular among the educational, institutional, and govt. video markets.

Jerron Smith
Editor-Animator-Educator
blog: http://www.thepixelsmith.blogspot.com

Posted 1 year ago # Login to Send PM
birdcat
Moderator

Interesting points Jerron - A couple of years ago I was under the impression that FCP was the most commonly used NLE for pros until I was "educated" that Avid was in use in more professional video houses than all the others combined.

Although I recently heard that Vegas was the NLE of choice for porn...

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grinner
Member

Avid once was the all beat all company of NLEs. I recall a day when we had to purchase Avids just so we could say yes when a producer asked if we had one.

The last decade has found all other companies making leaps and bounds in growth while Avid has continued to down grade. Today, man I'd not buy anything they have. I'd sooner go with a FCP HD suite on the high end and a lil matrox suite on the low end. There is just no justification for the price points of Avid's bastardized software today.

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