Member of the Month

KilaTsunami
October, 2024

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Avid media composer anyone?

profile picture
MatRich
Posts: 4789 - Karma: 1,813
So with the whole final cut x bullshit, I have been thinking its time to make the switch to a more advanced editing system.

Lucky me, my mom works at Avid and can get me amazingly low prices on the software. I had wanted to switch to avid since their systems are the most widely used on the market.

First I would like to know if any of you use either Media Composer or DS and how do you like it.

Orriginaly I had thought of switching to avid DS which looks like a simple interface but I heard "rhumers" that they are stopping ds next year.

anyways guys, basically enlighten me on anything you know about avid systems and if its worth making the switch.
Sep 15 2011 8:39PM
0 0
profile picture
eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,020
i have thought about this too, i know bentley has been starting to use it. im gonna stick with fcp7 for now
Sep 15 2011 8:51PM
0 0
profile picture
Brentizzle
Posts: 1584 - Karma: 1,871
this. but I would also really like to hear more information about media composer and when it will be released for osx lion because I would really like to make the switch in the near future with the amazing student prices they have.
Sep 15 2011 8:58PM
0 0
profile picture
Rajna
Posts: 3824 - Karma: 90
It's not bad, I used it a bit going through the video program at my community college. One thing I didn't like about was the title tool, it was pretty weak and bare bones. It's a pretty well organized program and is easy to get a hang of, I still prefer FCP7 and preimer though.
Sep 15 2011 9:26PM
0 0
profile picture
MatRich
Posts: 4789 - Karma: 1,813
which one did you use? media composer or avid ds?
Sep 15 2011 9:30PM
0 0
profile picture
Charlie_Kelly
Posts: 11954 - Karma: 12,297
My dad used to work for Avid so i got MC 5.5 on an HP Z800 (the one used to edit all the olympic hockey footage/claim. I can honestly say I love it. Being that I don't currently have a camera I haven't been able to make a lot of edits but the ones I have made I am proud of. It is one hell of a software.
Sep 15 2011 10:41PM
0 0
profile picture
Rajna
Posts: 3824 - Karma: 90
Media composer
Sep 15 2011 10:53PM
0 0
profile picture
Official_Recap
Posts: 1075 - Karma: 525
I'm also in this same boat. Not really having issues with FCP7 yet, but I am looking at making the switch after MC6 comes out (not sure when). What I've gathered is that Avid is a very powerful program, but there are some slight drawbacks of the layout (coming from the pretty / user-friendly layout of Final Cut), but that all is going to be changed in the new Media Composer update with the option to skin it similarly to the look of Adobe. If I'm not mistaken though, I think you can download a 30 day trial on the Avid site, so I'd recommend giving that a shot to test it out and see how you like it first. Worst case, you can just uninstall it.

As for specifics and experiences with the program, definitely talk to Bently about it. It seems he has been doing a bit of work in MC now and could shed some more light on the actual ins and outs of the program.
Sep 15 2011 11:52PM
0 0
profile picture
1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,231
i hear the new one is really going to draw a lot of the crowd that FCP X threw away
Sep 16 2011 12:12PM
0 0
profile picture
andstuff
Posts: 1118 - Karma: 61
Well yeah, it's an NLE. It's not supposed to be used for titles.


I'm most likely switching to Adobe since I can get Premiere, AE, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop for $450, which I was willing to pay for AE alone. I hate Premiere, but it'll do the job since I can't afford AMC.
Sep 17 2011 2:10PM
0 0
profile picture
Official_Recap
Posts: 1075 - Karma: 525
Are you still in school? Avid has some killer student discounts.
Sep 17 2011 7:04PM
0 0
profile picture
andstuff
Posts: 1118 - Karma: 61
I'm sure it does, but I would still want AE on top of that. And since I can get all those programs for under $500, I feel my money would be better spent elsewhere. I may not like premiere, but the different between CS5 and AMC doesn't justify the cost when they are both capable of producing equal profit.
Sep 17 2011 7:40PM
0 0
profile picture
Official_Recap
Posts: 1075 - Karma: 525
That makes a lot more sense in your situation then, actually. If I switched, I would most likely only be replacing Final Cut within my workflow. I personally don't do much graphic work, so Motion is fine for me at the moment.
Not to take this thread off topic, but what don't you like about Premier? I haven't used it, but was under the impression it is just a different interface, but same structure of Final Cut / any other NLE software, no?
Sep 17 2011 9:37PM
0 0
profile picture
andstuff
Posts: 1118 - Karma: 61
I hate the interface, and it isn't as stable. My main gripe is that it seems you have to specify one thing five different ways in order for it to recognize your command. I can't just export 1080p, I have to specify frame size, export size, etc. The interface just isn't nearly as intuitive in my opinion, and native h.264 is worthless to me.
Sep 17 2011 11:02PM
0 0
profile picture
HeadyTopper
Posts: 1170 - Karma: 97
student edition?
Nov 26 2011 6:25PM
0 0
All times are Eastern (-5)