Avid VS. Final Cut Pro
Posted by admin | Filed under Art, Film, TV, Video
Well, here we stand on the brink – 10 years since the dawn of the new millenium and the question still remains. Avid or Final Cut Pro? Well, here’s my take…
Six years ago I trained up on Avid Xpress DV and at the time I thought it was amazing. I was pretty green and thought that it was the best thing I could ever use. I would walk around knowing I was the shit just because I was working in the profession using an Avid system. And I got pretty good, well, fast at least. I’m not sure how much I understood about editing at the time. The key commands and short cuts just seemed to work for me and I took to it like a duck pate to french toast. It was reliable (except for that is was running on PC) and it would make short work of the real-time effects.
Then the reality kicked in. Final Cut started coming into its own and could be purchased for much less – the world was moving forward. So the company I was with switched over. Great! I was then tasked with learning how to edit again. Just as I’d gotten comfortable with the technical aspect of Avid, I had to do it all over again with FCP. I was not a happy bunny. And I had a hard time making the switch for a while but eventually it all clicked. It all made sense in a way that Avid never did.
So, five years or so later here I sit with my new FCP 7 and all things being equal I wouldn’t touch an Avid again because I am firmly in the camp that thinks that FCP as a user experience far outshines Avid in every aspect. It’s intuitive, logical, quick, runs natively on Mac and most importantly for me, references its media.
But, the more work & research I’ve done over the years the more I’ve realised there is a need for Avid editors as much as FCP editors. So I bought a copy of Media Composer and got back up to speed. And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised. The user experience isn’t as bad as I remember and the native short cuts and key commands mean I don’t have to think about what buttons to push. It’s got its quirks but so has FCP. Nothing’s perfect.
Having trained on Avid I have always used the Avid short cuts even when using FCP. I actually carry a USB around with my settings on so that whichever edit suite I am working on, be it Avid or FCP, I can have them to hand. But they are based on the original Avid controls.
Here’s some facts. Star Trek, Transformers, Lost, Fringe, The Dark Knight, Quantum of Solace & Slumdog Millionaire are/were all edited on Avid.
Here’s some more facts. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Tetro, Everybody Hates Chris & X-Files: I Want To Believe are/were all edited in Final Cut Pro. Not to mention the Coen Brothers and South Park use the Final Cut Studio series (Color & Motion) for other aspects of their film-making.
So my conclusion is this. You want to be an editor? Well, you’d better learn how to use Avid and Final Cut Pro. They are both part of the industry we occupy and neither is going anywhere. The actual point is this – the software is immaterial. The edit is what matters. If you can become proficient to the point that you don’t have to think about the interface you’re using, then the creativity will just flow and you can concentrate solely on being an editor. It’s taken me a long time to realise that (or at least verbalise it). Imagine trying to hike up a mountain while having to concentrate on how to actually use your legs! Fuck that shit!
Have a great Christmas! x
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