TechMedia

I recently finished an intensive course in Avid Xpress Pro and found that fellow students mostly had a background with, and preference for, Final Cut Pro. I started off the same way, but by day four I was feeling pretty good in Avid, and wondering if maybe it was the better program.

One difficulty in moving to Avid from FCP is that Avid is a modular system and unless you are in the right mode (segment/trim/effect) you won’t be able to edit.

I watched an interesting video with editor Shane Ross who uses both systems. Below are a few of his main pros/cons.

Avid: best for media management, sub-clipping, and locator control. This would be the best software for “big environments,” where you have to capture full tapes and break them down.

Final Cut Pro: better for high definition and speed. So best choice for a high def project that needs cutting fast – it’s easier to drag clips around in FCP.

Mostly it seems that the two systems are pretty similar except for Avid’s superior media management, and I have to agree with Scott Simmons that its trim tool is intuitive and easy to use.

As Scott points out, the software is just a tool, in the end it’s the editor who is the more important factor.

Finally my year in the New Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology is over and I am preparing for Industry Night at the BCIT downtown campus this Wednesday.

Please drop by if you are in the neighbourhood and check out some of our projects and say hi and goodbye to me. I am moving to Yellowknife, NWT in about three weeks (depending on when enough ice melts in the Mackenzie River for the Merv Hardie ferry to begin operations).

Here is an iCal file for those of you on Mac.

If you have time, please check out my portfolio website, I am still making changes to it and would appreciate your comments/feedback.
This will be a short post as I have much packing and organizing to do, as well I am taking Avid video-editing classes on the weekends so almost too busy to tweet.

To all Vancouver peeps, it’s been a slice and will see you when we are back on vacation. To all Yellowknife peeps, save a spot for us at scotch night at the Elks third or fourth Tuesday of May