HELP with AVID XPRESS DV!

[anasazifilms]

Being a veteran Premiere editor, I finally decided to get Avid XPress DV to learn the infamous software... little did I know I would have a few prblems... so PLEASE help me out if you can!

1) When loading the project, it seems I have an "Unsupported Sound Card" which works fine with Premiere. I have to admit, it is an onboard sound (attached to the motherboard) but surely this must work? Any ideas?

2) The other problem is when I try to import files. It keeps saying I have no Media Drive?!? My media drive is my C:\ drive... but can't seem to find out how to select it?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

[deanl]

Hey there.

Did you check the manual? Check that you have the minimum requirements before buying/installing it?

I tried a Demo of this software before I paid for anything and HATED it. Sure AVID may be the industry standard.. AND MAYBE I'm too used to Adobe products. But I couldn't stand the thing. It seemed so slow. It felt like I was editing with boxing gloves on.

Premiere pro is the way to go. It does everything I need out of an editing app. Very very well.

Despin out.

[anasazifilms]

Thanks... I am quite Adobe biased as well... but just felt I needed to know the basics of Avid.

If anyone can help me with these probems (which the help secton doesn't seem t elaborate on) please do!!

[shirt]

Okay then.

Here are the answers...

Note: Avid only runs on XP Pro. It can on XP Home but will mess with your mind and crash repeatidly at the worst of times...

Sound Card Problem - What is your computer? Give me a full run down. Avid was designed to actually first work with a system that had onboard sound, so that shouldn't be the problem. However, if your computer isn't an IBM and your mobo is just a piece of crap then don't bother with Avid and get Premiere. Save yourself the trouble. Unfortunately, Avid is still a professional product and is designed to run on fast, well designed machines. Remember, the people who buy this product have the money to run it on a specifically built Avid computer.
Media Drive Problem - Go through all your preferences and make 1000% sure that you've selected your C drive as your media drive. They're a few places in there that you may have something else selected.


Now, as for Avid vs. Premiere Pro vs. FCP 4...

They all do the exact same thing and all do it really well. However, FCP 4 and PRO are designed for everyday people with little or no film post experience. Avid, on the other hand, is designed for large projects with large amounts of footage and is really only for professionals who've either went to school for this or have taken a seminar or two on how to use the software, know that art of editing, and can edit in a highly productive manner.

Personally, I've used all three...

Premiere Pro is great and when compared to the old Premieres it's top notch. It doesn't crash nearly as much and has taken Adobe to a level that is comparable to older versions of FCP and Avid. However, it's interface is not designed for editing for longer projects and lacks much of the guts that makes FCP 4 users smile.

FCP 4 is narly. It's FCP 3 but the next level. It has the power of Avid Xpress DV but with an interface that is basic and understandable to people who have no clue. If you're just getting into editing and want something that is professional, has balls, yet has with a learning curve that is not too steep then FCP is the way to go.

Avid is king. The first time I ever used an Avid was a Media Composer 6. This is like six years a go and the machine was tedious and honestly, a piece of shiat compared to FCP at the time(or at least I thought that at the time). Then I started to actually use the thing and play around with it. After awhile I got to use a newer Media Composer which blew the socks off of any program out there. Media Composer's can do anything and if you have some add-on's then the possibilities are endless.

Ten months ago I got my Xpress DV suite. I was using FCP 3 before that and liked it's simplicity so when I sat down and started using Xpress I was unimpressed. Mainly because it's a very crappy version of Media Composer. However, once I got over it's limitations I became pleased. Avid is setup for editing film. Not video. It's setup for timecode and well marked shots. It's setup for syncing sound and for multiple users (assistant editors and editors) working on a single project.
It's setup to make life easier in a way that no editor understands the first time they sit down at it. However, it's more then just a tool or machine... it truly becomes your friend in the end.

Once you start using the program for what's designed to do, then you'll get it.

I've recently had a chance to play around with an Avid Adrenline. It is designed for HD and 35mm editing and, right out of the box, can do anything you're heart desires.


My advice to any amateur is to stick with what you know. Using Avid to edit a twenty minute film is ridiculous. Especially since it doesn't have any sound mixing capabilities... why you ask? Because editors rarely do the sound edit on a film... besides, if any of you knew how a film is mixed you'd understand why it doesn't.

Basically, after all this banter, what I am trying to say is that you all really have no idea why these machines are designed to do what they do and the way they do it. Until then, don't bother questioning the programs.

FCP and Pro are the way to go until you have the need to learn Avid. If you're going to be a film editor by trade, by all means, pick up a hacked copy and test it out. That's where you'll learn to be an expert at your craft.

Cheers.

[JayX_swm]

have you any opinion on Sonic Foundry (now Sony) Vegas 4.0 ? i've read in the past a lot of people migrated from Premiere to Vegas, and i never really got on with premiere for my uses (mainly simple editing and creation, rather than anything important like a film or a short etc) but its always nice to know the opinions of others, especially when they've had more experience.

would like to try avid properly, have sat thru the training vids and it looks like it can handle anything thrown at it, but atm im happy with my sub ?1000 suite. will give premiere pro a try tho, now i've been using vegas for a while, maybe it'll grow on me. never been a fan of adobe products mind :/

[shirt]

I've never really used Vegas other then just for fooling around and seeing what the program is capable of. However, for what you're doing it should work fine. All you're looking to do is to make straight cuts and perhaps dissolve, correct?

Sound wise I am guessing you're just going to use the recorded CD version of the song so that should work in Vegas fine.

The only reason why people use Premiere or even why Adobe makes it is because it ties in with After Effects and Photoshop. FCP and Avid use Photoshop and After Effects as well but not to extent that Premiere does.

As for learning Avid, if you plan on working in post-production then you gotta know it. However, if you're looking for something professional yet affordable and capable of something other then straight cuts/ dissolves with a little colour correction then FCP and Adobe are the way to go.

[JayX_swm]

yeah atm the only work i've done is from gigs, where i've just used my ext. mic (but hooked up to the cam) for audio, and maybe eq'd it or balanced it better during post. the only other thing i did was mix 2 cams (video + audio) together, which i soundsynced using markers and a degree of rhythm. luckily it worked, and i cant tell the streams apart (except when one of the mics gets kicked [img]smile.gif[/img] ) so its good enough for me [img]wink.gif[/img]