Is there a NOOB area around here?

I'm an old dog (started with 2" tape > 1" & 3/4" > Speed Razor > Media Composer ... also run Premiere CS3 & Vegas at home) that will soon have a lot of NOOB questions and don't want to take up too much of anyone's time.

(Is it just me or are the Avid manuals THE WORST written instructional devices of all time ?!?)

Chris

Hi Chris,

Welcome to the show.  There's not a newbie area here; you just jump in with everybody else.  We were all new once, and most people are pretty cool about answering newbie questions.

good luck,
Carl

 That's good to hear.

Thanks Carl

Although.... don't forget to read the manual.. go through the motions.. when the manual does not give the answers (or makes it too confusing (which it does)) hit the forums and use the search tool, at the top right... if you cannot find the answer - then post a thread and see what you get.

Think of this forum like an untamed jungle. The natives are friendly, but there are those of us who bite.... don't think this is Avid elite attitude - you get the same attitude in any software/hardware forum - but if you follow netiquette this forum, and it's users, is a wealth of knowledge far beyond the Avid training...

Welcome...

 Ask anything you want and ignore people from jersey wink wink nudge  nudge just kidding squire somebody will answer 

Editor C:

s it just me or are the Avid manuals THE WORST written instructional devices of all time ?!

If anybody ever tells you "RTFM" it means "Real Time Feels marvelous!"

Chris - I was a newbe a year ago coming from CMX/Abekas > Discreet Edit > MC. I agree the manual is very unclear and the "help" file is like half complete... in my humble opinion. I pay $1995 a year for assurance on 2 seats and I've never had any luck calling Avid tech support and having them solve any of my questions, so this forum saves my butt about once a week.

There's a decent book by Stephen Bayes (check Amazon). Also there's some decent workshops at NAB. Future Media Concepts if they are in a city near you and have some good classes and I highly recommend you spend the dough on 1 or 2 days of training from an Avid Certified Trainer, if one exists in your town.

For me it took about 4 months for the lights to start going off. A lot of simple tasks are kinda less than obvious in MC. Before I make a post I always look at the help file... for about an hour, trying to figure out what they're trying to say and then I Google the issue, or look at past posts. If all else fails I make a post.

My biggest issue early on was finding a decent character generator (we do a lot of corp/gov. long-form and TV spots). I bought Marquee and could never get my old head around it. I like Inscriber, but I've never been happy with DVE moves on a 32 bit TGA file using BCC, so a few months ago I started using Boris RED and fell in love with it for CG, and effects. Well worth the money. One of our editors here likes Vegas over MC, and in a lot of ways I think Discreet was a much better editor.... if it had continued to evolve. But there's some very cool things in MC, you just gotta get your head into the program and understand it's limitation. I suspect it's written on top of some very old kernal that they just can't get away from it.

Good luck!!!

 There is also on line training available on the Avid website using ALEX. You will find several free tutorials here.

And welcome aboard the Avid Users Forum, where you'll never need Avid telephone tech support again!

The entire forum is a "noob" area as even the most experienced of us is new to something at some point. 

We're all here to help so post away.

Really, as Kent has said, all we ask is that people at least attempt to locate an answer.  Read the Readme file, try the buit-in help, search the forums.  When you finally do decide to post here, please provide as detailed an explanation of what you were doing, what you expected, and what happened that you didn't expect or don't understand.  Also, fill out your Profile with your system specs.  it'll save you, and us, a lot of time getting to your answer.  Meanwhile ... welcome.

 Damn... knew I forgot one thing in the earlier post

That'll do it.

This looks like a great forum ... lots of responses & friendly too.  I'm still on the Yahoo based Speed Razor forum which has always been a big help.

Fazz Powell:

My biggest issue early on was finding a decent character generator (we do a lot of corp/gov. long-form and TV spots). I bought Marquee and could never get my old head around it.

I'm used to Inscriber as well.  Marquee is on my CS3 setup but you're right -- its no replacement for Inscriber.  From what I read (equipment not yet up & running), we have Avid FX included with our suites.  This is essentially Boris Red is it not?  If so, at least I'll understand that

 Yes, Avid FX essentially is Boris Red.

Sorry, I'm jumping in late on this. The manuals document the features of the products. For instructional (tutorial) information, I would recommend you go here:

http://www.avid.com/training/alex.asp

You can choose to use the free tutorials or use ALEX.

Also, you have a complete online library of PDF files off the help menu. The printed manuals you receive are not the complete set of manuals available for the product. If you find that we missed documenting any features, please let me know.

HTH,

Doris

Hey Editor C,

Welcome to the forums. And welcome to the world of Avid. I, too, came to Avid from Speed Razor and Incite. It took a fair while to let go of old habits and start to appreciate what you'll affectionately come to know as, 'the Avid way' of doing things.

Seriously, it's a dog of a different color, and for a while you'll beat your head against it, 'cause it's going to feel a bit foreign. I think in a lot of ways Avid forces you to be a bit more disciplined in the way you cut. At first this feels like a limitation, but later it will feel like a real security net. And once you start to understand the principles of Avid's toolkit, you'll truly come to appreciate the power and efficiency of it.

Take a good look at customizing your keyboard. In Avid you can do just about everything with the keyboard. If you take it to extremes, you almost don't have to touch the mouse.

Have fun with it, and post here when issues arise. Even those who bite, don't usually bite too hard. Especially, as has been said, if you make a preliminary attempt to find the answers first.

Chris