Yep, that's kinda the way it is. No company worth their bottom line can pretend to be all things to all people. If this software doesn't meet your needs, you need to find one that does.

I do high volume commercial work. If I had to rely on FCP or (gasp) Premiere, I would be out of business. The other day I had a problem with one out of a half a dozen Avid systems and I was about to jump off a bridge. And part of my problem was my own panicky self taking things apart before I knew what I was doing. That problem, which was rectified within a day - with the help of some of the guys on this forum - was the only real problem I've had in years. Pretty damn good if you ask me. I'd guess it's because I've been running my systems on approved hardware. Bottom line - Avid has pretty much met my needs. Do I love everything about Avid? No. I think they need to seriously rethink a few of their policies. Will that stop me from using Avid products? HELL no. I got a wife and 7 kids to support.

Steeldestroyer:

Understood.  Unfortunately, paying to get "proper" implementation of OGL means I sacrifice quality in every non-professional application.  I don't consider that to be a worthwhile investment (and it is also why I don't soft-mod my 8800 into a Quadro).

 Are you serious? If "non professional" applications (games?) are more important to you than a professional NLE, then why are we having this discussion? We are all earning our money with Avid and if this is not your priority, I suggest you have a look in your Windows program folder. There you'll find Windows Movie Maker. It comes for free and you can play with videos in your spare time, or as a hobby.

If you are serious about Avid though we can help you to get it to run it on your system.

Anyhow, good luck with your decision.

tpiom:

I only want to post to ensure you of your customers experience with your software,

How should I put it... Well i first got Avid Xpress Pro 4.8.1 or something, that installation was more than troublesome and I never got through it. Some time later, I tried with Xpress 5.8.1 (latest) and the installation was better but then when I tried to start it it got stuck initializing audio, probarly because I'm running a Realtek card. I threw it away and went with Premiere Pro (Adobe's) and it works fine...

And today I tried Media Composer 3.0, everything worked OK with the setup and so on. But when I was about to start it: "your system is not lisenced to run this software." That's it was my thought... I'm going over to Adobe's software completely now. Your programs has too many compadability problems with hardware.

Be sure to keep in mind that I have upgraded my computer since my experience from (Xpress 4.8.1) to today. Now I'm more than angry with you, wasting time and money on your products. It was a big mistake!

You seriously need to fix the Realtek problem, it's killing your compnay:

http://community.avid.com/forums/p/3874/129630.aspx
http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=61284
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic336508.html
http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=110799
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/207/55

And the worst of all, you NEVER released any patch or fix to that problem and when I asked on the boards and your support I got the simply the answer: "Change hardware."

Remember that Realtek is a major manufacturer of hardware today, and according to stats the AC'78 audio is the most commonly used audio card. I didn't buy any external hardware from Realtek either, I got their sound card from a Asus' motherboard and they are also a leading manufacturer when it comes to hardware. See my point? You're losing more than they do...

Hope you'll imporve your products in the future, I'm done with you (at least for the coming years...). I'll stick with Adobe's prodcuts so I don't get any serious issues with never-released-fixes and bad support.

Goodbye

I was just authoring with Encore cs3 and it crashed would you belive it..?

So to vent my anger I've decieded to post here and will be everytime it does or any Adobe product for that matter...[:'(]

AquaPix:

 Are you serious? If "non professional" applications (games?) are more important to you than a professional NLE, then why are we having this discussion? We are all earning our money with Avid and if this is not your priority, I suggest you have a look in your Windows program folder. There you'll find Windows Movie Maker. It comes for free and you can play with videos in your spare time, or as a hobby.

If you are serious about Avid though we can help you to get it to run it on your system.

Anyhow, good luck with your decision.

I think it's my turn to ask: Are you serious?

I think there are a few product options between Windows Movie Maker and Avid (and, as a side note, none of them require a Quadro card).  And in the case of several of them, sizable segments of the industry do make money with them.

I'm dying here - no offense, but why does everyone insist that Avid be this chameleon app that works with anything?  Avid is a tool for business or hobby right?  So let's compare that to other things:

1) Golf - A good Taylor Made Driver costs $399.  But wait...you can only use that for one part of the game...the entire set is going to ring in at around a grand.  And you can't fish with golf clubs (what a rip off).

2) Flyfishing - A sage or Orvis rod and Abel reel with line and backing will ring in at $800-900.  And guess what - you cannot use your flyrod to mountain bike.

3) Mountain Biking - A nice Trek bike?  $1000 or more.  And yep, you guessed it...you can't drive to work in it.

4) A car....

We get the idea right?   EVERY aspect of life consists of specialized equipment.  If you want to play games buy a playstation.  If you want to email, get a laptop.  If you want to edit - buy a system to do the job.  Not do every other job.

Peace.

Steeldestroyer:

don't consider that to be a worthwhile investment

But you can cut with a Knife!

It might be time for users' "new thinking". I know, once Avid used to cost  100.000, so we appreciate the fact that in the current era we can afford it, but times are changing fast and we don't need to defend what we love by any means. Avid's hardware stil costs a fortune (compared to the competition) and software is tied with it.

Steeldestroyer:

AquaPix:

 Are you serious? If "non professional" applications (games?) are more important to you than a professional NLE, then why are we having this discussion? We are all earning our money with Avid and if this is not your priority, I suggest you have a look in your Windows program folder. There you'll find Windows Movie Maker. It comes for free and you can play with videos in your spare time, or as a hobby.

If you are serious about Avid though we can help you to get it to run it on your system.

Anyhow, good luck with your decision.

I think it's my turn to ask: Are you serious?

 You obviously missed my smily and my point.

If you want the best editor on the planet you need the right system for it. With the time saving in editing, rendering, stability, media management, compared to any other NLE on the market, you'll make your investment back in no time.

If these points are not a priority for you, there are other cheaper NLE's out there. Go get one of them.

Thats it, I am done with this thread.

Once again, good luck with your decision (I mean it!).

May the (ge)force be with you...

This is not Ge forcce you're looking for!

I've said this before, and I'll say this again, part of the blame here rests with Avid's marketing decisions over the past four years. XDV and Xpress Pro were marketed to prosumer and consumer market segments. These folks expect cross platform and wide hardware compatibility. What happerns when an amature drag and drop editor suddenly realizes they've been suckered into a professional NLE app like Avid ? - Confusion !

These prosumers simply cannot understand the ethos behind the Avid concept-they just can't. I'm reading how you guys are trying to explain it to one. The gentlemen is not using the software to earn his living with, he's not trained in the proper use of the app, and he doesn't work in the professional film industry. We do. Yet Avid was marketed to him !

Here's the thing which screams loud and clear out of this conversation. If Avid wishes to continue also marketing their Professional product into the consumer desktop editor market segment, then it is obligatory for them to make MC with the compatibility ratio of Adobe Premiere. There is a great disconnect here. On the one hand, MC is a professional and highly sophisticated editing solution. On the other hand Avid wants to increase their market base. Do you see the what I'm getting at ?

Avid is being schizophrenic. So what is the way to proceed in software development ? If Avid wants to continue to develop MC and increase its market base by continuing incursions into the consumer market, then MC must become some sort of hybrid software. Avid Media Composer must continue to have all of the professional accutriments and stability it is highly acclaimed for, and also must become comptaible enough for drag and drop editing with a wider-cross hardware compatibility.

jasperfdo:

I'm dying here - no offense, but why does everyone insist that Avid be this chameleon app that works with anything?  Avid is a tool for business or hobby right?  So let's compare that to other things:

I don't claim it has to work with "anything".  I'm not saying it should work on an Apple II. I'm also not trying to use my computer (or an editing system) to golf. There's a big difference between using two different applications on a computer (reminds me of the ProTools and Avid incompatibility) and trying to flyfish with a mountain bike.

What's interesting is that you say, "Avid is a tool for business or hobby right?" From my observations of Avid's recent product positioning as well as the comments on this thread, Avid is NOT an application for hobby use.  Period. To think otherwise is to delude oneself (or so I'm told).

Steeldestroyer:

What's interesting is that you say, "Avid is a tool for business or hobby right?" From my observations of Avid's recent product positioning as well as the comments on this thread, Avid is NOT an application for hobby use.  Period. To think otherwise is to delude oneself (or so I'm told).

Laptopeditor:

Steeldestroyer:

What's interesting is that you say, "Avid is a tool for business or hobby right?" From my observations of Avid's recent product positioning as well as the comments on this thread, Avid is NOT an application for hobby use.  Period. To think otherwise is to delude oneself (or so I'm told).

 ...Ahh ! Here's the rub ! Avid is most certainly NOT for hobbyists and consumer desktops, but Avid wants a share of this market, but doesn't want to change. See ?

This is precisely my question.  Avid is not suitable for all but the most extreme hobbyists and consumers.  Avid is in fact making a defined shift in that direction (elimination of AXP, XDV and all that comes with those).  Does Avid really want a share in that market?  If it does, it really will need to change the way it operates.