ok it´s 2009 it´s not 1995 anymore.

I´m been editing on Avid around 12 years, then I moved to FCP for three years and now I´m forced back

to Avid 3.5 again with Isis and the new interplay. And at Avid time is standing still, what happend? some new codecs and format compability.

no userfriendly steps has been taking. So this is my feature requests so far.

Why is there two interfaces when you use Interplay, why should I have bins and Interplay?

Why isn´t there a "find folder" as "find bin" I would use it all day long?

Why does everything stop when you touch the audiotool it´s still not 1995 how can you mix audio when it´s not playing?

Why does the audiosuite open in seperate windows?

Why can´t you put several eq and compressors ond the same clip, and if you use the old eq you can´t see

audiosuite plug beneath if it´s rendered? And if you render both you will get wrong output(BUG)

Why is the new feature from FCP "the big move segment backward, forward" moving the fill and erasing your cuts.

Why doesn´t it work to"hide monitors" workspaces workspaces anymore?

Why can´t I lock video clips and audio togheter to one unit?

Why can´t I "open in editor"?

Why can´t I hide all folders that i`m not interested in, in Interplay.

Why do I have to click three times on everything to get something done?

Why isn´t there a good way to work with big stills and I dont´t mean the crappy thing you got.

Integrate Interplay into the avid window.

And the import should be more automatic like in other software.

And there is still problem when you import dv50 movies into the Avid.

I could go on forever but I´ll stop here for now.

But come on and move the Avid in to 2009, if you want to keep us editor you really have to do something.

Things are happening out there!!!!! 

When you say you were 'forced back' to Avid it makes it hard to take your criticisms too seriously. Obviously you found FCP to be superior so stay with it. Otherwise, relearn Avid and you'll soon remember why you used it back in 1995.

It doesn't suck as bad as you're making out, or else 99% or major feature films wouldn't be cut on it. However, it's not the best tool for every job, that much I'll agree with.

Chris

PS: Having recently used FCP for a film doctor job, I had exactly the opposite reaction. I felt I had to click three times to get anything done, because I'm so keyboard-centric with my Avid setup.

You are right about the inability add multiple Audiosuite plugins to a clip. Lots of people complain about that.

conleec:

When you say you were 'forced back' to Avid it makes it hard to take your criticisms too seriously. Obviously you found FCP to be superior so stay with it. Otherwise, relearn Avid and you'll soon remember why you used it back in 1995.

...

Chris,

I have to say that this type of response is not serving anyone any good. I know that we Avid users have become a defensive lot from hearing "Final Cut" all the time. But this the Product Feature Requests forum.

The very purpose of this forum is to let Avid know what they could do better and what we want in their products. Squashing posts that point out areas Avid can improve inhibits such a dialog. This does Avid no good.

The perspective of someone who's switched from Avid to FCP to Avid is exactly what needs to be expressed, since Avid has to actually take some market share away from Apple.

Avid had yet another quarterly loss according to GAAP. It's laid-off employees and moved production overseas. This is no time for us to tell people if you don't like Avid don't use it.

Hi,

tota:

Why isn´t there a "find folder" as "find bin" I would use it all day long?

Yes, "find folder" in Interplay would be very useful.

ciao,
Carl 

My biggest issue with Interplay is the rigid and inflexible nature of it's search engine. Just like Media Manager before it, it is not capable of "similar to" or "did you mean" functionality. For example, if the producer gives you a phrase to search for and leaves out a word, or has misspelled a word, the search fails. If there is not a space between two words and you enter the phrase WITH a space between those two words, the search fails. GRRRRRR!!

tota:

Why is the new feature from FCP "the big move segment backward, forward" moving the fill and erasing your cuts.

tota, I don't understand your FCP reference, BUT I believe you've hit on one of my favorite complaints...

On the timeline, when you segment mode nudge lassoed (or otherwise highlighed) clips PLUS attached add-edited Filler, the highlighted Filler stays highlighted and actually merges with any neighboring un-highlighted Filler as you continue to nudge. This new, unintended highlighted Filler eventually may start "eating away" at the next unhighlighted clip further down the timeline-- even if it is out of view, waaay down the timeline.

Perhaps this has been dealt with in MC 4.0, along with the new slip/slide/attached fx enhancements, but if not, it would be very nice to get this fixed once and for all.

good list, Tota- and welcome back to the cult!

Hi,

itmatters:

On the timeline, when you segment mode nudge lassoed (or otherwise highlighed) clips PLUS attached add-edited Filler, the highlighted Filler stays highlighted and actually merges with any neighboring un-highlighted Filler as you continue to nudge. This new, unintended highlighted Filler eventually may start "eating away" at the next unhighlighted clip further down the timeline-- even if it is out of view, waaay down the timeline.

Didn't MC solve this when they added the capability to select everything on the timeline from the position indicator forward?  I haven't used the capability, but from the description of it, it sounds like it would solve this problem.

ciao,
Carl 

I couldn't say. I never use that new 3.x feature, maybe I should check it out.

Mostly this issue comes up for me while tweaking and revising a multi-track timeline, using lasso-highlighted clips to intentionally erase something earlier with nudges, simultaneously moving a bunch of clips with "jagged" or "uneven" leading edges into an earlier spot on the timeline.

I don´t want to be rude or anything, but I get so furios when I´m "forced" back because our company is

switching 100% to Avid and Isis. The Avid force me into a way to work that doesn´t feel creative in any way,

and that´s why they are losing the market more and more. I want smart solutions, and no workarounds.

And I think that this is serving Avid if they would listen to the users.

Tota

tota:

The Avid force me into a way to work that doesn´t feel creative in any way,

I'm curious - - from the perspective of one who has used Avid for over 15 years, with several major awards including an Emmy under my belt - - in what way does Avid prevent you from being creative in telling a story? Please provide us with a detailed description justifying this statement.

I believe it is an example of.....

I don't like this new hammer because I'm used to my old hammer and it just feels right in my hand.

I do understand. I even feel a little bit that way moving from Avid Xpress Pro 5.7 to MC 4.0. Things are different. I have to look for things in a new place and setup some things in a different manner. I can't imagine the frustration of having to move from Avid to FCP or from FCP to Avid. They are NLE's that approach editing in different ways. Some people feel more comfortable with one or the other.

People express their frustration with having to learn to work with a different system. I have my frustrations with Avid. They finally have addressed working with mixed frame rates on the same time line. That's a big one for me. I am still frustrated that they offer no 1080 30p project type for MC software. Some people may not care, but it is killing my workflow. Not having an economical choice for HD-SDI output for monitoring HD is another frustration.

Avid has managed to keep me just hanging on but I have been slowly moving to Mac based computers while I have been windows based for years. I will be set for the next 2 years until the rewrite for 64 bit comes about. Then we will see how that shakes out.

But, you are right Larry. None of the technical issues has anything to do with the creative aspect. It is just has to do with how comfortable, how fast, how easy. Avid has addressed some of these issues for my work. It took a while and I nearly bailed, but now I don't have to spend time and learn a new system. I may finally add FCP on one of my systems so that I can ease my way into the software and decide for myself.

Thanks Avid, for 3.5 and 4.0. You kept me from having to go on a crash course of learning a new NLE.

Keep on movin'.

If I compare with FCP I have integration with Soundtrack, Motion, Color etc. and I don´t have import everything, music, QT and so on. You have blending modes, you can work more easy with stills, and for me everything feels more creative.

Off course I can be creative with Avid too or some other software but I just tried to prove a point, and it also depend on what you type show you are cutting and what tools you need.

If I compare with FCP I have integration with Soundtrack, Motion, Color etc. and I don´t have import everything, music, QT and so on. You have blending modes, you can work more easy with stills, and for me everything feels more creative.

Off course I can be creative with Avid too or some other software but I just tried to prove a point how I feel regarding the two.

Of course it depends on what you type show you are cutting and what tools you need.

tota:

If I compare with FCP I have integration with Soundtrack, Motion, Color etc. and I don´t have import everything, music, QT and so on. You have blending modes, you can work more easy with stills, and for me everything feels more creative.

Off course I can be creative with Avid too or some other software but I just tried to prove a point, and it also depend on what you type show you are cutting and what tools you need.

 

Soundtrack. I think there is near unanimity here that Avid's audio features are lacking. Also co-installing w/ ProTools is a poor choice b/c you can't use 64-bit Windows and and there is an installation sequence that has to be followed. So if you have a problem w/ one app and have to reinstall it, or want to/need to uninstall it for a product upgrade you might have to uninstall-reinstall the other. This along with the other audio problems you mention are egregious and are killing Avid on a feature set that SHOULD be a strength. How you own DigiDesign and lack in audio is beyond be.

Motion. Avid ships w/ Avid FX (Boris Red). I've never used Motion and I infrequently use Red. But from what I've seen and understand, it is a very powerful compositing and effects tool. You might just not be familiar with it; which doesn't mean it's not good.

Color. I have been a constant complainer about MC's color correction tools. I think it is appalling that FCP is now being seen as a finishing tool. Just from a matter of pride, I don't see how Avid tolerates this. And invariably those who cut on MC and finish in FCP will start mapping keyboard shortcuts in FCP and adjust to editing in FCP. All that said, MC's built-in color correction tools are still VERY POWERFUL. Even the very advanced things you can do in Color can be done in MC but they will take longer. However, b/c MC's CC tools are part of MC, the more mundane type of corrections are easier to do in MC than in FCP w/ its built-in color corrector. Also there is the BCC filter Correct Selected that provides a secondary color corrector. It's not on par of what you can do in Color but it can get the job done in quite a few cases.

Importing. You simply don't have to import everything. Avid has AMA that lets you work directly with many types of source media files w/o importing them.

Blending Modes. If you mean working with different frame rates, formats, etc., well MC 4.0 can do that. It's called Mix and Match, and it is supposed to be better at it than how FCP solves the problem.

Tota, in short I think you bring up a lot of good points in your first post. But I also think that you have to spend the time to learn what Avid can do and how you get it to do it. Also you're using an older version of MC which is lacking some important features, esp. as it relates to mixing different types of media on the timeline.

The people here are very helpful and of course read the manual and use Help. Your frustration is due to rightfully expecting features that Avid simply doesn't have. But it is also due to being unfamiliar w/ how MC does things and what's been added since you last used it.

Good luck and hopefully we can all help each other ;) ... or at least try, LOL!

I think Blending Modes is the way in which layers can interact (add, subtract, difference, hard light etc.). These are available in the Boris Composite plug-in. They should be an part of the basic tool set.

I sympathise completely with tota and his comments, and I have been using Avid since 1992.....