Sooner or later, it was going to happen. A client would start asking if we could cut on Avid Media Composer. Well the answer is ‘yes’ – almost…
As with any piece of software there is a learning curve, but with Avid it seems steeper than most at first. The biggest issue is transitioning back from FCPX which is all drag and drop, swooshing about & cutting like the wind, to a more formal track based edit system. I should be used to it as I have cut plenty for broadcast on Premier & I am very familiar with turning tracks on & off before inserting new clips & the pros & cons of not having a sticky timeline as offered with FCPX.
There’s no doubt that Media Composer is incredibly powerful. Most broadcast editors can cut quickly on it and pooh-pooh any other tool, but from what I can see so far it would appear that Avid has learned (& is learning) some tricks from FCPX. There’s a lot more drag & drop going on that I recall when I first looked at the app several years ago & there are some clever tricks like audio ducking & quick transitions that make the edit process easier. Very much liking the way that the app seems to be at home with what ever media you throw at it & unlike FCPX (& just like Premier), it does not seems to create it’s own universe (library) where it’s best to store everything for best/fastest practice…
The hope is that after a day or two re-cutting a project that I had previously cut in FCPX, I’ll have cracked the app…