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Read about Editing Workstations
If you're confused about what storage you'll need for Real-Time Performance with your DV Editing system, here's some information you won't want to be without.
Read about Editing Video Cards |
We received a press copy of the Newly Released "Edit Like A Pro with Avid Express Pro" with the same sort of anticipation that we have whenever we see a new training product on the market. And usually, after watching Multi-Media Training Products, we walk away with a better understanding of that particular piece of software. However, during the videos we can't help but wish that there was more emphasis on the lighter side of education. As artists, we're always longing for the sense of discovery, the thrill of new information or techniques that will make our daily editing, animation, or authoring work that much more satisfying. So, when Andy Jenkins, the instructor for Edit Like A Pro with Avid Xpress Pro actually made us laugh with his sarcasm, self-deprecation, and the use of a 6 foot 4 inch tall Kung-Fu Bunny Rabbit in his training media, we were hooked. Let's talk about the specifics of Edit Like A Pro with Avid Xpress Pro. The Package. We received a 2 DVD set in a standard DVD case from Like A Pro's service Bureau, Custom Flix. If you don't know, Custom Flix is a DVD on Demand service bureau that has quickly risen to the top of the industry's "Movers and Shakers" short list. At first, we were worried that the DVD-R material might present some compatibility issues with our older DVD Players, but this was not the case. According to Custom Flix's literature, the quality of the media that they use to replicate their titles is exceptional, and even on a 4 year old Pioneer DVD player, we had no playback issues what-so-ever. The Training. What we enjoyed most about Edit Like A Pro's training was it's project based approach. Instead of dropping you into the middle of an ocean of possibilities, ELAP walks the user through the process of a typical edit. After a brief introduction to the interface and navigation, the show talks about managing your media, capturing your media, organizing your media, your first edits, split edits, adding F/X.... You get the picture. The point is, this is the same sort of approach that any editor will use on 90% of their projects. The material can get moving pretty fast in some instances, and take it's time in others. We found ourselves reviewing some parts a few times, but that's okay. We'd rather have the opportunity to look at something again than not have it be presented at all. Overall, the scope of the material covered here is vast. Our favorite tutorials were of Xpress Pro's Color Correction Suite. It's obvious that the instructor has had a fair amount of color correction experience, and he's honest about the capabilities of the software. For example, when talking about the Color Correction Wizards, he's quick to point out that they can get you close, but the art of color correction really needs a human to supervise the results. Obviously. But what makes this section so go is that AJ then shows you how to tweak the results with a skillful hand. Good Stuff. The Quality of the Presentation. As we said above, we like the moments of Humor that are injected into the show, and the inclusion of a Martial Art edit sequence where the instructor squares off against a person dressed in a bunny suit is so surreal that we couldn't take our eyes off of the screen. That's one of the many kudos we have to give this program - Not only does it talk about the operational side of the Avid, it also talks about editorial problem solving, cutting on the action, and real world client considerations in the edit suite (in the the Audio Suite section of the program). It's nice to have a real editor's perspective. The Quality of the Video. With about 2 and a half hours of Video and Dolby Digital Audio on EACH DVD, we thought we'd be watching pretty low quality video. We were not, at least on our little consumer level Toshiba monitor. Having said that, there are the typical washed out blacks and crushed whites that exist when we watch any DVD material on our PC, but we only did that to test compatibility. Any kind of computer screen captured material runs into resolution issues - NTSC sucks. In fact, AJ appears briefly at the beginning of the first DVD to talk about that. Their solution is to frequently zoom into parts of the Avid interface where it's necessary to show detailed images. While the shots of the entire interface can be soft, most of the program is spent in "Close-Up" as it were, and we had no problems following the tutorials. We loved the music in between the chapters (33 of them, or so) and since this is FULL-MOTION 29.97 FPS video, we could really get a sense of how the edits, color correction, etc, worked. Completeness. We're pretty sure that this, or any DVD that wants to fully explain the Avid needs to be about 30 hours long. Still, this is not a "Complete A-Z" course, even though it takes you through an entire project. It's really designed to get novice/intermediate (read: 2 years or less experience editing OR for advanced editors who are migrating to Avid from other software) user up to speed quickly. For some of the more technical functions, you'll need to have your manual nearby to fill in the blanks. Still, we learned a good deal about nesting, color correction, audio mix downs - enough that we're confident that just about anyone who is not doing this every day for a living will take something useful away from this program. With that said, the program does take you through everything you'll need to know in order to edit with this software. Price. At $147, this is a STEAL. Compared to some of the other products out there, JUST in terms of scope, Edit Like A Pro with Avid Xpress Pro outshines them all. Add to it a healthy dose of real-world editing information, the quality of the actual instruction (AJ is really a good teacher - he talks to you like you were sitting next to him) and the indispensable Attack Bunny footage, and this 4 hours and 42 minutes of Avid Training is the best we've seen yet. Sharp! Check out the web site for more information AND some Screen Shots. Avid Editing News
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DVD Duplication Avid and Final Cut Pro Training Computer Animation and Computer Graphics |
