Better editing in Avid

Re-editing an action sequence

At the 2011 Supermeet editor Eddie Hamilton (in the middle of a Avid demo) played two versions of an edited action sequence from Kick Ass. Jump to about 6 minutes in and watch to about 17 minutes, thereafter technical difficulties and Avid soapboxing ensue. But those 10 minutes in the middle provide a valuable insight into how to transform a difficult scene into one that really, well, kicks ass.

New Features in Avid MC 6.5

Steve Kanter from Ripple Training walks through the new features in MC6.5

Editorial Note: It seems odd to me that people like Eddie Hamilton (see above) would claim that ”there’s just no other platform to use” for a big feature when there are things that MC 6.5 can’t do or is only just getting the ability to do, that FCP7 has always been able to do; such as the number of audio tracks you can have or moving clips about. Plenty of other big features are cut on FCP, Lightworks or Premiere so I don’t think any one platform can justifiably claim superiority. After all, an edit is just two shots next to each other and when you’re watching a film you’ve got no idea what software was used to edit it! As Michael Cioni said at the Amsterdam Supermeet editors should be able to use all platforms, just as skilled people can speak many languages. Here is Fincher on using FCP on Zodiac. (granted it feels a bit dated now!)

Avid workflow tips

getting better performance in Avid

Premiumbeat has (among lots of good stuff!) a couple of posts featuring some Avid workflow tips that are well worth checking out.

Getting more from your Avid system – A handful of useful tips on how to get the best realtime playback while editing and how to set up your project in ways that will enhance the editing experience.

Adjusting Audio keyframes – This post demonstrates the basics of applying and adjusting audio keyframes in Avid as well as some timesaving techniques whilst audio editing.

Importing stills correctly into Avid – This two part post is a quick refresher on the best way to import stills into Avid to ensure they appear in the right size and shape in your edit.

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