User 200631

Avid Technology: Contrarian Position

Oh yeah,
Other than saying my views are biased, I have no quibbles with your points - they were well thought out and reasoned. As I pointed out in my post, there are benefits to both editing solutions. My issues with Avid User was his wildly inaccurate statements and assumptions about FCP - its place in the market and his demeaning its feature set with what is apparently very little knowledge.

Is FCP successful in the prosumer world? Obviously yes. But it is also a success in the professional world. As an editor who began in film, moved to tape, then to the NLE world, I can say that ALL systems steal from each other and are followers - Avid most of all. I can point out the numerous feature sets in Avid that made their first appearance in either Montage, Dvision, Lightworks or Discreet edit - just as these products borrowed liberally from Avid. The editing paradigm as we know it did not originate with Avid. Source/Record windows were around way before Avid began in the late 80s.

I didn't start as an Apple fanboy until I began using FCP 3 years ago after Avid TOTALLY dropped the ball with our company in with its lack of HD and Unity support. Service was a particular strength that Avid User was touting, I can easily tell you of additional first hand horror stories about problems that will curl your hair.

Again, not saying FCP is the best and Avid blows - just trying to keep the facts straight.

Avid Technology: Contrarian Position

AvidUser, you really need to do research before you make wildly erroneous statements that you present as facts. For the record, I am an Emmy award-winning editor who uses both Avid & FCP.

"Final Cut Pro is a software tool for prosumer and small productions."

You mean like BBC? NBC? CNN? MTV? Fox Promos & Sports? The production companies in Hollywood that supply programming to all the major tv & cable networks? Just about every Hollywood ad agency? Oh yeah, did I forget to mention David Fincher, Peter Jackson and Walter Murch? Please....

"Avid also sells storage solutions which are replacing video tapes. Apple does not."

I suggest you look at Apple XSan. There are facilities using large (135TB+) systems for HD multicam editing.

"Avid has never made money from software. It makes money on hardware, turn key solutions, and service. Avid Media Composer has always been a loss leader."

While the failure of Xpress Pro has shown you first sentence to be correct (Avid has discontinued it), your comment that MC has been a loss leader is a head scratcher. That was Avid's bread and butter from the beginning until just a couple of years ago when they were forced by the market to introduce a high-end SOFTWARE solution. Their exorbitant markups flew out the window once the software could be purchased for $2,500. The Unity is facing rising competition to more cost-effective and equally viable solutions. As for service, I suggest a visit to the almost any online Avid forum for non-partisan views on the problems with the company's assistance program.

"Avid's future is in services, asset management for large entreprise, bigger contracts. Apple has no plans in that area, it is entirely concentrated on the prosumer market."

With all due respect, are you NUTS? Do you really know nothing about FCP Server which was shown at NAB last year?

Listen, there are projects that Avid excels at, and the same is true for FCP. There are powerful tools in both. But with the exception of ProTools, Avid & FCP do NOT complement each other. Having been involved with Avid products since V1.0, I can safely say that the current problem with Avid is that it's a bit of a rudderless company without a vision - which is quite the opposite with Apple.

Please, at least do a little research before you make such wildly inaccurate pronouncements.

Avid Technology: Contrarian Position

It's seems obvious (to me at least) that Mr. Goldblum did research in all areas except one - the marketplace where Avid competes. Three words which are the root of Avid's (almost insurmountable) problems: Final Cut Pro. Apple has single-handedly changed the technical, AND more importantly, financial playing field. For all his misguided analysis and pointless number crunching, Mr. Goldblum totally misses the point that FCP is a juggernaut that has transformed the post-production landscape, and in doing so has drastically changed Avid's business model.

One additional quibble: "As broadcasters switch from videotapes to digital editing and production..."; I don't know where Mr. Goldblum has been, but the end of videotape ship sailed years ago. A more accurate statement would be "As broadcasters switch from 2nd (or 3rd) generation digitial editing and production...".

I'm not saying that Avid is going away soon, but the future will be quite and uphill battle for the company - and these are not the times that will be friendly...