Hi, this may seem like a dumb question to some of you but I'm clueless. I have been looking at a few film schools and one of them (Full Sail) told me to buy a mac because Final Cut Pro is the industry standard for editing. Then, I went to another film school and they told me that they only use AVID because that is the industry standard. I am going to buy a new computer before enrolling in a program and do not know what software to get/play with before school starts.

Keep in mind I know very little about the industry standards of editing, but I've always heard as far as getting jobs in the industry, knowing Avid is much more valuable than knowing FCP. But I don't really know, I've also heard FCP is gaining a lot more credibility professionally lately from a few people.

Final Cut.

Avid is way harder to use, and unless you're cutting a feature or something really serious in a professional workflow, there's no need to get into Avid.

Avid, from my limited experience, is clunky, annoying, much harder to learn/use, and very un-intuitive in terms of interface and self-teaching.

Some schools will ask you to learn Avid at some point, but they'll teach it to you.

I've used both extensively. I use Avid at work and FCP at home. I don't really like FCP that much better (though I do a little bit), it's just that most editing jobs want you to know a little of both and I figure I should continue to work on both.

Also, FCP is just more doable in a home setup. The mac and FCP studio 2 package cost me just under $5000 with an educational discount. Avid's old systems ran about 50,000. Now you can get a mojo system with something to run it for maybe 9 or 10 k. I don't have 9 or 10 k. Hell, let's be honest, I don't have the 5k for the FCP setup.

Both programs are very similar in terms of what they can do so it's not like there is no going back- if you learn on one, it'll be easy enough to switch.

Avid is a very powerful program. FCP is a very useful program with a lot of other great programs that come with it.

So try them and see what you like.

And, as for industry standard, there isn't one. Some jobs are going to want you to know one or the other, and, like I said, many are going to want you to know both, one well, one workably.

Hell, my girlfriend's father has 2 emmys and he uses f'n grass valley.

Im pretty sure Chris posted an extensive coverage of the Avid vs FCP debate...

He also made some Avid training videos that are posted on the main site in case anyone is interested.

If you get a Mac you can run BOTH FCP and Avid. FCP is definitely NOT the industry standard BTW.

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

quote:

Originally posted by titaniumdoughnut:
Avid, from my limited experience, is clunky, annoying, much harder to learn/use, and very un-intuitive in terms of interface and self-teaching.

You definitely need someone to teach you to use Avid - it's not easily self taught. But once you know it - it simply blows the pants off of FCP for editing.

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

Of the two film schools that I have knowledge of (USC and Chapman), both use Avid exclusively for any class involving editing. It is, quite simply, the industry standard. I also have an aunt that runs the editing department at the AD agency that handles Nike, EA, etc, and they primarily use Avid. From my knowledge, Avid is much more suited for large, feature length projects, or projects that need to be done quickly and are worked on by multiple people (ads).

That all being said...FCP is a great program. It's better than great - if you know how to use it, it's incredible. As powerful as AVID? Definately not. But there's one big difference (as others have said)...Price! And Studio 2 is starting to move towards a far more proffessional grade - Motion 3 incorporates most of what Shake is (Shake is a pro-class compositing program), and Color used to be a $25,000 program.

But, still, Avid has over 90% market saturation (though its losing it more and more to FCP and, wouldn't you know, Adobe). As Chris has said in previous posts, if you want to be an editor you should know both. But if you're just looking at film schools, I highly doubt you'll be able to afford an Avid system, whereas FCS2 can be had for $800 with the educational discount.

Its kind of interesting that this new generation of filmmakers has so many complex software programs to learn in order to be successful.

I guess the D.I.Y. approach to film making requires a lot of learning time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: braininabox,

I agree. Whether or not you think FCP is a good program, it must be admitted that it has truly contributed to the continuing democratization of the filmmaking process.


Now here's to hoping that the Red 1 is the final key to truly liberate the masses!

quote:

Originally posted by Studentfilms.com:
If you get a Mac you can run BOTH FCP and Avid. FCP is definitely NOT the industry standard BTW.

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

Yes, but I always thought that one of the big benefits of Avid was that you could use a PC. Also, as someone who has recently scouted editing jobs, knowledge of FCP was required in at least half the jobs I looked at. And there is definitely an upward trend in use. I suspect by the time someone entering film school now will find, when they graduate, most of the job market using FCP at some point. So it can be considered an industry standard if not the standard.

quote:

I also have an aunt that runs the editing department at the AD agency that handles Nike, EA, etc, and they primarily use Avid. From my knowledge, Avid is much more suited for large, feature length projects, or projects that need to be done quickly and are worked on by multiple people (ads).

I also work at an ad agency and while we have 2 avid systems I also do work on my home machine when we need serious color correction. In addition I've worked with other shops and posting houses and many of them use FCP.

I don't want to sound like I favor FCP because they're both pretty equal in my mind, but it seems like it's not getting a fair shake. The only thing I can say is I very much dislike Adobe, and I'm not a fan of grass valley or vegas from what I've seen though I haven't used them enough to say anything definite.



Something final to consider: A film school is going to have facilities to use one or both programs. Hell, my school doesn't have a film major and we have 5 FCP labs and an avid station.

Thanks a lot. I was just wondering because I am going to be getting a new computer before heading to film school and didn't want to blow a bunch of money on a program that no one uses. I wanted to get the software before school started and play around with it.

Saying that something is the "industry standard" says nothing about the product at all. The prevalence of a product is more of the result of how a product is marketed. For example, Microsoft Windows is the standard operating system for many industries, but we all know that it's a horrible, horrible piece of software.

Avid and FCP appeal to personal tastes. They work differently and remind me of the old apples and oranges saying (and I think it's extremely arrogant to presume to know what's better for someone else). If you want to work in the industry, it's necessary to know both of them, but for your own work, use whatever allows you to be the most creative.