nofilmschool » avid

Avid Tutorial: How to Bring Your Shots to Life with These Basic Color Correction Tips

Robert Hardy — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:32:15 +0000

As most post-production folks know, Avid Media Composer is not the most intuitive piece of software. Even the simplest of tasks can take far too much time if you’re unfamiliar with the Avid interface and workflow. However, once you’ve grown accustomed to the program, it becomes one of quickest and most powerful editorial tools at your disposal. Because Avid is such a prominent tool within the industry, yet one that is shied away from by many younger filmmakers, I will be starting the “Avid Tutorial” series (and a Premiere version as well). Each post will be an aggregation of the best topical video tutorials from around the web in order help people become better oriented with the key concepts and functions within the software. So without any further ado, let’s take a peak at some of the basic color correction functionality built into Avid Media Composer, and see how you can take your shots from bland to vibrant in a few easy steps. (more…)

NAB Video: Avid & Lightworks

Micah Van Hove — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:00:26 +0000

Here’s more for editors and post-production professionals from Avid, talking about the new Media Composer 7, the Symphony upgrade, AMA linking, working with 4K footage in the HD timeline with Frame Flex. FreshDV also talks with EditShare about Lightworks and their new price-point to compete with the other NLE giants: (more…)

Media Composer 7: Avid Brings Their Flagship NLE into the High Resolution Future and Lowers Price

Robert Hardy — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:30:00 +0000

Avid has been the leader in high-end film and television post-production for the past 20 years. Despite this fact, Avid’s primary competitors (Adobe and Apple) have been stealing customers left and right for the past few years with new innovations in their NLE offerings. However, Avid has slowly and steadily been bringing Media Composer up to modern standards with 64bit processing, support for modern GPU’s, AMA linking etc, but up until yesterday, the Media Composer platform was still limited to a 1920 x 1080 pipeline. Avid’s Media Composer 7 looks to change all of this and bring the platform into the 21st century, where 4k looks to be the new standard. Check out the product video below: (more…)

Major NLE Updates Coming at NAB? What Adobe and Avid Should Do to Improve Their Products

Robert Hardy — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:02:20 +0000

NAB is an exciting time of year for us filmmaking folk. While there are certainly some exciting things on the horizon in terms of cameras, rigs, lenses, lights, and what have you, I’m making an educated guess that this will be another significant year for NLE development, especially from post-production giants Avid and Adobe. Avid is likely to make the jump to version 7 of its flagship Media Composer, and if they follow their previously mentioned product cycle plan, Adobe will release version 6.5 of their popular Creative Suite. With much of the editing market still undecided between the three major players in post-production, these new updates could be a crucial stepping stone into the future for these companies. (more…)

Bad Robot's Creative and Technical Paradise with Avid's Dyamic Collaboration Environments

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:56:02 +0000

At the end of last year, Avid announced a free webinar exploring Bad Robot, the film and TV production company co-founded by J. J. Abrams — which, judging by the success of such projects as Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Lost, and Star Trek, is doing more than one thing very, very right. Don’t worry if you missed that webinar, though, because Avid has recently shared a 20-minute video breaking down Bad Robot’s studio space — and not only is it an enviable one for any independent because each step of the creative process is fostered there, but also because its Media Composer workflow of collaboration taps the future directly. (more…)

Getting Started with Color Correction: Using Waveforms and Scopes with Colorist Steve Hullfish

Dave Kendricken — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 18:02:21 +0000

The colorist’s job has gotten a whole lot easier since chemical baths stepped out of the picture in many cases. Non-destructive color timing is the future in which we now live — that said, the principles at work in creating properly balanced imagery is as important as ever. Each camera we may be shooting on has its own unique implications in chromatic reproduction, and the ability to delicately correct a given color mixture (regardless of its source) is key. Ironically, or not, tools such as waveform monitors and vectorscopes — staples of the bygone analog video world — are as relevant today as ever in filmmaking, if not more so. A recent presentation by noted color correction author Steve Hullfish demonstrates precisely this point, as well as the basics in using your scopes to full advantage. (more…)

J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Hosting Free Avid Post Production Webinar on 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:45:30 +0000

Unless you’ve completely ignored any and all exposure to mainstream media over the past five to ten years — particularly television and cinema — you’ve probably heard of Bad Robot. With productions like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Lost, Alias, and Cloverfield, there’s no doubt they exert major force on both popular culture and blockbuster art. All of which makes it very exciting to report that the next Avid Pro Video Webinar will feature none other than the post team of Bad Robot themselves, bringing you behind the scenes of their processes and workflows — and from the looks of things, specifically regarding CEO J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness. (more…)

Avid Studio is a $4.99, Frame-Accurate Editing Application for the iPad

Ryan Koo — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:36:29 +0000

Many have lauded Avid’s latest version of Media Composer (6), and it seems Avid is not content to cede the lower-end editing market to Adobe and Apple. To that end, they have released a new iPad app, Avid Studio, which at a special introductory price of $4.99 is surely the lowest-price piece of paid Avid software. Here’s a look at the app in action (no sound, some Japanese text): (more…)

Avid Announces Media Composer 6 with 64-Bit Processing and New User Interface

Ryan Koo — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:47:49 +0000

No one’s denying the power of Avid’s editing systems, but they haven’t been the most accessible or open programs… until now? Today Avid announced Media Composer 6, bringing a brand new user interface, 64 bit processing power, stereoscopic 3D workflow, and new “Open I/O” architecture that interfaces with existing hardware cards from the likes of AJA and Blackmagic Design. Media Composer 6 will be $2,499, with upgrades from MC 5.5 starting at $299. Similar to how Adobe offered 50% off for Final Cut Pro 7 editors disenfranchised by the new FCPX, Avid is making a similar offer for users of Final Cut Pro 7: you can purchase MC 6, with video training included, for $1,499. Here’s a brief look at Media Composer 6 from Alex Walker: (more…)