Comments on: AVID MEDIA COMPOSER 5 – A FROG’S EYE VIEW

By: Shane Ross

Shane Ross — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:06:27 +0000

Really? Unstable? How so? I haven’t had much of any issues. Crashed twice since I started using it…on three projects spanning about 3 months.

What computer are you using it on? What OS? Is that OS rated to work with Avid MC5? There are strict requirements when it comes to the Avid platform.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:51:02 +0000

Avid MC5 is very unstable and I wonder if this instability has been fixed in MC5.5,If so we will buy the upgrade,if not we will change to another soft ware platform

By: AVID 5.5: AMA & EXPORTING AAF NOW WORKS - Little Frog in High Def

AVID 5.5: AMA & EXPORTING AAF NOW WORKS - Little Frog in High Def — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:29 +0000

[...] 5.5: AMA & EXPORTING AAF NOW WORKS Mar 21 EDITING A little less than a year ago, I reviewed the new Avid Media Composer v5 software. Buried in that otherwise good review…at the bottom of the review…I [...]

By: AVID AND AJA, SITTING IN A TREE… - Little Frog in High Def

AVID AND AJA, SITTING IN A TREE… - Little Frog in High Def — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 01:54:04 +0000

[...] long ago…last year, around NAB in April…Avid announced Media Composer 5, and I blogged about it. One of the things that I mentioned that was HUGE was monitoring via non-Avid hardware, [...]

By: Morgan Cialella

Morgan Cialella — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 08:07:21 +0000

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By: AVID MEDIA COMPOSER 5 – A FROG’S EYE VIEW

AVID MEDIA COMPOSER 5 – A FROG’S EYE VIEW — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:51:13 +0000

[...] But now the game HAS changed. Avid is not only listening to the editors and end users of their products (meaning post supervisors and facilites managers too), but they are actively seeking out our advice…and incorporate it into their latest releases. There was this great tool that we users of Final Cut Pro really rely on, and love. It is Select All Downstream, or Upstream…or between IN and OUT points. I myself use this daily. When we asked Avid to add that to Media Composer…low and behold, in Media Composer 3.0.5…there it was. And when we asked them to support the new camera formats…in less time than their usual record of a year or two, they listened to us. In fact, they are listening to us so much now, and taking our advice so much now, that they come out with a new MAJOR release of Avid Media Composer every 6-9 months or so. So fast that I personally have told them that they really need to slow down. Why? Because many large facilities and old guard post houses would be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars for new upgrades, because they’d need to upgrade 12-40 bays, including hardware to view on client monitors. And historically a fully decked out Avid MC would cost tens of thousands of dollars. read more… [...]

By: Mel

Mel — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:42:20 +0000

Hi Shane, Are you currently using MC5 on your Avid?

There’s a gigantic deposit of negative commentary inside Avid’s own website. To their credit, they have acknowledged it and have expressed the desire to respond with improvements.

I’m sorry but I have to correct you again. You said:

“Guys, you do know you can make it so that the SELECT arrows acted like they always have, right? ”

That’s the problem- after performing a Lasso, the
select arrow, gets engaged and along with it, the new and undesirable Smart Tools feature which dramatically changes the way Avid editors travel around their timelines using the mouse.

I am guessing that you did not notice this when you evaluated your MC5 for this review, understandable, but please do not perpetuate the idea that all is well just by using a TIMELINE SETTING.

By: Shane Ross

Shane Ross — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:41:12 +0000

Guys, you do know you can make it so that the SELECT arrows acted like they always have, right? In the TIMELINE SETTINGS, under the EDIT tab…there’s a button for this. And you can turn off the features you don’t want. The only inconvenient thing I can see now is that the location of the arrows have moved.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:38:21 +0000

I have to agree with this:

‘I have to say that, after having used Media Composer for more than 15 years, version 5.0 is the WORST update I’ve ever seen. Not only is SmartTool extremely cumbersome to use, but they have removed functionality that has existed for many years. ”

I don’t WANT my Avid to look and act like Final Cut. If I did, I would just use Final Cut.

After only a few hours, I find the changes pointless and annoying.

By: KD

KD — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:46:05 +0000

I have to say that, after having used Media Composer for more than 15 years, version 5.0 is the WORST update I’ve ever seen. Not only is SmartTool extremely cumbersome to use, but they have removed functionality that has existed for many years. Cut/paste/copy commands have been moved or removed. Customization settings have been extremely “dumbed down”. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that, as a professional editor, 5.0 does not cut the mustard. It slows me down. And if you visit the Avid forums, you’ll see that I am certainly not alone in this opinion.

By: Proxy

Proxy — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:22:47 +0000

Thanks for the knowledge on proxies. I have been researching proxies for some time now and can’t figure out which proxy is finest for me to use. I included a hyperlink in my reference which provides an IP tackle to be entered in to access web. I can’t work out if that is what I must unblock websites.

By: Media Composer 5 | crews.tv

Media Composer 5 | crews.tv — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:52:14 +0000

[...] Little Frog in HD (Shane Ross) [...]

By: Shane Ross

Shane Ross — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:07:01 +0000

Dylan…that is a brilliant idea. Consolidate/Transcode when you lock picture, so that you only have to do those small pieces. That’s why you get paid the BIG bucks there down under.

I still don’t like how Avid doesn’t assign a reel number to any TAPELESS media. That makes tracking footage a tad difficult. IMHO.

And yes, H.264 native editing is tough in MC5. H.264 is just not meant to be dealt with natively. Unless you have CS4 and a Mercury Engine that accesses all your processors. Shows you how processor intensive that is. I still don’t understand the desire for native format editing. That is something NOOBS want.

By: Dylan Reeve

Dylan Reeve — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:57:53 +0000

The limited ability to export metadata with AMA footage is a pain (also can’t do an AFE for timeline transfer to Avid DS) – but you can still transcode the edited sequence as a final step before exporting.

So assuming the source media is not too trying for your computer (Canon H.264 is quite hard to work with, ProRes not so much) then you can edit with full native media, and then simply transcode your locked sequence at the end of the edit before exporting AAFs etc.

I’d love to know if the Native Edit/Transcode/AAF/Automative Duck workflow would work to get a sequence into FCP linking to the original ProRes media. I know Avid now tracks the source file details, even after transcode, but I’m not sure how that translates around.

Although FWIW I had virtually no trouble getting an EDL from AMA-linked RED timeline to link in Avid DS.

By: AndrewK

AndrewK — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:58:59 +0000

Wow, solid write up Shane.