MC xpress didn't work because it was rubbish. Taking away the very Avid
style 2 up source record display for a pop up source didn't work for
most editors at that time. Avid DV however, was a pretty big success -
so 'lite' has been done before. Same with Protools free and Avid DV
free, both very popular...
Avid the software isnt broken, its a solid solid editor with some less
than stellar modules. But so is Smoke, so its not a unique situation for
a long established product. The one to look at is Davinci Resolve, an
old legacy product that has been totally revitalised, modernised and
extended in a way that has kept the flavour of its success whilst
leaping head and shoulders above what it was. The subtle interface
tweaks are all solid but it is the simplification of workflow that makes
it so amazing to me.
That's what Avid has to do stay relevant. There is still way too much
stuff in there that you have to read a manual to get. If you need to
read the manual for ANY feature then you're doing it wrong. Thats the
challenge.
Editing, in/out record is fine. Trim is fine. So where are the log jams?
Ingest and export are both way too complex in this day and age. AMA,
import conversion transcoding... dump them all. What we want in this
decade is a 'load clips' button that makes the whole gui other than the
bin structure vanish. Then simply drag files or folders into the bin
area. This means native support of all codecs, it means on the fly
resolution independence, it means tracking clip movement external to the
application, automated relinking etc. To the end user it should be
invisible. I load a clip and I start editing. The system needs to read
file headers, apply ACES color conversions and work in linear colour
space. On export the appropriate ACES conversion gets applied. No asking
no messing.
Editorially MAKE me choose a deliverable format. Automatically resize as
I drop clips onto my timeline. Auto convert fps if theres a mismatch.
Dont ask just take care of it.
Syncing rushes, fully implemented Plural Eyes, timecode matching etc etc
dont make me work hard, if i sync manually or automatically one button
'store sync clip' adds the synced audio to the clip forever. Same with
stereo material, one synced 'store stereo clip' means I work with a
single clip forever more.
At any time I can click on my master format and choose a different one.
Straight away all fps size etc conversions get done.
During edit prep I want a 'slate' field that I enter slate info into.
This is then smart enough to read root naming as a way to offer up
alternative takes during editorial, eg sc24/2 is scene 24 take 2. I
drop that into my timeline. Later while watching it back i wonder what
else is available, clicking on the clip in the timeline shows me sc24/1
and sc24/3 IN SYNC using the plural eyes sync across clips. Instantly I
can switch takes with zero thought. Like sc24/1/alt is an alternative
angle, alt clicking on the clip shows me alternative angle options. If i
need to view the clip before commiting to it dragging its preview pop up
to the source window loads it with the appropriate in and out points
already marked. Look at Hiero to see how it does version handling to see
how this might work.
Next comes editorial show versioning, ctrl click on a clip int he
timeline to see every shot that has ever been at that point in the
timeline. Lets you rapidly revert any shot to an earlier idea. Time
machine for the timeline.
These two functions alone will be the first new editorial features in
the last 10 years and long overdue. I suggest them about once every 3 years.
Add dumb extra functions like action match that we had on the old ISC
controllers. Mark in and out on timeline, park on desired sync frame
betweem the cuts eg on explosion start and then just park on the
appropriate matching source frame. Boom in and out automatically marked
and in it goes. Now let me change the speed of that clip to whatever I
want but remember the synced frame and adjust in and out around it such
that its length doesn't change. Now we're starting to cut down the
number of dumb keystrokes we burn every day. Its just a matter of the
system remembering things for us - which comes as no surprise Eric
Peters used to call Avid the biggest database in history - lets get it
storing data to make our lives easier.
Once you start to think this way you realise that 90% of what we do to
edit accurately is the same repetitive tasks, back timing, match
framing, there's so many routine based ways of working out where we want
things to land, with a bit of imagination these techniques can be
reduced to single keystrokes. Now we're talking about an edit system
people will pay a premium for.
Once the edits done we start fixing things, usually starting with
grading. Again we do the same things over and over. The Avid way of
storing grades and applying them is ancient thinking. How much better to
step to a shot in the timeline, click on it and see that frame as a
series of thumbnails pop up with EVERY GRADE you've done in the timeline
applied. Click on the one you want and its applied. No saving and
loading effects, if its in the timeline its available to be applied.
Again the slate based thinking organises the grades by scene so as to be
relevant to the shot under the cursor.
Extrapolate this through everything. Allow selection of multiple clips
allow titles to be applied based on other titles, allow zooms, glows,
multiple stacked effects to be chosen from a pop up. The flexibility is
amazing.
Why do bins only show clips? If i go into color correction switch the
bin display to show all available grades like a resolve gallery view,
drag and drop application. Text whatever, make it transparent and easy.
See once you go down this path you dont need a manual. If you can see it
you can apply it. If youve done it once, its available when you need to
do it again. Have an 'add to favorites' button. This adds a tab to the
pop up effects choices to show ALL effects in your system across
projects. This way you need only design a look once and its always
there. No manual, no select open bin, now share no crap, just add to
favorites, look at favorites and apply.
And then you're done. What do we do when we finish editing? We export
versions. Lots and lots of versions. An uncompressed master, a H264, a
window dub for audio, a version with and without crops, and so on. This
makes two requirements to me, one an export queue so I dont have to sit
and wait one by one, a node based system for defining the output.
Episode has a nice system for doing this so does Scratch. Not hard just
have a send to export menu right click on one or many items (or a folder
of timelines) and export. This opens the export screen where you drag
options onto the canvas and connect them up like in Fusion... a resize,
a color grade, a burn in whatever nodes you need branching from wherever
all ending in a file destination. Then render.
Thats pretty much it. Make it simple, make it slick and the rest happens
by itself. There is just one caveat. MAKE IT FAST.
Avid is far ahead of the editorial curve in its ability to cache, its
amount of real time effects and its fast JKL trim tools and asymetric
trimming. Many here feel its laggign but it does the editing part better
than anyone else out there. Now solve the bullshit surrounding the
cutting in a way that adds no mental overhead and profit. Its got sod
all to with shared storage or corporate infrastructure. We edit in Avid
because its more fun than editing in something else, make it more fun to
edit in and more people will want to do so.
Not rocket science.
best regards
Mike
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