Not-so-stupid question? "What is an Avid?"
 

Why is it that Avid systems are referred to as "an Avid," when nobody ever says "I have a Final Cut" or "I used a Premiere."?

Avid systems were/are sold as hardware/software combinations. Particularly the high-end systems. so "An Avid" was the whole system. Although, of course now you can get Avid software to run on your PC or Mac. The terminology stuck.

Thanks, Richard.


Down here around LA everyone tells me that most of the industry uses Avid. Are they talking about the software running on a PC/Mac, or the high end systems with hardware? And is the non-hardware version of Avid accepted just as much as the high end stuff? Meaning, I'm sure the major studios have popped for the highest-end stuff, but does the high end stuff permeate everywhere on down to the cable channels, smaller production houses, etc.?

Bill,
DO a search and you'll find a 'history of avid' post on here somewhere under my name.

Short answer. AVID is the 'industry standard'. Meaning you will find it in the majority of Film and Broadcast finishing suites. These will be the high end Avids. Symphony, Composer, Nitris etc. The actual user interface is nearly identical between the high end suites and the 'prosumer' versions of software only. Avid FreeDV, Avid Xpress, and Avid XpressPro. As you advance up the levels, more and more features are 'unlocked' but the interface remains the same. So yeah, learn to cut on XpressPro, and you can find your way around a Symphony. Plenty of people will import their film footage on the Composer, downrez it for their laptop. Cut on XpressPro, then take the timeline back to the big suite, and uprez it for finishing. SO the software only solutions are now an integral part of the whole workflow.

Final Cut Pro tends to have a greater market share in the indy suites and mid sized production facilities. Advertising agencies use it a lot. You will often hear about "Cold Mountain" being cut on FCP. Or some new film that's just come out. It's a big deal, because yeah, more than 95 % of feature films, and 90% of television is still cut on Avid. But FCP is gaining some ground WITHIN the industry. I've seen houses that routinely handle both. But mostly FCP has carved it's market share out of the one-stop full service boutiques. Plenty of people use it.