Avid · Edius · Grass Valley · Media Composer · Tutorial ·Sep 17, 2013

Edius for Avid Editors

Grass Valley

INTRODUCTION to EDIUS FOR AVID EDITORS

Grass Valley’s EDIUS 7 is a powerful nonlinear editing system used by countless editors all over the world to produce broadcast television, film, multimedia, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs.

Nonetheless, many experienced Avid editors hesitate to jump in and discover the fast, powerful, and easy-to-use editing tools which EDIUS offers.

There are good reasons to stick with what you know: no time is required to learn the tools you already use and it takes effort to learn new technologies

The good news is that the core Media Composer and EDIUS editing experiences are not just similar — they are almost exactly the same!

In fact, Media Composer 7 has new features that make it more similar to editing with EDIUS than ever before. Many differences between the systems are only in the colors, button designs, or names of tools.

ABOUT THIS OVERVIEW
These notes give you everything you need to translate your existing Avid Media Composer 7 editing skills into EDIUS editing skills. You will find EDIUS quick and easy to learn, with several features that go beyond the tools Media Composer offers.

This document is intended specifically for Avid Media Composer 7 7 editors and is based on EDIUS 7. However, users of any editing system will find this information valuable as a quick way of getting to know EDIUS, without long explanations of technologies you are already familiar with.

To watch three supporting videos for this application note, visit http://video.grassvalley.com/video/gvsnapshots/edius_for_avid_editors. At that site you’ll find videos entitled “Overview,” Get Cutting,” and “Key Tools.”

DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES

EDIUS 7 looks very different compared to Media Composer 7 (MC7) but the two systems have a lot in common.

Let’s start with what is the same
Both systems have:

Software-only and software+hardware modes
Switchable single or dual player/program monitors
Standard keyboard shortcuts like “I” for Mark-In and “O” for Mark-Out
Track patching
Sync locks
Effects applied by drag-and-drop
JKL playback
Standard 3-point edits
Mono or stereo audio tracks
Native support for multiple video formats
Sequence and clip markers (locators in MC7)
Timeline-based clip rubber-banding
The same standard editing workflow

Now let’s look at some differences
Only EDIUS has:

Combined video+audio tracks—great for fast editing
Dedicated title tracks for graphic and stills media
Native, real-time support for almost any media format
Direct linking between clips and ALL original media (not just AMA-supported formats)
Bin subfolders
A dedicated Source Browser for browsing file-based camera media (like P2)
Separate configuration settings for all effects (no Effect Editor)
A multi-threaded, batch-encoding file encoder (no need for Sorenson)
A powerful, automated Proxy mode (like transcoding but with fewer clicks)
Monitor overlays with Zebra for highlights, shadows, and audio level
No filler—it just doesn’t exist on the EDIUS Timeline
Separate settings windows, including Application, User, Project, and Sequence
A seamless interface, with no wasted space
Loudness meter
4K real-time preview while editing

In Summary
The core editing experience is the same, whether you cut with Media Composer or EDIUS. When editing, you will very often find the same functionality you would expect in Media Composer, plus a little bit more in EDIUS

The core EDIUS editing experience is very similar to editing with Media Composer and the latest version of Media Composer adds features and functionality that more closely align it to the EDIUS editing experience than ever.

Once you get used to the buttons being different colors and the new naming conventions, you will find everything you know about editing in Media Composer is still useful in EDIUS.

Many experienced Avid editors fall in love with the speed and ease of use EDIUS brings. The best way to build your confidence is to start editing... Happy cutting. Download the complete PDF guide here

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