FCP & Avid: The Importance of Knowing Both

Little Frog in High Def by Shane Ross

If you follow my Twitter feed, you will note that I landed a new job. This new job will be a History Channel two hour special, and I will be using an Avid Adrenaline (v2.7.7) to edit. Now, while I am a HUGE FCP advocate and known world wide as an FCP editor and expert…I also know Avid Media Composer. In fact, that is the first edit system I learned, back in 1995. I edited with that system exclusively until 2005, when I made the switch to FCP. Since then I have been editing primarily with FCP, but a few Avid jobs have come up…including the one I will be starting in a week or two.

I mention this as a way to say that, knowing both systems is VERY important in today’s post production market. Don’t be labelled as an “FCP Editor” or “Avid Editor.” Just be known as simply, an editor. You need to be known as someone who can use either tool, because that will make you far more marketable.

Lately I have seen more friends and ex-coworkers remaining out of work because they don’t know how to edit on an Avid MC, or with FCP. Recently a couple shows I have been working on shut down, in fact I am finishing up the online of the last few. But the editors of those shows have been done for a while, and are in the market for new jobs. And one of the producers here has many many job leads that he gave all of us. The issue is that pretty much all of them are for companies that use Avid MCs. And a couple editors don’t know how to use the Avid MC, so the job leads are pretty much dead for them. read more...