What NLE should I learn?

Some of my students have asked me over the years, which is the best non-linear editor to learn? There is only one answer I can give them.

It depends.

This is not just because I don’t like to give firm answers. The truth is there is a lot of reasons to learn different editing software. Here is the rundown of some of the main editing systems, and their advantages. Also this is biased towards the Milwaukee market, as that is where my current experience comes from. Each market is slightly different. This does not apply to New York or L.A.

Adobe Premiere: They recently had a new release of this software in the new CS4 package. The editor has had some greatly improved functionality, especially in the media browser. The transcription program is neat but awful in terms of accuracy. It works great as part of the Adobe suite, which is such a good package of software that it seems a shame to use all Adobe products except for the editor.

Who uses it? Mostly corporate locations that buy the package as a whole and tell their print graphics designers to learn how to edit using this software that they bought. Also I noticed that when working in D.C. that the government agencies use it a lot.

Good for price and the software has caught up tremendously in the last four years. Still not quite as good as the top dogs but good enough that you will likely not find anything that you can’t do in it that you want. They teach this in a lot of schools which leads to people using this as freelancers but most production houses still are too snobbish to use Premiere. It is cross-platform which is a huge plus.


Apple Final Cut Pro: The Final Cut Pro suite is great. Final Cut Pro is a tremendously useful editor, though it would be nice if it could be transfered more easily to other editing systems (as is true with all of them). Motion 3 is the best yet and is quickly giving After Effects more of a run for its money. Soundtrack has always been a cool tool, and in combination with the Mac software Garageband, makes music making a much easier task. Livetype is by now a dinosaur and should be removed since you can do it all in Motion. DVD Studio Pro needs an upgrade (Blu-ray!!!!) but is still a very powerful authoring tool.

Who uses it? To be perfectly honest, every time I have heard of freelance jobs needed (in general) it has been for Final Cut Pro. Boutique production houses and design firms are gaga for Apple, so they like Final Cut Pro as well. I am ambivalent on this, but I have worked now in Mac shops for the last 7 years. They are gaining traction in bigger firms as well as the suite is quite convenient.

If you have a Mac and you love your Mac, use it. If you want to find the most freelance opportunities in this area, this is probably your safest bet. It will do everything you want and more. If you like PC, then you cannot use this.

Avid Express Pro (or Media Composer): To be honest I have not had the opportunity to even use an Avid in five years. My basis for this is based on my historical use of it. Still the “big” dog of the field, Avid is the top name in video and film editing. That does not necessarily make it the best choice. As more and more places switch over to software based editors, the advantages of the Avid dissipate quickly.

Who uses it? Big ad firms, powerful production houses. If you want the best jobs, know Avid. It looks much more impressive than Final Cut Pro. You aren’t likely to get as many freelance jobs, but these are the decent staff jobs.

Only for the PC (though they sometimes pretend to make MAC versions, everyone knows better). Market share shrinking. But at the end of the day it looks the best on the resume....unless the shop uses only a different editor.


Sony Vegas: Let me say this up front. I have only barely used this. And never for a job. This software is neat and has everything you need in one program (unlike say FCP or Premiere where you really need to go to things like After Effects and Motion). It is also quite popular in Wisconsin (which I hear is partly due to the fact that it was partly developed in the Madison area).

Who uses it? Established freelance veterans. It seems like people who have been at it for some time gravitate to this software. It definitely has some advantages, mainly that as part of the Sony line it interfaces better with its own products which means that Sony cameras and Blu-ray technology is much better placed.

Only for the PC, but cool, cool program. Not very popular so people may not even know what the program is.

So what does this all mean - you still haven’t answered the question.

Basically it does not matter which editor you know, as long as you can edit. Practice as much as possible and at least get your hands on each software. This will give you the basis to edit with any of them - and flexibility is so often the name of the game now.

WPPC PDF Handout

Yesterday, Dec 2nd, was the annual WPPC Production Technology Update. As promised here is the link to download the layout with the information about CS4.
WPPC PDF

Here is the link to Robert's Tech Update on Apple Technology
APPLE TECH

You're in my Heart and InDesign

This video was shown at the InDesign Master Class in Seattle a few weeks ago. It was created using Adobe After Effects new Cartoon effect.

For more information about this video, check out the original video at InDesign Secrets

The Future of Video Manipulation

This video submitted by the University of Washington showcases the first glimpse of a new project in collaboration with Adobe and the college. It is groundbreaking and will become the future of video manipulation as we know it. Very cool. 

InDesign Secrets Contributor

I just wanted to announce that I am now a contributor on InDesignsecrets.com
Check it out, it is an amazing resource for all things InDesign.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Photoshop World (#09)

Ok continuing with the Top 10 Reasons....

Number 9 is The Guru Awards

This special Photoshop competition is just for Photoshop World attendees. 

Winners will receive awesome trophies, prizes, and have their work showcased in Photoshop User magazine. Their work willl also be prominently displayed for all to see at Photoshop World.

Seriously, there's no better (or more fun) way to get your work noticed by your peers and the industry! Having entered at last years event, I can tell you that the competition is tough! Be sure to check out this years winners here.

Printing - How it used to be

Please take a moment to watch this 1947 video about careers in printing. It's fascinating! I also love the web site that hosts the video, www.ilovetypography.com.

Enjoy!


Printing—your life work series (1947) from ilovetypography.com on Vimeo.

I Make Videos, Why Should I Upgrade?

Ok, so maybe you are like me and you see these new enhancements to Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, etc. and you wonder why, as a video editor/graphics person, you should upgrade to Creative Suite 4. There are not nearly as many 'sexy' updates on the video side as we may have seen before. I know exactly what you are saying:

"With Cs3, After Effects had some really neat updates to After Effects like the Puppet Tool and the Brainstorm function. This version just seems to have some dumb filter called Cartoon."

Ok, yes. Cartoon is dare I say it...pretty useless. Someone else has mentioned it out there but it is basically there to do the Richard Linklater effect which is apparently now in vogue now with those Charles Schwab commercials (which seems to be a really silly use of the effect, in my opinion).

Before I get to After Effects, let me start with Premiere. As a Final Cut Editor, reading down the list of improvements, I certainly notice a lot of, let's say, similar functions which have been added to the product. But they really were worth adding on. The functionality has been greatly improved.

The neatest part of Premiere however is definitely the Speech/Transcription function which labels clips with searchable metadata. Now before you get out your credit card - this is not an effective automatic transcription. But it is pretty good. And you can edit the text easily. Plus you can just edit based upon these words which are tagged to the time code.... I hope I am not the only one that thinks that this is incredible. It is not yet perfect - but it is sure pretty cool.

Now back to After Effects - two really neat things (neither having to do with Cartoon). Ok not the most interesting thing, but very useful: Improved composition navigation. Mini-flowcharts and keyboard shortcuts makes it SO much easier to jump into your precomps. I have always hated how difficult it is to go four comps deep...and I really like to precomp.

Second thing, Unified Camera tool. Ok this should have been a no-brainer several versions ago, but Adobe put this into place where you do not need to switch between three different camera tools, just to change between x, y , and z movement. I was amazed at how much easier Motion's camera was when it came out, but this is now once again comparable. All you need is a three button mouse and it work much like some popular 3-D programs work.

So final verdict...you'll be fine with CS3 if you don't want to outlay the cash. If you are CS2 or earlier, it is definitely worth it for you to update. These updates are not nearly as essential as something like Flash CS4 is or as I felt AE 6.5 and 7 were - but still cool enough to venture a look.

Oh - and all of the products now have trials available for download....FINALLY.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Photoshop World (#10)

With Fritz out of the office attending Adobe HQ in Seattle (sooo jealous!) I am posting the top 10 reasons why you should attend Photoshop World coming up in Boston this spring. 

My number 10 reason to attend Photoshop World is the Portfolio Reviews and a Help Desk - LIVE! 

Check out the links or go to www.photoshopworld.com to register!

Interesting Retro Type Video

CS4 Upgrade Policy

I have been asked alot lately about what the upgrade policys and costs are to upgrade to CS4. Thankfully, Adobe has made a very simple webpage that answers all of your questions.

CS4 Upgrade Policy

Suitcase Fusion 2 is coming out soon!

Adobe Updates InDesign CS3 to 5.0.4

According to Adobe, InDesign CS3 5.0.4 is a compatibility update, addressing issues with the recently released CS4. The update also provides fixes for File Size, Hyphenation, Performance, Anchored Objects, Character Alignment, Step and Repeat, Indexing and Table of Contents, Text and Fonts, Dictionaries, Color, Scripting, Import/Export Graphics, InDesign Interchange files (INX), XML, Library files, and Printing.

InDesign CS4's New features

Here is a listing of InDesign CS4's new features. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list, but it will definitely point out the newest features

Smart Guides/Spacing

Say goodbye to the align panel with smart guides. As you move frames around on the page, guides will temporarily pop up and help your frame snap to the right spot. If this annoys you, don't worry since you can always turn it off.

Spread Rotation

If you work on packaging, you will wonder how you ever worked without spread rotation. This alloys you to temporarily rotate a spread 90° and make changes. This will really save your neck.

Table editing in story editor

Overset text problems in tables are now fixed forever. Before CS4 it was impossible to edit the overset copy in a table, but now we finally can. As an added bonus, InCopy users will be able to track changes on tables too.

Redesigned Links Panel

The new links panel has been completely redesigned from the ground up with an almost ridiculous amount of information. You can now choose which information you want to see including effective resolution, thumbnails and status. The ability to sort the links by these traits is also incredibly useful.

Preflight Panel.

Preflight is finally fixed! This is hands down the most useful new feature. Preflight is now very customizable. You can set up warnings to stretched images, missing fonts, live area and much much more. The best part is that once you have a profile set up, ID is constantly checking it and will let you know if there is a problem and even offer how to fix it!

Flash Export

There are now two new different ways to get your ID layout on the web. The first option is the ability to export your pages as a swf. This lets you make a simple slide show of your work, or the ability to move between pages of a magazine. The second way is to export your layout as a XFL file which can be opened inside of Flash. This will allow a flash developer to add rich interactivity to your files and create a dynamic website.

CS4 IS SHIPPING

Just announced: Adobe is shipping Creative Suite 4 to domestic U.S. customers starting today! If you have chosen to be an early adopter and have ordered or will soon be ordering, let us know! We will be offering CS4 classes very soon and want to make sure everyone interested gets early notification. If you have any comments or questions about CS4, drop us a line via e-mail at info@c2gps.com and we will offer you some guidance.