Customer Reviews

Avid Editing, Fourth Edition: A Guide for Beginning and Intermediate Users

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recently, I took a one week Avid Course at geniusDV and found Sam Kauffmann's book a welcome addition to what I learned in the course. Sam reviews all the basic operations that should get a beginner started; and it should be a valuable resource, as well, for the intermediate video editor who needs to look up a thing or two. Avid has an enormous amount of options of how to do things that can be overwhelming to the beginner. Sam offers a common sense basic approach that enable the beginner to edit successfully in a short time. The references he adds are helpful, especially after one grabs the basic concepts. Avid used to be the high-end editing application for Pros. It is becoming more available for consumers, and books like Sam Kauffmann's should accelerate that process.

This book started out well, introducing the reader to the world of non-linear editing and Avid using a clear writing style and hands on tutorials. There are a few areas where Kauffmann says to use buttons that are slightly off (i.e. "option" instead of "shift+option"). This could be because it was written for an earlier version of Avid. Or it could be a mistake.

Eventually, the book gets incredibly frustrating. For some reason, Kauffmann barely takes advantage of the disc full of media and projects that comes with the book. His chapter on audio is very informative but doesn't give you any exercises using the disc. His chapter on trimming in two directions shows you figures of what that looks like and encourages you to try it. But wouldn't it be nice if he provided you with a sequence to try this on?

Later, when explaining the "replace" tool he writes "What's shown in the picture Figure 10.12 is taken from "Swim Take 1. You cut this into the timeline." I did? I loaded all the media from the disc and I don't have a "Swim Take 1." And no where in the book was I instructed to cut it into any sequences.

I bought this book because I wanted to learn how to use the Avid through hands on tutorials. I recommend Editing with Avid Media Composer 5: Avid Official Curriculum over this book. Even though Kauffmann covers more ground, the other book has clear and easy to follow tutorials which will have you doing some basic editing in no time. This book will just have you pulling your hair.

I love Avid Media Composer because I think it's the editing software of the pros. But there are so many different components within this program that it could be intimidating to learn all you can do with the program -- until this book.

Kauffmann simplifies complex editing techniques and has a grasp of every aspect of the program. Whenever I have a difficult question, there's an simple answer in the book. Needless to say, I refer to it regularly. To anyone who wants to be proficient in the number one editing system out there -- get the number one book out there: this one.

At Emerson College in Boston, I instruct an Avid class and this book is the perfect companion. It provides step-by-step instructions for basic to intermediate editing tasks.

This book is much more than a software manual. It discusses editing principles and techniques as well as covering the technical features of the Avid software. Sections on HD, DVCProHD, HDV, and P2 workflows as well as DVD authoring and media management prepare student editors for the technical challenges that face them. And the accompanying DVD contains helpful exercises to get student editors started.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning Avid editing.

This book is filled with very easy to follow illustrations. The content is laid out comprehensively and the instructions are easy to follow.

I recently up-graded Xpress DV to Media Composer 5.0. We all know how poor Avid documentation is. So I bought "Avid Editing" Fourth Edition" by Sam Kauffman. What a disappointment!!! It said it covers Media Composer, but they don't tell you what version on the cover. The example screens are mostly Xpress DV and older versions of Media Composer, NOT VERSION 5.0. If you want to learn editing it may be a good book, but if you want to learn Media Composer 5.0, you'll be scratching your head wondering why the screens look different, the buttons have changed and options are missing. Media Composer 5.0 is a different interface. I wish I had my forty dollars back.