Nice Lady Productions

The Quest for the Perfect Editing Suite: A Look Back

When I was first starting out, everyone told me if I wanted to make a feature length film one day, I’d have to learn to cut on Avid. Why did that say this? Before Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro hit the scene, Avid was–and in some realms, still is–the benchmark for non-linear editing. It was the mainstay for production companies, particularly in broadcasting and film studios, and it was what the kids in Canadian films schools in the 1990s learned on. But I never did learn Avid (nor have I released any feature films to date), but I did learn to edit.

What I realized soon on was that it was less important to learn a specific editing software suite and more important to learn how to edit. Learning the core principles of editing and being able to jump between editing suites has kept me continuing to do what I love.

The first video I shot and edited was in 1993. We kicked it old school back then–shooting on the modern video format–and editing on a tape to tape editing station. That’s right, the edits I made were linear (including the titling and credits), so if I wanted to change the sequence after the fact, I had to rewind the tape and do it all over again.

When I set my hands on a non-linear editing station it was a Mac, with the first version of Final Cut Pro installed. Man did that version suck! Non-linear editing brought lots of added features but the manual for the software was like 400 pages long (not kidding) and it took forever to view my edits, because I had to wait while the computer prerendered each transition.

Everything was clunky and complicated with Final Cut Pro, but I stuck with it because Avid was out of my league, aka: I wasn’t rich. Final Cut Pro was the [sort of] answer wannabe filmmakers were looking for, and Apple delivered for many releases thereafter.

I was hungry to put what I knew into practice and make a buck doing it, so I started shooting and cutting videos for small businesses, corporations and government institutions–in the hopes of generating cash to fund my own creative projects. This led me to switching to PCs because my clients were using PCs, and with the PC came the editing suite–the choice: Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas Pro. I used both (and have since), but in my heart and mind Sony won hands-down. It was and still is the most intuitive, feature rich and painless editing suite I’ve used.

You may find yourself learning a piece of software either because your colleagues brand it the “it” thing, or the company you are cutting for prefers it. Some of you may even choose your software based on the price tag or computer you use. What I can say from experience is that it’s been crucial for me to be able to adapt to whatever tools are put in front of me. I can say without a doubt, I’ve gotten further in my career and in my own business by keeping an open mind, than I would have, had I stuck to one camera or one software solution. Think about it.

As for learning Avid? I plan to do that next. Ya never know when I’ll need it.