Back to 80’s with editing!
TECH RANT INCOMING!
**
TECH RANT INCOMING! **
I never expected that I'd write a blog post about a tool within a piece of editing software.
But first, a bit of background about me and how I started using this software.
Back in 1998, when I was 22, I got a job as an assistant editor. I was a movie and TV nut. Scorsese, Tarantino, and Spielberg's movies fascinated me. TV shows like Band of Brothers, The X-Files, and Quantum Leap were favourites.
I watched them all over and over, learning how scenes were edited, how story and characters developed. I sought out making-of featurettes—and this was before the internet made finding these easy. The making of Band of Brothers was particularly good. It showed Spielberg and Hanks working in the UK on locations and in the edit. They shot on film and cut on video on Avid Media Composer—as did the majority of films and TV.
80’s shows like Knight Rider, The A-Team and Quantum Leap
As an edit assistant, my job was loading footage for the editors, prepping projects and sequences for the final stages to get these shows onto TV screens. These projects were cut on Avid—the very same software used by Spielberg on Band of Brothers. It felt like I had a direct link to Hollywood right through this trusted software. To get to know how it worked, I'd shoot short films at the weekend and edit them on Avid.
Exploring its tools, I began noodling about with the built-in title tool. Most editors used this tool to make basic slates when blocking out an edit. Delving into its settings—it was capable of more—and I spent a long time creating multilayered titles combined with the "3D Warp" effect.
Me in 1998 using a computer (Avid Media Composer) editing a sports show.
As an edit assistant, my job was loading footage for the editors, prepping projects and sequences for the final stages to get these shows onto TV screens. These projects were cut on Avid—the very same software used by Spielberg on Band of Brothers. It felt like I had a direct link to Hollywood right through this trusted software. To get to know how it worked, I'd shoot short films at the weekend and edit them on Avid.
Exploring its tools, I began noodling about with the built-in title tool. Most editors used this tool to make basic slates when blocking out an edit. Delving into its settings—it was capable of more—and I spent a long time creating multilayered titles combined with the "3D Warp" effect.
The text could be moved, tilted, rotated, and zoomed. This gave me the ability to create titles that looked and felt like the titles I'd seen in the movies and TV shows I admired. I'd shoot fake title scenes, get shots that replicated opening credits. Mimicking these by using a robust but simple tool meant I had to get creative with its features.
Now, the majority of TV editing work I do is on Avid—and tucked away in the same place it's always been is the trusty title tool. I use it on every project for things that you would not expect. With its simple shape tools, I sketch out basic graphics or maps—overlaying them on photos. It's part of my workflow—and my years of tinkering means that I can quickly achieve what I want to do to sell an idea to the client, commissioner, or graphics company whose job it is to turn my sketches into a beautifully rendered map, title card, or info-graphic.
On my last job, an 8-week "pre-edit" for a top-secret TV show I'm cutting later in the year for one of the big streaming platforms, I was tasked with cutting a series of mock pre-titles. That's the bit of the show that tells you what's what within the first 90 seconds.
There are many ways you can start a show, and this allowed us to explore the options. So, day 1 …. I loaded up Avid on the Apple iMac Pro. Blocked out my first few clips and then, without thinking, clicked on the menu. NO TITLE TOOL!
It has been replaced, due to the operating system being updated to 32-bit. The old title tool was not 32-bit. So… anything with a plus at the end has to be better, right?
Wrong.
This only text utility within Avid has become unusable. Words moves around without the user having any predictable control of where it sits. No longer can you apply 3D effects to text, and the tracking function is broken.
Also, on what is a fairly powerful iMac, it struggled with just 2 layers of text. It's a hot mess.
Over years of use, the OG title tool was just there. I can honestly say I felt great frustration when it failed to do the simple tasks its basic predecessor managed with cool, calm control. Don’t get me started on kerning. A total joke.
Several crashes later… I admitted defeat. I should add that the old Title Tool is still available in Avid but only on PC. Sadly, I have no option to work on a PC on this job.
When you are editing, and things just click—you are in a flow, that relies on a few things being in place. You have to be comfortable enough with the software that you are unaware of what keys you are pressing, or menu items you need. You just do it.
It's like changing gear in a car you are familiar with. After a long drive, you don't remember changing gears or turning the steering wheel.
It seems like a good idea?!
What Avid has done is akin to making the steering wheel triangular and covering it in Vaseline. END RANT.
