Techniques and Tips is a book about using the Media Composer in the real world. It's not intended to replace the Avid documentation, and it probably won't be very helpful if you don't have a passing familiarity with the Avid before reading it. But if you do have a basic understanding of the system, the book should help you take a big step toward working more quickly and intuitively. Unlike the official Avid documentation, it is written from the perspective of the editing room. It's based on my experiences working as a consultant for Avid, helping them understand what working editors really want and need, leading the charge to get many of the features described in the book implemented, and then using those features in the real world of my cutting room. Many people have told me that it has changed the way they edit.

Some of you have asked if I've updated Techniques and Tips for later versions of the Media/Film Composer. The answer, so far, is no. Unfortunately, I've been working too hard to focus on making any changes. And, for better or worse, my relationship with Avid and the people there has grown more and more distant over the last couple of years. There was a time when my input was highly valued at the company, and when I could get features implemented pretty easily. The book was a natural outgrowth that relationship, because I wanted to tell people about all the cool stuff I was getting into the system. That time has passed.

Everything in the book is still relevant and crucial (in my biased opinion) to really enjoying the Media/Film Composer. The reason is simple: Avid has not changed the basic functionality of the Media/Film Composer user interface in years. They've added some new functions, but all of the basic trimming and editing and organizational tools remain unchanged. In fact, many of the same bugs and quirks that have been with us since Version 5 remain, as well. Whether this is a good thing or not is debatable. For some editors the stability offers a welcome respite from the need to constantly relearn an old tool. But for others the fact that the basic toolset has not evolved has opened their eyes to the competition. It has also materially slowed the upgrade rate in Los Angeles. So nearly everything in the book remains correct -- with two exceptions. The chapter on full screen play is irrelevant if you have Version 6 or beyond. And the screen shots for the cut list and change list tools are no longer accurate. Recent versions of the list software (including FilmScribe) changed the look of the interface, but there are almost no new functions (and lots of old bugs) so the concepts presented remain correct.

I hope to update the book with more techniques, more about organizing a project for editing in the real world, the psychology of the digital cutting room, film procedures and health issues. I'm working on a 50 page section about film techniques that's evolving out of my experiences at the American Film Institute. In the meantime, I'm gratified to hear that the book continues to be very valuable for many people. I hope it will be helpful to you, as well.

Copyright © 1994-1998, Steven J. Cohen, All Rights Reserved