Apple’s Pro Video tools are killing Avid
In a subscribers-only article posted yesterday entitled “Fade to Gray at Avid Technology“, Barron’s makes it clear how thoroughly Apple’s pro-video tools have undercut Avid’s market position:
Avid’s grip on the video-editing and post-production technology field has been loosened dramatically by Apple (AAPL), which swooped in with low-priced offerings that have increasingly gained adoption among independent film makers and editors.
— Fade to Gray at Avid Technology, Barron’s, June 11, 2008.
The article quotes Avid users who switched to Apple’s products, presumably because of the lower price and market momentum:
Describing himself as an early adopter of Avid, Jon Alpert has since switched to using Apple’s Final Cut Pro. Systems that would cost $80,000 to put together from Avid can be had for a few thousand dollars with Apple’s Macs and its ever-expanding array of products.
“It is really, increasingly, financial suicide to consider using Avid,” when the same work can be done with Apple gear, he says.
Alpert’s color-correction expert, who “swore he’d never switch to Apple,” this year made the transition to Apple’s program, dubbed “Color,” with relative ease and is now “quite happy.”
Most interesting comment: “film and TV’s next generation is growing up on Apple’s cheaper platform”.
Avid tried to move all of their customers from the Mac to Windows. Apple developed FCP to keep those customers, and as it turned out, they did a rather good job of addressing the needs of Avid’s customers.
Avid kept marketting dinosaur proprietary very expensive solutions. They did not anticipate what ever more powerful personal computers could do. And they did not cater to the grassroots student filmmakers who couldn’t afford their systems. When they tried, it was too little and too late.
In 2002 I tried to learn Avid on a custom Dell box. I honestly don’t know if I was fighting the Avid system or Windows (Mac user since 1984) but I could not make sense of the UI. Simple things I expected to work like selecting and dragging, etc. did not. I then tried FCP. I’ve never looked back.
Whenever I talk to teenagers wanting to become editors I tell them to learn Avid, but maybe now I’ll just show them FCP…
Funny thing is Apple can try all it wants, but I can’t imagine them slipping in Logic for my ProTools (an Avid product) unless I’m good and dead!
Pro-Tools started as multi-track hard disk recorder, (Emagic, Gerhard Lengeling’s) Logic started as MIDI sequencer, being more of a composition/arranging tool. Over the years they overlapped more and more. But still you can notice the different roots. Both rock!
Logic (especially version 8 ) really is an incredibly awesome app. that in the sequencer market has the same effect as FCP in the video marked. Here it’s not Avid but Steinberg getting spanked by Apple. Steinberg being bought by…, Avid years ago.
2-0 for Apple?
correction: Not Avid but Pinnacle Systems (video) bought Steinberg, later sold it to Yamaha…
Avid (with MS pushing them) tried to do their part to kill off quicktime forcing Apple to find a way to defend itself.
With iTunes/iPod/iPhone combo and FCP I think both parties are regretting that decision. Apple came out swinging.
Interesting article about that here :
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/9ADB8172-9DC0-4679-ACE5-C4723384913B.html
Final Cut Studio is an amazing deal.
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/