**Note: the following review comes from the writer’s firsthand experience with Avid non-linear editing software as a senior Broadcast Journalism major at the University of South Alabama. The following review does not necessarily reflect the views of the aforementioned university or of Avid as a software company.
Although it has recently been replaced by higher grade programs such as Apple Inc.’s Final Cut Pro, Avid Xpress Pro is still considered a standard for the vast majority of audio and video courses at countless universities across the nation. Avid recently merged the entire Xpress Pro line of software into their Media Composer line (originally created and developed in 1989). Whether you’re majoring in audio or video production or even Broadcast Journalism, you will likely encounter this program somewhere in your studies and field work courses. As a non-linear editing program, Avid Xpress Pro is capable of running on both Microsoft Windows-based computer operating systems as well as Apple Macintosh systems.
Avid officially discontinued professional sales of Xpress Pro after June 30th, 2008 according to their official website: www.avid.com. However, the program is still employed in the use of professional video editing for both films and television news packages.
Xpress Pro 5.8 is the most recent and updated version of the program and boasts some relatively new and nice features not found in previous editions. For starters, the user can now maintain universal operation between all PC systems, including both Intel and PowerPC. In terms of visuals, Xpress Pro 5.8 comes outfitted with the latest in 720p50 resolution, the same clarity you would find in quality High Definition televisions (1280×720). According to Avid’s official “Features” summary for version 5.8, this allows for “twice as many frames as are minimally necessary to achieve the illusion of motion. The faster frame rate is ideal to capture action sequences and fast-moving sports without blurring.”
For inexperienced users, newcomers and technologically frightened individuals such as myself, there are a host of online tutorials (both in video and print form) designed to walk the viewer through each and every feature of the software. Many professional video tutorials will include screen captures from the Avid software, allowing the user to experience firsthand the ins and outs of the program.
I personally recommend the official online video tutorial for Avid Xpress Pro HD, as much of the material covered in the lessons will apply to older versions of Avid, particularly the recent 5.8. This tutorial can be found at Avid’s official website here: http://learn.avid.com/content/tutorials/#
The introductory tutorial guide consists of five lessons and will start by teaching the user how to begin a new project, manage bins, capture video onto the system and import additional files into the project (such as imported audio, other video clips, effects, etc.). By working your way through each and every step of the lessons, you will also learn how to finalize your project to the desired format: video tape, mini-DV or DVD, all of which the Avid Xpress Pro editing system is capable of.
Speaking from personal experience, particularly as a student, I highly recommend purchasing a portable external hard drive. This will serve to allow you to back up your work, including all imported files, each of which will remain crucial in the completion of your project. In fact, Avid’s online video tutorials will continually stress the importance of saving and backing up your work, so as to avoid the catastrophic computer failure scenario. No video or audio editor enjoys losing his or her work and being forced to start over again.
A few of the professional Hollywood feature films created and edited using Avid software include: The Matrix films (1999, 2003), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002 and 2003), The DaVinci Code (2006) and the more recent The Dark Knight (2008).
