> Hey Everybody,
>
> "I'm a long time listener, first time caller" and would love some
> general input on a project. At Marin Academy we have pretty much
> already built one of California's "Digital High Schools." All students
> have E-mail accounts and "digital lockers," direct access to the
> Internet and a faculty who integrate multimedia projects into every
> discipline. HyperStudio, PageMaker and Photoshop are basic tools used
> throughout the curriculum. Among the four labs and 86 computers
> available to students on campus we have a special Multimedia Production
> Lab which is equipped with Power Macintosh 6500s running System 8.1 with
> 96 MB of RAM and Avid Cinema (one Mac has Premiere 4.0). Students are
> producing videos all year and we/they love the basic tool.
Sounds like a great setup!
>
>
> Here's the question. Where do we go next for those students who are
> beyond Avid Cinema? We have the option of "upgrading" to the latest
> Premiere on all these machines and/or building a higher end Avid or
> Media 100 suite. I've seen some stuff on Avid XPress and a friend who
> works on Composer tells me it's basically a "crippled Composer."
>
>From a Composer editor point of view, that is correct- The Xpress is a
Composer without all the bells and whistles. The software is actually
identical to Composer, and perfect for "that next step"- Xpress is a
greatly featured application, in use all over as the Edit system for High
end Industrial/Corporate, and Broadcast use. I have installed quite a few
Xpress systems into High Schools in the Detroit area, and they love it.
>
> What I'm looking for from you is: 1) no discussion regarding Mac vs.
> Windows, if we have to buy new hardware it will be a G3 Macintosh;
Glad to hear Education is still run by the smart folks! One problem with
the Higher End Avids at this point in time, and that is that the G3 is not
supported. However knowing how educational spending cycles tend to work, I
would guess that you would be shooting for turnkey for next calender year-
And the g3 should be up to speed
> 2)
> recommendations and approximate costs I should expect to pay regarding
> Avid XPress and Media 100; 3) discussion of the merits of Avid vs.
> Media 100;
Presently you would look to spend approximately up to $30k for a fully
featured turnkey system. I would suggest enough storage to handle 1 hour
worth of material, and when the times come in the student projects that
more storage is needed, rent. Why have scads of storage if only 20% of it
is used 90% of the time. Now for the end platform. When Priemire 5.0 was
introduced recently, it was lauded for having an "industry standard Avid
style user interface" .Media 100 uses is own interface. That is what an
Avid is- The standard. About 3/4 of all primet time television is put
together on Avid Media Composers. Lots of feature films are rough cut on
Avid's (Titantic is a huge example) . Quite a few of the national
commercials are offlined on Avid's. Even with Xpress running at version
2.0, the software is identical to Composer 7.0. So you are looking at a
7th generation product, supplied by the undisputed industry leader. If you
are serious about getting a start for your students in the industry, you
simply have to train them on the tools that we are using out here.
> 4) and any other words of wisdom you would like to provide.
> Keep in mind that in a High School setting emphasis is less on learning
> the tools and more on the content created by the tool. We have precious
> little time to spend learning software which is one reason why we love
> Avid Cinema.
Xpress is easy to setup, and get people off and editing quickly. The
editing model is flexible, the interface intuitive, and written by the
same folks who brought you the Cinema product you are using now. Check out
Avid's Website http://www.avid.com To talk to your local dealer, and
get a demo set up. if you can, take some of your students along for the
demo- Somehow they always seem to ask just the right questions when it
comes to Technology!
Best of luck- and email with any Q's
JDS
-- ****** Jeff Sengpiehl- ACSR ******** Serving Chicago, West Michigan, Northern Indiana Phone support rates ARE available!