Avid Agility: Working Faster and More Intuitively with Avid Media Composer, Second Edition

THE ULTIMATE BOOK ON HARNESSING THE POWER OF AVID MEDIA COMPOSER. Filled with hundreds of techniques and profusely illustrated in color, it will help you discover new ways to use the system and do things you didn’t know were possible. Written by one of the pioneers of the digital editing revolution, this second edition focuses on Media Composer 5.5.

SUBJECTS COVERED INCLUDE:

Interface Fundamentals; Advanced Editing & Trimming; The Smart Tool; Find & PhraseFind; Visual Effects & Advanced Keyframes; Color Correction; Titles; Mixing, RTAS & Stereo Audio; Multi-camera Editing; Toolsets & Workspaces; AMA & Media Management; Film & 24p Video; and much more.

REVIEWS:

• “The most ambitious and comprehensive book on Avid Media Composer I’ve read. Like having a seasoned pro sitting next to you, revealing his trade secrets. If you’re a Media Composer editor, rookie or old pro, ‘Avid Agility’ will make you a better editor, guaranteed!”
  -- Jonathan Moser, Post Magazine


• “The quickest path to becoming a Media Composer Jedi Master. Editor and teacher Steve Cohen has written a clear, comprehensively-illustrated and easy-to-understand guide -- a bible on advanced editing with Avid Media Composer 5.x. This book is essential reading!”
  -- Lawrence Jordan, founder, 2-pop.com & HollywoodReinvented.com


• “A definitive book about the Media Composer environment. May well be the ultimate book on customizing Avid’s unique capabilities for individual creative editing.”
  -- Ray Zone, Editors Guild Magazine


• “An easy read, logically laid out, and useful to novice and experienced editor alike. I highly recommend this book.”
  -- Frank Capria, Consulting Designer, Media Composer, Avid Technology


• “Cohen’s book will guide you to the next exciting level in the art of editing.”
  -- Edgar Burcksen, CinemaEditor Magazine


• “An amazing work -- for both new and old Media Composer users.”
  -- Norman Hollyn, Head of the Editing Track & Professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts


• “A very readable, incredibly illustrated book. Consistently delivers magical little tricks that make you say, ‘I wish I’d known that yesterday!’”
  -- Steve Hullfish, Avid Master Editor, colorist, author of four books.

EDITIONS:

This second edition offers detailed coverage of Media Composer 5.5. You’ll find even more information, with a focus on Media Composer 6, in Avid Agility, Third Edition.

Steve Cohen has been a pioneer in non-linear post-production, editing one of the first Avid TV movies (HBO's "Teamster Boss") and then going on to edit the first studio feature to use Avid's Film Composer ("Lost in Yonkers") while helping to develop the company's 24-fps software. He remained closely connected with Avid for many years and eventually cofounded the Avid Editors Advisory Committee, a group of prominent editors that advises Avid about software features. He has worked as a teacher throughout his professional life and was the first chairman of the editing department at the American Film Institute, the first school in the U.S. to offer an MFA in editing. He later helped create, and was the publisher of the Editors Guild Magazine. His book, "Avid Agility," now in its third edition, evolved out of his deep involvement with the development of the Avid system.

His credits include, "Before the Rains," "Material Girls," "The Prince and Me," "15 Minutes," "Blood and Wine," "Three Wishes," "Angie," "Rambling Rose" and "No Man's Land," as well as many pilots and TV movies, including several in the Jesse Stone series. He received an Emmy for "LBJ: The Early Years," an American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for "Don King: Only in America," and A.C.E.'s distinguished Robert Wise Award for writing about editing. He blogs at splicenow.com.