Avid Agility: Working Faster and More Intuitively with Avid Media Composer, Third Edition Paperback – July 17, 2012

I have been editing over 30 years and first read a Steve Cohen book on the Avid back in the 90's when I had to switch from other editing systems to the Avid, which since then has come to dominate the world of Hollywood feature and television editing. At the time (90's), although I had already taken Avid training classes, I found his book invaluable with little tricks and tips. Now, since Avid has come out with new software updates - nearly every 6 months it seems (!) I decided to get Steve's book to make sure I was caught up on everything new. I admit that I am experienced on the Avid, even owned one for 4 years and work on it everyday on primetime television, nonetheless, there were a few tips and tricks in this current book that I didn't know so this new purchase was worthwhile. For the newcomer or student trying to learn Avid, I think this book will show you how do to everything! It's not overly wordy, gets right to the point, showing photo's on every page taken from the Avid display and explaining all the features. Highly recommend if you want to learn Avid. If you want to learn assistant editing, this book will not answer all your questions.

Great book. Very concise, everything down to the point, great information that is not easy to get somewhere. For example I googled how I can change the thumbnail of a clip other than JKL-ing it. I didn't find any usable answers online, but the book has it. Apparently you can open the clip in viewer, find a frame you want, mark an In-point, go to the bin and with this clip selected press Q (jump to Mark-In). Boom. For my workflow this is a time saver.I would totally recommend this book for anyone working in Avid, especially for a person like myself who is transitioning after 8 years of working in Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro CC. Immensely helpful.

I appreciate that industry leaders like Steve Cohen share their wisdom and knowledge with us. This is another fine example of that. I'm learning Avid after many years on other systems, especially Legacy FCP. This book gives lots of tips and tricks that other training (which went through the essentials to getting started) didn't go through. It's already helped significantly shorten the learning curve for me.

Avid Agility is not so much a manual, but a collection of tips and trick that the author has learned over the years. It really made my working with Avid Media Composer faster, and taught me some of the hidden and under-used features which really improved my editing.

This book has just enough "ah ha" tidbits to make it essential to upping any editors workflow. Also read " in the blink of an eye".

Steve Cohen is the Avid composer Maestro. Don't waste money on any other Avid books unless you're an absolute beginner.I've worked with Avids since 1993 and used every edition of his book. He's the best!

This is the book a working editor needs. When your working and need to remember that trick, shortcut, work around, that you don't use every day this is the goto book. Very comprehensive and complete.

It has everything you need to know on the fly if you use Avid professionally. 👍

This is a must for every avid editors. A fast reading book that shows every aspect of the software. Doesn’t matter how much you think you know about avid, you will still learn something very usefull reading this book

I've been editing for 18 years... And create some of the most recognised to shows on uk tv...It's easy to find yourself working in ways you get used to, while not realising there a quicker solutions hiding just keystrokes away..Every page in this book enlightened me to a slightly better way of doing things, and gave me some completely new work flows..If you absorb all of the lessons in this book, it will free you to create the sequences you want in the quickest time. Thus massively improving creativeness..I am a huge fan,Nick NortonSenior editorThe apprentice 2015 uk

En plus de guider dans les "grands principes" de media composer (ce qui ravira les débutants sur le logiciel), ce livre donne une foule de technique pour améliorer votre efficacité. Un must-read en sommeAttention néanmoins il ne s'agit pas d'un manuel il faut donc avoir certaines notions de montage sur Avid pour tirer vraiment parti de ce livre. Cela dit je le conseillerais même à un novice qui après ses premiers pas pourra rapidement trouver son bonheur dans ces conseils

Arrived promptly, excellent condition, generally user-friendly and dummy-proof read, doesn't feel too dense or technical, good screenshot diagrams and a second-hand bargain!This latest edition's at least 10 years old, but the tips are still relevant (it's Avid!) Only missing a chapter/glossary devoted to shortcuts, though these are generally given throughout of course

Some good tips in here but it's a bit padded out, bit steep price for the learning you get out of it. However some of the tricks imparted in here have made seasoned editors say to me "Wow I didn't know you could do that" so it's probably worth it if you want to raise your game. But not essential.