Michelle,
Please reply!
Sorry, went out to dinner. Believe me I know, I have two teenagers and I substitute teach on occasion when the freelance gigs get slow. I know you think that I'm missing your point, but the fact is good editing has nothing to do with good software.
Good software makes it more efficient, easier and allows creativity, but it doesn't have anything to do with the actual skills associated with excellent productions. A good editor is a good editor on just about any equipment, and a bad editor is a bad editor on the best equipment.
I'd like to see students who learn the craft and not the software. When I graduated from college with a BA in broadcasting we were working with 2" 1" and 3/4" inch editing. Some of the edit suites took up entire rooms. Nothing was frame accurate and everything was done real-time in a linear setting. Anything but straight cut edits required a very expensive switcher and special effects were next to nill.
Now I work with a G5 doing what it took a room full of equipment to do when I graduated. No equipment I used 20 years ago is part of what I do now, but the basic skills remain the same. It doesn't matter what software you use because in less the two years it's gonna' change.
Its a bit unnerving that your students seem to want verification that they are learning something of value in learning a certain software program. When in fact the value lies in the skill not in the software. It's the equivalent of asking if the best paper was used to print Shakespeare. The value lies in the words not in the paper it's printed on.
