Support for a 444 version of DNxHD provides extra color detail for keying and color correction.Īvid Marketplace is now part of V.6 and it’s built into all of the company’s editing tools, including the new version of NewsCutter. There are two new formats supported by Avid’s AMA - AVCHD and Red Epic -which allow for editing of files natively within the timeline. “We will now have what our users have been asking for: support for Decklink and the Kona card and more.” Mackay reports that five companies have already signed up: AJA, Blackmagic Design, Bluefish, MOTU and Matrox. Media Composer has opened up over the past few years, working with Matrox and AJA devices, and now they’ve taken that a step further, offering a new SDK that allows partners to write I/O support tools for the system. “We want to give our customers the ability to always say ‘yes.’” The stereo tools are built into every version of Media Composer it’s standard. “The timeline and effects and bins are the same, and there is also the ability to do convergence and color and temporal adjustments, as well as a 3D titling tool.” He emphasizes that in addition to the ability for creative editing for a stereo film or program, if you are working at HD resolution you can also finish it in Media Composer, package up an AAF and send it off to visual effects, etc.
There is a full stereo metadata understanding in Media Composer 6 that allows you to group and match left eye and right eye, and allows editors to work single eye or double eye on one project. “The industry’s redefining stereo editorial on our solution,” boasts Mackay, reporting that there are users in the field who are actively post producing stereo content with the tool, which comes standard in every Media Composer. “Being able to have an editing syntax that makes sense and having right kind of technical and creative tools is very important to them,” he says. “We’ve moved toward a tab interface, cleaned up the clutter, but still existing users will feel comfortable and familiar with the updates.”Įditors working in stereo have specific challenges, including management of additional metadata and the doubling of media. “They can preserve all of their work,” says Mackay (pictured). The updated user interface was designed to modernize it, taking advantage of contemporary best practices while still respecting existing users. “We did it while preserving all the muscle memory and our customer’s investment in training.” Mackay acknowledges that the porting the product over to 64-bit was a huge undertaking, but says the architecture itself doesn’t dictate what you present to customers or what your UI is. Some advantages of this include access to greater amounts of RAM and improved performance, playback, and responsiveness, as well as increases in the speed in which users can play numerous formats.
Version 6 is actually the sixth release of Media Composer in three years, points out Mackay, adding that this update is a complete rebuild from the app’s core, designed with openness in mind and with huge increases in productivity thanks to its 64-bit design. The product is available for purchase on November 15. On a recent conference call, Avid’s Angus Mackay ran us through the newest features.
There is also a software version of Symphony and lower pricing. There are also updated stereo tools, two more formats supported by AMA, and more openness thanks to a new SDK. It’s here, it’s 64-bit, offers a familiar but rejuvenated UI and it will work with all the Media Composer projects you have ever created.
BURLINGTON, MA - Since Apple introduced FCP X and followed up with 10.1, many who didn’t jump to Adobe’s Premiere Pro have been eagerly awaiting the next iteration of Avid Media Composer.