Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 16, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The following features help reduce production costs and increase productivity in professional broadcast and post-production use:
* Time-consuming transcoding is eliminated because different frame rates and resolutions can be mixed in an open timeline within the same project.
* Native support for file-based media is expanded to include industry-leading formats such as Panasonic AVC-I and Ikegami GFCAM. GFCAM support results from Avid Media Access (AMA).
Customer Verdict
Emmy® and ACE Eddie Award-winning editor Steve Cohen was a beta tester for Media Composer 4.0. His assessment: “My first experience with AMA produced an aha moment, particularly because of its straightforward handling: logging and digitizing are eliminated, and an import is not required either. Clips appear as if by magic in a bin, complete with all metadata, ready for cutting. The fact that a laptop can be used without additional hardware is also very impressive. ‘Mix & Match’ is one of the functions offered by Avid that is so well designed that everything is completely understandable. You simply edit as you would with any other material. Media Composer automatically initiates the correct steps and adjusts the speed as required without rendering.”
The Industry Standard for Editing Tools – Fast, Reliable and with More Native Formats
The Media Composer editing solutions (rated by the American Cinema Editors professional association, ACE, as the preferred tool of successful editors), Symphony and NewsCutter offer customers a broad range of functions that make the production process more efficient. The new features include the following functions:
* Improved stereoscopic 3D editing: enables 3D material to be displayed side by side instead of only above and below. Users can therefore make their editing decisions more precisely and also have a wider selection of inexpensive monitors available for stereoscopic display.
* Monitoring of cross-converted and downconverted HD and SD formats from 1080p24 master material: enables Mojo DX or Nitris® DX hardware to display HD material on an SD monitor, eliminating the cost of additional hardware.
* Support for Panasonic AVC-I encoding: enables masters to be output in Panasonic’s AVC-I format while native editing takes place from acquisition through final output in Avid’s editing system.
* Mac support for Pro Tools® Video Satellite: enables work with Mac or PC when Media Composer is used as a Video Satellite for Pro Tools systems, providing frame-accurate, synchronized, full-resolution video monitoring.
* Mix & Match for free combination: provides flexibility to use media sources with different frame rates and resolutions (SD and HD) in the same timeline, eliminating external transcoding and time-consuming frame-rate conversions.
* Improvements to Avid Media Access (AMA): provide native support for the popular Ikegami GFCAM format at 100 MB/s. GFCAM media, including all metadata, can now be accessed directly; work can begin without prior transcoding, copying or rewrapping.
* New updates for the Production Suite: provide expanded creative designs and additional media-output options with new versions of Boris Continuum Complete, Sorenson Squeeze and SmartSound SonicFire Pro.
* Downstream processes such as archiving or publishing in formats for mobile devices, the Internet or digital-signage systems are simplified as a result.
Prices and Availability
Media Composer, Symphony and NewsCutter systems will be available from September 30. As a training version, Media Composer 4.0 costs only 275 euros (recommended retail price). From September 30, 2009, owners of a training version of Media Composer (program version between 3.5 and 4.0, purchased on or after March 1, 2009) can receive upgrades for four years, calculated from the date of software activation.