An Interview with Avid: Talking about the launch of Media Composer 6
Avid Media Composer 6 is here! Ready to take it for a test drive?
Avid Media Composer 6—as well as Symphony 6 and Newscutter 10—were officially released to the public today. This follows Avid’s announcement several weeks ago, detailing the software’s new features.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to beta test Avid Media Composer 6. Now that the software has officially been released, I’m excited to begin sharing tutorials on the newest Media Composer 6 features with the PremiumBeat community.
In the meantime, I interviewed Angus Mackay, Avid Segment Marketing Manager of Professional Video, who had some great things to say about the new release.
AK: How has the reaction been to Media Composer 6 from your beta community and from other users who have been using it prior to the launch? What have been the most exciting reported updates in feature and functionality?
AM: “The reaction from beta customers has been great. The new stereoscopic tools in particular have been praised for how thorough they are and how well integrated into Media Composer, and of course users have been thrilled to have Media Composer working with I/O cards from AJA, Blackmagic, Bluefish444, Matrox, and MOTU. And the ability to encode to Pro Res has received lots of positive comments, too.”
AK: Besides the extended cross grade pricing promotion, in what ways is Avid trying to cater to Final Cut Pro converts?
AM: “We offer a great cross grade price, training resources specifically for FCP users, dedicated user forums moderated by FCP and Media Composer experts, and Media Composer itself is compatible with existing hardware setups and Pro Res footage. Projects can be easily moved from FCP to Media Composer with utilities from Boris FX and Automatic Duck.”
AK: What type of ground has been laid with the latest under-the-hood updates like open I/O compatibility? In other words — how will these improvements help Avid going forward with compatibility and partnerships with third-party vendors?
AM: “Avid has developed the Open I/O SDK which allows third party i/o vendors to support Media Composer with their cards. This effort, along with 64 bit architecture, provides a great foundation for future development and expanded third party support.”
AK: Is there anything you can tell us about what we can expect in the near future from Avid? Is there any groundwork laid in the Media Composer 6.0 release that might benefit future 6.x point releases?
AM: “A 64 bit architecture lays the foundation for great future development but we have no other announcements to make at this time.”
AK: Is there anything else Avid would like to say about Media Composer 6 that you’d like your user community (or potential user community) to know?
AM: “The industry is gravitating towards Avid and DNxHD, a SMPTE standard high quality codec, with multiple field recorders using this format, along with recent announcements from AJA on their upcoming Ki Pro Mini DNxHD as well as the ARRI Alexa which will also record to DNxHD. This great codec makes an ideal format for production, as it can go from capture to playout without transcoding anywhere in the pipeline. And with new DNxHD 444 announced with Media Composer version 6, greater color precision and highest image quality are preserved.”
Get your copy now!
If you’re interested in trying Media Composer 6 free for 30 days, feel free to take a test drive with the 30-day free trial. If you have a valid support contract, you’re free to download the new version right away at the Avid Download Center.
