Bunim/Murray joins growing list of FCP-to-Avid converts
Bunim/Murray joins a growing number of high-profile professionals to return to Avid from Final Cut Pro.
Avid Technology announced yesterday that reality TV giant Bunim/Murray made the sweeping conversion to an All-Avid workflow from a Final Cut Pro based workflow, starting in early 2012. This means that its editing and storage solutions (including Avid Media Composer 6, Avid Symphony 6 and Avid ISIS 5000) will be used for all of its programs going forward.
Bunim/Murray is an Emmy Award-winning production company, widely credited with creating the reality TV genre with its long-running series, The Real World. They are also known for other hit reality shows, such as Road Rules, The Bad Girls Club, Project Runway, and Keeping up with the Kardashians.
This switch to Avid solutions comes about a half a year after Apple’s release of Final Cut Pro X, which was met with rather mixed reviews, especially among its professional users. Avid immediately began pushing hard to begin converting high-profile clients to its software, and in recent months, is beginning to see a shift taking shape.
Mark Raudonis, Senior Vice President of Post Production at Bunim/Murray, explained their reason for the switch:
“Due to the large volume of media generated by our reality shows, we needed to re-evaluate our editing and storage solutions. At the same time, we were looking for a partner who would understand our long-term needs. As we talked with Avid, it was clear that the company has really forged ahead since we worked with them years ago. Their commitment to the needs of their professional customers, like us, is clear. And, with the introduction of Media Composer 6, they really raised the bar and have a vision for the future that makes them the right choice for our business.”
Another benefit of Media Composer 6 is the addition of “Avid Open I/O,” which allows any allows third-party manufacturer to make their I/O hardware work with Media Composer. This also attracted Bunim/Murray to make the switch.
“With the Avid Open I/O, we won’t need to change out any of the hardware from our existing editing stations. Instead it’s just a software install,” said Raudonis. “In addition, we’ve always used Pro Tools, so we’re looking forward to saving time and gaining added efficiencies through Media Composer and Pro Tools interoperability.”
The response
As more high-profile clients begin switching to Avid or Adobe solutions, the post production industry continues to change its landscape. People have already begun reacting to this news—on sites like MacRumors. Here are just a couple of the responses from the article published on that site:
“…It’s a trickle-down effect. The professionals are “influencers” and if Apple loses them, they’ll be losing the inner foundation and core that saved them in the first place.”
“Companies and editors are not going to stay on FCP7 for another few years waiting for FCPX to be brought back up to standard. Many of them will likely switch to Avid or Premiere as well as replacing their machines with Windows PCs. Once this happens, it will be another 3-5 years before they would even consider switching back to FCPX, and many wouldn’t do so just because of this previous headache and lost trust in Apple.”
“This should really surprise no one. The quote, ‘Their commitment to the needs of their professional customers, like us, is clear,’ should sting. You’ve made your choice, Apple. Now sleep in the bed you’ve made.”
What do you think? Have you or your company considered converting to either Avid or Adobe from Final Cut Pro following the release of FCP X? Do high-profile switches like this influence you in any way?
