Press release
Avid Delivers Media Composer and
Avid Xpress Pro for Intel-Based Macs
Company also unveils phonetic speech recognition capability and the industry’s most efficient HD codec for offline editing
Tewksbury, Mass. – March 30, 2007 – Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced the worldwide availability of version 2.7 of its award-winning Media Composer® family of products and version 5.7 of Avid Xpress® Pro software. The new Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro systems now include support for Intel-based Mac notebooks and workstations, new workflow capabilities, and an updated bundle of third-party content creation software. Both Avid products also offer expanded format support, including write-back capabilities for the popular Sony XDCAM and Panasonic P2 file-based media formats, as well as support for the emerging 720p50 HD broadcast standard in Europe.
In addition, version 2.7 of the Media Composer system introduces two industry breakthroughs – Avid ScriptSync™, a next-generation script-based editing tool that uses phonetic speech recognition technology to automatically sync text with media; and Avid DNxHD® 36, the industry’s most efficient HD codec for offline editorial, which runs at a data rate of 36 Mb/s (megabits per second), only slightly greater than the data rate of DV25 media, but at a full-raster HD resolution. Avid will showcase the new Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro systems – alongside other technology innovations – at the National Association of Broadcasters convention next month in Las Vegas from April 16 – 19, 2007.
“As professional content creators begin to embrace Intel-based Mac systems, we are delivering a powerful upgrade for the Mac platform, providing users with greater workflow efficiencies and creative control than what they’ll find in other editing systems. We’ve run these systems through a more rigorous testing process than ever before, and we’re confident that our customers will be pleased with the stability and performance they’ll receive after installing the new software,” said Matt Feury, senior evangelist, Post Market, at Avid. “Script-based editing has been very popular among customers because it provides an easy way to respond to directors, who often want to quickly review different takes of scenes based on the dialogue in the script. With ScriptSync, we’re offering breakthrough technology that saves huge amounts of time – and money – in the storytelling process. In addition, Avid DNxHD 36 provides editors with an easy way to work with pristine HD images during the offline stage, without slowing down the creative process with massive HD file sizes.”
Stuart Bass, A.C.E., 2006 Emmy nominee and ACE Eddie award winner for Arrested Development, and Media Composer v2.7 beta tester, said, “ScriptSync is one more innovative editing feature from Avid, and it is an absolute necessity when I'm editing scripted shows. On my current project, I can easily line up twelve takes of a single performance and evaluate each one in a thorough and organized fashion. It enables our team to evaluate different readings with greater speed, streamlining the storytelling process under extremely tight deadlines. In my opinion, every producer and director should know that Avid offers this capability – and that no other system can even come close.”
Next-Generation Post Production with ScriptSync
Powered by next-generation phonetic speech recognition technology from Nexidia™, The ScriptSync tool advances the functionality of Avid’s script-based editing by automating the task of synchronizing scripts or transcripts with their respective media files, and eliminates the labor intensive process of manually inserting sync points. Once the script and media are matched, editors, directors and producers can quickly and easily review multiple line readings and select individual takes. With ScriptSync, script-based editing is significantly more accurate and more practical for every day use.
HD Across the Post Pipeline with Avid DNxHD 36
Advancing offline workflow, Avid DNxHD 36 shatters post production barriers, enabling creative editorial professionals to work with high-quality HD footage during the offline stage and to maintain HD across the entire post production process. Using either an Avid DNxcel™-powered Media Composer Adrenaline™, or an Avid Nitris® system, customers can encode HD content to Avid DNxHD 36 in real-time. Avid DNxHD 36 media is ideal for playback, editing, rough-cut screenings, and reviewing dailies and also delivers massive storage efficiency – up to 18 hours of footage on a 300 GB FireWire™ drive. By eliminating the process of downconverting HD material to 14:1 SD resolution for offline work, Avid DNxHD 36 helps production teams to save money by providing them with faster availability of offline media at significantly better image quality. For more information about Avid DNxHD and customer successes, please visit: http://www.avid.com/DNxHD.
New Enhancements for Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro Software
Both Media Composer v2.7 and Avid Xpress Pro v5.7 software offer the following enhancements:
Company also unveils phonetic speech recognition capability and the industry’s most efficient HD codec for offline editing
Tewksbury, Mass. – March 30, 2007 – Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced the worldwide availability of version 2.7 of its award-winning Media Composer® family of products and version 5.7 of Avid Xpress® Pro software. The new Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro systems now include support for Intel-based Mac notebooks and workstations, new workflow capabilities, and an updated bundle of third-party content creation software. Both Avid products also offer expanded format support, including write-back capabilities for the popular Sony XDCAM and Panasonic P2 file-based media formats, as well as support for the emerging 720p50 HD broadcast standard in Europe.
In addition, version 2.7 of the Media Composer system introduces two industry breakthroughs – Avid ScriptSync™, a next-generation script-based editing tool that uses phonetic speech recognition technology to automatically sync text with media; and Avid DNxHD® 36, the industry’s most efficient HD codec for offline editorial, which runs at a data rate of 36 Mb/s (megabits per second), only slightly greater than the data rate of DV25 media, but at a full-raster HD resolution. Avid will showcase the new Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro systems – alongside other technology innovations – at the National Association of Broadcasters convention next month in Las Vegas from April 16 – 19, 2007.
“As professional content creators begin to embrace Intel-based Mac systems, we are delivering a powerful upgrade for the Mac platform, providing users with greater workflow efficiencies and creative control than what they’ll find in other editing systems. We’ve run these systems through a more rigorous testing process than ever before, and we’re confident that our customers will be pleased with the stability and performance they’ll receive after installing the new software,” said Matt Feury, senior evangelist, Post Market, at Avid. “Script-based editing has been very popular among customers because it provides an easy way to respond to directors, who often want to quickly review different takes of scenes based on the dialogue in the script. With ScriptSync, we’re offering breakthrough technology that saves huge amounts of time – and money – in the storytelling process. In addition, Avid DNxHD 36 provides editors with an easy way to work with pristine HD images during the offline stage, without slowing down the creative process with massive HD file sizes.”
Stuart Bass, A.C.E., 2006 Emmy nominee and ACE Eddie award winner for Arrested Development, and Media Composer v2.7 beta tester, said, “ScriptSync is one more innovative editing feature from Avid, and it is an absolute necessity when I'm editing scripted shows. On my current project, I can easily line up twelve takes of a single performance and evaluate each one in a thorough and organized fashion. It enables our team to evaluate different readings with greater speed, streamlining the storytelling process under extremely tight deadlines. In my opinion, every producer and director should know that Avid offers this capability – and that no other system can even come close.”
Next-Generation Post Production with ScriptSync
Powered by next-generation phonetic speech recognition technology from Nexidia™, The ScriptSync tool advances the functionality of Avid’s script-based editing by automating the task of synchronizing scripts or transcripts with their respective media files, and eliminates the labor intensive process of manually inserting sync points. Once the script and media are matched, editors, directors and producers can quickly and easily review multiple line readings and select individual takes. With ScriptSync, script-based editing is significantly more accurate and more practical for every day use.
HD Across the Post Pipeline with Avid DNxHD 36
Advancing offline workflow, Avid DNxHD 36 shatters post production barriers, enabling creative editorial professionals to work with high-quality HD footage during the offline stage and to maintain HD across the entire post production process. Using either an Avid DNxcel™-powered Media Composer Adrenaline™, or an Avid Nitris® system, customers can encode HD content to Avid DNxHD 36 in real-time. Avid DNxHD 36 media is ideal for playback, editing, rough-cut screenings, and reviewing dailies and also delivers massive storage efficiency – up to 18 hours of footage on a 300 GB FireWire™ drive. By eliminating the process of downconverting HD material to 14:1 SD resolution for offline work, Avid DNxHD 36 helps production teams to save money by providing them with faster availability of offline media at significantly better image quality. For more information about Avid DNxHD and customer successes, please visit: http://www.avid.com/DNxHD.
New Enhancements for Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro Software
Both Media Composer v2.7 and Avid Xpress Pro v5.7 software offer the following enhancements:
•
Intel-based Mac compatibility – providing Mac users with
Avid’s leading creative applications, optimized for
Intel-based Mac notebooks and desktops. These product
releases continue Avid’s commitment to deliver applications
for both Windows XP and Mac (Universal Binary installers for both
Intel-based Mac and PowerPC systems) in the same box. For a
complete list of Avid-qualified Intel-Mac systems, visit http://www.avid.com/mediacomposer
and http://www.avid.com/xpresspro.
• XDCAM and P2 write-back capability – giving editors more flexibility to work with and exchange XDCAM and P2* file-based media. For independent film, reality television, and other productions embracing file-based workflows, the new versions of Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro software will offer the most comprehensive XDCAM and P2 support available. * P2 write-back for Intel-based Mac systems not currently available.
• 720p50 HD support – enabling editing and playback of the 720p50 HD format to support customers who want to take advantage of this emerging European HD standard.
• Updated third-party software applications – including content creation software for multimedia publishing, soundtrack creation, and effects creation – with the Mac-compatible software now optimized for both Intel- and PowerPC-based Mac architectures. The software bundle extends the creative power of the Avid Xpress Pro and the Media Composer toolsets and includes versions of:
o Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite 4.5 – offering three times faster preprocessing and encoding and allowing digital storytellers to encode content – including HD files – directly from the timeline into the most popular Web formats.
o SmartSound® SonicFire® Pro 4 – enabling creation of sophisticated music tracks right from the editor’s notebook or workstation and featuring SmartSound’s Mood Mapping™ to dynamically match the mix and feel of music to the changing moods of any production.
o Boris Continuum Complete 4.2 – providing a broad range of cutting-edge filters and features for high-end effects directly in the native Avid application.
• XDCAM and P2 write-back capability – giving editors more flexibility to work with and exchange XDCAM and P2* file-based media. For independent film, reality television, and other productions embracing file-based workflows, the new versions of Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro software will offer the most comprehensive XDCAM and P2 support available. * P2 write-back for Intel-based Mac systems not currently available.
• 720p50 HD support – enabling editing and playback of the 720p50 HD format to support customers who want to take advantage of this emerging European HD standard.
• Updated third-party software applications – including content creation software for multimedia publishing, soundtrack creation, and effects creation – with the Mac-compatible software now optimized for both Intel- and PowerPC-based Mac architectures. The software bundle extends the creative power of the Avid Xpress Pro and the Media Composer toolsets and includes versions of:
o Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite 4.5 – offering three times faster preprocessing and encoding and allowing digital storytellers to encode content – including HD files – directly from the timeline into the most popular Web formats.
o SmartSound® SonicFire® Pro 4 – enabling creation of sophisticated music tracks right from the editor’s notebook or workstation and featuring SmartSound’s Mood Mapping™ to dynamically match the mix and feel of music to the changing moods of any production.
o Boris Continuum Complete 4.2 – providing a broad range of cutting-edge filters and features for high-end effects directly in the native Avid application.
Pricing and Availability
Version 2.7 of Media Composer is available as software for Euro €4700, GBP £3200 or USD $5200 and can be augmented with Avid DNA™ hardware such as Avid Mojo® SDI and Avid Adrenaline. All customers with current Avid Support contracts receive the software updates at no additional charge. For customers who do not have Avid Support, Avid offers a range of upgrade options:
Media Composer Software-Only
Systems
From now until June 30, 2007, customers can upgrade to version 2.7 for Euro €170, GBP £120 or USD $190; this upgrade includes Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2 at no additional charge. After June 30, customers can purchase one of two upgrade options for Euro €910, GBP £630, USD $1010:
From now until June 30, 2007, customers can upgrade to version 2.7 for Euro €170, GBP £120 or USD $190; this upgrade includes Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2 at no additional charge. After June 30, customers can purchase one of two upgrade options for Euro €910, GBP £630, USD $1010:
•
A Media Composer 2.7 software upgrade kit – including all of
the bundled third-party software applications; or
• Avid Support – including Media Composer 2.7 software, Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2, plus software upgrades from Avid and phone support for one year.
• Avid Support – including Media Composer 2.7 software, Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2, plus software upgrades from Avid and phone support for one year.
Media Composer Adrenaline Systems
Customers with Media Composer Adrenaline systems can purchase either:
•
A Media Composer 2.7 software upgrade kit, including all of the bundled
third-party software applications, for Euro €910, GBP
£630, USD $1010; or
• Avid Support, including free software upgrades and phone support one year, plus Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2 for Euro €1840, GBP £1270, USD $2050.
• Avid Support, including free software upgrades and phone support one year, plus Boris Continuum Complete 4.2.2 for Euro €1840, GBP £1270, USD $2050.
Avid Xpress Pro Software
Version 5.7 of Avid Xpress Pro software is available for Euro €1560, GBP1080, USD $1730. Customers with versions 5.5 or higher of Avid Xpress Pro software will receive upgrades to version 5.7 for Euro €40, GBP £30 or USD $50. Customers with Avid Xpress Pro systems that precede version 5.5 can upgrade to version 5.7 for Euro €130, GBP £90, USD $150.
Both Media Composer and Avid Xpress Pro are available immediately through Avid’s worldwide reseller channel. For information on Academic pricing, please visit: http://www.avid.com/education.
About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company’s Oscar®, Grammy®, and Emmy® award-winning products and services, please visit: http://www.avid.com.
© 2007 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice.
Promotions and discounts are subject to availability and change without notice. Avid, Film Composer, Pro Tools, Digidesign, Adrenaline, Avid DNA, Avid DNxcel, Avid Mojo, Avid Xpress, DNxHD, Media Composer, Nitris, and ScriptSync are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. Digidesign, Avid’s audio division, received an Oscar statuette representing the 2003 Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of its Pro Tools digital audio workstation. Academy Awards and Oscar are trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. FireWire is a trademark of Apple Computers, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
