Splice Now

It might seem strange for a person to want to yell “Eureka” during a simple software install, but that’s exactly what happened to me recently. Avid has always required you to uninstall before upgrading. And in the past you had to uninstall each of your Avid applications separately, and then install new versions one at a time. This was slow, prone to error, and just plain blockheaded. But with Media Composer 5.0.3, Avid has quietly updated the Mac install process, creating a single uninstaller and unified installer. The uninstaller searches for all your apps, finds them quickly, and with a single click, removes them. The installer is similarly fast and one-button easy, allowing you to install MC and all the helper apps simultaneously (EDL Manager, FilmScribe, etc.). Be sure to click the Customize button — that’s where you’ll find the helper apps.

Media Composer used to be maintained exclusively by trained technicians. Today, many editors own their own systems and do their own maintenance. The new install process is a small thing but it will make a big difference to that audience.

The next step, hopefully, is a combined installer/uninstaller, which checks for updates over the net and downloads them in the background. When that happens, you’ll hear an even bigger “Eureka” from my editing room.

Here’s the new uninstaller:

And the new installer:

This entry was posted on August 22, 2010 at 7:56 am and is filed under Avid, Avid Technical Tips. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.