Media Composer 5 will be released a week from tomorrow, and without question, it represents the biggest upgrade Avid has offered in years — since the last version 5, to be exact, way back in 1994, when the modern Media Composer was born. The symmetry is the result of Avid resetting its numbering scheme in 2003. So here we are at version 5 again. Five was — and is — a very good number for Avid. I can still remember the cheering at the user group meetings. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see that same excitement this time.
This version brings timeline changes that should appeal to the Final Cut Pro crowd and that arguably go FCP one better, making it easy to grab-and-drag in the timeline without monkeying with a tool palette. That’s because Avid’s new tools are smart, and let you select a segment or a transition or a keyframe without a trip to the toolbar. You can also stay in what used to be called Segment Mode and move around without losing clip selection.
Other changes include realtime audio effects, stereo tracks and clips, advanced keyframes for most visual effects and automatic image stabilization. And, of course, Quicktime AMA, which means that you no longer have to import and transcode Quicktime materials. Not every format is equally responsive, but with the right codec and the right hardware you won’t need to import. Red (R3D) material is handled natively, too, along with Canon DSLR material.
Meanwhile, Avid has blessed a Matrox box as a low cost monitoring solution, and announced a software developer kit for other hardware manufacturers, which means that one of these days there will probably be a choice of non-native hardware offerings for Avid folk.
And, of course, there’s the student price of just $300 for the full version, with four years of free upgrades. And a 30-day downloadable free trial for everybody else.
All in all, this is an exciting time for Avid. I’ve been beta testing the new version and working full time on a new Media Composer book, titled Avid Agility. With luck, it’ll be available on Amazon by mid-July. I hope you’ll find it essential reading.
Meanwhile, I’ll be demoing MC5 at the LA Final Cut Pro User Group, on Wednesday, June 16 at Barnsdall Park.
It’s only the 2nd of June, and already it’s shaping up as a very interesting month.
I had occasion to become familiar with Lightroom recently. A friend loaned me a Canon 5D and I wanted to look at the raw files I was making. Adobe is running a public beta for Lightroom 3 and I downloaded it. What a slick piece of work. The first time you use it, overlays appear above the interface explaining how it’s organized and giving you enough information to get started. Large buttons for basic functions point to Adobe’s confidence that they know what you want to do — and in my case they were right. And the program itself? Fast, stable, powerful — and beautiful. And still in beta. I was able to go through my images, rate them, color correct them and create a nice web site, without so much as cracking a manual.
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