Many of us who’ve been slicing on the Mac version of Avid’s Media Composer has felt a bit unnoticed over the previous few years, and to a positive volume, rightfully so. We sat and watched as Avid was given the wind knocked out of it by Apple’s introduction of Final Cut Pro. Apple’s lower charges and integration with more recent versions of the Mac OS got here as a brilliant leap forward within media’s democratization. Apple ran a complete court docket press on Avid’s dominance of the digital modifying gear marketplace. Avid struggled to discover their manner because the charge of editing tools dropped, and the organization that created and dominated contemporary virtual editing determined themselves having to play catch-up.
Today I write about the primary manifestation of Avid’s “New Thinking,” Media Composer three. Zero. With a new group of pinnacle executives, lower expenses, and an emphasis on customer satisfaction, Avid isn’t always most effective talking the talk; they’re strolling the stroll. Media Composer version 3.0 promises on the enterprise’s promise to do enterprise in a brand new manner. Apart from a few minor hiccups (self-imposed as I quickly found out), my transition from 2.8 to 3.Zero was not best painless; it becomes downright a laugh.
Ever the digital modifying daredevil, I determined to improve right within the middle of locking a characteristic film. (Actual stunt editor. NOT endorsed for sane customers) In the beginning, the pictures captured to an Avid Unity on Adrenaline had eventually been transferred to a 1TB G-RAID. They had been knocking around the city on numerous distinctive systems for nearly a year. I subsidized up all my mission facts within the event of a catastrophe. (I’m crazy, now not silly) I mounted the improve, restarted the laptop, and…
I name Avid assist and explain my situation. It’s right here I have a chance to look at some of Avid’s “new thinking” in movement. Now get this, the individual on the alternative stop of the line absolutely empathizes with me! I’m shocked. I might have needed to pledge my firstborn or purchased a very pricey every year aid contract in the vintage days. Avid now offers what I believe is a fair rate for according to-incident support; however, higher than that, in this name, they were type enough to comp me a 24-hour guide ticket! I thanked them profusely and proceeded to touch TS. After a quick wait, I was given someone on the line. The voice had a thick accent, but as a minimum, I should understand him. He regarded me quite stumped when I first describe the hassle, but after a brief discussion, we determine that it changed into… (seeking to look innocent) something I did. How unexpected.
In the upgrade “Read Me” (which, BTW, I did read), there are installation notes for Mac customers that say to put in most effective on a “smooth” model of Leopard. This was a chunk a whole lot for my little head. Did it mean smooth as in “wipe and reformat” easy or easy as in “improve” easy? Michael Phillips, Solutions Manager, Content Production at Avid, clarified this for me, saying Mac users can uninstall Composer 2.Eight from Tiger, upgrade to Leopard with no need to wipe and reformat the pressure, and set up 3.0. My problem stemmed from immediately putting in 2. Eight on Leopard after I first bought it. Why do you ask? Because I didn’t study the “readme” record. (Ugh!) Confirmation once again that it can pay to RTFM (examine the gorgeous guide). After strolling me via uninstalling and then deleting some remnants of the preceding version, I re-established, rebooted, and voila, problem solved.
This is wherein it got fun. Media Composer 3.Zero booted fast and clean. While doing so, it notified me that it had to update my Mojo SDI firmware and proceeded to achieve this without a hitch. (I had been instructed that some customers have had problems upgrading their original Mojo packing containers, so take a look at Avid’s information base for the modern statistics). The software program loaded (cue angelic song from the beginning of “Simpson’s” episode), and without delay, I should inform you something was special. You may say, how can you tell something like that? Well, let me let you know, after sixteen years of editing on this software program, whilst something is unique, you CAN experience it. Adrenaline on Mac failed to sense strongly to me. In truth, it felt kind of frail, and my experiences with it showed this. I crashed extra frequently than Meridian, it turned into now not as responsive, and after cutting a feature in HD on Final Cut Pro, it was a drag to pass lower back to using Tiger.
I start setting three. Zero through it is paced, and on the danger of sounding hyperbolic, it’s miles ROCKING. No latency, no glitchiness, (my word, Colbert) image pleasant is notably and extensively higher, and the players are slicing thru multi-layer, real-time consequences and title comps like “button.” I’ve were given reels with 20 audio tracks, 3-5 video tracks; I’m deleting, re-patching, copying, and pasting, I make lots of cuts and changes, and Media Composer doesn’t flinch once. I start getting a warm and fuzzy feeling and suppose this is a beautiful element. These men have surely accomplished their homework.
Yes, Media Composer three. Zero is strong. Yes, it’s rapid. Yes, it works on Leopard, which simply gooses the (Mac) editor delight meter (Mac’s heads rejoice!). But one feature I, without delay, observed well worth the charge of the improvement is the new actual-time Timecode Generator effect. This feature offers you the ability to generate window burn with an expansion of alternatives. No extra Horita bins, no extra rendering, this reputedly minor addition works flawlessly and will keep editors and assistants limitless hours and headaches when making outputs for collaborators on the put up manufacturing team. Three.0 consists of many different new upgrades and functions; however, it truly is past the scope of this “First Look,” and I will cowl them extensively in future video segments.
It has taken the business enterprise a while, but with it is an executive makeover, lower price shape, and now the discharge of Media Composer 3.0, Avid appears to be regaining its footing. Filmmakers of every level will revel in operating with the application’s time, and struggle examined modifying interface. The reality that it runs flawlessly on Apple’s modern working system and hardware is the ice cream on the pie’s pinnacle. From my first week of working with it, Media Composer 3.0 is a winner.