Last week Avid announced that they would be releasing and shipping the newest version of Media Composer on March 8th – a full month before NAB! This is very exciting news and it created a flury of tweets, blog posts and discussions in user groups and forums. At last years NAB, Avid announced Media Composer 5, and it was he hit of the show. It won numerous honors throughout the industry at NAB and throughout the year and was even named the Videoguys Top Product of 2010. It looks like the new version 5.5 is going to continue the momentum and we expect the awards to keep on coming in 2011.
What’s new in Media Composer 5.5
* Capture, monitor, and output with AJA Io Express
* Edit HDCAM SR Lite footage natively
* Accelerate AVC-Intra workflows with Nitris DX AVC-Intra
* Speed up editing and mixing with the Artist Series
* Find the right clips fast with PhraseFind
* Directly tweak transitions with the Smart Tool
* Gain better search capabilities
* Capture and monitor audio using Pro Tools hardware
* Work with audio more easily and creatively
* Fuel your creativity with the Production Suite
1) Avid Media Composer 5.5 is more open!
When Avid announced that Media Composer 5 would support the mighty Matrox MXO2 Mini, it sent shockwaves through the industry at last year’s NAB. This was one giant step forward for Avid editors and now, with Media Composer 5.5, Avid takes another step in the right direction with support for the AJA I/O Express. The AJA I/O Express gives you both SDI in and out, as well as HDMI output for monitoring.
While Avid didn’t allow Matrox to turn on capture for the MXO2 Mini, they have added some new format support for MXO2 Mini with Media Composer 5.5. Matrox MX02 Mini now includes SD 23.976, 720p 23.98, 1080p 23.98, 1080p 24, 1080p 25, and 1080p 29.97 as well as the ability to select PsF or true P output in 1080p modes. Also MX02 Mini with Max acceleration has been qualified on Mac OS systems.
So now Avid gives you two great 3rd party hardware solutions to chose from, along with their existing NitrisDX and MOJODX hardware.