Avid releases new versions of the Media Composer family

Avid has announced the latest version of its editing systems: Media Composer 6.5, Symphony 6.5 and NewsCutter 10.5. New features have been included to offer faster and more open workflows.

New features include the ability to control hardware inputs and outputs (Hardware I/O). Users who are accustomed to using third-party hardware through Avid Open I/O will be able to further customize their workflows. To pass control back and forth between Avid systems and other applications such as After Effects or DaVinci Resolve, hardware can simply be enabled or disabled. In addition, you can also access only software mode functions without having to switch off, such as full-screen playback directly from Media Composer.

Improvements have also been added to the audio and Relink functions. In the latter, the flexibility to interact with other systems has been improved thanks to the expanded possibilities to relink clips. Using a wide variety of common metadata, after using another application, such as DaVinci, the media can be relinked to a new one or to the original. Speaking of audio, there is now a possibility of advanced keyframing, which speeds up the automation process within and between tracks. In addition, thanks to the support of 64 audio voices, the work with root mixes is improved.

Finally, Avid Media Authoring, a new component of Avid Media Access (AMA), enables users to archive and master their projects more efficiently. It offers native support for the JPEG2000 codec and AS-02, a standard developed by the Advanced Media Workflow Association, which helps simplify media management and streamlines delivery to a variety of devices and platforms. It also supports Active Format Description (AFD), enabling a consistent viewing experience regardless of scaling and conversions.

Prices for this family of new products are as follows:

– Media Composer 6.5: from $2,499 and its upgrade from $499.
– Symphony 6.5: from $5,999 and its upgrade from $499.
– NewsCutter 10.5: from $2,499 and its upgrade from $499.

These versions combine for the first time the work of Media Composer and NewsCutter with Avid Interplay Sphere, a product presented during the IBC that provides journalists the ability to write, edit and produce their stories from a cloud-based system for news distribution. Thus, all these operations can be performed from any location and collaborating with an entire team. Interplay Sphere is now available for $50,000 (includes 5 licenses, each additional license is $1,500).