Avid Media Composer

The following information is current as of January 2008.
For complete details, please visit Avid.com.

 
Avid Media Composer systems set the standard for nonlinear film and video editing performance. Whether you work on a laptop or workstation, there’s a Media Composer configuration that puts your creative process in high gear.

Choose to work on the platform you prefer: Intel on Mac or on a PC running Windows XP. And, you can share your projects and media between Mac and PC systems as well.

Explore, experiment, and express yourself with whatever HD, SD, and DV formats you need... all at the same time, in the same timeline, if you like... and without having to render!

Avid Media Composer is part of a line of editing systems from Avid Technology, Inc. All of the software applications detailed below share core functionality and operation, which is why you may see them mentioned together on the Moviola Digital web site. Learning to use Media Composer will easily translate to using its "brothers," Xpress Pro and Symphony.

Avid Xpress Pro HD software is highly similar to Media Composer software, though some functionality and features have been removed to allow for a cost that is about 1/5 that of Media Composer's. However, Xpress Pro HD is so robust, and so much is identical to Media Composer, you'll feel right at home.

 
Media Composer software is available in several hardware configurations, allowing users to pay for only the features they require. These varying configurations are detailed below.

Media Composer software can run with or without additional hardware. When the application runs without any help from hardware, Avid refers to this as "Media Composer SW." The SW indicates Software only.

Further, Media Composer software can run on either a laptop or on a workstation, as well as on either Mac or PC.
 
 
 With both the Avid Xpress Pro or Media Composer software you can gain access to additional video signal types by using one of Avid's "Mojo" hardware products.

Compact enough to take on location yet powerful enough to serve as the core of a professional video-editing suite, "Avid Mojo SDI" and "Avid Mojo" hardware connect to both laptop and desktop systems, both Mac and PC, with a single IEEE-1394 (FireWire) cable. Unlike other add-on hardware, they let you capture audio or video while also providing output of the same source, so you can monitor what you're capturing, including watching video on a client monitor while recording voiceover – impossible with hardware from other manufacturers. In addition, Avid Mojo and Avid Mojo SDI let you monitor and output HD timelines in SD with real-time down-convert.

Need even more video and audio signal input/output types and functionality? Then you may add Avid's "Adrenaline" hardware.

Avid Adrenaline hardware is a core element in a revolutionary hybrid architecture designed to scale in performance with the processing speed and capacity of the host CPU and optimized for multiprocessor systems. It includes a full range of professional 10-bit video and 24-bit audio inputs and outputs. It's HD expandable via the optional Avid DNxcel board. And its sophisticated 10-bit media processing hardware is flash-upgradeable to actually add hardware capabilities in the future.

Need to tackle High Definition video? Then add on the Avid DNxcel board to your Avid Adrenaline hardware. The Avid DNxcel board delivers real-time 10-bit HD-SDI I/O to and from HDCAM, DVCPRO HD, and D5 decks and cameras. Edit multistream HD with real-time effects viewable on an HD monitor, save time with real-time SD downconvert, and output HD and SD simultaneously. Take advantage of Avid DNxHD encoding for everything from offline HD editing to projection of HD dailies.

Avid Symphony Nitris is the top of Media Composer line of products that share the same core functionality and operation. Symphony provides users with all of the functionality of Media Composer and then some.

Avid Symphony Nitris systems combine the legendary elegance of the Symphony finishing toolset, real-time primary and secondary color correction, and the real-time uncompressed HD and SD performance of Avid Nitris® DNA hardware. Together, they bring the power and productivity of Avid Total Conform and Universal Mastering to deadline-intensive HD and SD post-production projects.