AVID update Available

Go to AVID’s download’s page for 6.5.0.1 of Media Composer, Symphony and 10.5.0.1 of Newscutter.

New features include:

  • XDCAM and XCAM EX Support
  • FrameChase Editing with Sony XDCam Station (XDS Series)
  • No longer have to uninstall the P2 or XDCAM before performing a legacy P2 or XDCAM import

iChat theater has issues, but is still a wonderful solution that Adobe and AVID need to implement

I know, I know iChat theater is old technology and has been out since Final Cut Pro 7 was was released, but it is still awesome tech. If you have a web camera or iSight you can share what you are viewing in Final Cut Pro 7 using iChat (or messages in Mountain Lion) and you can hear the person on either end and see Timecode as well. It has it’s issues (audio often drops out and you have to restart the computer to get it back, and often it is hard to get the chat to actually start), but overall it works very well and allows for remote monitoring of an edit.

Sure you can share your screen with Skype, but that shared the whole screen, timeline and all, and the video is small. iChat theater allows you to share just what is playing back from Final Cut Pro. It is awesome for editors who like to work at home, and producers who like to do the same. And it works very well overall.

The problem is that Final Cut Pro 7 is EOL and will never be updated again, and is really showing it’s age. Sure many companies have such an investment that they are still using it before the go with AVID (though I prefer Premiere Pro, if only it were more stable). And neither Premier Pro or Media Composer have anything like it.

iChat theater and Final Cut Pro 7 is an elegant solution to a problem that is very relevant today (editors working remotely), and a new solution needs to be implemented in AVID and Premiere Pro.

I wonder if it could be done via a plug in like BlackMagic or AJA, as if it was going out via video to Messages or Skype or a proprietary messaging program? The thing is it is such a great piece of software that the competitors need it (even if FCP X doesn’t have it anymore either).

Working from home means companies need less edit bays, editors get more sanity from not driving, and it is better for the environment not having to drive, so someone please come up with a solution and fast!

StudioDaily on AVID

I realized I hadn’t linked to this Studio Daily Article on the reductions at AVID.

By the third quarter AVID will be down to about 1500 after losing more than 350 more employees, and hasn’t said which facilities it will be closing.

I still say if AVID doesn’t really push there opportunity here they are fools. Look at what Autodesk has done with Smoke. I think it should be cheaper than $4000 ($3500 and $500 a year for upgrades and support), but it has moved into Media Composer Range, and it can do all Media Composer can and much more.

What I think AVID should have done

Personally I think AVID should have bit the bullet and pulled the price of Media Composer to $1000 to fight Premiere Pro (I don’t think they need to fight FCP X) and gain market share back. The $1000 that Apple charged for FCP 7 was really a sweat spot and other apps have gone bellow that).

And have made the cross grade even $500 from FInal Cut Pro, and make symphony a plug in that costs another $300-$500 (Or really just roll it in to Media Composer completely to have a unified product line). Now there sales for this year might be down (though they might have gone up do to the amount of sales they would have made), and there customer bass would have grown back to what it used to be, and they would make a ton of money in the future.

They need to focus on less products and make them less expensive. They have already been making Media Composer so much better, so they don’t have to worry about that, but it is there business decisions that seem iffy.

Doddle News on Five Ways Avid Could Stay Alive

An interesting article at Doddle news on how the foundering AVID (which just sold it’s consumer division including M-Audio, Pinacle and even the new iPad app) and cut another 20% of it’s work force after previously losing 10% not too long ago.

Some interesting ideas, though other than doubling down on protools and moving to the cloud like Adobe CS6, I don’t see them trying any of them.