Videoguys Guide - First Look at Avid Media Composer 6. If you are having problems viewing this e-mail or would like to see it in your web browser click this link or copy and paste it in your browser for all these great specials. http://www.webvideoguys.com/avidmc6-guide.html Videoguys' Guide: First Look at
Avid is 100% committed to professional video editors and their workflows. They always were, and they always will be. I have been dying to share what I learned about Avid Media Composer 6 with you, our customers, and now that it is officially announced, I can!! At the end of this article I've included links to a bunch of blog posts for even further reading but, for now, I'm going to give you what the Videoguys' see as the most important new features for our customers and why we think Avid Media Composer 6 is better than ever, and is the best choice for professional video editors at every level. Attention Avid Media Composer 5.0 or older, Xpress Pro and Xpress DV owners: Pre-Order your MC6 Upgrade today $595! 64 bit architecture unleashes the power of todays CPUs
This is a very big deal, and it is the culmination of years of engineering. It shows both Avid's long term commitment to their products, and to their customers. We have to keep in mind that since it is an all new 64 bit codebase, in some ways that makes it a 1.0 product and we may run into some hiccups. Thankfully Avid understood that while Avid editors want this new performance, they did not want an all new product. The improvements here are under the hood, and they allow editors to do more, work faster and take full advantage of today and tomorrow's new technologies. Unlike Apple, Avid did not throw the baby out with the bathwater. All your old MC6 projects and media work just great in MC6. A tidal wave of 3rd party hardware support
What took so long? Now that we see the full Media Composer 6 picture, it is understandable why Avid felt they had to take baby steps with 3rd party hardware support before they could make this giant leap. Since MC6 is now 64 bit, all supported 3rd party hardware and software plug-ins must also be 64 bit. Avid needed to test the waters first, before they could unleash the tidal wave of fully open 3rd party hardware support. Apple's simultaneous release of FCPX and the killing of Final Cut Studio and FCP7 left their loyal professional users with major work flow issues, not the least of which was support for their existing Kona, MXO2 and Decklink cards. So while many of you wanted to take advantage of the Avid crossgrade offer, hardware compatibility may have kept you from pulling the trigger. This is no longer a concern! Now you can take advantage of Avid continuing crossgrade promotion and migrate your existing hardware to Media Composer 6. Avid reprised the crossgrade at $1499, a thousand dollar savings from a new retail seat. Videoguys still has a limited supply of crossgrades available for $995! If you purchase it now and register before Nov 15th, you will get a free upgrade to MC6!
Avid has also lowered the price on their MojoDX hardware to $2,999 ($4,499 with Media Composer 6) and Nitris DX $5,499 ($6,999 with MC6). Right now Videoguys can only sell you the MojoDX hardware, but who knows, we may just be able to get you a Nitris in the not to distant future ;-) New AMA Support is SWEET!
While most of us can dream and drool about RED cameras, what we all have to edit with more and more is AVCHD footage. You'll find AVCHD in inexpensive point and shoot cameras and devices, and even on some professional cameras. Now that Avid AMA supports AVCHD you can just drag and drop your footage right on the timeline and start editing. This means that you can actually edit directly off of the SD, CF or other media -but we strongly recommend copying your AVCHD footage over to your video storage drive first. AMA support for ProRes has been expanded. Now you can export ProRes as well as edit ProRes files with AMA. This feature is only available on the Mac platform, but it means you can integrate Media Composer 6 fully into your existing ProRes and FCP workflows. This makes crossgrading and migrating to Avid get even easier! SWEET! In the new GUI, your AMA clips show up in the bin with a special chain link icon - a nice improvement over the old yellow highlights. Speaking of the new GUI.... New GUI - Same old Avid, just better looking and updated.
That's not to say that the old reliable GUI didn't need a facelift. The new look is much sleeker and more intuitive to new editors. It's more customizable and you can now add Tabs to your bins and just about anything can go on a TAB. Avid has posted a short video that highlights these changes. Artist Control knocks Color Correction out of the park!
For the past few years color finishing has gone form super expensive to incredibly affordable. It started when Apple included Color in Final Cut Studio 2 at no cost. Then, Blackmagic bought DaVinci and dramatically lowered the price on Resolve. Avid Media Composer has always had a pretty powerful set of color correction tools, while not as comprehensive as the toolset found in Symphony, still rather impressive. Now, with the new integration with the Artist Control surface you'll be amazed how much more productive and powerful it has become.
Note: Media Composer 6 bundles will be added to Videoguys.com soon! In the meantime call us at 800-323-2325 for special bundle discounts. Check out this video Avid put together about Artist Color integration
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I was invited up to Avid HQ a couple of weeks ago to get an in depth, hands on demonstration of Media Composer 6. I was blown away! We met with the MC6 product managers and in addition to the demo, we had some really great discussions about the upcoming release and the Avid road map. While I can't go into details about the roadmap, I can tell you...
Avid has completely re-written the underlying code of Media Composer 6 to be 64 bit. It is a major step forward and it allows MC6 to tap into all that great CPU processing power and massive amounts of RAM. The biggest benefit of the 64 bit architecture will be increased AMA performance and faster rendering. 
Okay, I'll admit it, from the day that Avid and Matrox told me they would announce at NAB2010 that Media Composer would support the MXO2 Mini, all I wanted to know was when it would support more hardware and when they would add full support for the entire MXO2 product line. Then, at NAB 2011, they added support for the AJA Io Express and, while I was happy to see more 3rd party supported, all I kept asking them was "What about Kona?" Well, my wish, and the wishes of video editors all over the world, has been granted. Avid Media Composer 6 is completely open. Any and all hardware vendors are welcome to develop for Media Composer going forward. Matrox, AJA, Black Magic, MOTU and Bluefish have all announced support for Media Composer 6. 
Click here for special Videoguys' Money-Saving Bundles 
Avid Media Composer 6 adds AMA support for AVCHD and Red Epic files. Talk about the two extremes of the spectrum! For high end post, indy filmmaking and Hollywood productions; adding native AMA support for RED Epic is huge! I've been reading up on some of the initial reviews and RED users are raving about the AMA performance. Thanks to the new 64 bit architecture Media Composer 6 can handle these files with ease. 
A couple of years ago Avid purchased Euphonix and I've been waiting patiently to see how they would further integrate the Artist Series control surfaces into Media Composer. Avid media Composer 5.5 included support for Artist Control, Transport and Mix. I was personally hoping for tighter integration with Avid Media Composer 6 and Artist Control get but instead Avid added a higher level of integration for Artist Color and MC6 that is a homerun! 
You can check out all the latest Avid MC6 articles, reviews and blog posts in one easy place! The Videoguys blog using 
