March 2, 2009

AVID INTRODUCES 'AMA' PLUG-IN ENVIRONMENT

AMA — a plug-in environment included with V.3.5 of the Media Composer software, Mojo DX and Nitris DX, as well as V.3.5 of Symphony Nitris DX — gives users the ability to work with new camera formats without having to wait for support.

"Avid partners will be able to quickly develop support for the new codecs, and coinciding with the launch is news that Sony and Panasonic are already on-board," reports Angus Mackay, marketing manager of Avid's professional segment.

AMA provides a native, end-to-end workflow for Sony's XDCAM HD format. Users can directly connect XDCAM HD discs to their NLE and the Avid editing app will open that volume and expose data from clips in the native Media Composer bin. There is no need for rewrapping or transcoding, and all of the metadata is exposed.

Media Composer also offers full native support with direct access for XDCAM EX and P2 formats. P2 cards can be mounted directly to the editing app, revealing all meta data and eliminating the need for transcoding or re-wrapping media.

In addition to the AMA feature, the new V.3.5 release include a fluid stabilizer that serves as an advanced camera tracking engine, analyzing camera motion as opposed to object motion. "There is an algorithm that analyzes the camera and object motion - not giving false results," reports Mackay.

Audio features have been improved with the ability to input and output 16 channels over HDSDI. Users can now have the Avid Video Engine installed with Pro Tools 8 while Media Composer 3.5 is co-installed.

New keyframable color correction capabilities allow users to make most color adjustments using advanced keyframes in the offline editorial process - saving time and money associated with online color correction costs when using the Avid Total Conform.

And Symphony Version 3.5 sees new mastering capabilities that allow users to simultaneously create various outputs in one pass.