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Avid Media Composer 5.5
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04/23/2011 07:27 AM
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digitalfilms by Oliver Peters
Avid was first out of the gate in the run-up to NAB with its release of the Media Composer 5.5 update for this flagship NLE product line.
Avid Media Composer 5.5 (and the associated Symphony and NewsCutter
versions) marks a continued openness starting with the release of Media
Composer 5.0 last year. That release demonstrated a major retooling,
which drew mixed reviews from veteran Avid editors. The most recent
version, 5.0.3.8, is very stable and has been tweaked to adjust the
behavior of some of the newest features, like Smart Tool, in an effort
to respond to customer input.
New hardware options
The big standout of the Media Composer 5.5 release is the addition of
AJA Io Express as a capture and output solution. The other hardware
choices still include the Matrox MXO2 Mini, as well as Avid’s own
hardware – Avid Mojo SDI, Mojo DX and Nitris DX. The Matrox unit is
ideal for simple monitoring, but the AJA Io Express extends the
functionality to include SD and HD capture over SDI under Media Composer
control.
The Matrox MXO2 Mini hasn’t been left out of this upgrade. It gains
additional format support for SD and HD 23.98fps projects, as well as
the ability to switch between 1080P and 1080PsF outputs. Both Matrox and
AJA provide cost-effective, third-party alternatives to the Avid
systems; however, speaking from personal experience, if your budget can
justify it, the Avid Nitris DX still offers the best performance
overall. The latency common with hardware/software combos used in
competing NLEs is almost nonexistent with Mojo DX and Nitris DX. read more...
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