Today's Media Composer Update Includes Promised Support for DNxHR Codecs, Rec. 2020 and P3 Color, Frame Rates Up to 60p
Avid today released a new update to Media Composer that supports the family of DNxHR codecs that bring higher-than-HD resolution support to the Avid. As part of the Avid Resolution Independence initiative announced in September, users can now edit natively in 2K, 4K and UHD, with higher resolutions to come, the company said.
The new release also includes support for BT/Rec. 2020 and DCI-P3 color space and enhancements to Avid's color workflow, including the ability to install LUTs and apply them to clips on the timeline. Higher-than-HD resolution projects can be output as DPX or QuickTime ProRes files.
As part of the software release, Avid published a High-Resolution Workflows Guide [187-page PDF] detailing the ins and outs of working with the new codecs, including the new proxy mode that reduces processing demands when working with high-resolution media. (A DNxHR payload currently tops out at 3730 Mbps, which is the data transfer rate for 4K footage encoded with 10-bit 4:4:4 quality at 60p.) Proxy mode allows editors to work at 1/4 or 1/16 of project resolution, rendering effects at the lower resolution until proxy mode is switched off and the effects are all re-rendered at the highest resolution.
The update is free to customers with subscriptions, floating licenses, or perpetual licenses with an upgrade and support plan. For more, see Wim Van den Broeck's posting announcing the new release at the official Avid Blog.
