Avid Technology today launched Avid DS version 10: a solution designed to save customers time and money by offering professional editing, compositing, keying, image retouching, paint and graphics capabilities in one application. Avid DS 10 runs on a new high-performance platform and includes key features such as: full color-managed workflows, advanced color correction capabilities, Interplay support, improved conform options, GPU real-time processing, additional dual-link feature support, integration with Avid shared storage solutions, and a new stereoscopic 3D container. As a result of these new features, Avid DS customers will be able to more effectively manage their project pipeline, take on a wider variety of projects, work with the highest quality images and continue to deliver the best end product to their customers.

“We demand so much from our (Avid) DS systems. Over the course of a week, we may be asked to work on a wide range of projects, from PAL trailers to episodic television and effects work to 4:4:4 features that will be filmed out,” said Gus Comegys, Director of Creative Editorial at FotoKem in Burbank, Calif. “We’ve been beta testing the new version of Avid DS for a few months here on a variety of different projects. We are very impressed with the performance improvements, color management capabilities and the addition of the advanced color correction tools with secondaries. Having all those effects in real-time in 4:4:4 is a tremendous timesaver. Our clients expect speed, accuracy and style, regardless of the type of project or how tight the deadline. Avid DS 10 is the perfect platform, allowing us to continue meeting these needs for our clients.”

What’s New in Avid DS v10?

The Avid DS system offers multi-stream, 10-bit uncompressed HD, Avid DNxHD ® codec, and SD finishing and mastering as well as HD-RGB and 2K/4K file-based editing with real-time playback up to 2K. Designed for broadcasters or post facilities working on high-end projects such as television commercials, music videos, promotional spots, feature films and trailers or projects that require color-managed workflows, Avid DS 10 offers a range of new features and functionality, including:

A New Platform ‘ Avid DS version 10 is built on a new platform designed to offer customers a significant increase in performance and speed ‘ resulting in greater productivity and more creative flexibility. The new system is powered by the HP xw8600 with dual-quad 3.0GHz CPUs with 8GB RAM, the NVidia QuadroFX 3700 (G92 GPU) and a dual-link I/O card with a rack mountable breakout box.

GPU Real-time Processing ‘ A new real-time processing framework is designed to empower the GPU to handle a majority of the processes and effects of the system in real-time. Customers on GPU platforms will now have more time to experiment with new ideas, work more quickly, and improve overall productivity.

Additional support for 720p23.98 sequences ‘ By offering the option to output to SDI in native 720p23.98 or cross convert to 1080p23.98, customers now have real-time capability to handle two of the industry’s most popular HD formats.

Color Management tools ‘ Avid has enhanced its color management tool to allow customers to preserve color definitions and define and manage Look-up Tables (LUTs). The system now offers support for the most commonly used LUTs including 3D LUTs with the Thomson Luther, Kodak KDM, Iridas .itx formats and extended 1D LUT support to tape-based capture. Now, customers can create RGB sequences using specific LUTs and view complex LUTs in the system’s viewer.

DPX improvements ‘ Improvements have been made to the DPX parser to implement several DPX 2.0 capabilities which support RGB and RGBA formats including Filmlight’s RBGA. Additionally, Avid DS will now be able to perform file-based DPX conforms from AFEs (Avid File Exchange) originating from Avid Media Composer ® and Avid Symphony™ systems.

Other improvements include:

• Avid Symphony style Color Correction ‘ Delivers real-time advanced secondary color correction tools previously only available in Avid Symphony products;
• New format support ‘ Offers support for a wide array of new HD YUV 4:2:2 formats including 1080p 50, 1080p 59.94 and 1080p 60;
• Interplay support ‘ Enables customers to connect to an Avid Interplay and access media via the same indexer as Avid Media Composer ‘ streamlining the workflow between the two applications. Customers will also be able to easily drag and drop media from the Interplay Access system into Avid DS system project folders and check master clips into the Interplay asset manager;
• Node Builder ‘ Offers a new interface that enables customers to build property pages to expose only some parameters of an effect tree with multiple effects;
• Stereoscopic container ‘ Allows customers to create 48i sequences and set up left and right eyes with output through the dual link card;
• Unity 64-bit client support ‘ Delivers full support for Unity MediaNet 5.1 when running 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Avid DS on XP-64; and
• New timeline functionality ‘ Eases the process of conform from Media Composer source side color correction and includes a new set of commands to be used in the timeline to select effect filters with the same parameters coming from the same source.

“Without question, the Avid DS system offers the highest quality integrated toolset for the online editorial process,” said Tony Quinsee-Jover of HD Heaven Unlimited ‘ a beta tester of Avid DS version 10. “The new real-time secondary color correction feature is excellent and our clients love the grades we are able to add to their final product. Overall, there are just loads of little extras and improvements that I keep stumbling upon ‘ which are huge timesavers and just another example of how Avid has been really listening to the user base.”

Pricing and Availability

The Avid DS 10 system is scheduled to begin shipping in September 2008. Pricing begins at $59,995 USMSRP for a turnkey solution, which includes a CPU workstation, 30″ monitor, 8 TB of SAS storage, a WACOM tablet, one license of Avid DS 10 software only, DS 10 RP (Remote Processing), Media Composer software and Avid Metafuze. Avid will also offer a number of attractive upgrade options for existing Avid DS customers. For more information, contact your local reseller, or visit: www.avid.com.