Support for ARRI Amira, DPX Files, and Timeline Enhancements Lead Slate of NLE Feature Upgrades

Avid released the latest version of its Media Composer Software today, adding a slew of new features on the timeline aimed at speeding up the editorial process, direct read and write of DPX file sequences, stereo 3D multicam editing, and support for the 64-bit AAX plug-ins used by Pro Tools.

At NAB this year, Avid announced the new licensing options for Media Composer, which include an annual subscription rate of $49.99/month alongside a $1,299 perpetual license option — including one year of Avid's Avid Support plan, which goes for $299 — for those who still like to purchase their software. If you're confused, you're not alone, but Avid has done a good job of spelling out the options [PDF] on its website.

Avid has dispensed with version numbers, following a trend of aiming for more frequent feature updates throughout the year rather than one big overhaul of the software on an annual basis.

Among the new additions are the Avid Image Sequencer plug-in, which allows editors to work natively with DPX files without transcoding, and the ability to work with stereo-3D clips in a multicam mode, with Media Composer displaying metadata for the "leading eye" clip in the bin.

Individual clips can now (at last!) be right-clicked to mute or unmute during playback, allowing different versions of a sequence to be quickly compared on the timeline. Entire video tracks can be turned on and off on playback, as well. 

There's a lot more on the timeline. Tracks are now marked with "end of trim" indicators to show when they have reached their beginning or end points. Trim rollers can be added or removed by shift-clicking in an adjoining segment. And any segment can be copied simply by performing a Shift-Option drag-and-drop. And titles can be saved directly to the timeline, as well as in your bin.

Also new is support for directly editing ARRI Amira footage, with automatic color transformations based on ARRI metadata, and an updated Red AMA plug-in that support the current Red SDK. 

For a complete list of new Media Composer features, see Avid's website.

Avid Media Composer: http://www.avid.com/US/products/Media-Composer