Avid added a countdown to the front page of its website and announced a June 20 delivery date for the newly overhauled version of its venerable industry-standard video editing software.

That will be a big day for Avid. The company has put a lot of work into Media Composer over the years refining its workflow and expanding its capabilities in the face of challenges from Adobe, Apple, and Blackmagic Design. But this year, Avid says, it has rebuilt Media Composer from the ground up, with a modernized user interface and task-specific workspaces, a more powerful media engine, and a new 32-bit full float color pipeline under the hood.

Here’s what Avid says you’ll find in the new version:

• New bin mapping and navigation to help you find the perfect take
• Task-oriented workspaces for editing, coloring, effects, and audio​
• A responsive, paneled interface you can customize for your workflow​
• Fluid timeline editing and tools to help you tell stories more quickly
• New intuitive ways to manage massive amounts of media​

Avid is keeping the marketing message on efficiency and creativity for individual users, but it’s also adding a raft of tools to the enterprise version of media composer aimed at facility management and security controls. Avid is also working with the Academy to establish an ACES-ready color workflow in editorial finishing, and with Netflix to ensure that it meets delivery specifications.

For more on what’s new in this year’s Media Composer release, see our NAB coverage.

Avid Media Composer is available to individuals on a $24.99/month subscription plan, although the price can be reduced to $19.99/month by making a one-year commitment, or to $199.99/year ($16.67/month) by paying for a full year in advance. Enterprise and institutional licenses must be negotiated through Avid.

Avid: www.avid.com