Avid: Neue Version 3.5 für Media Composer und Symphony

Key features

• End to End Support for native XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD
• Avid Media Access:
  o End to End XDCAM workflow
  o Full native P2 & XDCAM card/disc access
• Stereoscopic format support
• Fluid stabilizer
• Software activation

New Features in version 3.5/7.5

AMA

Since the advent of file-based video formats, customers have wished for native support and direct access to them from Avid editing applications. Users have had to import, transcode, duplicate, or otherwise handle their video in order to use it with Avid editors. Often, a big challenge was to access the metadata associated with the video clips, and not having this data made project management difficult. Effort and time were required to handle these video formats.
These challenges have been overcome with the development of Avid Media Access. AMA is a plug-in architecture that allows users to link clips from a third-party volume (for example, a P2 or XDCAM™ device) into a bin without the need to copy or import the media directly into their system. AMA presents the media in an Avid editor bin, complete with all metadata from
the clips. Users may playback and edit directly from the capture media they have connected to the editor.

AMA summary:

AMA lets users directly browse to P2/XDCAM HD/ XDCAM EX clips – on any media and link to, play and edit them.
AMA supports any metadata contained within a P2/ XDCAM HD/ XDCAM EX clip and displays them as custom metadata columns in an Avid Bin. The bin, which is created on local or shared storage, allows users to log, browse, and view these clips in the usual way. If the users wants to transfer the media to local or shared storage devices, the Consolidate feature is used to copy the media into an Avid media files folder.
Native XDCAM HD Op-1A support - Edit directly from a disc without need for de-multiplex to Op-Atom.
Native XDCAM EX .MP4 file support – Edit XDCAM EX media directly without need for re-wrap via Sony Clip Browser software.

Cameras & Formats

XDCAM HD/XDCAM EX

The following enhancements have been made to the Sony XDCAM HD / XCDAM EX workflow:
Native XDCAM HD rendering at 18/25/35/50
Native XDCAM HD video mixdown
Native XDCAM HD sequence / clip export with 8 audio tracks
XDCAM HD “writeback” with sequence timecode
Native XDCAM HD playback and editing directly from disc
Native XDCAM EX playback and editing
Metadata import improvements
XDCAM EX-1 camera qualification

Sony HDV

The following enhancements have been made to the Sony HDV workflow:
Sony HVR7ZU/HVR5ZU qualification
Sony HVR5ZU qualification
Sony HVRM35U HDV Videocassette Recorder qualification
Sony Native 1080 24p/25/30p HDV clips can now be imported as .M2t files or captured via 1394.
Panasonic P2
The following enhancements have been made to the Panasonic P2 workflow
Metadata import improvements (see AMA)
Canon HDV Format
Users can now capture (via 1394), playback and edit using the Canon 1080 24F HDV format. Note Digital Cut is not available for the 1080 24f.
Software Activation. A long-standing user request has been to abolish the need for a physical dongle and move to software activation. Dongles
are subject to breakage and theft, among other drawbacks.

Stereoscopic Workflow

More and more stereoscopic content is being produced and Avid customers have requested the ability to use Avid editing applications for stereoscopic work. V3.5/7/5 allows users to display and edit stereoscopic (3D) material. Stereo editing in Media Composer uses Over/Under mode, which places the left and right eye images one above the other in a horizontal split frame (left eye on top). The Avid editing application displays this content in a proxy resolution that uses onehalf of the vertical lines.
The stereo frames may be viewed together in a horizontal split, or either the left or the right eye image may be viewed alone. With appropriate stereo monitoring or projection equipment connected to the system, stereo program monitoring is possible. These display options are available in both the Composer window and in full-screen playback.
The normal workflow for stereoscopic projects uses the Avid editing application for offline editing. The project is then conformed for finishing on a stereo- capable system available from other vendors.

Fluid Stablizer

Image stabilization is challenging when object motion interferes with the analysis of camera motion. The Fluid Stabiliser tracking engine is specifically designed to detect object motion and ignore it when analyzing the camera motion. It is particularly effective for removing camera motion when used in combination with the SteadyGlide feature, and the Stabilise
effect.
FluidStabilizer divides the image into a grid, automatically selects a point of interest in each grid area, and then tracks each point using the same motion analysis methods used in FluidMotion Timewarp. These points appear as highlighted green pixels in the image display. FluidStabilizer then uses further calculations to combine the motion of these points, deemphasizing any values that are not consistent with the general pattern of motion. The result is a series of data points (displayed with the standard tracking data cross and dots) that, for many images, accurately represents the motion of the camera and is not distorted by other motion or noise in the image.

Keyframeable Color Correction

Users have wished to be able to animate color correction values throughout a scene. V3.5/7/5 allows users to animate most color correction adjustments using advanced keyframes.
Users may:
• Open the Effect Editor while in Color Correction mode
• Manipulate many color correction parameters in the Effect Editor using sliders or parameter Enable buttons
• Add and adjust keyframes for many color correction parameters in keyframe graphs, using exactly the same methods as for advanced keyframes in other effects
• Adjust effects other than Color Correction in the Effect Editor while in Color Correction mode
• View keyframe markers in the position bar beneath the Current monitor in Color Correction mode
• Automatically add keyframes by moving the position indicator beneath the Current monitor and then adjusting any keyframeable color correction parameter
• Check animated color corrections by scrubbing through clips in Color Correction mode. Color correction parameter controls and graphs update while scrubbing to show the parameter values at each point in the clip

Relink Enhancements

Previously the Relink dialog box only relinked clips to media that matched the format of the active project. Users can now relink clips to any available SD or HD media and select the format and resolution within the Relink dialog box.

General FX enhancements

Copy Keyframes at Position: This allows the user to copy all parameter values at a given position within the effect and paste those into a different location within the effect.
Enhanced 3D warp, Quality and GPU/CPU Performance
With the v3.0 and v7.0 releases, CPU/GPU acceleration of visual effects was introduced. The system automatically uses the available CPU and GPU resources in the host workstation to accelerate effects performance. With this v3.5 and v7.5 release,
Additional effects take advantage of this CPU/GPU acceleration including 3D-Warp Perspective, SpinZ, Luma Key and Peel.
In the Render Settings options, the “Effects Quality Render Using” option has been changed to “Image Interpolation”. Note that the standard mode was the only quality mode supported in the previous (v3.0) release, except for Symphony Nitris classic.
A new Image Interpolation setting sets a global override for effects that resize or reposition. The following options are available:
-Advanced (Polyphase): Causes effects to use the highest quality.
-Standard (Bilinear): Causes effects to use the standard high quality.
-Draft (Nearest Neighbor): Causes effects to use highest performance option though not necessarily finishing quality. GPU acceleration for Vista64
The v3.5/7.5 release turns on GPU acceleration for FX on the Vista 64 platform. This was previously disabled in the V3.x releases. Customers using Windows Vistat 64 will now enjoy the same performance improvements as other OS users.
Timewarp UI Enhancements
The Format processing options, previously in a non-modal dialog, are now exposed in the main UI, facilitating adjustment and configuration.
Timecode Burn-in Plug-In Enhancements
Burn-in any bin column

Audio

Pro Tools Interoperability - Co-Installation

Media Composer 3.5 and Pro-Tools 8 now can officially be installed on the same computer system. Users will have full functionality of Media Composer and Pro-Tools.
Important Notes:
• A special SDK is used to ensure that both applications work together on one system. Customers cannot use older versions of Pro-Tools or Media Composer and cannot mix old and new versions (i.e Media Composer 3.5 and Pro-Tools 7.6).
• Media Composer must be installed first, then Pro-Tools, for this to work properly.

Adjust Audio Gain on Import

Users can now set the gain on a clip without opening the Audio Mix tool when importing audio files. This is especially useful when importing audio from a CD or an MP3 device and the user would like to lower the decibel level for all files to be imported.
Multi-mono BWAV support: Users can now import multi-channel, monophonic BWF files into the Avid editing system as a single master clip. Previously, each track would have to be imported and managed individually. Now, for example, when importing an eight-track recording, an eight-track master clip is created with a sequential file name based on the track order (filename_1.wav is associated with track A1, filename_2.wav is associated with track A2, filename_3.wav is associated with track A3).
HD-SDI 12-Channel Audio Capture and Digital Cut: The Capture Tool now supports capture of up to 16 audio channels of HD-SDI input from supported HD devices, and up to 16 audio channels are now supported in the Digital Cut tool for insert edits when usin HD-SDI output. Not all decks support 16-channel audio.
The HD-SDI 16-channel output is available for Avid editing systems using Avid Nitris DX and Avid Mojo DX devices.

AudioSuite Plug-In Qualification & Bundling

This release provides expanded support for AudioSuite plug-ins.
All AudioSuite plug-ins manufactured by Digidesign are now qualified for use with MC/NC/SN applications. This includes all AudioSuite plug-ins in the DigiRack and Bomb Factory plug-ins series. (Some of these plug-ins were previously unqualified for use with Avid editing applications, and therefore appeared in the Plug-In Selection menu in the AudioSuite window with a ~ character in front of their names.)
The following AudioSuite plug-ins from the DigiRack and Bomb Factory series have been added to the core set of plug-ins that are installed with the Avid editing application:
• BF Essential Clip Remover
• Bomb Factory BF76
• Compressor/Limiter III (Dynamics III)
• Expander/Gate III (Dynamics III)
• De-Esser III (Dynamics III)
• Funk Logic Mastererizer

Digital Cut with HD Universal Mastering: Users may now produce up to three output masters simultaneously, saving significant time at the output stage. This release of Avid Symphony Nitris DX allows users to perform several types of down-conversion or cross-conversion digital cuts from 1080 projects by making selections from the Output Format menu in the Digital Cut tool. These digital cuts are frame-accurate and
allow for standard deck control.
Users can output a 1080p 23.98 sequence cross-converted to 1080 59.94 signal while simultaneously downconverting to NTSC 30i and frame accurately controlling a deck.
The output formats vary depending on the project format. Additional menus, such as an SD downconvert resize or a timecode format, appear when output format selections are made. To output a digital cut in this way, a deck that can record the output desired must be available and configured, and selected in the Digital Cut tool. In this release, any deck template that is valid for a digital cut from the current project may be selected. The sync source must match the output format selected.

Preise/Verfügbarkeit

Für alle bestehenden Wartungsverträge ist das Upgrade kostenlos. Alle anderen Lizenzen habe die Möglichkeit über ein kostenpflichtiges Upgrade auf die neuen Versionen upzugrade.

Das Upgrade ist ab sofort im Downloadcenter von Avid für alle registierten User zum Downloaden: http://www.avid.com/support/downloadcenter/index.asp