Avid 5.5 new features and what they mean to you

MKDC by Michael Kammes

Kool-Aid! Get your Kool-Aid here!
Avid has unveiled the latest update to their editing suite family: Media Composer & Symphony 5.5, as well as DS 5.5. Below are some of the biggest features to the Media Composer and Symphony 5.5 releases.

1. Video I/O: AJA I/O Express.
   Easily the biggest announcement. Avid has traditionally restricted baseband video input and output to Avid built hardware. We saw a glimpse last year of the move off this paradigm with the adoption of the Matrox MXO2 Mini. This toe in the 3^rd party wading pool allowed users to output broadcast quality reference video through a sub $500 box. While some functions – like capture and deck control – were not available; it was an instant success for smaller setups (aside from some pesky frame rates; more on that later)
   
   The AJA IO Express, unlike the Matrox MXO 2 Mini, is unrestricted by Avid to capture into Media Composer via HDSDI & HDMI, and output via HDSDI, Component, and HDMI. It sports an RS-422 com port for deck control – and yes, digital cuts are supported. Like the Matrox unit and the Avid branded I/O devices, it connects to your CPU via an included host (HBA) Card. As of the initial 5.5 release, Ancillary Data and LTC are not supported…yet.
   
   I’m an AJA fanboy, and I think partnering with the best in the industry is a fantastic move.
2. AVC-Intra is a reality.
   One of the newer codecs – AVC-Intra – delivers excellent visual quality at lower data rates, and has been popping up more and more in prosumer and professional cameras. Beauty and brains does have a downside, however: it’s extraordinarily CPU intensive. Avid now has a solution for you. read more...