Avid Announces Flexible Licensing and Deployment Options for Artist Suite Video Creative Solutions

Company introduces Media Composer | Cloud; expresses deep commitment to giving customers greater choice over where, when, and how they acquire and use Avid’s preeminent editing solution

Avid® (NAB Booth #SU902) today announced new updates for the Avid Artist Suite video creative solutions, focused on helping media organizations and creative professionals acquire, use, and deploy Media Composer® video editing software in more powerful, efficient, and profitable ways. The company introduced Media Composer | Cloud, bringing cloud-enabled editing capabilities to video editors. This offering, combined with flexible purchase and licensing options, provides customers with greater choice over where, when, and how they deploy Avid’s industry-leading video editing solutions.

The Media Composer family is part of the Avid Artist Suite, a new grouping of products comprised of the company’s industry-standard creative tools, including solutions for video editing, graphics creation, music creation, music notation, audio post, and live sound.

“To succeed in today’s rapidly evolving industry, creative professionals and media organizations need greater workflow flexibility and more choice over how to deploy their solutions,” stated Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of Products and Technology at Avid. “With Media Composer | Cloud and the new subscription and floating licensing options, professionals can collaborate everywhere and enjoy unprecedented choice over how, when, and where they deploy and scale their solutions. This is a key part of our Avid Everywhere vision.”

New Artist Suite announcements for pro video include:

• Media Composer | Cloud—Media Composer | Cloud (formerly Interplay® Sphere) extends real-time production everywhere, giving Media Composer editors the choice to connect remotely and access, edit, and collaborate with others as if they were on premises. This enables editors and assistants to shape stories collaboratively and remotely in the cloud, and enables production companies shooting on location to accelerate dailies tasks and get a head start on editing, thereby keeping production moving forward, regardless of proximity challenges.
• Media Composer | Software subscription licensing—With new monthly and annual Media Composer subscription options (available in Q2), Avid has significantly lowered the cost of entry to the industry’s most trusted editing tool. Customers can now gain access to the latest Media Composer toolset, support, and upgrades on a low-cost monthly or annual basis, or own the software outright for $1,299 USD and get one year of Avid support and upgrades, with additional upgrades available thereafter through annual support plan renewal.
• Media Composer | Software floating licensing—For large-scale media enterprises, post-production houses, and educational institutions, Avid now offers floating licensing for Media Composer (available in Q2), making it possible to purchase a “pack” of shared licenses to deploy facility-wide using a single system ID. The floating license server software can be installed on a Windows-based computer at the facility, with the server software accessible from any Mac- or Windows-based computer, enabling multiple editors to use Media Composer on any number of workstations when licenses are available (not actively in use).Administrators can also permit users to “check out” licenses for systems, such as a laptop, taken off premises, setting a license expiration date to coincide with the end of the project.

Availability and Pricing

Media Composer | Cloud is currently available and pricing starts at $35,000 USD. The Media Composer | Software subscription and floating licensing will be available in Q2 2014. Pricing for Media Composer | Software starts at $1,299 USD; Media Composer | Software subscription licensing starts at $50/month; and Media Composer | Software floating license starts at $1,799. All models now include software upgrades and support. To continue receiving upgrades and support after the first year, perpetual licenses must be renewed annually for $299.