Avid Media Composer 6 - Is it Right for Your School

School Video News by Albert Dupont

When Avid released its new and improved version of Media Composer Version 6 they really meant “new and improved.” It was a complete re-write of the “under the hood” code to bring MC6 into the 64-bit world and a freshening up of the user interface. For those familiar with Avid, don’t worry it wasn’t a complete overhaul of the interface. The new MC6 will feel like a comfortable pair of shoes, but this pair of “shoes” is built for speed. In fact, if you take a look at the “What’s New In Media Composer 6” PDF document, it’s 172 pages. So, it’s safe to say there are a few new bells and whistles.

Let’s get this out of the way right off the top, the biggest complaint I have heard about Avid in the past was that it was too expensive and for professionals only. It is true, that if you are a professional editor, MC6 will cost you $2,499, but if you are in education as a faculty member, student or school the exact same Media Composer will cost you $295. If you are a student purchasing MC6 you get four years of free upgrades, to me, a bargain to good to pass up. Also, if you are purchasing it for your school, volume licensing for educational institutions will be available soon for those with media labs.

As an added bonus for education, Avid FX and Sorenson Squeeze are included for Mac and for Windows you get Avid FX, Sorenson Squeeze and Avid DVD included in the $295 MC6 price. MC6 will look and work the same on both the Windows and Mac Platform, except on Mac you must be running OSX Lion (64bit).

Another complaint was that if you wanted to view your material on an external monitor while editing in Avid MC you had to use Avid’s hardware. With version 5, Avid opened the door to 3^rd party hardware and now, with version 6, Avid is allowing 3^rd party vendors to develop plug-ins for their hardware with a program Avid calls “Hardware SDK.” AJA, Matrox, Blackmagic Design, Motu and Bluefish444 are already onboard, developing plug-ins for their hardware. Some of the devices are quite affordable with some offering educational pricing. read more...