Avid Highlights Latest Media Composer Features, Tips and Tricks, and Plug-Ins at ACE Tech Day

By Jess Bedford in Video Editing November 18, 2016 For nearly a decade, Avid has been supporting American Cinema Editors (ACE) – the premier organization devoted to advancing the art and science of the editing profession – in its mission to educate its membership of film and television editors, assistants and freelancers in their craft. As part of this on-going partnership, Avid once again hosted the ACE Tech Day earlier this month. ACE Tech Day, held at Universal Studios, CA, is a one-day workshop designed to keep members current with the latest tools, workflows and formats – essential in a landscape driven by ever-changing technology. This year, Media Composer 8.6.4was the highlight of the day, with Avid Solution Specialist Michael Krulik on hand to showcase the software’s latest features. As a tool for storytellers, Media Composer has been recognized as the preferred editing software choice for ACE editors and was awarded the first ACE Technical Excellence Award by the ACE Board of Directors. In addition to a detailed look at Media Composer (including custom projects and presets, source settings with LUTs, working with high resolution media, and advanced timeline and audio tools), Krulik showcased the hottest plug-ins from NewBlue FX, Filmlight and Imagineer Systems, and even gave attendees a peek into features currently being developed for future release. Krulik also led an enthusiastic discussion around Avid’s new licensing agreement with Nexidia, which will re-integrate PhraseFind and ScriptSync back into Media Composer – a move that will allow for advanced levels of creativity and efficiency with award-winning phonetic indexing and searching technology. “We had a very engaged audience throughout the day,” commented Krulik. “Hearing about our partnership with Nexidia just kicked it up a notch. I think an announcement like this shows that Avid is really listening to what our customers want and delivering on its commitment to provide our artists with greater choices and more creative freedom.” Soliciting feedback from editors and using that feedback to shape its products is something Avid has made a priority for years, and Tech Day was no exception. “This was an incredibly interactive event. We asked attendees to submit their thoughts and feature requests throughout the day,” continued Krulik. “Our goal is always to better understand what our customers are looking for and share that feedback with our product development team so we can move forward with an even more relevant and robust experience for our users.”

Photos: Peter Zakhary