Introduction to the Smart Tool

Splice Here by Steve Cohen

Today is release day for Media Composer 5, Avid’s biggest update in years. Let me offer a big, hearty, “congratulations” to everybody at Avid who made this possible. You all are doing great work.

Avid is listening to editors again, for the first time in many years. There are workflow enhancements in this build, to be sure, but there are also long-overdue changes to the editing model. To mark the day, I’ve posted a new video, offering a brief introduction to the Smart Tool, Avid’s new timeline palette that merges Trim Mode and Segment Mode into an always-on interaction model that should appeal to people who prefer a more segment-based, grab-and-drag editing style. This doesn’t begin to cover all the new features, but it should get you started. Avid has also created some videos of their own, here and here.

I’ll be demoing many of the new features at the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro User Group (LAFCPUG) meeting next Wednesday, June 16th at 6:45 pm. Meanwhile, I’m making final changes on my upcoming book, Avid Agility. With luck, it’ll be available at Amazon sometime in July. I hope you’ll find it essential reading.

Click here to watch the the video