Review: Avid Media Composer 6

Like most Avid, editors I was waiting impatiently for the 6.0 release. Dreams of 64-bit architecture were spinning in my head: background rendering, super fast transcoding, more AMA features and a new title tool were my constant smile-inducing dreams. Then came the reality...which wasn’t bad either.

UNDER THE HOOD

The first thing I noticed when opening the app is that it looked familiar. Very familiar. Sure there were new shaded lines in the bins, but the initial appearance was that of the same editor we know and love. Phew! Then I got into the interface more. One of the best features in the new interface is tabbed bins. I was never a fan of super-bins, but I love tabbed bins. I can easily group similar bins and have one-click access to any of them instantly, saving tons of screen real estate. I can now save those bin layouts and recall them with a simple click or keystroke when mapped to the keyboard with the new Workspace Views. Workspace Views even links to timeline settings as long as they’re named the same (something I’ve been wanting for some time as I’ve always been a workspace fan).

Probably the biggest visual change, other than the bin look, is the redesigned audio tool. With it, you can monitor individual tracks within your sequence as you work, meaning you no longer have to switch to direct out mode in order to see which track has the better record. You can also change the mode from stereo to mono, direct, or four other surround sets. The one disadvantage of the new tool is that it’s essentially not re-sizeable, which is fine on a two-monitor set-up, but can take over an inordinate amount of screen real estate on a single monitor or laptop set-up when you’re looking at more than eight tracks. Resizing the window won’t dynamically shrink it, meaning it almost has to live full-sized. read more...