Avid Media Composer

Avid Media Composer goes 64-bit in version 6

Media Composer 6 is now a native 64-bit application, meaning it can use all the memory that your system has installed when running under Windows 7 Pro 64, or Mac OS X Lion 64. Experience smoother playback, faster rendering performance, better handling with large bins and say goodbye to the old memory limitations of the 32-bit operating systems.

New hardware I/O options

Media Composer 6 is now fully open to hardware developers thanks to Avid Open I/O, so you can work with your choice of audio and video interfaces, either from Avid or from third-party manufacturers including AJA, Blackmagic Design, Bluefish444, Matrox, and MOTU. Manufacturers can now create plug-ins using Avid Open I/O to have their hardware work with Media Composer, meaning there may yet be more choices to come.

Whilst stocks are available, there are some special bundle offers on Avid MC6 and Matrox MXO2 Max I/O units - see below

What's new in Media Composer 6

Features added in v6

• Get full native ProRes support on Mac (encode and decode) and Windows (decode only) for easy integration into any ProRes workflow
   
• Manage and edit stereoscopic 3D projects with a comprehensive set of editorial tools and workflows
   
• Create 5.1 and 7.1 surround mixes directly within Media Composer, or import from Pro Tools (watch the video)
   
• Work more creatively with audio with new mixer features and support for additional Pro Tools hardware
   
• Get better performance and speed to handle complex editing, now that Media Composer is a 64-bit app (Still need 32-bit? Learn more about Media Composer 5.5)
   
• Work with the Avid or third-party hardware you want—with Avid Open I/O, third-party manufacturers can now make their I/O hardware work with Media Composer
   
• Work more easily and efficiently—but not differently—with the sleek and sexy new user interface (watch the video)
   
• Get direct access to user guides and documentation from within the interface

• Take hands-on control of all colour correction and grading functions with Artist Color (watch the video)
   
• Instantly access, screen, and edit AVCHD clips and RED EPIC footage through AMA
   
• Accelerate your RGB 4:4:4 workflow with Avid DNxHD 444, which delivers exceptional image quality in a low bandwidth format
   
• Access additional ancillary data when working with XDCAM HD material
   
• Work more easily with animated effects with many keyframe editor improvements 
   
• Get Avid FX (Boris RED), Avid DVD, and Sorenson Squeeze in all versions of the software
   
• Manage multiple licenses more easily with unified licensing
   
• Conveniently purchase stock footage, plug-ins, and more through the Avid Marketplace (watch the video)

What we're about . . .      ZEN is not a traditional Audio-Visual dealer who started selling computers, nor is it a computer shop that also sells video editing systems. You won't get any salesmen giving you the "hard-sell" when you call, just straightforward advice and information - which for some callers is the knowledge that they don't need to buy whatever it is they thought they needed! Above all you'll be dealing with someone with a wide range of experience and knowledge of both PCs and video production. We're not the biggest, nor necessarily the cheapest, but we are one of the longest established computer/video specialists in the UK.

Company history . . .      ZEN was started in the 1980s by Martin Kay, then working for ITV at Granada's Manchester studios, who built his first 6502-based computer in 1979 from an Ohio Scientific kit, bought in the USA whilst working as a Sound Recordist on a film shoot for World In Action. With the advent of the Amiga, which could be gen-locked to a video source, Martin started writing a variety of video-related software. This included subtitling & tele-prompting, ident clocks, scoring software for sports & gameshows, and specialist software to mimic other computer displays for use in TV film dramas like Cracker, Prime Suspect and A Touch of Frost. Martin left Granada in 1993 to concentrate on his computer-video activities with ZEN, following a natural path into non-linear editing systems, now the main focus of the business, although he still maintains an active interest in video production.