AVID is giving Media Composer for FREE

[John Wee]

How times have changed.

http://apps.avid.com/MediaComposerFirst/

 

[Joe Pontecorvo]

That's for sure. Never thought I'd see the day.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

If this is what I think it is, this wouldn't be the first time Avid has done this. Back in the 90s they had a free version. It was limited in how many video tracks you could have and some other features. But you could cut your teeth on the interface and be ready to edit at professional facilities. Perhaps this is the same approach here. Although, the software is already dirt cheap compared to the past.

 

[M.Halsell]

All projects will be stored in the cloud, and you’ll get a limited number of projects and a limited amount of cloud storage space

 

[Daniel Reed]

"It’s fully capable yet simple enough for aspiring editors to learn. And when you’re ready to take your projects further, you’ll feel right at home with Media Composer, making it the easiest entry to the movie and television industry standard."


Sounds like a stripped down version to me - I hope its not entirely based on another application.

Would be sweet if MCP can open the files from First

 

[Christoffer Glans]

It's good for starters, but I think that if you truly are a professional editor, the real version is not at all expensive. You get the industry prime standard for editing both feature films and collaborated television.
The expense for getting a professional editing station with both Avid, Premiere and After effects is so cheap now that I'm not sure why people really demand that free versions have all the capabilites of the full versions.
I'm amazed that Black Magic Design even survive with their DaVinci resolve lite and what it can do.

 

[Stefan Antonescu]

Steve is spot on. Same approach as with the new Pro Tools...

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/faq/Media-Composer-First-FAQ

Q. What are the limitations of Media Composer | First compared to full Media Composer?
A. At this time we aren’t releasing detailed information on the feature set, as Media Composer | First is still in development, and won’t be available until later in 2015. However you can expect a limited feature set that makes Media Composer | First less intimidating to new users, but also less appealing to power users. You can expect fewer settings, menus, timeline tracks, monitor features, bin features, titling features, effects and other features than the full Media Composer. You can also expect that Media Composer | First won’t work with Avid Interplay Production, Interplay MAM, or MediaCentral UX, and that shared projects won’t be supported on ISIS storage systems. In addition, all projects will be stored in the cloud, and you’ll get a limited number of projects and a limited amount of cloud storage space. There will be options to expand Media Composer | First, from additional project and storage capacity to plug-ins, options, and additional applications to stock footage and music to upgrades to the full Media Composer.

 

[Hans von Sonntag]

I'm amazed that Black Magic Design even survive with their DaVinci resolve lite and what it can do.

Like Apple they sell hardware. Different business model.

Hans

 

[Luke K]

How limited is the "free" version compared to the pay-to-obtain version?

 

[M.Halsell]

If this is what I think it is, this wouldn't be the first time Avid has done this. Back in the 90s they had a free version. It was limited in how many video tracks you could have and some other features. But you could cut your teeth on the interface and be ready to edit at professional facilities. Perhaps this is the same approach here. Although, the software is already dirt cheap compared to the past.

Correct that product was called AVID Free DV, it was the baby step to Avid Xpress, or Media Composer. It was a sweet little piece of software, but I ended up settling in with Media 100 for a few versions. The editing landscape is much different now with choices on either platform. Its gonna be tough for Avid for win significant market share. Final Cut, Premiere, Smoke and now possibly Blackmagic, too many slices for such a small pie. Perhaps Avid should have unshackled the software/hardware I/O much earlier as the file based media quickly usurped signal capture.