Avid Media Composer 2.7 Video Editing Software Review (page 2)

Effects

There are several video and film effects that come with the Media Composer, including a full version of Borris Continuum Complete, but let's focus on some of the highlights that you'll find in your effects palette.

First is the new Fluid Motion setting for motion effects, using a "patented pixel-morphing technology," which does provide phenomenal-looking slow motion, though at the cost of very long render times. There is a draft mode of this effect, though, if you want to simply see it timed out accurately at decreased video resolution, and continue with your editing. You can come back and render in high-quality mode when you're done with your sequence.

Another effect in Media Composer 2.7 is the SpectraMatte keyer. Designed to help with the difficulty of pulling a clean key in 8-bit formats (DVCPRO HD, DV, HDV, etc.), SpectraMatte will up-rez your footage into a 16-bit format before pulling the key, making it much more accurate.

Color Correction is probably the most used visual effect, and Avid includes the very same 10-bit color correction used on its high-end Symphony finishing tools. Extremely useful features such as match color, where you can use an eye-dropper tool to select two colors from different scenes to match, makes keeping the skin tones constant from scene to scene a snap.

Media Management

Avid's media management is also topnotch. Developed in the days when hard drive space was a very sparse commodity, the batch digitizing and consolidating of media are straightforward and work without a hitch. The amount of meta-data you can assign and search for in a clip is very helpful. Also, there's no chance of mislaying your media assets, if you move them to another drive. Media Composer by default places all media in a folder called, appropriately enough, "Avid Mediafiles" and checks automatically at startup for any changes to these folders. It will automatically re-link all media it finds and update the new locations. No more searching around your system for lost files.

The newest Avid media management tool borders on the just plain magical. It is called ScriptSync. Imagine a feature-length script of about 90 pages or a transcript of a long interview for a documentary. Looked at objectively, all these words are simply a rough cut of your film in text format. The process of assembling your actual rough cut to fit the text script it a long, laborious and sometimes painful process. Enter ScriptSync. Essentially ScriptSync takes a text file of your script, analyzes the audio track from your video and matches the two together. This allows you to click on any part of your script, and the part of the video that you shot corresponding to that dialogue automatically appears in your preview monitor. ScriptSync is very easy to set up and handles multiple takes of the same scene, as well as a fair amount of ad-libbing. It's one of those time-saving devices that you'll wonder how you ever did without it.

Conclusion

Avid's Media Composer is aimed squarely at the professional market, where time is money, With its highly refined interface, media management and new features like ScriptSync, Media Composer can save you a serious amount of time. Avid still continues to innovate in the editing software space, and Media Composer 2.7 is a solid release coupled with some amazing new features.

TECH SPECS

Macintosh: (Power PC or Intel)*
Windows: XP SP2*
Both: 3GB RAM recommended
* There are so many different Avid Supported Configurations that we suggest you get them directly from Avid here.

Strengths

• Refined interface
• Excellent media management
• Magical ScriptSync tool

Weaknesses

• Lackluster audio editing
• Complicated system specs
• Pricey

SUMMARY

Top-end editing at a top-end price. Complex system specs, but with some truly innovative features.

John Burkhart is Videomaker's Editor-in-Chief.

Avid Technology Inc.
Avid Technology Park
One Park West
Tewksbury, MA 01876
www.avid.com

$4,995