Avid recently released a faster and more powerful Media Composer with Avid Media Composer 5.5. With this latest new release I was anxious to get my hands on this latest iteration, and thanks to the good people at Avid they made that a reality.

Avid has been the industry standard when it came to professional editing software for either broadcast or film. They lost some of that market to Apple’s Final Cut Pro and to a lesser extent Adobe’s Premier Pro. However, with when Avid released Media Composer 5.0 it was apparent Avid was going not going to take this lying down. Avid MC 5.0 was a huge upgrade over previous editions, while also introducing new tools to help bring Final Cut Pro users into the fold, with the addition of the smart tool.

I was on hand at NAB 2011 when Avid was showing off some of the most powerful features they have now introduced into Avid Media Composer 5.5.

New Features :

• Capture, monitor, and output with AJA Io Express
• Edit HDCAM SR Lite footage natively
• Accelerate AVC-Intra workflows with Nitris DX AVC-Intra
• Speed up editing and mixing with the Artist Series
• Find the right clips fast with PhraseFind
• Directly tweak transitions with the Smart Tool
• Gain better search capabilities
• Capture and monitor audio using Pro Tools hardware
• Work with audio more easily and creatively
• Fuel your creativity with the Production Suite

These features have been implemented to make Avid 5.5 even more powerful and faster than ever before. Now the one thing I would like to help further explain is the Smart Tool.  Many seasoned editors have had some difficulty using this tool or misunderstand the way this tool works.  Even I had some initial frustrations working with this tool, as I become so used to editing in segment mode.  However the power of this tool when activated allows you to lift and insert edits almost instantly.  Just tying to remember to keep an eye on where your cursor is highlighted on.

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