Burlington, Mass. – Looking to further develop its formidable A/V
professional brand in the consumer space, Avid unveiled Tuesday a series of
video-editing programs that will position Avid’s trademark above the former
Pinnacle moniker for the popular Studio software series.
In addition, the company introduced new advanced
consumer/prosumer level video-editing software program that will stand at the,
well, pinnacle of the Pinnacle HD Studio 15 software series. It will be called
simply Avid Studio, in contrast to Avid’s Pinnacle HD Studio 15 ($59 estimated
retail price), Pinnacle HD Studio 15 Ultimate ($99) and Pinnacle HD Studio 15
Ultimate Collection ($129).
The Avid Studio program ($169) is targeting consumers already
comfortable with video editing who want more in the way of features and tools
to create professional-looking productions.
The three Pinnacle HD Studio 15 programs offer varying steps of
performance and features, but are all targeted at novices who will require more
intuitive controls and instructions to get started.
The new Avid Studio consumer editing software is said to include
some of the same technology used to create major motion pictures.
Avid Studio software includes powerful media editing features,
stabilization technology and interface functionality leveraged from Avid Media
Composer — the software used by Hollywood pros. Key features in Avid Studio include:
• Integrated media library: quickly finds, organizes and manages
videos, photos and audio files with a single, user interface. A universal
import tool also makes it easy to import photos, video and audio into the
library from a wide range of consumer devices.
• A media editor: provides video, audio and photo file correction,
to conform with other files imported into the Avid Studio program.
• Feature-rich timeline editor: provides professional-level
timeline editing with markers for syncing audio and video, and keyframes for
smooth transitions. Unlimited timeline tracks also enable powerful editing and compositing,
including picture-in-picture or multi-layer effects.
• DVD and Blu-ray authoring tools and Blu-ray Disc burning.
• Professional-grade plug-ins: more than $2,000 worth of add-ons
and plug-ins, including a professional Red Giant plug-in package.
• Product training and SmartTools: in-depth training videos about
Avid Studio workflows, as well as video editing basics, and SmartTools that
deliver automatic, intelligent workflows to accelerate the creation process.
Meanwhile, the three levels of Pinnacle Studio version 15 were
designed around ease of use in creating professional-looking HD videos.
Users can easily create HD movies and share them directly on
YouTube, DVD and the web.
Features this year include the following:
• An archive/restore feature: provides convenient backup for all project
data in a single location and accommodates transferring projects between
multiple PCs.
• Intel processor optimization: offers improved playback speed
and performance through optimization for the latest generations of Intel
processors.
• Expanded format support: provides customers with the ability to
share movies on the platform of their choice with support for DivX Plus HD,
YouTube HD, QuickTime HD and AVCHD Lite.
• More than 1,800 built-in effects, titles, transitions and other
content.
The Ultimate and Ultimate Collection versions include Red Giant
plug-ins, Dolby 5.1 encoding, Blu-ray authoring, keyframable effects and Motion
Titler.
The Ultimate Collection adds 2200 transition titles and effects,
a green screen for Chroma-key effects, and six premium Red Giant plug-ins for
Hollywood-style visual effects, up from two in the Studio Ultimate package.
Pinnacle Studio version 15 is available worldwide now, and Avid
Studio will be available via download on March 8, 2011. A boxed version of Avid
Studio will be available in the second quarter.
Existing Pinnacle Studio users will be able to upgrade to Avid
Studio for $99.
