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In 2006, Avid did the unthinkable by unbundling its signature software product, Avid Media Composer, from the hardware needed to run it. Officially released as Avid Media Composer 2.5 but unofficially known as "MCSoft," Media Composer can now run standalone as a software editing application, as well as with any of four optional Avid video hardware interfaces. This software-only Media Composer builds on the same basic platform launched at NAB in 1989. Avid Media Composer 2.5 was released in the second half of 2006 and was rapidly bumped up to version 2.7 by early 2007 with a series of bug fixes and enhanced features.
Avid is the only cross-platform nonlinear editor, supporting both Windows and Mac operating systems. Media Composer is the first version of Avid software to support any type of HD on the Mac platform. The initial version of Media Composer 2.5 software wasn't compatible with the Intel Macs, but that's being resolved as the Mac Pros get into wider circulation.
By the time you read this, Avid may already be shipping a Universal version of the software. In the meantime, Media Composer runs well on a wide range of machines, including Power Mac G5s, PowerBook G4 laptops and various Dell, HP and other PC workstations and notebooks.
When I say "cross-platform," I don't mean that you can install it on one or the other. The retail package includes installers for both, as well as a cross-platform security dongle. You can install the application on both a PC workstation and an Apple PowerBook and use both simply by moving the dongle back and forth. Since Avid uses its own media architecture, media can be moved, too, and read equally well on both systems.
Software Avids
Avid's software-based Xpress Pro is still available, so the obvious question is, What makes Media Composer worth the more than $3,000 difference in price? For starters, the retail Media Composer bundle includes the Boris Continuum Complete effects package, a $1,995 value in its own right. But there is more to it than that.
Many of the features of Xpress Pro and Media Composer are comparable, such as a similar user interface, similar SD and HD capabilities and the shared ability to use Avid Mojo DNA as a video...