Avid places the cloud at the center of its collaborative strategy

The Media Central platform will be available in the cloud thanks to a strategic alliance reached with Microsoft. In addition, Pro Tools users will now have the power of the cloud while budding Media Composer users will have a completely free editor.

Louis Hernández Jr., CEO of Avid, has surprised at the beginning of this NAB 2017 by announcing during the Avid Connect convention that the Media Central platform will be available in the cloud thanks to a strategic alliance reached with Microsoft. To do this, Avid has redesigned the entire user experience.
"We understand that the biggest challenges of the audiovisual production industry is the ability to create or distribute more content with fewer resources. Cloud implementation is essential to respond to this objective," commented Hernández.

During the event, Scott Guthrie, vice president of Microsoft Cloud, added that “we are a serious company committed to the future of cloud computing and we are proud that one of the most important media technology companies in the world has us.”

Two functions of this new platform can already be seen during this NAB. One of them is the new responsive user interface designed to be accessible from any device. The system provides a fluid design and improved search and preview capabilities, allowing the user to find media clips directly in the main storage, anywhere, by searching for metadata, keywords or even audio clips.

In addition, the tool is capable of exporting the videos to an award timeline and synchronizing with other tools on the platform.

Another novelty that has caught the attention of those attending this NAB 2017 are the versions of Media Composer designed for the cloud. During Avid Connect 2017 the use of editing software was demonstrated with three options. The first with the software installed on a MacBook Pro editing media clips stored in the cloud. The second, on a machine that did not have the system installed, but with full editing capabilities using the Virtual Machine system (that is, working with a server in a private cloud) and, finally, running on a Microsoft Surface tablet in a Virtual Machine in the public cloud.

Hernández Jr. highlighted that we live in times of unprecedented change in which the creation of content has multiplied by four, the number of distribution platforms has multiplied by ten, and content consumption has grown by 50%. All of these changes respond to a common philosophy, which Hernández Jr. summarized: “adapt or die.” That's why Avid has brought together hundreds of industry professionals to talk about “now,” “what's new,” and “the future.”

The CEO of Avid also highlighted the role that listening to the industry plays in this context of change. Hence the importance of the Avid Customer Association, which already has more than ten thousand members in 109 countries.

R&D is also a key element, which is why Avid invests more than 300 million dollars in technological development. In the last four years alone it has registered 37 patents (20% of the industry's patents).

In terms of collaboration, Avid's CEO highlighted that the challenges involve creating content of the highest quality, distributing it to more devices and channels, while maximizing and protecting the value of the assets. It is also key in these new times to ensure operational efficiency.

Bet on the cloud

Hernandez Jr. admitted, "We've designed our cloud offerings to complement what our customers already have currently deployed on-premises, allowing them to simply add cloud tools, workflows and services as needed, leveraging the investment they've already made. We believe the cloud will usher in an exciting new era in the media industry, opening the doors to new operational possibilities and strategic opportunities. And with Avid, our customers will be able to take this journey to the cloud in their own way and at their own pace. its rhythm.”

Avid has revealed significant advancements across its product suites as it extends MediaCentral Platform to the cloud, introduces end-to-end 4K/IP workflows, enhances immersive workflows and expands ecosystem of connectivity partners – delivering innovations for students and future artists, educational institutions, creative professionals and media companies.

Media companies will be able to capitalize on the efficiency, agility, flexibility and scalability enabled by the cloud thanks to new cloud-based applications, media services and on-demand infrastructure. To enable continued innovation in this space, Avid has announced the appointment of Microsoft as its preferred public cloud partner.

By extending Avid MediaCentral Platform to the cloud on Microsoft Azure, media companies now have complete flexibility to create, distribute and monetize their content using the deployment method that best suits them. Regardless of their deployment model—whether on-premise, in private data centers, in the public cloud, or in a hybrid combination—media companies of all types and sizes will enjoy the same user experience, the same workflow power, speed and efficiency, and the same collaboration capabilities that Avid has come to expect. Additionally, current MediaCentral users now have easy access to the cloud, taking advantage of the investment they have already made.

With Avid cloud-enabled client applications, software can be licensed to run on-premises, in a private cloud data center, as well as in the public cloud for flexible deployment and increased utilization.

Also highlighting the launch of Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX. A new online application offers a completely redesigned and highly responsive user experience on the MediaCentral Platform, allowing anyone to search, explore, edit, collaborate, publish and access content very quickly and intuitively from any workstation, laptop or mobile device.

Avid Media Suite applications, including Interplay Production, Interplay MAM, iNews and Social Media Hub, as well as Maestro and 4Designer, are becoming cloud-enabled with licensing options to run on-premises, in a private data center, and in the public cloud.

To provide even greater efficiency for MediaCentral Platform users, Avid has introduced new media services, including the Unified Avid Dialogue Search service that uses unique phonetic indexing technology to enable keyword searches across multiple content libraries; and Avid Illuminate, which automatically verifies subtitles, audio descriptions and languages ​​in content to quickly and accurately comply with applicable audiovisual broadcast standards and ensure quality.

Avid Dialogue Search will provide a scalable search platform that allows users to locate clips from spoken words or phrases across all archives, media asset management systems and production asset management systems, while Avid Illuminate provides a file-based quality assurance system to verify subtitles, audio descriptions and languages.

Furthermore, the new MediaCentral Infrastructure Management Layer allows organizations to scale their resources, add new capabilities and optimize their storage, computing power and bandwidth across the enterprise.

With its open architecture and Connectivity Toolkit APIs, MediaCentral allows you to easily connect tools, technologies and services from third-party connectivity partners with the platform to streamline workflows.

To increase business agility, Avid now offers enterprise contracts with flexible options for purchasing enterprise licenses, allowing media companies to enjoy economies of scale by accumulating spend across different departments and locations.

Pro Tools, a revolutionary update

Dana Ruzicka, Chief Product Officer of Avid, was convinced at Avid Connect 2017 that one of the keys to the company's success is that thanks to its solutions, "independent professionals can contribute their creativity and ingenuity in a collaborative way."

Pro Tools, the popular audio mixing tool, could not escape this collaborative spirit. For this reason, its cloud implementation is now born. Still in its launch phase, Pro Tools in the cloud is already being used in five thousand projects in which artists from around the world collaborate and share ingenuity.

One of the most significant improvements in the new version of Pro Tools HD and S6 is the native support for Dolby Atmos, thus improving the tool's capabilities for immersive sound editing. With deep integration of Dolby Atmos into Pro Tools, audio post-production professionals can now create complex multi-channel mixes for film, television, music and video games with greater ease in Dolby's immersive audio format.

Media Composer available to everyone

With more than a hundred improvements implemented in the Media Composer editing platform in just one year, Avid has made a splash at this fair by announcing the launch of Media Composer First, the completely free version for those starting out in the world of content editing, now with cloud support.

Avid Media Composer First gives future creative professionals, students, and those starting their careers free access to the same creative tools used by the world's most successful filmmakers and television creators.

Meanwhile, the new Avid Media Campus program offers a stronger partnership with Avid and flexible deployment and volume licensing options to help educators better prepare the next generation of creative talent and media professionals for their careers in the media and entertainment industry.

Integration with EVS

Those who attended Avid Connect 2017 at NAB were able to see how Avid Artist DNxIQ accelerates video workflows. With the broad format support offered by this powerful new video interface, from SD to 4k, plus universal mastering, video professionals can quickly and easily respond to changing content demands and adapt to a broader selection of channels and devices.

Avid also previewed new server technology that will enable media professionals to incorporate new end-to-end 4K/UHD workflows for live sports and news production.

In terms of storage, Avid Nexis now offers greater bandwidth scalability and broader workflows with Pro Tools, further improving speed, efficiency and collaboration for creative teams.

Finally, the new IPLINK for Avid MediaCentral UX will allow Avid users to explore, search and work with media. EVS within the MediaCentral platform in live sports, news and entertainment workflows.

Access to the NAB 2017 SPECIAL in Panorama