February Gone..Avid Plans ????

[Bob Zelin]

Hi –
you want serious. OK, this is serious. Do you want to know if AVID will release a product that will be low cost, and similar to what is being offered by Apple Final Cut Pro, and their hardware partners Blackmagic and AJA – NO THEY WILL NOT.

Will AVID release new storage technology that will compete in price with the other vendors that you see advertised on this forum (like Dulce, Maxx Digital, Cal Digit, Sonnet, G-Tech) – NO THEY WILL NOT.

Will AVID offer free customer support to their customers, like Apple, AJA, and Blackmagic (and the drive vendors I just mentioned) – NO THEY WILL NOT.

Will AVID display a new, inexpensive, low cost Shared Area Network product, like Unity ISIS, that will cost under $20,000 – NO THEY WILL NOT.

Will AVID drop their prices at NAB – probably yes.
Will AVID introduce new products at NAB – probably yes.
Will they be inexpensive new products – probably NOT.

The days of the $90,000, and $40,000 editing system are over.
I dont’ care if AVID re invents editing, and can natively import RED footage without any conversion, and instantly output to MPEG 2 and WMV file format without doing any exporting – NO ONE is going to spend this kind of money ever again (except large broadcast TV facilities like the TV networks).

If you and your clients are working on a daily basis with expensive VTR’s, like the Sony SRW-5500, then everything I just said is useless.

bob Zelin

[Barney Miller]

Hey, I heard that they ARE coming out with an AJA type card. That it WILL have HD out and that it WILL be under 20 grand. Should I get new sources? – B

PS – If Avid DOES open a hot dog stand, the buns will cost extra.

[Scott Thomas]

[Bob Zelin] “NO ONE is going to spend this kind of money ever again (except large broadcast TV facilities like the TV networks).”

Avid sent us a letter stating that they are dropping the MediaStream line of servers. We bought our two when it was still a Pinnacle product, but they arrived after the Avid purchase; therefore they aren’t that old yet. (nice Avid logos on the front though!)

So, after this announcement, after dealing with Avid on features that still aren’t working correctly, after spending so much money with them on an EOL product, do you seriously think we will be looking at anything from Avid in the future?

A family member of mine in the business ran into a former boss at NAB a couple of years ago. The boss is a manager of a production studio that is owned by and services several cable networks. He was asked what he was looking for at the show. The reply: “Anything but Avid”.

I understand how he feels now.

[Grinner Hester]

they have sealed their fate in thisw last price cut.
They have gone out of their way to stab their base clientele in the back.
I’m gonna limp on over to the competition now. Don’t call me a quitter… I tried my best to stay with em.