Free Version of Media Composer Still to Come

[Scott Witthaus]

[Craig Seeman] “Why is free Media Composer even being considered?”

Thats a good question. They are trying to introduce the Media Composer interface and workflow to a much “newer” audience so they won’t have to wait until they get to college to afford it and then learn it. First to Media Composer is trying to be like iMovie to FCPX except that you can do real work in iMovie and then promote that work to FCPX. If I recall correctly, I don’t think First will allow that. And why would Avid let that happen? Suddenly you could have larger facilities with just a few paid licenses of Media Composer being fed by a bunch of free First sites. Revenue killer. Tricky spot they are in. Oh and the stock price is half of what it was just 6 months or so ago.

Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
1708 Inc./Editorial
Professor, VCU Brandcenter

[Ricardo Marty]

Hope adobe makes a free Premier cc maybe with less codecs and layers.

[Neil Goodman]

[Craig Seeman] “True. Why would one want to use a crippled version of MediaComposer when they can get a fully functional Resolve for free. At best a free Media Composer becomes nothing more than a trial for someone who may have a motivation to move up to paid/subscription. This may well be another ill timed Avid move. Consider that by the time Free MC is out Resolve may have yet another update further improving its editing tools.”

Because If someone wants to get into TV, Film, Trailers, and High End commercials they can practice on the system that they’ll most likely end up editing on if they work in major markets (LA,NY,London).

And its a much better NLE than resolve is in its current state.

[Oliver Peters]

[Neil Goodman] “Because If someone wants to get into TV, Film, Trailers, and High End commercials they can practice on the system that they’ll most likely end up editing on if they work in major markets (LA,NY,London).”

I think the goal from Avid’s POV is to provide a viable starting point with a low entry for those wanting to move to its more advanced tools. They are not interested in giving away a free app for its own sake. That’s a tricky balance, which is why MC First went away and why MC Free (or whatever they call it) has been so long in coming.

What we may not know yet (pure speculation), is that it may also use a streamlined UI that’s a subset of an updated version of MC. So the release of MC Free might also be tied to other across-the-board changes.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com

[Andrew Kimery]

[Neil Sadwelkar] “Actually, not quite. I’ve found that is sequences use newer features and/or effects not present in older versions, then opening a bin from a very new version (like 8.x) in a very old version (like 6.x) can cause unpredictable results, ‘Assertion failed’, or sequences simply don’t open. “

Thanks for the info Neil. The last time I mixed old and new was a couple of years ago (8.3 and 6.5) and everything worked fine. But we weren’t using a lot of things unique to 8.3.

[Oliver Peters] ” That’s a tricky balance, which is why MC First went away and why MC Free (or whatever they call it) has been so long in coming.”

Exactly. If it’s free and ‘good enough’ some people will be happy with it and never get another Avid product. If it’s free and crappy then people will be unhappy with it and never get another Avid product. I’m assuming people remember Avid Free DV

[Andy Field]

the lack of enthusiasm for even a free version of Media Composer is an indication of how long in the tooth the program has gotten. FCP X and Premiere feel faster, easier, more flexible.

Andy Field
FieldVision Productions
N. Bethesda, Maryland 20852

[Scott Witthaus]

Original info on First from 2 years ago: https://community.avid.com/forums/t/133343.aspx

Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Post Production Supervisor
1708 Inc./Editorial
Professor, VCU Brandcenter