Business

LAS VEGAS — During its NAB-prelude Avid Connect event April 6, Avid announced new partnerships and updates to its flagship video editing system Media Composer.

First, Avid announced the launch of Avid NEXIS Cloudspaces, a SaaS storage offering, using Microsoft Azure, to give news, sports, and post-production teams a simple way to store media in the cloud.

“Avid NEXIS Cloudspaces brings the power of the cloud to Avid NEXIS, giving organizations a cost-effective and more efficient way to extend Avid NEXIS storage to the cloud for reliable backup and media parking,” said Dana Ruzicka, chief product officer and SVP with Avid. “Working with Microsoft we are offering all Avid NEXIS users a limited-time free offer of 2 terabytes of Microsoft Azure storage that is auto-provisioned for easy setup and as much capacity as you need, when you need it.”

Avid NEXIS Cloudspaces allows Avid NEXIS users to sync on-premise Avid NEXIS workspaces to the cloud using common media management tools, while eliminating the time associated with shuttling media on local storage.

Additionally, media workflow solutions firm BeBop Technology announced that Avid’s MediaCentral and Media Composer services will be the first fully bundled software solutions offered via BeBop, enabling Avid licenses to be obtained directly on BeBop’s platform, vs. the “bring your own license” model BeBop offers for comparable tools.

“We’ve worked hard to build a strong relationship with Avid, and the timing is right to bring this illustrious media brand onto the BeBop cloud platform,” said Bruce Long, CEO and co-founder of BeBop Technology. “BeBop is committed to expanding creativity and collaboration by making the best tools and solutions available to editors, visual effects artists, and animators anytime. We are excited to add Avid Media Composer, Avid NEXIS and the MediaCentral platform to the lineup of powerful tools on BeBop.”

Dave Colantuoni, VP of product management for Avid, added: “Avid is committed to helping our customer community to capture the new advantages of working in the cloud to become even more efficient and collaborative, and deliver their best work faster. BeBop offers a state-of-the-art platform for Avid to securely and reliably provide its leading tools and solutions with SaaS flexibility, so our customers can more easily innovate their workflows and moderate their tools and resources as their business dictates.”

Avid also announced a “redesigned and reimagined” Media Composer service, providing new finishing and delivery workflows, customizable toolsets and an upgraded media engine that supports more video and audio streams.

“After receiving input from hundreds of editors and teams across the media industry, and knowing where the industry is headed, we reimagined Media Composer, the product that created the nonlinear video editing category and remains the gold standard,” said Avid’s CEO and president Jeff Rosica. “Media Composer 2019 is both evolutionary and revolutionary. It maintains what longtime users know and love while giving them more of what they need today—and what they will need tomorrow.”