Re: 6.5 is out there...

This is Avid we're talking about: they don't come guns blazing with a new paradigm. That being said...

Here is a shortlist of the main additions/changes:

New codecs:
1) DNx80 and DNx100 for DSLR or other 4:2:0 sources or whatever you want

2) jpeg2000 (aka j2k): 10bit 4:2:2 visually lossless at any broadcast resolution. 30-50Mbits for SD. 90-150Mbits for HD. This is a favourite codec for me: since very often 1080p/23.98 material hovers around the 100Mbits data rate and it is better than ProResHQ in terms of quality (which is twice the bitrate).

Under the hood improvement:
- way faster AMA-->transcode processes. Transcoding will now often smother your CPU usage, especially if using the new J2K codec -- flatlines even 12 core workstations - and transcodes multitudes faster than real-time (on multicore systems). In general, a quad core i7 will still see slightly faster transcodes into DnxHD than j2k, where as 8 and 12 core machines will see dramatic speed increases in favour of j2k.

- improved quicktime h264 cpu/speed: H264 exporting now uses 4 to 5 cores on average - often finishes 1080p/23.98 renders at about 80% of real-time (single pass, quality-based exports). Also far less crashes when exporting long sequences.

- improved performance with most 3rd party video IO devices, especially blackmagic devices.
overall much snappier response on the timeline, more similar to v5.5 snappiness (there is 1 known bug with 'fast scrub' that is being addressed in a 6.5.1 patch, but it is not major).

UI/Workflow additions:
- Avid can now "search and find" batches of AMA clips and automatically relink them, similar to how FCP does this.
- You can now select multiple non-adjacent clips and move them around as a unit, without needing to select the filler between them.

- The Relink window now offers more options for relinking to files of different of metadata.
- You can now turn off automatic AMA volume mounting (but still have AMA enabled).
- You can still use classic XDCAM and P2 import functions while AMA is on.
- full Redcolor 3 and Redgamma 3 support