Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by David Braswell on Mar 19, 2008 at 9:50:21 pm
Pluses for MC... animatte, paint, editable motion effects, top and tail, 2-line info display in source/record windows, movable TC bar, more supported formats... sure I missed something.
Minuses... you will need more computer, period.
It's still a no-brainer to me. Unfortunately I own the educational version of Xpress Pro and there's still a considerable gap to upgrade.
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by Michael Hancock on Mar 19, 2008 at 10:09:57 pm
I have good news for both of you.
Gabriel--definitely upgrade if you can afford to. Also, if you're running an Avid approved system for Xpress Pro, there's about a 99% chance it'll run Media Composer without a problem. The system specs are identical, except that Media Composer suggests more horsepower/RAM. I think it's because there's no artifical limitation to uncompressed realtime streams of SD media.
David--you have the Academic license for Xpress Pro, right? For $495 you can upgrade your Xpress Pro (Academic) to Media Composer (Commercial license). The catch? You won't get the third party software bundle (Boris Effects, Avid DVD, Sorenson, etc...), but you'll have a full commercial license of Media Composer, and you can buy the third party stuff when the budget allows. I say go for it.
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by Gabriel Teran on Mar 19, 2008 at 10:26:54 pm
I have a Dell Precision M90 with Intel Core 2 CPU T7600 @ 2.33GHz with a 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500M graphics card and 2 gigs of ram. Works fine for Combustion and Avid xpress pro.
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by David Braswell on Mar 20, 2008 at 1:36:04 am
Michael, Thanks! That's the awesomest news I've had all day. Like many others I've had fun speculating about Avid's next move. I'm encouraged that it looks like they're not exactly abandoning the small-time users like me.
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by Joe Womble on Mar 20, 2008 at 1:24:19 pm
Harcharan,
"Upgrade Academic Xpress Pro (any version) to a Commercial version of Media Composer (Including 3rd party Add-ons) is not an upgradable product at this time. Please contact your reseller for a price."
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by Gabriel Teran on Mar 19, 2008 at 10:21:59 pm
Thanks David.
About the FX I don't care because I use Combustion for titles, compositing, keying, etc.
About power... how much do I need? I have a laptop with Intel Core 2 CPU T7600 @ 2.33GHz with a 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500M graphics card. Do you think it can handle it?
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by David Braswell on Mar 20, 2008 at 1:51:55 am
Gabriel, my comments about more horsepower were based on conversations with my dealer and my own observations after upgrading at work. Here's Avid's own requirements for notebooks in PDF form... offhand, sounds like you may be in luck.
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by Michael Hancock on Mar 20, 2008 at 12:49:02 pm
I apologize, I did give bad information.
For the last fews days on the Avid forums there have been mixed answers, but it looks like--right now--you cannot upgrade your Academic Xpress Pro to a commercial license of MC. However, if you still have Academic status, you can buy MC for $295.
That said, here's the FAQ about the EOL of XPress and MC pricing and upgrade pricing.
COPIED AND PASTED FROM COMMUNITY.AVID.COM/FORUMS
Upgrade price from any version of a commercial license of Xpress Pro to Media Composer with 3rd party software bundle: $495 (US)
Upgrade Academic Xpress Pro (any version) to a Commercial version of Media Composer (Including 3rd party Add-ons) is not an upgradable product at this time. Please contact your reseller for a price.
Upgrade pricing is available for Xpress 'Pro academic to Media Composer Academic. Again, contact your reseller.
Purchase Media Composer Academic: $295 (US) (Anyone holding a valid State Educational Institution ID)
Purchase Media Composer Software: $2495 (US)
European prices are 500 Euros and 310 GBP.
Xpress Pro will continue to be sold through Q2 of 2008.
Avid will support Xpress Pro through March 13, 2013, but the program will not be updated beyond the current version (5.8).
Regular Mojo and Mojo-SDI will work with Media Composer.
If you're running an Avid certified machine with the newest version of Xpress Pro, your computer will most likely run Media Composer sofware. Check the Media Composer specs to see where you system might be lacking. Media Composer System Requirements
Purchasing Assurance Contracts: Changes (if any) are not determined at this point, to be announced at a later date if changes will be made.
When will the Xpress Pro to Media Composer upgrade price expire? This is currently considered a set price for the upgrade from Xpress Pro to Media Composer with no expiration date set.
I need 720p/25 support, which is slated for a future release. Will it be added to Xpress Pro? No. Xpress Pro will not be further updated. You will need to update to the Media Composer version when 720p/25 is supported.
Will Xpress Pro run on Leopard or Vista? Not in a supported configuration. Again, Xpress Pro will no longer be developed, so Leopard and Vista will not be supported for Xpress Pro. Upgrade to Media Composer when the software supports these operating systems.
Is there any price cut on hardware? There have been no hardware announcements to date.
Can I update Xpress DV to Media Composer? Yes, but not all in one install. First, buy the upgrade to Xpress Pro for $495 and update your dongle. Then buy the Xpress Pro to Media Composer upgrade for $495 and update your dongle for Media Composer.
Do I get third party programs with the upgrade? Yes. Upgrading a commercial license of Xpress Pro to Media Composer will include the third party software bundle, including Boris CC effects. Currently, BCC is not a part of the software download purchase from the Avid store. Avid online is currently working to get those plugs bundled with the download but no word on how long that will take
Re: From Avid xpres Pro to Media Composer. by David Braswell on Mar 20, 2008 at 2:47:26 pm
A pox on the House of Hancock!
Just kidding :-) Thanks to Harcharan and you for clearing this up. As usual, if it sounds too good to be true... I do wish Avid would consider an upgrade of this nature (education --> commercial) that was lower priced and didn't include the third-party apps. I'm no longer in school (having had to leave before graduating) but would seriously like to stay and grown within the Avid line of NLEs. Oh well... feed the piggy.
Media Composer is more then just the world’s best video editor, it is an integrated post production solution! Here are some of our favorite integrated plug-ins and feature included with Media Composer:
- FluidFilm™ and FluidMotion™ - Create incredibly smooth slow-motion effects and “fit-to-fill" video using patented FluidMotion pixel morphing technology while you control speed and position using intuitive curve-based keyframing.
- 8-point Motion Tracker system for advanced tracking operations including offset tracks, applicable to most real-time and non-real-time effect operators
- Patented SteadyGlide™ technology to remove image shakiness while preserving desirable camera motion like pans and tilts.
- Real-time 16-bit SpectraMatte™ keying featuring SpectraGraph™ Viewer Chroma keying is a fundamental element in compositing and everybody needs it.
- AniMatte™ toolset for fast matte key creation within the editor
- Scratch Removal – remove unwanted imperfections in your footage
- Fully customizable TimeWarp effects
- Multicamera Editing with Multigroup capability for grouping multiple “banks" of camera angles. Multicam is available at any Avid resolution from single field to uncompressed.
- ScriptSync™ for incredibly fast matching of source clips to a text script or transcript.
- Blend Effects including Real-time 3D warp with 23 customizable parameters and Blur effect for deep defocus of images and keys with alphas
When you order Media Composer (full version $2495 or Upgrade $495) you also get these fantastic 3rd party software titles to make your post production workflow even stronger! Academic version ($295) does not include 3rd party software.
1) Boris Continuum Complete AVX – A powerful add-on package with more than 160 filters, including: Lens Flare, Glint, Match Grain, DeInterlace, Optical Flow, Motion Blur, Wire Remover, and Witness Protection effects.
2) SmartSound Sonic Fire Pro 4 with Mood Mapping. Create rich, multi-layered royalty free soundtracks for your productions. You also get 2 Strata Series Multi-track Libraries Core Foundations and Core Sessions.
3) Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite 4.5 with Sorenson Video 3 Pro, Sorenson Spark Pro, Sorenson MPEG-4 Pro & Sorenson AVC Pro. Easily encode your videos into multiple formats while maintaining the highest possible video quality.
4) Sonic DVDit6 authoring software. Create standard definition DVDs with motion menus and interactive navigation. DVDit6 is Windows only.
VIDEOGUYS' TECH NOTE: Avid Media Composer is currently compatible with Windows XP Professional and Mac OSX (Tiger). We strongly recommend a Quadro FX graphics card FX1400/1500/1700 or higher. Windows Vista and Mac OSX Leopard are not supported but are in development. Click here for more Videoguys' System Recommendations. http://www.videoguys.com/system.htm
Gary
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