For years, Massachusetts-based Avid Technology’s post-production solutions have been the industry standard-bearer. The list of this year’s Academy Award nominees only reinforces Avid’s standing, showing widespread usage of its nonlinear film and video editing systems, as well as the Pro Tools audio production system of subsidiary Digidesign and the 3D animation and FX software from its Softimage division.

Michael Phillips, Avid’s principal product designer, points out that every film nominated in the 2004 Oscar best picture, animated feature, directing, editing, sound editing and visual effects categories made some use of an Avid, Digidesign or Softimage solution.

In fact, Digidesign itself received one of two statuettes presented at Oscar’s Scientific and Technical Awards on Feb. 14 in Pasadena, CA, recognizing the design, development, and implementation of the Pro Tools digital audio workstation.

‘Winning an Oscar for Pro Tools is an incredible honor for us,’ says David Lebolt, Avid VP and Digidesign GM. Pro Tools was used on all three of this year’s Oscar nominees for sound editing: Finding Nemo, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

With its products so ubiquitous, it’s not altogether surprising that Avid hasn’t suffered the economic problems that have dogged much of the production industry.

‘Despite a down economy, Avid’s business has remained strong,’ Phillips says. ‘In fact, the company reported record earnings for both Q4 2003 and for the entire 2003 fiscal year. In terms of stock appreciation, Avid’s stock was up 109% in 2003, on top of an increase of 88% in 2002. Hence, there have not been any layoffs or related restructuring initiatives in the past year.’

Avid also continues to maintain a strong presence in Canada. CTV smash Canadian Idol is being edited at Sim Video Toronto on four Avid systems connected by an Avid Unity LANshare. According to Phillips, Sim made this purchase for the program’s first season and is putting it to work again on the second. Vancouver post house Rainmaker recently purchased an Avid DS Nitris system for high-definition finishing and mastering, while Toronto’s Seneca College has acquired a full Unity system and brought Avid editing clients on board for its broadcast training program.

Despite this widespread adoption, critics have characterized Avid systems as Cadillac solutions – excellent to use, but out-of-reach for low-budget producers, many of whom migrated instead to Apple Final Cut Pro (US$999 for version 4.0). Evidently, Avid took this criticism to heart, as its new Avid Xpress DV editing software comes at a price tag of US$695.

Wide range of customers

‘Avid is committed to developing products for a wide range of customers, from low-budget independent filmmakers to high-end film and television editors,’ Phillips says.

Designed for DV editing on both Mac and Windows, Xpress DV comes with a host of functions in the areas of color correction, audio dissolves, title rolls and crawls, realtime motion effects and some FX. What it does not offer is LANshare connectivity, film support, 3D FX, or professional-strength DVD authoring. To get these, one must purchase Xpress Pro, at a price of US$1,695. Xpress Pro is also made to operate for both the PC and Mac crowds.

‘It works on both the Windows XP and Macintosh OS X platforms,’ Phillips explains. ‘Both versions are shipped in one box, so that the user can choose whichever platform he or she prefers.’

Keeping prices competitive is not Avid’s only priority – it is also making sure it stays at the forefront of new technology. For instance, Avid systems are compatible with the new formats that are popping up, including Sony XDCAM, SDTI, SDTI-CP and QSDI.

Avid chose the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in January to announce that future versions of Xpress Pro and Media Composer Adrenaline will support Microsoft’s Windows Media 9 format. Avid DS Nitris can already export edited material into Windows Media 9 HD video, and since this video can then be projected onto the big screen, the need for tape-to-film transfers is eliminated. Five feature films screened at Sundance were shown in Windows Media 9, the once-humble web format Microsoft is now marketing to the film and TV industry.

‘With the proliferation of digital technology, independent filmmaking has become more affordable and [as a result] more popular,’ says Phillips.

And by ensuring that its products can play in the lower-cost digital end of the market as well, Avid hopes to continue attracting more indies to its solutions.

-www.avid.com

-www.digidesign.com

-www.softimage.com