A couple of major players will reveal details of their latest corporate acquisitions and rebranding at NAB2005.

Leading post systems manufacturer Avid will talk up its recently announced agreement to acquire broadcast and production solutions company Pinnacle Systems. The deal will allow Avid to incorporate Pinnacle’s broadcast playout server and graphics system into its broadcast production pipeline, and getting Pinnacle’s consumer video business will form the basis of a new consumer division at Avid.

‘Avid will be able to tap into the next generation of video editors while they are still learning their craft,’ says Avid president and CEO David Krall in a statement. ‘This creates a very large potential customer base for Avid’s future.’

Closer to home, Montreal-based systems and software provider Discreet has been rebranded by California parent company Autodesk as the Autodesk Media and Entertainment division. The company says that the move will not affect staff. As with Avid, it’s all about looking to be all things to its clients.

‘Autodesk Media and Entertainment will not only provide a broader and more strategic presence for Autodesk, but a better platform for us to compete within our core markets of film, television, gaming and design visualization,’ says AME VP Martin Vann.

Autodesk will demonstrate the benefits of the new integration at NAB as well as talk up its newly launched Toxik collaborative compositing FX software and its new release of the Combustion 4 FX compositing application.

The company will bring in various high-profile clients to demo its systems at its booth, including Brian Reid from Technicolor Toronto, who will show work done on Fire and Smoke.

-www.avid.com

-www.autodesk.com