Post Production

Avid Media Composer updated, cloud licensing, M1 support

Avid Media Composer updated, cloud licensing, M1 support 3

The update to Avid Media Composer 2021.12 adds a number of important features but true cloud licensing might be the most important one

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Scott Simmons
January 4, 2022
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Avid Media Composer updated, cloud licensing, M1 support 4

Avid Media Composer recently got a bit update that is notable for a couple of reasons. The first (and most important IMHO) is that the Avid Link licensing system has moved to be fully cloud-based for those on the latest update. That means you no longer have to telephone a human at Avid support if you need to move your license from one machine to another. That change of license can happen right inside the Avid Link app. This is for users on a cloud-based subscription license.

The other notable thing with this recent update is for the Mac users out there. Media Composer has been certified for both Monterey 12.1 as well as the new Apple silicon M1 chips. This isn’t an Apple Silicon native version of Media Composer as it is running under emulation but it is fully supported.

Avid Media Composer updated, cloud licensing, M1 support 5
The Kind – Intel tells you these apps are running on Apple Silicon under emulation but from what I’ve experienced on a small job performance is pretty good. But it’s not native just yet.

 

Keeping up with the current version of Media Composer, what OS version it supports, the status of the dongles and all things related to licensing often seems like a part-time job. Anyone who travels in the Avid orbit knows that they have a near-impossible situation to keep up with when it comes to supported systems as there are so many different versions out there running on so many different configurations, almost all of which have to be supported if Avid wants to keep customers happy and movies want to get made.

The Avid Knowledge Base Media Composer section is always a good resource to see exactly what version MC is currently on as well as the new features of that and many previous versions. I keep it bookmarked as well as the Always Editing What’s the latest version of Avid Media Composer? page as that is maintained by a third party and is a great at a glance resource for Media Composer.

This isn’t an article about the current feature set of Media Composer. I’ve probably spent less time cutting in Avid this past year than anyone in recent memory and I’m not happy about it, that’s just the way my market has shifted. But since I had one of the new Apple M1 Max MacBook Pro’s in hand for review (part 1 and part 2) I couldn’t let it get away without trying this latest MC update on Apple Silicon.

Avid really upped their game over the last few years as Media Composer is very fast and fluid when working with properly media managed. The Linking of media isn’t usually the recommended way to work if you want the best performance but I’ve done quite a few jobs over the years where all media is linked and cut and we didn’t consolidate/transcode to Avid managed media. Just avoid things like going to thumbnail view in a bin full of clips and turning on the Bin Map. That can take some time to process and display.

The first thing I mentioned at the top of this article was that if you’re using Avid Link for cloud licensing (dongle users need not apply) you can activate and deactivate that license via the Avid Link app. If you work between office and home like I do and forget to deactivate the office license before you leave you can now do that with a click of a mouse instead of a call to support.

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The Avid Link app is where you manage your Media Composer licenses. And manage all things Avid really.

 

It’s a simple click and you’ll get a message asking if you want to change the license from one machine to another.

Avid Media Composer updated, cloud licensing, M1 support 7
With this, you can get a quick re-license to a different system without having to call Avid support.

 

Avid Link has a reputation as quite the resource hog but that should be a thing of the past as the Avid application manager has been rewritten.

There has been a bit of controversy in the Avid world as it was announced that Avid hardware dongles will no longer be supported in future Macs because the dongle manufacturer wouldn’t be updating their drivers to support the Apple M1 chips or macOS Monterey. I have to say that’s pretty tough for Avid as it sounds like they don’t have much they can do unless they move to brand new dongles which would require a significant investment. We live in the internet era so I can’t say I blame them.

This is word directly from Avid by the always useful Avid Editors of Facebook group:

On Facebook Marianna Montague from Avid posted: ‘The cost, plus the development time and resources would impact everything. Sorry but you have 2 years left in dongle land as BigSur will be EOS then. Believe me – we went round and round on this and there really isn’t a feasible and cost effective way to do it.’

If you follow Avid you can probably imagine there is some outrage among the Mac donglefiles out there and if you like drama then enjoy this thread on the Avid forums.

What’s new in Media Composer? Avid has a video to tell us just that.

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Anthony

Yet another emphatic SMH at the state of Avid. No wonder that not ONE of the literally hundreds of editors and respective post houses I deal with every year has a single seat of Avid anymore nor has anyone ever said they are considering it. I jumped ship a good 10 years ago myself. With Avid consistently and *massively* lagging behind everyone else in the space on so many levels, who’s surprised? Subscription and DONGLES??! You can’t be serious. On a technical/performance level: FAIL. On a price level: FAIL. Still not M1 native: FAIL and I think it’s safe to say that, as usual, it won’t even be happening within the year. And now with others coming out with some serious competition in terms of collaborative workflows, I have no clue what will keep them alive for much longer, seeing that their overpriced hardware is the only thing they have been making any money on for what? Ten years+??

Sure, there will be a sub-2% (if even) of editors in niche markets left using Avid for a while to come. Dinosaur editors on dinosaur software that haven’t even updated anything since v7… if they’re even THAT high up.

Their elitist, arrogant stance as a company will be their downfall, thinking their antiquated software somehow justifies the ridiculous business model or is the least bit competitive. Delusional. The big A’s and a B are eating their breakfast lunch AND dinner. Sad, being the pioneer and all, but painfully true. RIP.

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mark

Can I ask what city / country you are based in? In the UK, where we’re producing a vast amount of global TV & Film content Avid still overwhelmingly dominates the market. & that’s an understatement! Sure in advertising and music videos, corporate etc – prem pro has taken serious hold… but for high profile, big budget, reliably workflowed, technically supported, & widely collaborative work… Avid is still undisputed king of the NLE’s. (also for anyone reading this, who is interested in price – our Prem Pro subscription and Avid subscription BOTH come in at pretty much £200 per annum each) So not wishing to start a huge debate, but Im always a bit confused when I hear people say ”nobody uses Avid anymore” !?

Last edited 2 years ago by mark
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Scott Simmons

You are right Mark. There is PLENTY of Avid use out there, it’s all dependent on the market you work in.

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Stewie

“PLENTY”, eh? Do define PLENTY then. Because I work all over Europe and can only say Anthony nailed it. I mean please… just look at the comment below… 1″ and all. BINGO! It’s ridiculous. The epitome of the Avid editor of TODAY, yes.

The sub 2% is pretty spot on—if not on the HIGH end—too. No one is saying there are NO Avid editors out there, they’re simply “dinosaur editors on dinosaur software” just as he said. And yeah, they’re in niche markets such as Hollywood, the most inflexible, backwards, and technically inept section of the market. So who cares? Advertising, music videos and corporate? Yeah. Next to documentary, non-scripted, more and more scripted, news, Youtube (yeah, that medium where people make 100x what you’re making with professional editing) etc. etc. etc. are just as much the domain of Premiere and Final Cut Pro for good and obvious reasons and even Resolve has trumped Avid for years now.

Try facing the facts. Simply check something like Google Trends for example. Of all the current NLEs Avid has just barely made a BLIP over the last 10 years. No one cares anymore. Once the 80’s and 90’s generation of editors finally die out so will Avid. Plain and simple. If you believe otherwise, you need to seriously get out more and stop making lazy excuses for not getting with the 21st century already.

But hey, go on renting your own intellectual property on a monthly basis and call it “pro” all you want. We’ll be over here doing the actual relevant work of today and not lamenting about the good ol’ 1″ days merely because we’re incapable and ignorant of anything else…

Last edited 2 years ago by Stewie
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Scott Simmons

That’s a funny rant. You’re addressing this like I take some personal stake in this debate. I do no such thing. As a freelance editor I work in ALL NLEs, equally and happily and do good work no matter the tool. My market is mostly Premiere Pro so I happily edit away with it until an Avid or FCP job comes along and then I edit with those too, equally happy. Avid haters rant and bellyache all they want and toss out Google Trends and percentages all they want. But a look through any of the reputable job boards will show tons of Avid work. Yes most of that is all Hollywood even though a lot of it is remote and you don’t have to live there anymore. So I think that alone defines plenty.

But more than that … who cares? Why even waste the energy with such a rant? Do you honestly care what any one else edits with as long as you can use what you want and make money doing it?

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EdS

Yeah, it’s not the tool that makes the editor. Funny thing tho’ is that none would have guessed that Avid would be the best positioned to work during the pandemic. They have solutions for most of the scenarios and sending a bin is still the most reliable way (and easier) to work remotely in collaboration with other people. I tried most of the NLE but none beats them.

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EditEdit

Hehe, a clickbait-y reply like this does beg a response. 😉
I administer and support 100+ editors here in Hollywood… and it’s ALLLLL Avid.
It’s absolutely possible that Premiere installations outnumber Avid 20:1. As said, who cares? I’m very happy there are several tools out there to choose from, and foster competition. It only matters to the extent we wonder how long Avid will be around for (Media Composer, I’m less worried about Interplay & MediaCentral, where they make the real money). And their ability to provide support & development.

But all the ranting about “dinosaurs”, “lazy excuses”, “who cares?”… that’s just dumb sh!tposting.

Half of it is unclear and doesn’t make sense anyway: “So who cares? Advertising, music videos and corporate? Yeah. Next to documentary, non-scripted, more and more scripted, news, Youtube (yeah, that medium where people make 100x what you’re making with professional editing) etc. etc. etc. are just as much the domain of Premiere and Final Cut Pro”
What do you mean by “next to”? And do you mean Youtubers make 100x more than professional editors? I’m so confused.

I onlined on Avid for years, and edited 3 feature films on Premiere. Both systems have their pros and cons. For 1-person productions, and projects with <2,000 assets, Premiere is pretty awesome. For productions with 15 editors and 10k+ assets? Sadly, Premiere falls apart. Ask Adobe and they'll (understandably, begrudgingly) admit that.

One rant: I am very disappointed at how excruciatingly slow Avid has been with Apple Silicon support. Taking about 2 years longer than all the competition to develop native support.

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Randy Hale

Thanks Scott, a great write up as usual and very timely. As a diehard Avid editor (“Momma don’t take my dongle away”!), system #84 owner, I can edit in my sleep, or at least in those 24 hour sessions. I’ll be the last to jump ship. That’s why I still have a 1” machine.
I never liked the idea of depending on the internet to bless my CPU before editing. I still like the idea of editing in the backwoods of Costa Rica. For you non-dongle users; BEWARE!, the internet will crash. Thanks again.

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Scott Simmons

But what happens when the dongle gets dropped overboard or run over by a dune buggy!

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Jimmy

I am a pro Hollywood editor who uses Avid everyday and I gotta say it. Outside of work, Avid is hot garbage. It just is. It is years behind Adobe and probably Davinci too in features, UI and program speed. I have an M1 MacBook Pro. Literally every other program flies on the Apple silicone, except for Avid. I can’t edit a 4k, 23.98fps, 5 minute, 2 video track project with minimum effects and no color grading without transcoding all the media. It crashes everytime when I try to link to the files. Every f%$king time. Even after a new update, same thing. Meanwhile, same little family project in Premiere I finished in 20 minutes. Exported it, everything. A flawless operation as it should be with the speed of my computer. Avid lags behind again. If I didn’t make all my money using Avid for work, I’d never use this sh%t program.

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