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Much like with most applications, you wait for the major updates (version 4, 5, etc) for new features to add to your editing toolkit.  Well, with the new Subscription Model of Media Composer, the world best editing application now gets new features every few months.  Here’s what’s new in version 8.2.

There are six main updates in Media Composer version 8.2.  They are:

Background Rendering:

Once a job is submitted, you can continue to work and check the render progress in the Background Queue window. Once finished, the sequence will link to the new pre-computes and the effect icons will reflect the rendered state.

Favorite Bins

This one is a big one.  Choose any bin from any project, and tag it as a “favorite”.  Now, no matter which project you open, your favorite bin(s) will always appear at either the top or bottom of the project (depending on what you have the bin setting set to).

New Project Selection Window

Media Composer’s Project window was always sparce.  Well, not anymore.  Now you can simply select any project, and get a detailed breakdown of the projects parameters.

Quick filter field in project window

How many times does an editor run into this problem.  You have a hundred bins in your project, spread across 20 folders, and you just want to find the “Sequences” bin quickly and easily.  Well, simply type in the name of the bin you’re looking for in the new Quick Filter field at the top of your project window, and Media Composer will find that bin super quick.

Marker Search

Searching for elements in your project is not new to Media Composer, but now we have the ability to sift through Marker descriptions for keywords, and find shots in our bins much faster.

Image Cache for thumbnails

For editors who like to work in Thumbnail view in their bins, you now have the ability to cache those thumbnails, so Media Composer doesn’t have to rebuild them, every time you launch a project!

These major new features, plus some smaller features (that can be checked out in the “What’s new in Media Composer 8.2 FAQ) make 8.2 a “must have” update.  For me, the best new feature was not the Background Rendering (although it’s totally awesome, but  much of my effects work plays back in Real Time), but Favorite Bins, as there are always bins that I open in every project (like Bars/Tone/Slate or an elements bin), and having them always appear, saves me the annoyance of constantly going to find them.

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Twitter: @kpmcauliffe
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