When I reviewed Boris Continuum Complete 10 for AVX, I said that “Boris’ purchase and integration of Mocha in to Media Composer is probably one the biggest leaps forward in effects for Avid Editors in the last 10 years.  Hands down.”.  In the new update for Media Composer, the Source Browser is the best new feature Media Composer has seen in longer than I can remember.  Now, many people will argue that the inclusion of higher than HD workflows, or nested Audiosuite effects are a huge step forward, but the Media Browser will change the way you work.

Premiere and FCPX have had this feature for a while now, and Media Composer editors will find that the Source Browser (SB) will slowly become an essential tool for them.  Not only does it give you the standard linking and importing capability that you’re accustomed to, but the thumbnail preview mode, with the ability to either scrub or play the clip, right in the Media Browser means that every clip can be previewed, before it’s brought into the system.  Now, many MC editors will say “My client hates looking at those tiny thumbnails, and would rather have me just link to all the clips in a bin, and show them from there”.  Well, the Media Browser gives you the ability to call up any clip in the Browser window into the Source Monitor, for external playback, and without the need to actually bring the clip into a bin.  But, we know how producer/directors are.  Once they see that clip up on the big screen, you’ll inevitably get that “Let’s use that clip” comment, so instead of going back to the SB, you can simply edit the clip into your timeline, and Media Composer will automatically drop the clip into your bin via AMA linking!  Now, sometimes you aren’t going to want to see thumbnails of the clips, and are just going to want to find something via List view, and that is easily accessible at the bottom of the SB, by simply clicking a button.  To go along with List view, you also have the ability to search for your media via a search input box at the bottom of the SB.  These are all great features, but I wouldn’t want to be opening and closing the SB constantly, especially if I’m in a dual screen setup where I would have a lot of screen real estate.  No problem, it’s a window in MC, just like the Audio Mixer, or the Effects Editor.  Simply place it out of the way, and have quick access to it, whenever you need to import, link to or preview a clip!

If you’re a Media Composer editor who is not handcuffed to an earlier version of Media Composer (much like editors who need PhraseFind/Scriptsync, and need to stay on version 7), when the time comes and your current project(s) is finished, make the update to MC 8.6.  It’s well worth it!