RSS RSS Twitter Twitter
video/animation

11/07/2005, 12:00pm, EST

Monday, November 7th

Avid to bring HD to PPC-, Intel-Macs in 2006

Avid today announced plans to offer HD versions of its software for both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. The company said it has begun synchronizing development for its Mac product line in preparation for Apple's introduction of Intel-based Macs next year using Apple's Xcode development environment. Avid's initial Mac HD release is targeted for the PowerPC platform in mid-2006 and that it plans on delivering the same HD capabilities to Intel-based Macs after they become available. Avid says both Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer Adrenaline systems will offer HD editing support, allowing users to edit major HD formats, including HDCAM, HDV and DVCPRO HD. The company also plans to offer Avid DNxHD support and encoding, which it says enables high-definition workflows at standard-definition data rates, but with the image quality of working at uncompressed HD resolutions. In addition, Avid software will support simultaneous playback of all multicam views for on-the-fly editing.

"When Apple announced its plan to move to Intel processors this past June, we were as surprised as the rest of the industry," said Dana Ruzicka, vice president of Post Solutions for Avid. "The new Intel architecture shows great promise for improving Mac performance, but it also requires third-party developers to rework their roadmaps in order to support two Apple platforms.

"While this kind of wholesale change is good for the industry overall, we share our customers' frustrations with the disruption it can cause in the short-term. Given how important the Mac is to our customer base, we're embracing Apple's Xcode development environment, which enables us to simultaneously develop for both PowerPC- and Intel-based Mac systems. Although our timeframe for delivering HD on the Mac is now mid-2006, our support of both the new Intel architecture and the existing PowerPC platform offers a path for all of our loyal Mac customers - and helps us to better serve their needs in the long run."


Filed under: software
Other story tags: video editing

, , 3comments, del.icio.us, slashdot, digg, buzz , Twitter



3 comments
Reader Reactions (Please use <i></i> for italic text)

subscribe to comments
for this article




Expand All   Global Settings
Avid offers HD!!!
0
11/07, 12:13pm, EST
Um, Final Cut Pro HD has been around for quite a while. Heck even iMovie has the capability to work with HD (although it is by no means an Avid competitor). Aren't they just a little late to the party here. After all, anyone who needs HD editing capability would already have that in FCP right. They wouldn't have been waiting on Avid to offer HD that to their customers. They would have gone out and switched to remain competitive. Is this too little too late from Avid in the Mac sphere?
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Mar 2004
User is offline
Actually...
0
11/07, 1:27pm, EST
Contrary to what people may think, HD is not yet necessary for every house. While our company couldn't imagine a world without HD right now, there is still a large majority where this isn't feasible. Mostly, the limiting factor is cost of upgrading all of the equipment. Its not just the computers and software, but also the cameras, decks, cables, and infrastructure that can make switching to HD a burden on smaller houses.

What the real disappointing aspect of this announcement should be however, is that Avid is now saying that it will take until mid-2006 to release a mac version that does HD. That's funny, because for the longest time they were promising HD for the mac would happen by mid-2005. The more and more this keeps getting pushed back, the more and more it begins to feel like vaporware.
Junior Member
Joined Aug 2000
User is offline
In related news...
0
11/07, 1:34pm, EST
MacAmp has announced that it will be returning to OS X in late 2006 with an dual binary release. I don't know much about editing, but from what I've heard, Final Cut is much better than Avid, and will probably also be optimized for Apple's own computers and OS.
Forum Regular
Joined Jun 2003
User is offline
Your Comments

In order to post comments: If you are a registered member, please login with your MacNN Forums username and password otherwise please uncheck the checkbox below.


Registered Member?
macnn forums login:

macnn forums password:

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

RSS Feeds

Have the latest content delivered to your desktop via RSS. Use the links below to get access to a specific blog, news, or reviews feed.



  MacNN -all

  MacNN Reviews

  MacNN Podcasts

  iPodNN

  Electronista

  Left Lane News
Want To Sell Your Laptop? Any Condition - receive Top Cash. Get an instant quote. Free shipping www.CashForLaptops.com

Internet Marketing School - 100% Online: Master SEO, SEM, E Commerce, Media & More with a U of San Francisco Certificate.

Buy from The Apple Store, iTunes.com, Amazon.com, TechDepot, OfficeDepot, Computers4Sure, or donate.