Avid

Avid Technology

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Avid Technology, Inc.
Type Public
Founded 1987
Headquarters Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Industry Audio/Video
Products Hardware & Software
Revenue US$677 million (2011)
0.5% compared to 2010 [1]
Operating income -US$20.84 million (2011)[1]
Net income -US$23.51 million (2011)[1]
Total assets US$602 million (FY 2011)[2]
Total equity US$410.27 million (FY 2011)[2]
Employees 2,728 (2009)[1]
Website www.avid.com

Avid Technology, Inc. is an American company specializing in video and audio production technology; specifically, digital non-linear editing (NLE) systems, management and distribution services. It was created in 1987[3] and became a publicly traded company in 1993. Avid is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.[4]

Avid products are now used in the television and video industry to create television shows, feature films, and commercials. Media Composer, a professional software-based non-linear editing system, is Avid's flagship product.

Non-linear editing

Main article: Non-linear editing system

Non-linear editing is a technique used in digital systems where a digital source (such as digitized film, video or audio) is used to create an edited version, not by rearranging the source file, but by creating a detailed list of edit points (ins, outs, fades, etc.). The editing software reads the edit list and creates a new version (the edit) by applying the list parameters to the playback of the source. This type of non-destructive editing is one of the advantages digital editing has over cutting film or magnetic tape. Films are generally edited by making a digital transfer from and using this process during editing. An edit decision list (EDL) is then output from the editing software, which is used to produce cuts and dissolves in the actual film using automated equipment. ALE, Avid Log Exchange file format, is an Avid film-based databases for transferring info between systems.[5]

History

Founded by a marketing manager from Apollo Computer, Inc., Bill Warner, a prototype of their first digital nonlinear editing system (the Avid/1) was shown in a private suite at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in April 1988. The Avid/1 was based around an Apple Macintosh II computer, with special hardware and software of Avid's own design installed.

At the NAB show in April 1989, the Avid/1 was publicly introduced. It was "the biggest shake-up in editing since Melies played around with time and sequences in the early 1900s".[6] By the early 1990s, Avid products began to replace such tools as the Moviola, Steenbeck, and KEM flatbed editors, allowing editors to handle their film creations with greater ease. The first feature film edited using the Avid was "Let's Kill All the Lawyers" in 1992, directed by Ron Senkowski. The film was edited at 30fps NTSC rate, then used Avid MediaMatch to generate a negative cutlist from the EDL.[7] The first feature film edited natively at 24fps with what was to become the Avid Film Composer was "Emerson Park". The first studio film to be edited at 24fps was "Lost in Yonkers", directed by Martha Coolidge. By 1994 only three feature films used the new digital editing system. By 1995 dozens had switched to Avid, and it signaled the beginning of the end of cutting celluloid. In 1996 Walter Murch accepted the Academy Award for editing The English Patient (which also won best picture), which he cut on the Avid. This was the first Editing Oscar awarded to a digitally edited film (although the final print was still created with traditional negative cutting).[8]

In 1994 Avid introduced Open Media Framework (OMF) as an open standard file format for sharing media and related metadata. In recent years the company has extended its business expertise through several acquisitions and internal investments towards the full palette of multimedia generation products including those to store and manage media files. In 2006 Avid launched new products such as Avid Interplay and Unity Isis. Avid used to be considered just a "video editing" company, but now has consolidated a well-rounded multimedia generation technology company.

In the past, Avid has released home versions of their professional line of editors, such as Xpress DV and lower cost professional versions (primarily to compete with software such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere) such as Xpress Pro. Additionally, Avid Free DV was available as a free download, providing an introduction to the Media Composer interface, but in a limited version. All of these have now been discontinued as the core Media Composer product has been lowered in price and is now heavily discounted for academic/student use.

On March 29, 1999, Avid Technology, Inc. adjusted the amount originally allocated to IPR&D and restated its third quarter 1998 consolidated financial statements accordingly, considering the SEC's views.[9]

Acquisitions

Year Company more details / references
1993 DiVA Corporation makers of Videoshop the Quicktime-based home video editing software.
1994 Digidesign makers of Pro Tools[10] and Venue live mixing system
1994 Basys ITN's newsrooms system sold to DEC then Avid.
1994 Newsview Newsroom Computer System (Novell-based)
1995 Elastic Reality, Inc. makers of Elastic Reality morphing software
1995 Parallax Software makers of Matador, Illusion and Jester (ink-and-paint software)
1998 Softimage from Microsoft
1998 Tektronix strategic alliance with Tektronix - then owners of Lightworks
2000 The Motion Factory  ?
2000 Pluto Technology DDR playback servers
2001 iNEWS Newsroom computer system (formerly Basys)
2002 iKnowledge makers of Active Content Manager
2003 Rocket Networks  ?
2004 NXN Media Asset Management software components
2004 Bomb Factory in January
2004 M-Audio makers of professional digital and analog audio equipment and audio software.
2005 Pinnacle Systems in April
2005 Wizoo in August
2006 Medéa Corporation. in January, high-speed RAID storage
2006 Sundance Digital in April, Broadcast Automation Software
2006 Sibelius Software in August, Notation software
2009 Maximum Throughput in July
2010 Blue Order Solutions AG in January, Media Asset Management software
2010 Euphonix in April[11]
January, Media Asset Management software

Products

Key Products
Alienbrain
DS
Avid Studio
DNxHD codec (VC-3)
ICON
iNEWS
Interplay
Media Composer
NewsCutter
Pinnacle Studio
M-Audio
Pro Tools
Sibelius
Symphony
Unity ISIS
Unity MediaNetwork
Venue
Discontinued products
CamCutter
Cinema
Elastic Reality
Media Suite Pro
Film Composer
Free DV
Liquid
Avid Matador
MCXpress
Avid Media Illusion
Videoshop
Xpress
Xpress DV
Xpress Pro
Xpress Pro Studio HD
Divested products
Softimage|XSI (now owned by Autodesk)
Pinnacle PCTV (now owned by Hauppauge Digital)
Pinnacle Studio (now owned by Corel)
M-Audio (now owned by InMusic)
Wizoo aka AIR (now owned by InMusic)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Company Profile for Avid Technology Inc. (AVID). Retrieved on 2010-06-04.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Avid Technology (AVID) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest.
  3. About Avid. Avid Technology. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved on 2009-01-16.
  4. Avid Corporate Background. Avid Technology. Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved on 2009-01-16.
  5. Apple, Working with ALE Files
  6. Russell Evans, Practical DV Filmmaking, Focal Press, 2005 ISBN 0-240-80738-3, ISBN 978-0-240-80738-6 page 13
  7. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0784374/
  8. Scott Kirsner, Inventing the Movies: Hollywood's Epic Battle Between Innovation and the Status Quo, from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs (2008) Publisher Scott Kirsner, ISBN 1-4382-0999-1, ISBN 978-1-4382-0999-9 page 84-85
  9. Avid Technology Announces Revaluation of Acquisition Charges.
  10. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8301406.html
  11. [1]

External links

  • Avid company website
This page was last modified 23.03.2014 00:11:01

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