“But Methot, associate professor of visual and media arts at Emerson College in Boston, hasn’t touched Media Composer in years, and neither do the students in his classes. He teaches video editing with Final Cut Pro, a program created by Apple Inc. that’s become a major rival to Media Composer,” Bray reports.
“‘The investment to get into a Final Cut system seems to be quite a bit less than even a low-end Avid,’ said Methot. Yet Final Cut Pro is so good, it’s used to edit major Hollywood films like this year’s Oscar winner, ‘No Country For Old Men,’” Bray reports.
“Last month, Avid struck back by slashing the price of Media Composer from $5,000 to $2,500. Perhaps more significantly, Avid introduced an academic version, available to college students for just $295. Final Cut Pro is hugely popular in college video-editing courses, and Avid’s academic pricing is a bid to ensure that the editors of the future are comfortable with Avid software as well,” Bray reports.
“Meanwhile, Avid’s also eager to capitalize on the surging popularity of amateur video production. In 2005, the company spent $462 million to acquire Pinnacle Systems, the leading maker of home video editing software. Yet Avid CEO Gary Greenfield acknowledged that Avid is only breaking even in its home video business, and revenue in that segment declined slightly last year,” Bray reports.
More in the full article here.
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