Avid Technology
Avid Technology, Inc NASDAQ: AVID is an American company specializing in video and audio production technology; specifically, digital non-linear media editing (NLE) systems, management and distribution services. It was created in 1987 and became a publicly traded company in 1993. Avid is headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
History
Founded by a marketing manager from Apollo Computer, Inc., William J. 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.
A version of the nonlinear editing software was developed by George Lucas, titled the “Edit Droid.” This software was later bought by Avid.
At the NAB show in April of 1989, the Avid/1 was publicly introduced. 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. In 1994 only two 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.
Avid products are now used in the industry to create television shows, feature films, and commercials. Avid has released home versions of their professional line of editors, such as their Xpress DV and Avid Free DV.
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 towards the storage and management of media files, and in 2006 Avid launched new products such as Avid Interplay and Unity Isis.
Products
- Avid Videoshop
- Avid MCXpress – Avid’s first editing product for the Windows platform
- Avid Free DV
- Avid Liquid
- Avid Xpress
- Xpress DV
- Xpress Pro
- Xpress Pro Studio HD
- Film Composer
- Media Composer software
- Media Composer Adrenaline HD
- NewsCutter
- NewsCutter XP
- NewsCutter Adrenaline
- Avid AirPlay
- Avid DS Nitris
- Avid Symphony
- Unity MediaNetwork
- DNxHD codec
- Softimage XSI
- Alienbrain
- Avid iNews
- Avid Interplay
- Avid Unity ISIS
Notable discontinued products:
- Avid Cinema (for Apple MacOS) – discontinued [1]
- Avid Matador (2001)
- Avid Media Illusion (2001)
- Avid Elastic Reality (2001)
Acquisitions
- 1994: Digidesign (makers of Pro Tools).
- 1994: Basys (ITN’s newsrooms system sold to DEC then Avid).
- 1995: Elastic Reality, Inc. (makers of Elastic Reality morphing software).
- 1995: Parallax Software Limited and 3 Space Software Limited (together “Parallax Software”). (makers of Matador, Illusion and Jester (ink-and-paint software)).
- 1998: Softimage, from Microsoft.
- 1998: Create strategic alliance with Tektronix – then owners of Lightworks.
- 2000: The Motion Factory.
- 2000: Pluto Technology.
- 2001: iNEWS.
- 2002: iKnowledge.
- 2003: Rocket Networks.
- 2004: NXN.
- 2004, January: Bomb Factory.
- 2004, August: M-Audio.
- 2005, April: Pinnacle Systems.
- 2005, August: Wizoo.
- 2006, January: Medéa Corporation.
- 2006, April: Sundance Digital.
- 2006, August: Sibelius Software
