Avid is planning to release a free DV editing program this year! It sounds like it will be a "streamlined" version of XPressDV, with 2 video/4 audio tracks, and basic trimming/cutting and effects.

Here's the official website (http://www.avid.com/avidfreedv), and the press release is below.

Avid Announces Free DV Editing Software

Avid Free DV Enables Easy Introduction to Avid Family
San Francisco, CA - January 7, 2002 - At the Macworld 2003 Expo (booth #2239), Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced Avid. Free DV - a free, DV-only version of its award-winning video editing software.

Planned for both Macintosh OS X and Windows XP platforms, this streamlined video editing software enables anyone to step into the Avid product family and to learn the industry-standard interface and toolset used by more professionals than any other video editing solution.

"We're delighted to offer this software to anyone who is interested in digital video editing. Now millions of new DV camera owners, students and aspiring filmmakers can benefit from access to the same kind of editing tools used by the pros and tap into eleven generations of innovation from Avid with absolutely no risk," said Steve Chazin, manager of product marketing for Avid Technology. "Avid Free DV is based on the same technology used to create feature films, television shows and commercials. It's an easy, fun, and free way to experiment with video editing before scaling up to any one of Avid's professional editing products, which offer much more advanced capabilities within the same familiar interface."

"We've seen tremendous success with the free software products we've released from different divisions within our business," said Chas Smith, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for Avid. "Our free version of Digidesign. Pro Tools. software has already been downloaded more than 1.4 million times, and we hope to put Avid Free DV in the hands of even more video enthusiasts."

Avid Free DV is a streamlined version of Avid's award-winning video editing software with capabilities that include two video tracks, four audio tracks, basic trimming and editing functionality, and up to two streams of real-time effects. When Avid Free DV users are ready for even more horsepower, they can step up to Avid's professional line of products, including Avid Xpress. DV software and Media Composer. systems, and take advantage of the fully functional Avid editing interface and toolset.

Avid Free DV is scheduled to be available in Q2 2003. For more information, please visit www.avid.com/avidfreedv.



About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid Technology, Inc. delivers the solutions that Make, Manage and Move Media(tm). As a recognized digital standard for professionals who Make the world's media -- from video, audio and film to animation, special effects and streaming media -- Avid's products are used to make more television and news shows, commercials, music videos and CDs, corporate/industrial productions and major motion pictures combined than any other nonlinear editing manufacturer in the world. Building on its award-winning heritage, which includes several Emmy. awards as well as an Oscar. statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design and engineering of the Avid Film Composer. system for motion picture editing, Avid is extending its reach by redefining how digital media is shared, stored and distributed. To Manage today's increasingly rich collection of dynamic media, Avid provides powerful servers, networks and media tools to help customers search files, share media and collaborate on new productions, both locally and globally. Avid's solutions also empower users to easily Move media, whether on air, over cable or satellite or through the Internet. Like no other media company today, Avid's end-to-end solutions span the continuum of media creation, management and distribution. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Tewksbury, MA. More information about the company is available at www.avid.com.

(c) 2003 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product specifications and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, Avid Xpress, Digidesign, Pro Tools, Film Composer, Media Composer and Make, Manage and Move Media are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Original source: DV.com (http://www.dv.com/news/news_item.jhtml;jsessionid=00BLUP3GQYRYIQSNDBCCKHSCJUMEKJVN?category=Industry%20News&LookupId=/xml/news/01.07.03.avid.freedv)

Thanks very much for that, Alex. I'm sure many members will be interested.

Pretty funny, eh? Apple releases FC Express for $299, Avid releases a free editor. It will be interesting to see what this versions real limitations are.

Adobe announced today at MacWorld that a free version of Premiere will be available 1Q of 2003. Looks like they are all getting into the act.

Jeff

Adobe announced today at MacWorld that a free version of Premiere will be available 1Q of 2003. Looks like they are all getting into the act.

Jeff

I guess it was only a matter of time.. the Maya Personal Edition was a huge hit, and they mentioned a free version of Pro Tools in the press release. It's probably a really good way of curbing software piracy and promoting their products.

This is interesting, because it shows how closely connected home computing and proffesional software is getting. Imagine anything like this happening 10 or even 5 years ago!

The internet and broadband access makes these trials possible. Without a cheap means of distribution the costs out weigh the benefits.

jeff

I thinks its all an example of how important the prosumer has become to the bottom line. Especially to AVID, who sat on their high end bottoms(sorry) while the prosumer market bloomed and expanded without them. Now they are playing "catch up" to FCP, who is constantly approaching AVID's high end capabilities at lower cost.

Giving away the "free" version of AVID compared to a "cheaper" version of FCP might just be the smartest move AVID has made so far. In terms of marketing however, "first" is always a good thing. FCExpress will be out before Avid Free DV... so it's a close race to establish market share.

From prelim reposts, FC Express has a little more capabilities than FreeDv, but then, is it 300 dollars worth? The Free DV will be cross-platform.. which is a big marketing plus.

If FCExpress ran on PC, I might spend some dollars to test drive it, but as it is... I'll stick with my initial investments in PC and AVID. If I want to move to MAC later, I can...

Time will tell... interesting strategies, and in the end, we win.

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Adobe announced today at MacWorld that a free version of Premiere will be available 1Q of 2003. Looks like they are all getting into the act.

Jeff -->>>

Does anyone have verification/details on the free version of Premiere? The Adobe people I've contacted don't know about it.

Thanks,

bd

I haven't heard any more about it since that day. It was reported (as a fact, not rumor or editorial) on a Mac web site and may have been in error. i've not been able to find it this evening to provide a link. It may have been retracted or reported in error. Sorry for any confusion. It may still happen, but at a later date. Adobe may be taking a wait and see attitude about FCX and the free AVID software.

Just as a note, I don't think they are very far along the development path for the Free Avid XP product.

Soon is always relative in software development.

Thanks, Jeff. I'll keep poking around and post what I find.

bd

I checked with the Adobe rep at the NY DV show today, who said that they're definitely not planning a free version of Premiere. (Bummer!)

bd

But hey guys... AVID DV is going to issue a free version! (But not till the third quarter... so what, like September?

Bill, if you're at the NY DV Show, please stop by the Pro-Tape booth and see me... it would be great to meet you!

<<<-- Originally posted by BillAngstrom : But hey guys... AVID DV is going to issue a free version! (But not till the third quarter... so what, like September? -->>>

Yes, Avid confirmed that they'll have a free version, available "late Q2."

And, hey Chris. It was good meeting you there at the show! Small world!

bd

Hopefully Avid's free software won't be as troublesome as Protools Free was. It had a big limitation of the time: Windows 98 only. It would have been a better system on Windows 2000. It had a lot of compatibility issues with soundcards. Hopefully Avid will streamline their software better. A buggy program, free or not, won't keep buyers excited about spending 1600 on the real thing.