New Communication from Avid

[Gary Bettan]

This was posted on the Avid lists and forums today. Lots of big news.

Gary

Hi everyone......

First of all......... Happy St. Paddy's day.

There was quite a bit of news to share with the key influencers and press on Friday in anticipation of todays news. I see that BlkDog has already mentoned some of the hot items...

1. We are merging the Avid Xpress Pro software into the Avid Media Composer product line AND offering Xpress Pro users a great upgrade path to the Media Composer software. Existing Avid Xpress Pro customers can upgrade to Avid Media Composer Software for $495 US MSRP.

Note: we will continue to sell Avid Xpress Pro through the end of Q2 2008 and we will offer support for Avid Xpress Pro through March 17th 2013.

2. We are also reducing the price of the Avid Media Composer Software by 50%!!!! We have established a new price point of $2495 US MSRP for Avid Media Composer Software. Customers that purchased at the older price point of $4995 after 2/1/08 may contact Avid sales for information. I believe there will be a web page for customers with questions on this and I will report back once I know.

3. New Student Edu pricing for the Media Composer Software - Chris has verified that pricing of $295 US MSRP.

*** I listed US MSRP so please check with your local office for pricing outside of the US.

News not mentioned ........

4. A new and exciting online community :) As you noticed this morning a new community is emerging at www.community.avid.com Not only has the web team updated the Forums—which have recently grown to over 50,000 registered members—but they have combined them with a ton of new ways to connect and engage with the Avid Community.

Pif, Kevin Mic, Megan, Adam, Chris, Tony, Kevin C., Doug and company have been very busy working to create a new place for you to engage and communicate.

With this phase, you can now..........

- Rate your fellow community members’ video uploads or add a comment to any tip and tutorial. Better yet, respond to one of the many blog posts.

- Browse newly updated sections - Tips and Tutorials, submitted by Avid customers or the new Training Blog, with workflow videos from Avid Training Services that are free. When you’ve found what works for you, leave a comment and invite your friends to voice their own opinions.

This is JUST THE BEGINNING. We have several more phases coming over the next months with additioinal sections, functionality and upgrades.

IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!! All feedback, suggestions, etc. on www.community.avid.com should be posted to the Forum Issues and Suggestions forum.

5. A new enhanced support offering online - Knowledge Base. Some of you have been using this already and provided great feedback to help us improve on the new Knowledge Base. The redesigned Web tool has dramatically improved the type of technical information available to Avid support customers, allowing users to seek more accurate and personalized answers to important product and service queries, 24/7. Prior to launching the new site, Avid technical experts reviewed and updated more than 10,000 pieces of content with the goal of making it easier for customers to search for relevant information and effectively resolve technical issues.

Thanks all and let me know if you have any questions on anything released of discussed online. I would be happy to clarify if need be.

I expect to be slammed with questions and calls so be patient and I will be back..... the moderators can also answer most of the questions and they can reach me if it is critical.

Marianna

For more info check out the Avid community website http://community.avid.com/

We hope to have all our Avid pages updated on Videoguys http://www.videoguys.com/avid.html by the ends of the day. The new pricing is in effect immediately.

[Richard Alvarez]

Thanks Gary, we've got another thread going in the AVID forum. I don't actually SEE a purchase/download link on any of the websites. Exactly when will this be available? Will the upgrade include any manuals/discs or is it going to be download only?

Thanks

[Michael Horton]

Exactly where is this post from Marianna?

[Richard Alvarez]

The post from Mariana is IN the link Gary provided, on the forum, and on the other post in the Avid section from here.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...d837679fe95bb6

[Gary Bettan]

upgrades include full docs and 3rd party software.

http://www.videoguys.com/mcfamily.html

Gary

[Simon Wyndham]

. We are merging the Avid Xpress Pro software into the Avid Media Composer product line

Long overdue. I've been expecting such an announcement for a long time.