Avid Technology: История и развитие цифрового монтажа

American multimedia technology company
the technology and multimedia company

Avid Technology, Inc. is an American technology and multimedia company that develops digital non linear editing (NLE) systems, video editing software, audio editing software, music notation software and management and distribution services. It is based in Burlington, Massachusetts, and was founded in August 1987 by Bill Warner. Avid products are used in the television and video industry to create television shows, feature films, and commercials. Media Composer, a professional non linear editing system, is Avid's flagship product.

Avid was founded by Bill Warner, a former marketing manager from Apollo Computer. A prototype of their first non linear editing system, the Avid/1 Media Composer, was shown at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in April 1988. The Avid/1 was based on an Apple Macintosh II computer, with special hardware and software of Avid's design installed. The Avid/1 was "the biggest shake up in editing since Melies played with time and sequences in the early 1900s". 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 a 30fps NTSC rate, then used Avid MediaMatch to generate a negative cutlist from the EDL. 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). In 1994 Avid introduced Open Media Framework (OMF) as an open standard file format for sharing media and related metadata. In the past, Avid released Avid Free DV, a free edition of Media Composer with limited functionality; Xpress DV, a consumer edition of Media Composer; and Xpress Pro, a prosumer edition of Media Composer. These editions were discontinued in 2008 as the flagship Media Composer was lowered in price. 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. In February 2018, Avid appointed Jeff Rosica as CEO, after terminating Louis Hernandez Jr, who was accused of workplace misconduct. In May 2023, Reuters reported that Avid was exploring selling the company. In August 2023, Avid Technology entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of STG for $1.4 billion, which was finalized three months later.

In 1993, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awarded Avid Technology and all of the company's initial employees with a technical Emmy award for Outstanding Engineering Development for the Avid Media Composer video editing system. On March 21, 1999, at the 71st Academy Awards, Avid Technology Inc. was awarded an Oscar for the concept, system design and engineering of the Avid Film Composer for motion picture editing which was accepted by founder Bill Warner.

Acquired Company DetailsSold1994EditDroidA computerized analog non linear editing (NLE) system which was developed by Lucasfilm spin off company. 1993 DiVA Corporation developer of Videoshop, Quicktime based home video editing software 1994 Digidesign developer of Pro Tools, digital audio workstation, and Venue, brand of digital mixing consoles Basys ITN's newsroom computer and automation system (from Digital Equipment Corporation), then implemented into iNews in 2001 Newsview Novell based newsroom computer system 1995 Elastic Reality, Inc. developer of Elastic Reality, morphing software Parallax Software developer of Matador, Illusion and Jester, ink and paint software 1998Softimage developer of Softimage3D, 3D graphics software (previously subsidiary of Microsoft)2008 (to Autodesk) NewStar strategic alliance Avstar with Grass Valley—then owners of Lightworks 2000 Motion Factory developer of interactive 3D software for games and the Web Pluto Technology DDR playback servers 2002 iKnowledge developer of Active Content Manager, newsroom management software 2003 Rocket Networks private sharing network technology for Internet collaboration, then implemented in Digidelivery, encrypted file transfer system2007 (to Aspera) 2004 NXNMedia Asset Management software componentsBomb Factory audio plug ins developer M Audio audio interfaces and equipment manufacturer2012 (to inMusic) 2005Pinnacle Systemsdigital video hardware and software manufacturer2012 (to Corel) Wizoo virtual instrument, plug in effect and sample library designer; developed AIR (Advanced Instrument Research), series of plug ins and virtual instruments subsequently included in Pro Tools2012 (to inMusic) 2006 Medéa Corporation high speed RAID storage manufacturer Sundance Digital broadcast automation softwareSibelius Software developer of Sibelius, notation software Maximum Throughput developer of MAXedit, visual effects editing software 2010 Blue Order Solutions AGMedia asset management softwareEuphonix digital mixing console and control surface manufacturer; EuCon protocols were integrated into Pro Tools; the Artist Series and System 5 Family were added to Avid control surfaces2012Rocket Networkprovides online music recording studios 2015 Orad Systems developer of 3D real time graphics and video servers products, then integrated into the MediaCentral Platform