Software Review: AVID Media Composer First

The leading professional video editing software launches a free version of its Media Composer tool. How good is it? Review by Tom Atkinson (@r3digital) for Tech Trends

Now this was one announcement that genuinely caught me by surprise; Avid — yes the behemoth of the professional video editing world — giving away Media Composer. Even considering this was as a pared-down version of the software package, the fact that Media Composer First is now available to anyone who wants to learn to edit in Avid is a big deal.

For decades now, it was impossible to use the software without forking out for the very expensive subscription costs for their pro-level packages. Working as a post-production facilities manager, producer and editor over the past 17 years or so I’ve developed something of a love-hate relationship with them, as they are certainly the dominant industry standard, offering very capable pro level NLE solutions. Yet their software is fickle, sometimes buggy, and every update seems to cause more problems than it solves. Plus, they’re very picky about the hardware, drivers and codecs they like to play with, more on this later.

Like a thoroughbred racehorse, Avid needs careful and patient management to perform at its best. You could never install it on a computer and expect it to just work, even dedicated workstations…