Version 3 was released about a month ago and if you bought Media Composer after 17th March 2008 you are entitled to a free upgrade of the Media Composer software.  This offer ends tomorrow 15th July 2008.

The offer is direct from Avid not through us at DVC.  To apply you need to go to:http://www.avid.com/support/downloadcenter/upgradeOptions.asp

This will give you an upgrade to Media Composer 3, which supports more formats than version 2, has better realtime support and also will now work under Windows Vista as well as XP.

The free upgrade does not apply to all the 3rd party software such as Boris, Sorenson Squeeze and Avid DVD.  To obtain an upgrade for these items you need to buy the latest versions.  The cheapest way to do this is to buy the Media Composer upgrade for £300 (effectively the same price as you paid for your existing upgrade).

The new software with MC3 is:

Avid DVD - the same program as supplied with MC2 but now with Blu-ray writing ability, and Dolby Digital encoding.:

Avid FX  - also known as Boris Red.  This did not come with v2 and on its own is about £500.  :

Sorensen Squeeze - you will already have a version of this program and this simply updates it to the current version.:

Sonicfire Pro - just the latest version of the program you will already have.
Boris Continuum - this is version 5 and you will probably have got version 4 in your upgrade pack.  Version 5 adds a few new filters as well as support for Vista.:

Do you need to upgrade the third party applications?

We have been told that your existing software will work fine with V3 as long as you are working on Windows XP.  However if you intend to move to Vista you will need to upgrade the third party software.

If you want to know more about Media Composer 3 and the new hardware, Mojo NX and Nitris NX, then visit Avid.Com.  Alternatively you can come to our Avid open day next week on Wednesday 23rd July.  Visit here to register.