On Friday, a bunch of us heard from Chief Marketing Officer Greg Estes about some of Avid's new decisions regarding their product line.

Avid Xpress Pro will be End of Life this quarter leaving only MC Soft in the software only line. The cost of MC Soft will be dropped by 50% to 2,495 and Avid will be offering very special incentives to schools and students.

Don't have the numbers in front of me but I believe the education price was [EDIT] $295.00. More education incentives are going to be announced soon.

There are more announcements on the horizon. Some very exciting changes. Stay tuned.

We all knew it was coming, glad to see it's happened. It's not an easy move to slash the price of your flagship product like that, but it was do or die and Avid's done. Now let's see them pour their resources into making Media Composer the unquestionable leader it should be.

Excellent news, well done Avid for listening,

Do we have an upgrade price to MC from XPRO ?

I believe the upgrade price, as reported in the press, is $495, $249 for academic.

I have already e-mailed our promotions director. They cut on an XpressPro, and we are just now upgrading to Dell 490's. I think we simply have to push to get that system on MC. Even with an analog Mojo, it would be a nice step up.

If that isn't listening to the user base then I don't know what is. Nice job Avid. Media Composer is bound to become even stronger and more versatile as a result. It was well worth the wait. Thanks!!! -adam5000

 Hi and thanks for the positive feedback. Just wanted to clarify that the academic pricing of Media Composer is $295 USMSRP and not $249.  This is available to any student at an accredited college or university with a student id and can be purchased through their local bookstore or Avid reseller.

Yep, sorry 'bout that. Tried quoting the prices from memory....

Nice upgrade price to MC. Well done all around Avid.

 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

813-493-6800

 

 

 

 Regarding the upgrade price from Xpress Pro to Media Composer:

Is $495 the upgrade price for only the most recent version of Xpress Pro?  Our company purposely delayed upgrading our Xpress Pro from 5.2.4 to 5.8 until the announcement was made--there wasn't enough to gain in the upgrade if Xpress was going to be EOL.  Should users of Xpress 5.2 expect to pay more? 

Please let me know so I can put in a request for the appropriate funds.

 

Otherwise, thanks Marianna, thanks Blkdog, and thanks Avid for all the recent improvements.  Exciting times!

 

Michael.

I think this is a great move by Avid . . . definitely a step in the right direction.

Since AXP is going away and MC's price is being cut in half, what are the odds that plug-ins like Gen Arts Sapphire will come down in price since they have different prices for AXP and MC.

 Butcher......

All versions of Avid Xpress Pro qualify.  

HTH

Marianna

 You're the best Marianna.  Thanks.

One last question--I haven't seen a date for when these price cuts/upgrades will start.  Has one been set?

Thanks again.

 

Michael.

YES!!!!

I can't wait to tell my Final Cut loving director the news tonight.  Avid has come back to play ball.  Let me know when I can upgrade. =)

Kudos to the web team and the folks hard at work at Avid making things happen! The site looks terrific and is a great start to what sounds like an evolution to a rich media enhanced forum experience. It was so great to hear new announcements about Media Composer pricing and this new forum design come out today! Just what the doctor ordered!

I would like to add that the pricing on Media Composer Academic ($295) is also available to faculty members and schools and organizations (libraries, non-profits, museums) as well as students. This is an incredible price! Getting Avid into the hands of the academic community at this low price is going to get the ball back rolling in Avid's direction. Way to respond Avid!

 Are the details of the Edu pricing published yet?  What defines Non-Profit, or more specifically, what documentation is required?