The Government Video Update

Government Video Doesn't Always Have To Be Serious

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:37:00 GMT

A team of Avid customers at the Idaho State Police have been working with Avid systems since the mid 1990s. They have the ability to take the most mundane subjects (vehicle inspections and the handling of hazardous materials) and turn them into very entertaining videos. They spoof Jerry Springer, home shopping channels, red carpet interviews and more. You can see a highlight reel from the Idaho State Police Multimedia Group on their website. Today, the Idaho State Police work on 2 Macintosh-based Media Composers with a Unity MediaNetwork providing the shared storage.

Join us at Avid's DC Roadshow

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:02:00 GMT

Avid is hosting its New Thinking Road Show in Washington, DC on Wednesday, June 4th from 6:30pm to 9:30pm. This is a great chance to get an up-close look at Avid's new Media Composer 3.0 software and the new Mojo DX and Nitris DX hardware. The Avid Government Solutions team will be there and we look forward to meeting you.

When:
Wednesday, June 4th
6:30pm to 9:30pm

Where:
The Ronald Reagan Building Rotunda Room
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC.

You can reserve your seat for Avid's DC Roadshow by clicking here.

Hope to see you there!

Remembering Military Communicators Who've Paid the Ultimate Price

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT

I recently had the honor of attending the 2008 Defense Communicators of Excellence Awards. The annual competition, hosted at the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Fort Meade, Maryland, honors the best military journalists, graphic artists, photographers, videographers and broadcast journalists.

At the end of this year's ceremony, they played a video honoring Department of Defense communicators who've paid the ultimate price for freedom. More than 100 communicators have died in action since DINFOS was founded in 1946, including 9 who have died in the War on Terror.

As we celebrate Memorial Day with our families, it's important to take a moment to remember why we really observe this holiday – to remember those brave men and women who have died defending our freedom.

This video, produced by the Defense Information School, remembers the heroes who have lived and died for their craft.

NASA "First Robots" Competition Promo

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:02:00 GMT

Avid Community member "Gelf" was asked to create a promo for NASA TV, promoting the First Robots competition. Here's the promo, created in one day with the help of Jump Backs, some 3D animation and a Media Composer.

Death of the Little Weight Lifter Guy (And Other Media Composer Interface Changes)

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:46:00 GMT

When Media Composer 3.0 ships next month, you'll notice a few changes to the interface. They're minor changes, designed to make it easier for new Avid editors to quickly identify the intended purpose of particular icons. For veteran Avid editors, there's one change in particular that will be met with a bit of sadness: the death of the iconic "lift" icon. The weight lifter icon is going away.

Greg Staten has written a great post on the Media Composer 3.0 interface changes. The last line to his post is the best: "My apologies to those of you out there who will miss the little guy. He's on his way to the place where the purple triangle lives." (For new Avid customers... the purple triangle refers to the old Avid logo that joined the iconic graveyard in the late 90's.)

Update your Avid software even if your system isn't connected to the Internet

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Thu, 15 May 2008 00:39:00 GMT

We were visiting a customer last week who had not updated their Media Composer software for quite some time, since their Media Composers were not connected to the Internet. The good news is you don't have to have your Media Composer online to get the latest software. If you have a valid Support Contract and have registered with the Avid Download Center, you can download your software on any Internet-connected computer. Just save the software to a thumb drive, pop it into your edit system and install the updates.

If you're a Government customer and you don't have a thumb drive, I can help with that too! I have shiny new 1GB Avid thumb drives for the first 40 next 22 government customers who send me a message including their name, government email address and government mailing address.

SubCap Tool Makes Open Captions Easy

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:07:00 GMT

We've been on the road for the past couple of weeks. First it was Las Vegas, where we unveiled the new Media Composer 3.0 software, which Avid will be shipping in June. Then we spent a week at the 2008 Department of Defense Visual Information Conference in Baltimore. At both shows, one of the features Avid Government customers were most excited about was the SubCap Tool, which will be shipping with Media Composer 3.0 in June.

The SubCap Tool lets you easily create on-screen subtitles for Section 508 compliance, or for visual translations of foreign dialog. You drop the SubCap tool on your top-most video track and then point it to an EBU-N19 formatted subtitle log file (.STL). You can set the font size, color and placement. Hit play and you have real-time open captions. You can also use the SubCap Tool to create subtitles from scratch, if you don't already have a log file. When you're done, you can export a subtitle file (.STL) for quick creation of subtitles in DVD authoring applications.

Click here for a quick demo of the new SubCap Tool.

The SubCap Tool will be included with Media Composer 3.0, which will be available for download in June for current Media Composer customers with Support contracts. Avid Xpress Pro customers can upgrade and download Media Composer 3.0 for $318 on Avid's GSA Schedule, or purchase a box with documentation and third-party applications for $399. Upgrades are also available from Avid Xpress DV and Avid Liquid. For more information, contact the Avid Government Solutions Team at 800-497-2843.

View Video Examples from Avid Government Editors

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:13:00 GMT

I was browsing through the Avid Community Videos this morning and found some great video postings from Avid Government Customers.

Michael, a combat videographer from Shaw AFB posted this video of the Air Force Threat Management Group Training at Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Jeff Pierce from the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida has posted a video of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court's high-tech courtroom.
Larry Rubin, the Senior Editor at the Pentagon Channel posted a video commemorating the anniversary of D-Day last year.

If you're an Avid editor in the Government, post your videos to the Avid Community and then send me comment so I can highlight your video here on the Government Video Update.

This Blog on Your iPhone

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:37:00 GMT

The iPhone Atlas blog has a posting today about a cool free service that turns RSS feeds into iPhone web apps.

You simply enter an RSS feed URL, press the "generate app" button, and voila! Instant iPhone web app from any RSS feed.

Here's the Government Video Update Blog iPhone Web App.

There is a one slight problem with the app... All postings are dated Wednesday, December 31st, 1969. But other than that, it's a pretty slick service to automatically reformat RSS feeds so they're easier to read on the iPhone, and take advantage of Web App CSS features, such as sliding screens between the headlines and the actual blog postings.

Learn More for Less: One Year of Media Composer Training

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:33:00 GMT

A full year of online Media Composer training is now more affordable than ever. The GSA price for 12-months of online Media Composer training has been cut in half, from $997 to $499. Those classes are delivered through the Avid Learning Excellerator, or Alex. The Avid Media Composer Complete Level-2 Subscription includes the following courses:

Fundamentals of Television
Editing with Avid Media Composer
Introduction to Media Composer Effects
Setting Up Mojo-Based Systems
Setting Up Adrenaline-Based Systems
Troubleshooting Avid Editing Systems
Creating Graphics and Mattes for Avid Editing Systems
Introduction to Color Correction
Introduction to Avid Marquee
Input and Output Essentials
Creating with Avid 3D
Creating with Avid FX
Creating with Pro Tools LE
Creating with Avid DVD by Sonic

You can find more information on ALEX, and can even take a free Avid training course by visiting http://learn.avid.com.

The Avid Media Composer Complete Level-2 Subscription is available on Avid's GSA Schedule GS-35F-0638J for $499. Please call the Avid Government Solutions team at 800-497-2843 or 202-756-2251 for a GSA price quote or to place your order.

Avid Xpress Pro Being Discontinued. Media Composer Now More Affordable Than Ever.

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:00:00 GMT

The government video community was buzzing last week about the announced merger of Xpress Pro and Media Composer software. On June 30th of this year, Avid Xpress Pro will no longer be available. Media Composer software is now available for ~~$2995~~ $2495, less than half the previous price. Avid Xpress Pro customers can upgrade to Media Composer software for only $495. For federal government customers purchasing from Avid's GSA Schedule, the savings are even greater – $419 for the upgrade and $2111 for a new copy of Media Composer. Discounts are also available for customers purchasing multiple copies.

There are some great reasons to upgrade, not the least of which is that Media Composer includes Boris Continuum Complete, $1995 worth of powerful effects software.

Federal government customers who want to purchase the upgrade or a new copy of Media Composer software, should call 1-800-497-AVID or email government@avid.com.

Using Panasonic P2 with Avid Media Composer

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:59:00 GMT

There are five new workflow tutorials that walk you through the basics of working with Panasonic P2 on Avid Media Composer 2.7 and later. They were created by Steve Holyhead and you can find them on YouTube by clicking on the following links:

1. Introduction

2. Frame Rates & Formats

3. Access & Edit

4. Protecting P2 Assets

5. Output

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:05:00 GMT

You can help our troops call home by donating a new or used cell phone, with or without a battery. Having spent time in the gulf during the first Gulf War, I know how difficult it can be to phone home.

The Cell Phones for Soldiers program will accept your new or used cell phone no matter what the condition.

You can drop off your phone at more than 1,800 AT&T stores across the United States.

To learn more, please visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

HHS Invests in New Facility to Meet Expanded Mission

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:34:00 GMT

The US Department of Health and Human Services recently completed a major upgrade of its television facility, resulting in an end-to-end file-based workflow. The upgrade is the topic of the cover story in the January issue of Government Video Magazine.

Chad Heupel, the HHS-TV Chief Engineer, says as part of the new facility, video ingest and editing is done on six Avid Media Composer Adrenaline systems.

"We have them divided into two ingest areas," Heupel said. "Each ingest area has an Adrenaline system and is equipped to handle whatever format people might bring in, such as VHS, DVD, Beta SP, DigiBeta, DVCAM, DVCPRO, and XDCAM, which is our primary shooting format at HHS. The video is ingested at 1:1 onto the Unity Network and is edited in one of our four Avid Adrenaline suites. With the ingest stations and Avid suites, we have the ability to have six Avids working on projects at once, which gives us tremendous editing capabilities in times of emergency."

You can read the complete story here.

Registering Sorenson Squeeze Without an Internet Connection

Ed_Jose@avid.com (Avid Technology, Inc.) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:49:00 GMT

When you install Sorenson Squeeze, the software needs to connect to the Internet to complete the installation process. If your Avid system is not connected to the Internet, you can still register your software. Click here for the registration instructions.