Avid Customers Create Top 10 Grossing Films of 2008

TEWKSBURY, Mass. — Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced that creative teams behind all of 2008’s most popular and most watched films worldwide, used one or more Avid products in the production process of the film. According to Box Office Mojo, these films were at the top of the worldwide box office in 2008, with combined revenue of more than $6 billion.

Production teams on last year’s most popular films such as The Dark Knight, Iron Man and Quantum of Solace used a variety of audio and video solutions from Avid, including: Avid® Media Composer® and Avid Unity™ systems for video editing; Digidesign® Pro Tools® systems for recording, editing and mixing sound; and Sibelius® 5 for music composition and scoring.
Collaborative Workflows aid Creative Freedom in the Edit Suite

Tasked with simultaneously delivering IMAX and conventional versions of the film, the post production team for The Dark Knight created a collaborative work environment with a solution comprised of Avid Media Composer editing systems running on an Avid Unity shared storage system. As a result, editors had shared access to more than three terabytes of media, including resources from the earlier Batman film, Batman Begins, to enhance the storytelling process. The film’s complex sound production, which included more than 1,000 audio tracks, was completed using six Pro Tools|HD® systems.

The Dark Knight Picture Editor Lee Smith, who was recently nominated for both an Academy Award® and A.C.E. Eddie Award for best editing said, “We try to keep technology as bulletproof as possible. These films are so complicated. We need the equipment to just be humming along. With a story like this, we had access to some of the most brilliant performances and had to be assured that when we tried something creatively that we weren’t limited by the technology. Avid makes it easy for us to make the best cut possible, every time.”

The editorial team for Quantum of Solace collaborated in post using several Avid Media Composer editing systems sharing media via two Avid Unity storage systems for picture as well as Digidesign Pro Tools systems and ICON consoles for sound mixing, and Sibelius software for music composition and scoring.

Jimmy Boyle, Sound Designer for Quantum of Solace, said, “Digidesign ICON is really the only console that talks to the Pro Tools system in detail. Other consoles try to have the same level of integration, but they just don’t do it as well. Pro Tools and ICON are the standard for us. The automation and the way you use plug-ins have become an institution. It is how we work and has helped us build a more efficient working template. Because we’re all on the same platform, we can take all of our sessions to the mixing stage with our pre-mix layouts, pans, plug-ins and balances already in place. Everyone’s speaking the same language.”

Avid is a worldwide leader in tools for film, video, audio, and broadcast professionals -- as well as for home audio and video enthusiasts. Avid professional and consumer brands include Avid, Digidesign, M-Audio®, Pinnacle Systems®, Sibelius and Sundance Digital®. The vast majority of primetime television shows, feature films, commercials and chart-topping music hits are made using one or more Avid products. Whether used by seasoned professionals or beginning students, Avid’s products and services enable customers to work more efficiently, productively and creatively. Avid received an Oscar® statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy® and Emmy® award-winning products and services, visit www.avid.com, del.icio.us, Flickr, twitter and YouTube; connect with Avid on Facebook or subscribe to Avid Industry Buzz.