Avid Makes An Unexpected Maneuver And Releases Avid Studio For iPad
February 3, 2012
Avid, one of the top providers of audio and video editing software, hasn't been a company too worried about competing on the Mac OS side of the fence. However, there are a few occasions and today's Avid product release is an interesting one, going toe-to-toe with Apple's consumer level video editing app. Now available in the App Store, Avid Studio for iPad is the tablet-friendly version of the company's Avid Studio for PC, just like iMovie for iOS is to the Mac OS version of iMovie.
Avid Studio for iOS provides similar features and works in much of the same way as iMovie for iOS. The graphical user interface consists of a timeline separated into tracks at the bottom of the screen, media (photos, videos, and audio) in the top-left and the preview pane in the top-right with multi-touch gestures support to move and edit media.
In addition, Avid Studio for iOS has equal import and export options. The app allows importing of previously created media stored on your iDevice or live capturing of new content. Projects can be exported as standard high-definition videos to be used on YouTube, Facebook, etc, or transferred as contained projects to be further edited using the desktop version of the app.
Despite all of those similarities, Avid Studio for iOS appears to incorporate even more of the desktop features than iMovie for iOS, which is trimmed down to themes and very basic editing tools. The Avid Studio for iOS features that caught my eye include:
• Quickly create multi-layer 3D animations, transitions, and titles with included Montage templates
• Easily composite video tracks to create layered looks
• Add high-quality fades and dissolves to help your story flow
• Generate professional-looking motion titles and graphics with full control over text, font, color, size, position, and rotation
• Create amazing Picture-in-Picture effects with full control over position, size, and rotation
• Pan and zoom on your photos to create high-impact slideshows
• Trim audio to any length, set levels, and fade audio in or out
Before I leave you to pondering your purchase, I'll make a couple of mentions. Early App Store reviews indicate the app crashes a lot, especially when used on the first generation iPad. Perhaps, that's why Apple won't officially allow iMovie for iOS on the original iPad. We're working to get a hands-on comparison but if you've already taken the dive, please feel free to share your opinions in the comments.
Avid Studio for iOS is compatible with iPad running iOS 5.0 or later, and available in the App Store for $4.99. The Avid Studio App Importer is available for download as an Avid Studio for PC enhancement.