Symphony 6.5

System requirements

For optimal performance and reliability, be sure that your computer or laptop meets the following minimum system requirements for Media Composer 6.5, Symphony 6.5, or NewsCutter1 10.5 software.

Important: Avid dedicates a significant amount of engineering resources and time to test and qualify specific platform configurations. Please note that we cannot provide support should you choose to use a non-Avid-qualified system.

Windows

  • Computer:  Avid-qualified Windows-based computer2
  • OS: Windows 7 Professional SP1 (64-bit) (Still need 32-bit? Learn more about Media Composer 5.5)
  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz processor or faster
  • Memory: 4 GB of RAM (6+ GB recommended); 16+ GB of RAM recommended for Stereoscopic and other high performance workflows
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro FX family3 (FX 560 or higher)
  • Internal hard drive: Minimum 80 GB 7200 rpm hard disk

Mac OS X

  • Computer: Avid-qualified Mac-based computer2
  • OS: Mac OS X Lion and Mountain Lion (64-bit) (Still need 32-bit? Learn more about Media Composer 5.5)
  • Processor: Intel Dual or Intel Dual Core 2.66 GHz Xeon processor or faster, or Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz processor or faster (laptops)
  • Memory: 4 GB of RAM (6+ GB recommended); 16+ GB of RAM recommended for Stereoscopic and other high performance workflows
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce family3 (recommended) or ATI Radeon family (as supported by Apple)
  • Internal hard drive: Minimum 80 GB 7200 rpm hard disk

Additional compatibility information

  • QuickTime: Avid has tested and qualified Apple QuickTime X for Mac users and QuickTime 7.6.9 for Windows users.
  • Windows Media Player: Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 is required to export certain formats and to work with VC-1 material.

  1. Please note that NewsCutter is available for Windows only.
  2. Uncompressed video on laptops is limited to one stream of uncompressed SD video, except for Windows-based Intel Core i7 laptops (Quad Core with Hyper-Threading) with eSata external storage, which can play multiple streams of 1:1 uncompressed SD.
  3. NVIDIA cards are recommended; full-screen playback requires a minimum of 128 MB of graphics memory.

Specifications

Media specifications

See a table of all Media Composer family supported formats

Native codec support

See all supported native codecs

Uncompressed SD and HD video

See all uncompressed SD and HD video specifications

Supported project formats

See all supported project formats

File-based support

See all supported file formats

Supported audio and video plug-in formats

See all supported file formats

What's included

Symphony

(software only)
  • Symphony software—Edit and finish HD, SD, and stereoscopic 3D material
  • Avid DVD—Author DVDs
  • Avid FX—Create and animate titles, effects, transitions, and more
  • Boris Continuum Complete—Create stunning visual effects
  • Sorenson Squeeze—Optimize and deliver content
  • FilmScribe —Export film metadata
  • EDL Manager—Export timecode metadata
  • Log Exchange—Convert shot logs into ALE files
  • MediaLog—Manage logging and metadata
  • User guides and other documentation

Symphony Artist

(hardware/software bundle)
  • PCIe Host Interface board—Connects the interface to your computer
  • One year of Avid Expert Plus support

Symphony System

(complete turnkey system)
  • Everything in Symphony software
  • Nitris DX accelerated hardware interface*
  • One or two (optional) DNxHD and/or AVC-Intra chips for Nitris DX (two chips maximum)
  • Artist Color control surface
  • PCIe Host Interface board—Connects the interface to your computer
  • One year of Avid Expert Plus support

HP Z800 Workstation (2nd Generation):

Dual 6-Core Xenon 2.66 GHz, Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-bit), 320 GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 rpm system drive, 6 GB system memory, NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800,
1 GB PCIe graphics adapter

* Please note that the Universal Mastering feature in Symphony is only available when used with Nitris DX. Additional DNxHD and AVC-Intra chips for Nitris DX are available for separate purchase.