New Generation of Storytellers Choosing Avid ‘First’ Creative Tools to Build Skills for Success in Music, TV and Film

Avid® (Nasdaq: AVID), a leading global media technology provider for the creation, distribution, and monetization of media assets for global media organizations, enterprise users and individual creative professionals, today announced strong uptake from new users across the globe for its First family of creative tools, that are empowering a new generation of aspiring storytellers. To date, more than half a million individuals have embraced Pro Tools® | First and Media Composer® | First to help them realize their creative visions, collaborate with the global Avid community of developing artists and professionals, and share their content with audiences anywhere so that they can get their work seen or heard.

With nearly 70% of all commercial music produced using Pro Tools, Pro Tools | First is the top choice for aspiring artists looking to open the door to a career in professional music or audio production. Simple enough for beginners yet sophisticated enough for experienced musicians, this free version of the industry’s most widely used tool enables users to learn the essential workflows required to succeed in the industry—and quickly turn ideas into professional-sounding songs. Powered by MediaCentral®, the most open, tightly integrated and efficient platform designed for media, Avid Cloud Collaboration in Pro Tools | First enables artists to easily collaborate with Pro Tools and Pro Tools | HD users via the cloud, anywhere across the globe.

Launched this summer, Media Composer | First—the free version of the industry-standard video editing system—is approaching 100,000 downloads in just a few months. It provides users with a comprehensive yet simple-to-use editing toolset with many of the same features and functionality that award-winning Media Composer editors rely on, in a powerful, streamlined interface. With four video tracks, eight audio tracks, and a host of built-in visual effects, transitions, color correction presets and titling templates, users can quickly cut together layers of video, dialog, music and sound effects to produce captivating, professional-quality video content. Media Composer | First also allows easy sharing, with easy publishing to popular social media channels including YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook.  

Both free First products also give users access to Avid’s vibrant Artist Community, an online community designed to nurture creative connections and professional opportunities. Together with Media Composer | First and Pro Tools | First, it enables emerging creative and media talent to more easily connect and collaborate, fostering creative and professional growth and opportunities.

“Artist empowerment is important to Avid.  We created the First products to prepare a whole new generation of storytellers by giving access to powerful tools and skills they’ll use for a lifetime to achieve successful careers in music, film, television and video production,” said Jeff Rosica, President, Avid. “With Pro Tools | First and Media Composer | First, the aspiring creative community now has reach to the domain of capabilities enjoyed by the award-winning and top-grossing professional musicians, filmmakers, and television program creators whose stories we all know, celebrate and enjoy.”

To download a free copy of Pro Tools | First, visit: www.avid.com/pro-tools-first.
To download a free copy of Media Composer | First, visit: www.avid.com/media-composer-first.