Avid announced a limited-time crossgrade promotion for its Symphony 6 video editing and finishing software.

For more information visit: www.avid.com

Unedited press release follows:

Avid Offers Unprecedented Limited-Time Symphony 6 Crossgrade Promotion

Media Composer and Final Cut Pro users can save over 80% on Symphony, enabling accelerated storytelling with a suite of professional editing, color correction, and mastering tools

BURLINGTON, Mass.– Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced an unprecedented, limited-time offer for its Symphony® 6 video editing and finishing software to all qualified Avid and Final Cut Pro customers at the special price of only $999 (USD). This offer is designed to provide a way for Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer®, Avid Xpress Pro, and Avid Xpress DV users to crossgrade or upgrade to Avid’s industry-leading professional editing, color correction, and mastering solution at a significantly reduced cost.

With Symphony 6 software, customers get all of the same features, tools, and workflows of Media Composer 6 for editing, plus the advanced and secondary color correction tools and Universal Mastering they need for finishing—all in a single solution that’s now over 80% off its full retail price.

“With this compelling crossgrade offer, we’re thrilled to make Symphony accessible to more editors than ever before,” said Adam Green, senior director of post and professional segment marketing at Avid. “Our current and new customers can now take advantage of the same industry-leading editing tools found in Media Composer to advance their storytelling, plus benefit from finishing and color correction capabilities in the same suite, eliminating their time spent on conform or media transfer. This opens up even more creative opportunities for them.”

“We recently upgraded to Symphony 6 and are pleased with the addition of Stereoscopic editorial tools, Avid DNxHD® options for RGB 444, and expansion of AMA capabilities which in combination have enhanced our finishing capabilities,” said Mark Futa, head of post production at The Ant Farm, a leading Los Angeles based advertising agency “It’s great to see Avid extending this amazing offer for Final Cut Pro and Media Composer users so they can take advantage of flexible, fast editing workflows, as well as advanced finishing tools to help advance their storytelling capabilities.”

Like Media Composer 6, Symphony 6 offers an open 64-bit architecture; sleek new user interface; support for popular third-party hardware through Avid Open I/O; native AMA (Avid Media Access) support for AVCHD, ARRI Alexa, and RED, as well as the ability to encode Apple ProRes (Mac OS-based systems only); the new Avid DNxHD 444 codec; industry-defining stereoscopic 3D workflows; surround sound tools; and more.

In addition, Symphony enables customers to correct and enhance color with full 4:4:4 HD RGB color support and advanced and secondary color correction tools, including Luma, Channels, and source side correction. Customers using Nitris® DX hardware (sold separately) can create and deliver the highest-quality output with Universal Mastering. Symphony also comes with Boris Continuum Complete—a $1,495 value on its own—giving editors a full suite of over 200 filters and transition plug-ins for comprehensive visual effects and compositing work.

Pricing and Availability
The Symphony 6 crossgrade and upgrade offer is available now. Final Cut Pro (excluding Final Cut Pro X), Media Composer (any version), Xpress Pro, and Xpress DV owners can purchase Symphony for $999 USD. This limited-time offer expires June 15, 2012. For eligibility requirements and more information, please visit avid.com/symphonypromo.

About Avid
Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world – from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, television shows, live concert tours and news broadcasts, to music and movies made at home. Some of Avid’s most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer, Pro Tools®, Interplay®, ISIS®, VENUE, Sibelius®, System 5, and Avid Studio. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com, del.icio.us, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube; connect with Avid on Facebook; or subscribe to Avid Industry Buzz.