Don't overlook AIST when cosidering your next NLE purchase. Its products feature flexibility, innovative tools, and reasonable prices.
Last month in my NAB preview, I said that AIST was one of the more interesting and underrated NLE manufacturers in the business. Considering the announcement that the BBC made at NAB, the British broadcaster seems to agree. (More on that in a bit.) I realize I did not explain why I felt that AIST was so underrated, and why I like its products.
Actually, there are several reasons. One is the way AIST takes object-oriented programming for NLE software to a new level. Some refer to this approach as a “plug-in architecture,” and it appears to be a trend with today's hottest new postproduction products.
AIST's MovieX family of products is completely modular and the entire family is united in a single, user-configurable core architecture. You can start with the lowest-end product and continue to purchase features, plug-in modules, and upgrades until you are working with the highest-end product. This modular concept provides amazing capabilities, such as an incredible array of effects, transitions, and OLE/3D objects — 306 pages in a separate MoviePack manual list all of them. Some of these include: 3DTitler, Color Correction, MovieLightning, MovieCube (different video on all six sides), WarpFactory, MovieXplosion, Differential Keyer, Advanced Keyer, Morph, Paint (including many paint effects and complex matte creation), Movie Particles, Stabilizer, Audio Effects, and Motion Tracker. This design also features a very flexible and configurable user interface on the desktop. You can set several configurations, then store and recall them with the click of an icon button.
Another reason I like AIST is its low cost for such a high-performance package. Although the price has increased dramatically since its first appearance at NAB two years ago, the high-end flagship product, Extreme 4.0, still lists at only $1,299, and the low-end MovieDV starts at $49.95. There is even a free download of the editing/titling/animation product MovieXone version 4.0, which offers the same basic and up-gradeable core architecture. (The download is available at www.aistinc.com/Products/MovieXone.asp)
At NAB, a turnkey system featuring the AIST Media Engine was announced on a Laird Telemedia Dvora platform in various configurations starting at $3,399 with dual-monitor support.
But the best reason to like AIST may be that its technology continuously breaks new ground with features and innovations. AIST was the first company to deliver AAF compliance last year at NAB.
This year, the best examples of its innovations are Adaptive Mesh Technology (AMT) and Queued Processing Management (QPM). AMT tightens the warping mesh only where the change in the image is being made. This allows for frame-by-frame editing on the fly, and realtime previews of complex 3D objects at up to 50 times faster than traditional methods. QPM is a technology that ensures that if you use multiple processors, the software starts out by sampling the number of processors available and balances the workload equally. This is a real performance enhancer.
At NAB, AIST, along with the BBC, announced that this optimization can work with networked processors as well. All of the processors on a network can be shared — optimized for a balanced workload. This is amazing, vanguard technology. And this technology, with AIST media management incorporating SAN storage, leads to exciting workgroup connectivity. For example, 50 or more platforms can share the same file simultaneously. Server scalability, including clustering, intelligent data caching, and forwarding/replication, are additional benefits of this technology. Realtime workgroup collaboration and remote (Internet-based WMP or MPEG-4) collaboration are also benefits.
Cinegy, the product developed in cooperation with the BBC, is the result of QPM technology and media asset management development. At NAB, the BBC awarded AIST a contract for 600 seats. This was the result of the BBC's Project Mercury initiative to modernize production and introduce work-group workflow, incorporating advanced media asset management and AAF mediafile compatibility. Open system architecture was a primary goal for this project. Cinegy allows integration with third-party and legacy solutions and easy migration of existing content and data. It is fully scalable to more than 10,000 concurrent users connected via a fast Ethernet connection to the Cinegy Video Server.
Cinegy's AAF player will let those on the network (journalists, producers, assistants, sound designers, graphic artists, etc.) log and add information, watch post-production progress, and access all metadata information, as well as share files in the content creation process. The AAF compatibility also means the ability to conform with Avid products.
For more information about Cinegy, visit its website at www.cinegy.com. Make sure to read the work-flow segment for a better idea of Cinegy's features.
There are also many hot features in MoviePack. For example, it appears you can input/output all current graphic and video formats, and work in resolutions up to 4,000×4,000 pixels at a 32-bit color depth. The product features a Storyboard Mode, Automatic Scene Detection/Batch Capturing, and DVD authoring.
Realtime previews come standard, and MoviePack 4.0 allows users to mix and preview formats such as QuickTime, AVI, and MPEG prior to final output. Final output formats include DVD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and Advanced Streaming. There are unlimited audio and video tracks/layers. As with all compositors, rendering can be extensive, but Intelli-Rendering is another impressive technology. It analyzes the project and platform, and then only renders what is required.
AIST develops and sells powerful plug-in sets. It also offers a 3D animation product family, Movie3D, designed to integrate with MoviePack. Movie3D offers Analytical Objects and Subdivision Surface modeling featuring Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines, and comes with an integrated 3D drawing program.
The primary reason the software is not more successful may be the unique nature of the user interface and operations. The current trend is toward an operational and UI standard, personified by Avid Technology. MoviePack offers a different way of working — not a less correct method — just different. This appears to create anxiety in potential purchasers. But if you appreciate the benefits of innovative technology, take a close look at this product.
One other concern I will share with you is that with all these advanced features, MoviePack did not seem to edit very well, which surprised me. What I mean by this is that the advanced editing and media asset management tools, including the lack of Boolean search capabilities to find clips, appeared to be the weakest aspect of this product.
To me, nonlinear editing has more to do with trimming and fine-tuning a program than it does with dragging clips to a timeline and adding wizzbang effects. The tools I personally use more than all others are the trim and search tools. I find the clip I want and massage each edit until I have created the best pace and rhythm. Color correction, paint, animation, effects, multiple output formats, and the rest are very important, but so are the tools to find a clip and polish an edit.
The good part about this criticism is that the software designers are very responsive to input, and strive to make the software all that an editor can want, so these limitations will probably be improved in the next version. The modular plug-in feature concept makes it easier for these engineers to design new capabilities and improve problem areas at a remarkably rapid pace.
In addition to the design engineers, there is an excellent technical support team. Both are complemented by good documentation and a better-than-average website with online tutorials. Good technical support is one of those features you don't think about until after you purchase a product. This should not be, but alas it happens too frequently. My experience is that AIST offers fast and high-quality tech support.
AIST now offers more than 20 products with a wide range of postproduction capabilities. The values it offers in price/performance, modular design, and innovation ensure that AIST will continue to be a serious industry contender in the future.
