Avid Editing Application®

ReadMe for Media Composer® v2023.8

Revision History
Date

Description

November 22, 2023

Updated a Note in Media Composer Notes.

October 20, 2023

Added a Note to Security Guidelines.

September 14, 2023

Modified previous Note (to recommend installing v2023.8.1) in Media
Composer Notes. In addition, updated macOS to 13.5.2. in Qualified
Hardware and Operating Systems.

September 8, 2023

Added a Note to Media Composer Notes.

IMPORTANT: Avid periodically makes software updates available for download on
Avid.com at the following location:www.avid.com/us/support/downloads. Pleasecheck the above site regularly for information on available downloads for yourproduct.
Important Information

Avid® recommends that you read all the information in this ReadMe file thoroughly before
installing or using any new software release.
Important: Search the Avid Knowledge Base for the most up-to-date ReadMe file, whichcontains the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was
published.
This document describes compatibility issues with previous releases, software installation
instructions, hardware and software requirements, and summary information on system andmemory requirements. This document also lists hardware and software limitations.

Contents
If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Media Composer Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Fixed in Media Composer v2023.8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Notes on Software Licensing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Qualified Hardware and Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Feature Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Compatibility Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Setting up the NVIDIA Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Shared Storage Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2

Symbols and Conventions

Symbols and Conventions
Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:Symbol or Convention Meaning or Actionn

A note provides important related information, reminders, recommendations, andstrong suggestions.

c

A caution means that a specific action you take could cause harm to yourcomputer or cause you to lose data.

w

A warning describes an action that could cause you physical harm. Follow theguidelines in this document or on the unit itself when handling electricalequipment.

n

A user tip provides a helpful hint that can aid users in getting the most from theirsystem.

n

A shortcut shows the user keyboard or mouse shortcuts for a procedure orcommand.

>This symbol indicates menu commands (and subcommands) in the order you
select them. For example, File > Import means to open the File menu and thenselect the Import command.
This symbol indicates a single-step procedure. Multiple arrows in a list indicatethat you perform one of the actions listed.

(Windows), (Windows
This text indicates that the information applies only to the specified operating
only), (macOS), or (macOS system, either Windows or macOS.
only)
Bold font

Bold font is primarily used in task instructions to identify user interface items andkeyboard sequences.

Italic font

Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to indicate variables.

Courier Bold font

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

Ctrl+key or mouse action

Press and hold the first key while you press the last key or perform the mouseaction. For example, Command+Option+C or Ctrl+drag.

| (pipe character)

The pipe character is used in some Avid product names, such as MediaCentral |Production Management. In this document, the pipe is used in product names
when they are in headings or at their first use in text.

3

If You Need Help

If You Need Help
If you are having trouble using your Avid product:
1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in this guide. It isespecially important to check each step of your workflow.
2. Check this ReadMe file for the latest information that might have become available after the
documentation was published. Also check online for the most up-to-date ReadMe because
the online version is updated whenever new information becomes available. To view theonline ReadMe, select ReadMe from the Help menu, or visit the Knowledge Base at
http://www.avid.com/readme.
3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or your hardware formaintenance or hardware-related issues. In addition to the printed documentation suppliedwith your editing application, the documentation is supplied in PDF format when you install
the application. Topics that you print from the Help have limited page layout and formatting
features. If you want to print a higher quality version of Help information, Avid recommends
that you print all or part of the PDF version of the appropriate Avid manual included in theOnline Library for your editing application. To access the Online Library, select Help >Online Library from within your Avid editing application.
4. Visit Avid Online Support at www.avid.com/onlineSupport/. Online support is available 24
hours per day, 7 days per week. Search the Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error
messages, to access troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read or join online
message-board discussions.

Media Composer Notes
is recommended that all users upgrade to v2023.8.1, in order to avoid an error (AvNN
c ItError
275, Connection Refused), which affects the new PhraseFind AI and ScriptSync AI
features.
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Knowledge/AvNN-Error-275-Connection-Refu
sed-when-using-new-ScripSync-AI-and-PhraseFind-AI
AI indexes media in the background. Indexing is a resource intensivec PhraseFind
operation, which may impact the performance of Media Composer. If the impact on editing
becomes noticeable, you can pause or stop background indexing by opening the Find
window, clicking on the gear icon to access Search Settings, and selecting “Pause All
Indexing” or “Stop PhraseFind AI Indexing”.

4

If You Need HelpOnly) During the installation of Media Composer on macOS, users are presentedc (macOSwith an additional prompt for credentials at the "Running package scripts" stage, whichstates: "You are making changes to the System Certificate Trust Settings". This prompt is
expected. To proceed, enter your password and update settings as instructed.
with the release of Media Composer v2023.8, the import, export and creation ofc Beginning
HDV media is no longer supported.
with the release of Media Composer v2022.12, input (Tape Capture) and output
c Beginning(Digital Cut) using IEEE-1394 (Firewire) devices is no longer supported.
without QuickTime installed, such as macOS Catalina and later, may experiencec Systems
import issues with some file formats and wrappers. In certain instances, unsupported files
may not trigger any response in Media Composer during an import operation. Dependingon the codec used, it may be necessary to link and transcode the file using theConsolidate/Transcode window before working with it in a project. Please refer to thefollowing document on the Avid Knowledge Base page for more information on formats
that are not supported without QuickTime:https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Compatibility/Media-Composer-File-Type-Sup
port-on-macOS-Catalina
Only) macOS Catalina and higher does not support 32 bit applications. The legacyc (macOS
Title Tool, Marquee Title Tool and QuickTime legacy codecs are no longer installed when
you install Media Composer. Only install legacy codecs if QuickTime is installed on yoursystem. The installer is Media Composer Legacy Components 2021.12.1 Mac. You can get
the installer from MyAvid, Link, or the download center.
Only) macOS Catalina or higher does not support DMF (Dynamic Mediac (macOS
Folders).
5

If You Need Help

Frame results for the subclip of a Group or MultiGroup clip created in Mediac MatchComposer v2022.7 and later will load the original subclip of the Group or MultiGroup clip.
If using subclips of a Group or MultiGroup clip created in an earlier version of Media
Composer, the same Match Frame operation will load the Group or MultiGroup clip.
•

If you are using an AMD card and certain keyboard shortcuts that require modifier keys are
not working, such as Ctrl+Shift+M or Ctrl+Shift+G for Multicam editing, then disable the
AMD “Use Hotkeys” setting to fix the issue.

•

If you are using an attached hardware I/O device, such as the Avid Artist DNxIQ or Avid
Artist DNxIV, you may need to manually select it and activate it as an output device the firsttime Media Composer v2022.10 is opened. To do this, right-click on the HW/SW button in
the Timeline window, select the hardware device you want to use, and click on the HW/SW
button to activate it. Media Composer will preserve this selection the next time you open
Media Composer.

•(MCCET-4684) Captions may overlap or merge for imported SCC files if lines of text
appear in rapid succession. To avoid this possibility, clean the caption data by removing all
duplicate control codes from the SCC file.

•(MCCET-2541) When working with Avid Artist DNxIO or Avid Artist DNxIQ, you should
disable the Line In recording input (BlackMagic Audio in the Windows OS).

•

Avid Artist DNxIO and Avid Artist DNxIQ: If you are using Avid Artist DNxIO, Avid
Artist DNxIQ, or a BlackMagic Designs video device, please update to Desktop Video
software version v12.4 or higher. If you are using Avid Artist DNxIV and Avid Artist DNxIP
please update to AJA software v16.2.2 or later.

•

Qualified Operating Systems: For information on qualified operating systems, see
Qualified Hardware and Operating Systems.

•

Dongle Info (macOS Only): The Dongle Sentinel driver installer is no longer automaticallyinstalled when you install the editing application. The driver is now located in the
Avid_Utilities folder (/Applications/Utilities/Avid_Utilities/Sentinel_Driver). If you have adongle, manually install the driver from this location. Dongles are NOT supported on
macOS M1 systems or any macOS system running Monterey or later.

installing the Sentinel Driver, check your System Preferences and select “Securityc Whenand Privacy.” You may need to choose to Allow the driver to be accessed.
•

Media Composer now includes a dnxmov2mxf executable in the \Program Files\Avid\Avid
Media Composer\SupportingFiles\Utilities folder. This executable allows you to manuallyconvert MOV files with DNX essence with separately stored alpha to an MXF OP1a filewith DNX essence and embedded alpha.
The tool is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. To run on Windows, Visual C++
Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 or Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2017is required.
6

If You Need Help

Run the command from a command prompt on Windows or from terminal on macOS.
DNXMOV2MXF usage is:
dnxmov2mxf path_to_mov [path_to_mxf]
Notes on Working with SRT
For details on working with SRT, search for “Open I/O Support for SRT” in the Help.
Decoded Output•

Due to the compressed streaming nature of SRT, and the variety of SRT decoding
applications and devices available, the decoded output may not be in sync with the Media
Composer desktop. Depending on the decoder being used, the output may be up to several
seconds out of sync. Adjusting the buffering settings in the decoder as well as the SRT
latency setting can help to improve the delay depending on your network's quality of service.

SRT Quality Bitrates•

The default quality settings for a 1080p/29.97 project are 5-15 Mbps for low, 10-30Mbps for
medium and 30-80 Mbps for high. Bitrates will vary, and might exceed the average values,
based on the media being sent over SRT. Bitrates are scaled based on the frame rate andraster size, and may vary in the actual bitstream based on how efficiently the codec cancompress the frames.

•

Only 8b quality is supported with SRT. Media Composer will automatically set the I/O to 8b
quality if Media Composer is set to draft or 10b.

Projects and Media Support:•

2K/UHD/4K projects will be downconverted to HD formats at the same frame rate. For
example, if you are working on a UHD 4k 23.976 projects, it will be converted to an HD
23.976p project.

•Interlaced formats are not natively supported, but will be converted to progressive format at
the equivalent frame rate.

•

SRT will mix multi-channel audio to stereo audio.

•

RGB is not natively supported and will be converted to YUV.

SRT plug-in is supported with Media Composer | Enterprise and Media Composer |n The
Ultimate licenses only.
Security Guidelines
As system and network security attacks become increasingly more inventive and persistent, Avid
has adopted a new security strategy to help you, our customer and partner, better protect yourassets and intellectual property. As you might know, Avid has traditionally recommended
7

Fixed in Media Composer v2023.8

Symantec Endpoint Protection as the preferred and qualified solution for much of the Avid
product line. As of Q3, 2020, Avid introduced a more flexible strategy that provides general
guidelines for protecting your Avid systems. This new policy allows you to choose the best
security solution for your organization, while still following Avid best practices. Avid Media
Composer allows you to install an endpoint detection and response solution on yoursystem.While Avid does not support any specific solution, you can find general guidelines andinformation related to CrowdStrike Falcon on the following Avid Knowledge Base page:https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/troubleshooting/en239659
CrowdStrike is only supported up to v7.0.3 (macOS and Windows). Do not installn Currently,
v7.0.4 or later at this time.

Fixed in Media Composer v2023.8
The following have been fixed:➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5022. Copying and pasting keyframes in the Effects editor did not work
for all properties.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5038. (MediaCentral | Production Management) Master clips relinked
to smaller, consolidated media files and not the full-length clips, which was exhibited bysegmented master clips appearing on the Timeline (Source Mode).

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5050 and MCCET-4859. (MediaCentral | Production Management)
Consolidated media files were showing up in multiple locations and linking to the original,
non-consolidated media files for master clips and subclips.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4984. Depending on the Interface brightness settings selected, Caption
Text for the SubCap effect was not visible in the Effect Editor or the Edit Master Caption List
dialog box.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4871. Arabic text did not display correctly in the Caption Text box for
the SubCap effect.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4544. (MediaCentral | Production Management) In some instances,
XDCAM clips that were imported and consolidated using Media Composer 2018.12.15 could
not be played in more recent versions of Media Composer.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5011. (MediaCentral | Production Management) Files that triggered a"Fast Import" operation linked back to an AMA link of the original imported file when loaded
for the first time.
8

Fixed in Media Composer v2023.8➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5053. (Windows) Some system fonts were missing from the list ofavailable fonts in the SubCap effect.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4862. (macOS) In some instances, AAF files failed to import on M1
Macs.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4809. In some instances, audio for proxy media experienced playback
errors, including distorted sound and playback that stopped unexpectedly.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5077. Exporting a sequence with H.264 proxy media as an MOV
produced corrupted frames.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5032. ALE file import caused all bin column names that start with"Vendor" to display incorrectly.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4491. (MediaCentral | Production Management) Depending on check-in
procedure, End Timecode information for clips created with an Edit While Capture (EWC)
workflow could be lost without a warning message.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4593. (macOS) RS-422 deck control was lost for Avid Artist | DNxIO if
BlackMagic Desktop Video 12.2 or newer was installed on the system.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5068. Transfer menu “Send To Playback” option was not available if theTimeline window was selected for users of Media Composer | Ultimate and Media Composer |Enterprise.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4825. When working with high frame rate projects, captions createdwith the SubCap effect and exported from Media Composer included incorrect timecode data.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5093. (MediaCentral | Production Management) In some instances,checking out and loading sequences caused Media Composer to crash if Dynamic Relink was
enabled.

➤Bug Number: MCCET-4880. In some instances, artifacts appeared in the Y Waveform monitor,
depending on the Timeline Video Quality Menu settings.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5084. List of available Target Bins was not refreshed properly in the
Audio Punch-In Tool.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4707. (macOS) In some instances, Media Composer experienced
intermittent hangs/beachballs on Apple Silicon.

9Fixed in Media Composer v2023.8➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5057. Exporting and reimporting a “File_129” EDL caused clip nameswith over 32 characters to be truncated to 32 characters.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4533. Importing SCC files created with Subtitle Edit (third-party
application) caused some characters to be displayed twice in Media Composer.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5019. Depending on the type of symbols and the amount of space
between them, closed captions generated by Telestream (CaptionMaker) appeared with duplicate
symbols if imported as part of an AAF file.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5116. In some instances, H.264 800Kbps Proxy (HD 1080i) media
appeared corrupted in the Source monitor if the Video Quality Menu in the Timeline was set to
Full Quality (green) or a Timewarp effect was applied when working with mixed frame rates.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4727. In some instances, H.264 800Kbps Proxy (HD 1080i) media
appeared corrupted in the Source monitor if the Video Quality Menu in the Timeline was set to
Full Quality (green) or a Timewarp effect was applied when working with mixed frame rates.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5117. Navigating between markers on a subclip using the “Go toPrevious Marker”, “Go to Next Marker”, “Go to Previous Event”, and “Go to Next Event”
buttons on the Source monitor caused Media Composer to freeze.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5076. In some instances, AAF files included incorrect data if Audio EQ
was applied.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4158. When prompted to “Update Sequence” for sequences containing
Group clips with Timewarp and color correction effects applied, the duplicated sequence createdgaps between clips and changed the overall duration.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5136. (MediaCentral | Production Management) Sequences took a longtime to load if they had associated media on unmounted workspaces.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5005. Shift+clicking on markers in the Marker window and performing
an operation, such as delete, affected the incorrect markers, if they were filtered using the search
field.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5009. (macOS) In some instances, media containing alpha channels
were incorrectly aligned with the Matte Key effect on Apple Silicon processors (M1 and M2).

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5119. Noticeable lags were experienced while editing in the timeline ifmany real-time audio effects were used.

10Limitations➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4256. When importing files, Media Composer did not recognize some
QuickTime media formats, including DNxHD HQ files exported from Adobe Premiere Pro, andpresented an "Import Resolution Conflict" message.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5051. Bin saves failed and triggered an error message if the bin being
saved was located on a read-only NEXIS workspace.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5075. Audio waveforms were very slow to draw and would takeadditional time to redraw if Zoom In or Zoom Out were used.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5063. If individual hostnames began with a number, an error message
appeared when configuring STP targets in the MC Enterprise Admin Tool on Cloud UX, whichindicated that "The server or workgroup name entered is invalid or may not be available on the
network".

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5104. Panning did not work properly for ganged audio channels in the
Audio Mixer.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5159. Comments did not appear in the bin Text View for a variety ofitems.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-5224. The Select Project window displayed incorrect information for
Creation Date and Modification Date.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4119. When exporting XDCAM MXF OP1a files, macro blocking
occurred if "Re-encode for XDCAM bitstream compliance" was selected.

with v2023.8, the option to “Re-encode for XDCAM bitstream compliance” in the
n Beginning
AMA File Export window is no longer necessary and has been removed.

Limitations
The following are known limitations•

Photoshop PSD files are not supported for AMA linking if QuickTime is not installed.

•

Some fonts, by their design, are available only in Bold. On the macOS system it can happen
that selecting a font does not produce any visual changes. Try selecting “Bold.”•If you launch a project and receive an “Enable 3rd Party Emulation” warning, even if you
select Enable in the warning dialog, you should also perform the following: Select File >Settings and click the Project tab. Click General Settings and select “Enable Bin Sharing on
3rd party storage emulating Avid NEXIS/ISIS.”

11

Limitations➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-18107. (Windows) In some instances, the Media Composer installation
processes fails and produces a 1309 error. This can happen if the file path to the installer is very
long and contains too many characters. For example, long path names can occur if the installer iswithin subfolders or executed from the Windows Desktop.
Workaround: Place the Media Composer installer on the root level of your drive and run it
from there.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-17859. When using the Capture Tool to record both audio and videofrom an external device, the capture process will fail if Desktop Audio is enabled.
Workaround: Disable Desktop Audio if you need to capture both audio and video from anexternal device. From the Timeline, right-click the "HW/SW" button, deselect "Desktop Audio".
and capture again.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-4971. Beginning with Media Composer 2022.12, it is not possible tomap “Create > New > Sequence” as a keyboard shortcut using “Menu to Button Reassignment”
in the Command Palette. Attempting to map that function results in a “That menu item cannot be
assigned” dialog box. This limitation is due to the expanded functionality offered by the newsubmenu, which is generated dynamically, and does not allow for mapping of functions that are
not persistent and might change.
Workaround: Use Cmd+Shift+N (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+N (Windows) to create a new
sequence using the currently active Sequence Template.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-17243. Proxy playback fails when Disk Cache is off or set to “0”.
Workaround: Avid NEXIS | EDGE users must set their Disk Cache to 1GB or greater.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-16685. When SRT is disabled, hardware format does not revert toproject settings, resulting in a mismatch between UHD and HD formats, and causing errors in
the Capture tool.
Workaround: Manually change video output to match project settings when Capture tool is
opened and SRT is disabled.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-15629. Icons for managed Matte Key clips do not change color when
their proxies are created and resolved.
Workaround: Check the Proxy Offline column for online/offline status.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-17081. In some instances, there is no warning that high resolution
media is offline and proxy media will be used for output.

12

Limitations➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-15413. In some instances, clips that will link and play cannot be madeinto a proxy if it includes a broken data track.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-16119. (Avid Artist DNxIQ) When trying to capture audio, you might
receive an “Audio/video is unexpectedly no longer coming into the system” exception error. Notethat this only happens the first time, subsequent audio captures are successful.
Workaround: Perform a capture with video first and then turn video off for the subsequentcaptures.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-15843. (Windows 11) In some instances, you cannot drag and dropfrom the File Explorer to a bin.
Workaround: Use the Media Composer Source Browser to import or link your media.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-14845. Avid Media Composer | Enterprise Admin Tool does not restrict
NDI when Media Composer is in software only mode.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-3702. Image Quality issues when adding UHD progressive clips to an
HD interlace sequence:
The process Media Composer uses to mix and match video formats in a sequence is to transformthe source clip's frame rate and frame layout to meet the project specifications; the motion
adapters are added first, then spatial adapters are applied in order to provide expected playback
dimensions.
For example, if you have a UHD 50p clip that you want to add to a 1080i Timeline, the UHD clip
first gets split into 2 separate fields (UHD format), then each field gets independently resized to
1920x540 in HD. The export process puts those resized fields back together into a progressive
HD frame but does not maintain the clarity of the original progressive frame.
Workaround: If you first transcode the UHD progressive clip to HD progressive and then add
the HD clip to the interlace sequence, it forces the resize operation from UHD to HD to be done
before the split gets into interlace mode.

➤

Bug Number: MCCET-3788. You might receive a “clip name is a clip in a multi-essence filethat cannot be exported using the specified Embedded in AAF setting” when exporting
embedded AAFs with OP1a audio clips.
Workaround: Consolidate the OP1a clips to Avid OP-Atom prior to performing the export.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-12988. (macOS) The AMA Drastic plug-in is not supported with Media
Composer v2020.4

13

Before Installing the Editing Application➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-12735. Maestro graphics do not appear correctly in the Timeline if yoursystem uses the Radeon video card.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-11481. Promoting a title from the Title Tool application to Avid Titler+
cannot be performed if it includes a motion adapter.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-11796. DPX files larger than 10bit might fail to link correctly.
Workaround: Go to File > Settings and click the User tab. In the Link Settings, click the Link
Options tab and make sure Alpha Channel is set to Ignore.

➤

Bug Number: MCDEV-8641. (AMD Graphics) Systems with AMD graphics cards might
display tearing when performing Full Screen playback.

Before Installing the Editing Application(Windows) Overwriting During the Install Process

If you are upgrading from version v2020.12.x or later, you can choose to perform an overwrite
during the install process. For versions prior to that, you must perform a manual uninstall first.
Media Composer | Enterprise and Media Composer | Distributed Processing

If you are working with Media Composer | Enterprise or Media Composer | Distributed
Processing, please refer to the “Installation Prerequisites” section in the Media Composer |Enterprise Administration Guide and Media Composer | Distributed Processing Administration
Guide to make sure you have compatible Avid MediaCentral Cloud UX Platform ISO and Avid
MediaCentral Cloud UX Feature Pack ISO versions.
Before Installing the Editing Application in a MediaCentral | Production Management
Environment

Carefully read through the “Avid Editor Compatibility Matrix” guide (found using the followinglink) before upgrading. It might be necessary to also upgrade the MediaCentral Production
Management components on the editing client.
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/compatibility/Avid-Video-Compatibility-Charts
Buffer Error Message

The editing application requires a minimum of 8GB RAM. If you try to install the editing
application on a system with less than 8GB RAM, you will receive a buffer error and installation
will not proceed.

14After Installing the Editing Application

Download Note

To avoid “File Path too long” or a “File cannot be copied” warning while unzipping thedownloaded installer, try placing the installer.zip on the root level of your C:\ drive and unzip itfrom that location.
User Right to Raise Thread Priority(Windows) Note for Domain Administrators: If your editing systems are part of a domain, youmust give the user the right to “Increase Scheduling Priority.” This must be done within the
Domain Group Policy on the domain controller by giving the right explicitly to the user or giving
the right to a group and adding the user to that group. You will not be able to launch as a regularuser if this is not set properly.
If you are part of a domain, a Domain Administrator should install and perform the first launchof the editing application.
Install as Administrator

You need to first install and launch the editing application as an Administrator. If you are in a
Shared Storage environment, mount your workspaces as an Administrator. You may then log off
and log back in as a Standard user, if necessary.

After Installing the Editing Application
AMA Plug-Ins

You cannot install the AMA Plug-ins while the editing application background services are
running. Make sure you Stop the services before installing the AMA Plug-Ins. The stop/startbackground services icon is on the menu bar (macOS) or taskbar (Windows). Once you install
the new AMA plug-in, restart the services. See “Starting and Stopping Avid Background
Services” in the Help.

Notes on Software Licensing
If You Upgrade Your Operating System
If you need to upgrade your operating system after you install your Avid editing application, first
deactivate your software. After you upgrade your operating system and, if required, reinstallyour application, you can reactivate your software. For information on activating anddeactivating your software license, see the Installation Guide for Avid Editing Applications.

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Minimum RAM Recommendation

Minimum RAM Recommendation
For this release Avid recommends 16 GB minimum, 32 GB recommended. Some features might
require more RAM and specific hardware. See “Feature Performance” on page 17 for more info.

Qualified Hardware and Operating Systems
Some features are processor-intensive and require specific hardware. See “Feature Performance”
on page 17 for more info.
For 3rd-Party Open IO hardware qualification refer to the manufacturer’s documentation. See theOpen IO Frequently Asked Questions document on the Knowledge Base:
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/faq/en422991
The following lists the qualified Operating Systems. Depending upon your hardware thequalified Operating Systems are:•

Windows 10 64-bit 21H1, 21H2, and 22H2 or later (Professional and Enterprise)•

Windows 11 64-bit 21H2, 22H2 or later (Professional and Enterprise)•macOS 10.15.7, 11.x to 11.7, 12.x to 12.6.x, and 13.0 to 13.5.2

n macOS 10.14.6 Mojave is not supported with Media Composer 22.4 and later releases.
n Avid has not qualified macOS 12.x with the CrowdStrike anti-virus application.
the release of macOS 10.13.x and higher, Apple requires manual approval of loadingn WithKernel Extensions (KEXTs). (For example BlackMagic, and AJA IO devices install Kernel
Extensions.) At installation time, you should get a dialog saying that the KEXT was not loaded.
You must go the “Security & Privacy” system preference and manually approve the KEXT. Keep
the Security & Privacy pane open after you install the I/O device drivers so that you will see thenotice that the driver has been blocked and press the “allow” button within 30 minutes of
installing or the driver will be permanently blocked.

Qualified Workstations and Laptops
For a list of qualified Windows and macOS systems, go to the following page: Avid qualified
systems. Select either the Windows or macOS CPU Specifications pdf.

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Feature Performance

Feature Performance
A number of features in this editing application are processor-intensive. As a result, you mightexperience problems if you are working on an older system. The following chart shows the
hardware that Avid has successfully qualified when using these features. For a list of thequalified systems, see Qualified Workstations and Laptops.
FeatureDescription

Recommended System

PhraseFind AI and
ScriptSync AI

24GB RAM minimum

Avid qualified systems

16K projects

96GB RAM minimum

48+ core Intel Xeon or AMD
Threadripper CPU systems with Nvidia
RTX graphics

Editing High Resolution, 64 GB RAM minimum, 96 GB
High Frame Rate XAVC-I recommended
Media (UHD/4k in
59.94p)4 streams of media andcolor adapters

HP Z8, Z6,
Lenovo P920, P720, P620
Dell 7920, Dell 7820•

Dual gold 6254 3.1 Ghz turbo to 4.0
Ghz 18-core (72 with HT)•

Dual Xeon Gold 6154 3.0 Ghz, turbo
up to 3.7 Ghz 18-core (72 cores with
Hyperthreading)•

AMD W5700, AMD W6800 & Pro
VII•

Nvidia RTX 5000, RTX 6000•

Nvidia RTX A6000, RTX A5000

Storage: 10Gb Ethernet Avid NEXIS
1080p/50 XAVC Long
Baseband Capture

32 GB RAM minimum

Qualified PC Dual 6 Core or higher
Qualified Mac Pro 6 core or higher, 12core with Hyperthreading17

Feature Performance

FeatureDescription

Recommended System

Editing High Resolution, 32GB Min, 64 GB recommended
High Frame Rate DNxHRMedia (UHD/4k in
59.94p)HP Z8, Z6,
Lenovo P920, P720, P620
HP Z840
HP Z640
Dell 7920/7910
Dell 7820/7810
Lenovo P910/P900/
Lenovo P710/P700•

NVIDIA RTX 5000, 6000, AMD
W6800 & Pro VII•

NVIDIA P5000, M5000 or K5200
and AMD W5700
PCIe Gen3 Gfx card (recommended)

Mac Pro 2019•16 core (32 with Hyperthreading)
3.2 GHz•AMD Radeon Pro Vega II

Storage: 10Gb Ethernet Avid NEXIS
Editing High Resolution 32 GB RAM minimum
Media (Higher than 2K+)

Qualified PC Dual 6 Core or higher
Qualified Mac Pro 6 core or higher, 12core with Hyperthreading

DMF and Background
Transcode, Background
Render32 GB RAM recommended

Qualified PC Dual 6 Core or higher

Media Composer | Cloud

32 GB RAM minimum or higher
recommended depending uponsystem model.

i7 Quad core or higher with
Hyperthreading

J2K Capture

16 GB RAM minimum

Qualified PC Dual 6 Core or higher

Qualified Mac Pro 6 core or higher, 12core with Hyperthreading

Qualified Mac Pro 6 core or higher, 12core with Hyperthreading18

Feature Performance

FeatureDescription

Recommended System

HD Long GOP 9-way
MultiCam with highstream count sequences

32 GB RAM recommended

Qualified PC Dual 6 Core or higher
Qualified Mac Pro 6 core or higher, 12core with Hyperthreading
Storage: 2 x 1 Gb Ethernet or higher Avid
NEXIS

Stereoscopic 3D

For optimal performance with
Qualified PC Dual 6 Core or higher
Stereoscopic 3D, use these higher
Qualified Mac Pro 6 core or higher, 12
performance systems. Avid
core with Hyperthreading
recommends a minimum of 32
GB RAM when using full-frame
Stereoscopic 3D.

XDCAM HD50 Capture

Baseband capture through Open
I/O

Avid qualified systems

HD RGB 4444
Apple ProRes 4444
DNxHD 4444

HD RGB capture requires ahigh-end workstation with OpenI/O and fast storage.

Qualified PC Dual 6 Core or higher
Qualified Mac Pro 6 core or higher, 12core with Hyperthreading
Storage: 10Gb Ethernet Avid NEXISAMA (QuickTime)

AMA is a processor intensive
operation. Lower end platforms
may not offer optimum
performance. Highly compressed
codecs such as H.264 will exhibit
minimal real-time performance.

Recommendation of qualified systems
depends on your planned use of thisfeature. Heavy usage of highly
compressed codecs requires high-end
systems. (Dual 6 Core or Dual 8 Coresystems)

AMA (RED)AMA is a processor intensive
operation. Older platforms may
not offer optimum performance.
You will get better performancewith higher-end workstations.

Qualified Xeon Workstations

AVCI-Intra Capture

NOTE: RED plug-in uses the Graphics
Processor. Better performance with highperformance graphics cards.

AVC-Intra capture with software 24 core and higher Windows systems
codecs is supported.
only.

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Avid Artist I/O Device Compatibility

FeatureDescription

Recommended System

AVCI-Intra

AVC-Intra (AVC-I) is a highquality, low bit-rate HD codec
and is very CPU intensive.

4-Way MultiCam Playback
Dual Quad Core, Dual 6 Core or Dual 8Core Systems
Four Stream Playback:
Dual Quad Core, Dual 6 Core or Dual 8Core Systems

Avid Artist I/O Device Compatibility
The following table shows the minimum version Media Composer supported with the Avid
Artist I/O devices.
You must download the appropriate Avid Artist software from your Avid Master Account.

DeviceMinimum supported version Media
ComposerAvid Artist | DNxIOMedia Composer v8.4.1 and higher

Avid Artist | DNxIQMedia Composerv8.8.3 and higher

Avid Artist | DNxIVMedia Composer v8.10 and higher

Avid Artist | DNxIPMedia Composer v2018.8

Avid Artist | DNxIDMedia Composer v2018.9

Compatibility Chart
The following table lists the NVIDIA® driver, QuickTime®, Windows Media™, shared storage,Sony® XDCAM™, Panasonic® P2, and Avid Artist Series versions that were qualified with theAvid editing applications. You can also refer to Documentation and version matrix.

20Compatibility Chart

IMPORTANT: For information on third party support (for example, Sorenson, Boris,etc) see the third party’s web site.
Item

Versions

Comments

QuickTime Support

v7.7.9 (Windows)
v10.x, (v7.x legacy) (macOS)

Note: QuickTime v10X does not include
QuickTime Pro options.
Note: QuickTime is not supported with
Windows 10.
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/How_To/QuickTime-Support-an
d-Security-on-Windows

Avid Interplay
SupportSee Knowledge Base article oncompatibility.

IMPORTANT: The Avid Interplay
components that get installed on theediting application must be updated to
the Avid Interplay version that is released
with the editing application. These
include the Media Indexer, Interplay
Access, Interplay Framework, Interplay
Transfer Client and ProEncode Client.
The Avid Interplay Server components
can remain on the previous releases listed
as supported. For details, see the “Avid
Editing Application Compatibility with
Interplay Releases” doc on the
Knowledge Base.

NVIDIA Driver
Supportv529.11

See “Setting up the NVIDIA Card” onpage 22.
For setting up the driver for stereoscopic,
see the NVIDIA setup info in the
Stereoscopic 3D Workflow Guide.
This version supports NVIDIA vGPU
Software 15 for Virtual Machines. For
more information visit Nvidia.com.

AMD Driver Support

23.Q2

Note: DO NOT update to 22.Q3 - it does
not work with Media Composer. Also,
22.Q2 is known to cause intermittent
errors.
For more information visit Amd.com

Shared Storage
SupportAvid NEXIS and Avid ISIS®.

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See “Shared Storage Support” onpage 23.

Media Composer Compatibility with Audio Devices

Item

Versions

Comments

Sony XDCAM driver v2.13 (XDCAM Transfer formacOS)The VFAM firmware version for
PDW-U1 is 2.600.
The PDW-U2 is 2.810.
Windows FAM v2.3.2 and VFAM
The driver can be downloaded fromv5.0.2Sony's website http://esupport.sony.com/.

Panasonic P2 drive(macOS) v3.1.7

There is currently no P2 writeback
support for macOS clients.

(Windows) v2.24
Avid Artist Series(Euphonix)

EuControl software v3.4

See the User’s Guide for information on
Artist Series Color setup information.

Media Composer Compatibility with Audio Devices
For details on compatible audio hardware and software:
Audio Hardware and Software

Refer To

Control Surfaces

Supported Control Surfaces

Avid Artist I/O

Supported Avid Artist I/O Devices

Media Composer and ProTools Co-install

Co-install information for Media Composer and
ProTools

Setting up the NVIDIA Card
To set up the NVIDIA card, you must make sure you have the correct display driver version(install the display driver if necessary, and set the correct display settings. See the “Compatibility
Chart” on page 20 for information on the supported driver(s).
Prior to setting up the NVIDIA card, check to make sure you have the correct display driver
version. If you do not have the correct NVIDIA driver, you can install it from the Nvidia website- Nvidia.com.
To check the NVIDIA display driver version:

1. Right-click the Desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel. You can also open the Windows
Control Panel and double-click the NVIDIA Control Panel icon.
2. Click System Information at the bottom left corner of the NVIDIA Control Panel.

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Shared Storage Support

The version number is listed in the Graphics card information section on the ForceWare
version line.
To install the NVIDIA display driver:

1. Download the applicable Nvidia driver from the Nvidia website - Nvidia.com.
2. Double-click the file for the applicable driver.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions, and then restart your system.
To setup multiple displays:

1. Right-click the Desktop, and select Nvidia Control Panel.
2. In the settings window in the left of the window, click Set up multiple displays.
3. Select or deselect the desired monitors listed.
To set the Driver for Avid Editing Environments

1. Right-click the Desktop, and select Nvidia Control Panel.
2. Select the Desktop menu selection in the Control Panel menu bar.
3. Enable Desktop > Video Editing Mode.
4. Click Manage 3D Settings.
5. Click the Global Setting tab.
6. Under Global presets, select Base Profile.
7. Scroll to locate the Power Management Mode. Select Prefer maximum performance.
8. Click Apply.
Reboot after installing the Nvidia software even if you are not prompted to do so.
Never use the Windows “roll back driver” feature on the Nvidia driver. The driver version mustmatch the rest of the components the Nvidia installer installs.

Shared Storage Support
For information on Shared Storage Support, see the Avid NEXIS and Avid ISIS tables in thefollowing document:
http://resources.avid.com/SupportFiles/Attachments/MediaCentral_Compatibility_Matrix.pdf

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Shared Storage Support

Legal Notices
Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc.
This product is subject to the terms and conditions of a software license agreement provided with the software. The product may
only be used in accordance with the license agreement.
This product may be protected by one or more U.S. and non-U.S patents. Details are available at www.avid.com/patents.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission of Avid Technology, Inc.
Copyright © 2021 Avid Technology, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.
Portions © Copyright 2003-2007 of MOG Solutions.

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend
U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial computer software” or“commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or documentation is acquired by or on behalf of aunit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of theLicense Agreement, pursuant to FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.

Trademarks
Avid, the Avid Logo, Avid Everywhere, Avid DNXHD, Avid DNXHR, Avid Nexis, AirSpeed, Eleven, EUCON, Interplay, iNEWS, ISIS,
Mbox, MediaCentral, Media Composer, NewsCutter, Pro Tools, ProSet and RealSet, Maestro, PlayMaker, Sibelius, Symphony, andall related product names and logos, are registered or unregistered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or
other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of the Interplay Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility
for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For a full list of Avid trademarks, see:
http://www.avid.com/US/about-avid/legal-notices/trademarks.
Adobe and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or
other countries. Apple and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Windows
is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All othertrademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Avid Media Composer ReadMe • Created 11/22/23

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