Media Composer 2020.12 – Native H.265/HEVC Support & More

Media Composer 2020.12 – Native H.265/HEVC

After adding Apple ProRes RAW in the 2020.10 version, the new feature most worthy of mentioning is editing H.265 clips directly on the timeline without transcoding. This is a long-awaited feature for many users and now it is finally possible. In addition to that, exporting files directly into H.265 was also added to the software’s media export section. This is the first of the three most significant highlights of Media Composer 2020.12.

Avid Media Composer 2020.12 – Native H.265 & HEVC Implementation (Source: Avid)

Titler+ Updates & New Functions

The second highlight of the new update is two new modes, “Text” and “Move” within Titler+. These make it much easier and more intuitive to create title elements and move them around freely on the screen. New keyboard shortcuts – “T” and “M” – make fast access possible. Even more complex text manipulation options, text justification, a scroll bar addition for rolls or crawls text supplement previously available functions.

Avid Media Composer 2020.12 – Titler+ Updates & New Functions (Source: Avid)

Audio Mixer Updates

As a third highlight, multiple updates to the Audio Mixer are especially worth mentioning. The Audio Mixer now matches the new Media Composer skin and displays audio track colors directly in the mixer and the group sidebar for easier referencing. Avid also improved copy, paste, and duplication of effects to other audio effect slots. Besides that, a user can now map the Audio Mixer Fast Menu options directly to keyboard shortcuts.

The master fader has now also become a fixed visual element of the Audio Mixer. When adding new tracks in Media Composer 2020.12, the master fader will stay present as a panel element on the right side.

Apart from that, there are more additions to the Audio Mixer to check out, such as a “bypass volume” button and that the record button stays hidden when not using “Auto-Mode.”

Avid Media Composer 2020.12 – Audio Mixer Updates (Source: Avid)

Video – Overview of Updated Features

The video below gives a clear and detailed overview of all the new features and functions in a stringent, concise and instructive way.

Additional aspects of the Media Composer 2020.12 update regard UI enhancements, Bin Fast Menu command mapping, new viewing and sorting functions by color for the Sidebar, support for ACES CDL and CLF files, SyncScript, and PhraseFind updates, plus other improvements.

What are your experiences with the last updates of Avid Media Composer? If you are a frequent user of the software, what are your feature requests for future updates?