In an announcement that combines kudos to one company, a jab at another and a warning flare for producers, the American Cinema Editors board of directors is honoring Avid's Media Composer software with the org's first-ever ACE Technical Excellence Award. The nod amounts to an unprecedented endorsement of a commercial product by ACE, which is coming down squarely on the side of one entry in the editing systems competish.
The award won't be presented until the ACE Eddies ceremony in February, but the org is releasing the news now because it wants those messages to be understood.
ACE is voicing both appreciation for its close relations with Avid and frustration with what it perceives as snubs from Apple, maker of Final Cut Pro, Avid's biggest rival.
The subtext of the kudo announcement is also a message to producers: ACE's members are frustrated about not having a choice of which tools they use, and they don't like being forced to use alternatives to Avid.
All this is coming at a time when ACE editors are feeling restive over job security in the wake of the production slowdown and changes in TV patterns and orders.
Harry B. Miller III, an ACE board member and head of the org's technology committee, said Avid “has always had the superior product" among editing software packages, but recently the company has also gone out of its way to solicit feedback from editors and shape the product to their needs.
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