Another announcement from IBC is that EditShare if reaching a milestone in its redevelopment of the Lightworks editing platform for a formal, non-beta release at the end of November.  The first beta of its Linux and Mac versions will be available in mid December.  Moving the code base into open source is still a goal and is progressing in parallel with the other goals in their development roadmap.

 

The new release will include a free version of Lighworks with support for a limited set of codecs and a somewhat restricted feature set.  An annual subscription of $60 per year ($30 for educational users) will give you:

• more codecs, including:
  • Apple's ProRes
  • Panasonic's AVC-I
  • Red's R3D
  • Sony's XDCam and IMX
  • DPX
  • AVCHD/h.264
• all the features, including:
  • titling
  • stereoscopic 3D
  • support for 3rd party capture hardware from Matrox, Black Magic Design and AJA
  • support for AAF, OMF and EDL interchange
  • shared projects and integration with EditShare's Flow and Ark platforms.

 

There will also be an optional support contract for $612 per year ($312 for educational users).  Avid's DNxHD codec will be available for a one time fee of $55.

I have to say, $60 bucks a year for all that is a steal.

 

The free version of Lighworks, along with the cheap subscription models for the full versions, along with the low pricing for Adobe's Premiere Elements, Apple's FCP-X and Sony Vegas will put some pressure on he bottom end of the editing market, currently serving hobbyists, no-budget indies, events and some industrials.  Those who don't need to interact with mixers, online editors and colorists will be very happy with any of these products.  Those of us who do need to work with mixers, online editors and colorists can pay $60 for a year's subscription to Lighworks and get all of that, as well.

Totally cool!  It may, in fact, be time for me to get off my ass and learn Lighworks.