Lightworks - the countdown begins

Some time back, I reported on the Lightworks beta project, and even gave a demo on the dual-boot MacPro I brought to a wefcpug meeting.   Since then, not a lot has happened, as far as the outside world was told:   I began to wonder if the app would ever move out of beta stage to the promised freemium/pro upgrade version.

I need wonder no longer.   According to the Lightworks beta site, there'll be news on May 28th:

On 28th May 2012, Lightworks comes back to the future

It’s time to take Lightworks to the next stage in its evolution. Starting with the Windows release on 28th May 2012, over the next year we will rock the world of video editing, because never before has such power been available for so little cost - and on so many platforms (Lightworks for Linux and OS X are Works In Progress).
For the first time, you’ll be able to download the Free and Pro versions of Lightworks for Windows, which have been completely re-engineered to run on modern, multicore hardware. You’ll be able to use the same software that Hollywood editors use to craft films like The King’s Speech and Hugo.

That's when the beta site goes offline, to be replaced by lwks.com

Following on from the Avid Symphony crossgrade offer, and the launch of Adobe's latest Creative Suite, NLE apps are beginning to arrive like buses.   (And I haven't even mentioned the FCP X incremental upgrades).

Sell your big mac, the future is here...

...the world has ended.   So it would seem in some quarters of the wonder interweb world.   The cause of the dismay?   A little app (and I mean app - for the iPad) called 'Avid Studio'.   I haven't tried it yet, lacking the vital hardware, but Elliot Bristow (and Richard) tipped me off.   According to the blurb, it's a video editing app for making storyboards, precision edits, with high-quality transitions, effects, and a soundtrack.  Cutting to the strapline 'easy enough for the hobbyist, powerful enough for the pro'.  Yes, there's 'export to Avid Studio' available.

So far so good, but the big news is the price - £2.99
Yes, you read it right, under three quid.   Not even worth claiming back the VAT (which you can't anyway because it's not a UK purchase).

Admittedly it's only out today, and untried and tested but I'm sure this hole will soon be filled.  Remember, it's an iPad app, search through iTunes, not even the App Store...
What's going on here?  It's a pretty aggressive move by Avid into the space we all thought FCP X was going to enter.  The price?  Well, Apple gets a cut of apps sold through the iTunes and app stores, so maybe Avid's thinking is to buy market share, get students and beginners familiar with the interface,  hence build a group of wannabe producers and craft editors who have grown up with Avid, but not share too much of the revenue of what's probably a loss-leader anyway.   Unless they sell thousands and thousands of course.  Being first is sometimes what counts in this space.

Based on my experience (watching someone else) of Avid Scorch - an impressive music score/transposition app for iPad at £1.99 - these guys know what they're doing.   Two real benefits for all of us:  at this price-point it's gotta be good for competition, and secondly there's now a good business case for buying that iPad.