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There’s plenty of excitement in Las Vegas this week as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show is in full swing. While there are plenty of announcements coming out of the Nevada desert, two caught our eye on Monday.
First up: Avid announced Pro Tools 11, the latest version of its pro music and audio production software for Mac and Windows. The $299 update for version 10 users is mostly about performance over features, with a 64-bit architecture (at last!), a new Avid Audio Engine, offline bounce mixes up to 150 times faster than real time and additional video interface support.
The real Avid news comes with the introduction of Fast Track Solo ($179) and Fast Track Duo ($299), portable audio interfaces for Mac and Windows that for the first time are also capable of connecting to the iPad, offering I/O support for iOS apps. The interfaces are already shipping to Avid resellers and will be soon be available direct from the company’s online store.
Switching gears, Engadget is reporting that Intel has unveiled the next generation of Thunderbolt, which promises to double the data rate to 20Gbps — and that will work in both directions, as well on each of the two channels the interface uses. The company will also introduce thinner cables, not that the existing ones are exactly pudgy to begin with.
The biggest news for pro video users is that true 4K file transfer support will be part of the technology, which is codenamed “Falcon Ridge” — and will be backward compatible with the Thunderbolt you’re already using. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until next year to see this speed increase.
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