IBC 2016 Avid feel the b(md)urn!

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/release/20160909-02

So now BMD has the whole apps deal:
- A NLE (which need more work for sure) and a robust image finishing solution in an all-in-one platform: Resolve,
- A robust GFX solution: Fusion,
- The seeds for a robust audio finishing solution: Fairlight.

Are you feeling the burn Avid? Yes obviously you are! Good!
http://www.avid.com/pro-tools-hd/pricing

Get ready to lower your prices though, because I don't think BMD will offer Fairlight "Studio" software-only at $999, no, no, I think more like $450ish, but I might be wrong.

Think for a second, we''ll get a free version as well, just so it matches the rest of BMD software offering. Eh, eh, and I bet it will have 5.1 capabilities. Maybe if it does not, you can kill this sorry ProTools FirstFree of yours Avid.

Difference between Fairlight "Studio" and free? More than 48 I/O, beyond 256 tracks, 256 busses, 256 inserts; beyond 5.1 (7.1, Dolby Atmos, etc.)

Then you'll be able to buy some crazy modular Fairlight hardware: tactile mixer, I/O boxes, DSP galore, and more starting at a few thousand $.

If I were BMD, I would split Resolve and the NLE. Ala FCP "legacy" + Apple Color. But FCPX, Premiere and Avid are still big players and competitors. And after all, Apple Color got killed eventually, so... What do I know.

What to make of all this? Well, I expect Avid to do the right move and up its offering all the while lowering their prices. It won't take long for BMD to set foot into the ProTools sandbox, and if PT is not significantly more attractive it will perish. As I said you can forget ProTools First, and ProTools vanilla will quickly start to look pretty limited.

Avid has really made huge progresses with Media Composer, thanks to the pressure exercised by Adobe and Apple, maybe they will continue to push ProTools to keep competing.  I say it's good news for us users in the long run. Of course all manufacturers keep their promises more or less loosely... Right?

OK, who's next? Apple, something to announce maybe?