CUTTERS INC.

(From The Yahoo Avid User's Group)

One of Chicago's top post-production facilities, CUTTERS INC., has implemented a new AVID workflow for creative editorial, finishing, and compositing work on a national TV advertising campaign for DELL COMPUTER.

THE CUTTERS team is using nine MEDIA COMPOSER ADRENALINE editing systems, two AVID DS NITRIS finishing and compositing solutions, and an AVID UNITY MEDIA NETWORK shared-storage environment to produce an ongoing series of commercials -- including a high-profile spot featuring rock singer/songwriter SHERYL CROW.

"When DELL's agency, DDB WORLDWIDE, came to us with a proposal to do a very large number of TV ads, we knew we'd have to update our AVID installation to make it happen. We took a close look at the available options -- including APPLE's FINAL CUT PRO and XSAN -- and decided to re-invest in AVID," said JOHN McGRATH, General Manager at CUTTERS.

"For a campaign of this magnitude, where we're producing an average of one spot per day, AVID is the only company that can deliver all the editorial, finishing, and media management tools that we need.

Plus, with AVID, we've been able to keep the project in an integrated pipeline that gives us maximum creative flexibility and allows us to deliver the level of quality and service that our clients expect from us."

DANA RUZICKA, Vice President of Post Solutions at AVID, added, "The AVID installation at CUTTERS illustrates the benefits that AVID brings to enterprise customers in the postproduction industry."

For creative editorial work, the MEDIA COMPOSER ADRENALINE system offers the industry's most advanced tool set. Using features like FLUIDMOTION, the CUTTERS editorial team applied a time-stretching technique that gives the DELL product shots their unique visual character.

At the finishing stage, the AVID DS NITRIS solution conforms every edit, transition, and effect created in the MEDIA COMPOSER ADRENALINE system. And, when it comes to media management, the AVID UNITY environment provides a powerful workflow to capture, track, and archive digital media as it moves through the facility and out to the client.

Besides providing the CUTTERS editing team with a sophisticated means to share and move data, the facility's AVID UNITY solution is augmented by THE AVID WORKGROUPS 4.0 family of PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS, which allow clients to log in remotely and review their spots. These tools include the TRANSFER MANAGER, MEDIA MANAGER, and MEDIA MANAGER SELECT utilities, as well as the NEARCHIVE managed storage solution and PORT SERVER PRO network server.

Having that level of access to our network saves clients like DDB lots of time and effort, and it means fewer production cycles for our editorial and effects teams," said McGrath.