Grass Valley has launched Edius X, the latest version of its non-linear editor. The multi-format software now comes with a completely redesigned core engine along with a modular concept that offers enhanced performance for more easily customisable workflows.

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Grass Valley: The Edius X NLE has received a comprehensive upgrade

It is “imperative for broadcasters, content owners and production companies to have tools that are reliable, fast and flexible. Building on the industry proliferation of cloud technologies and software-based workflows, the launch of Edius X ensures that we continue to provide our customers with the most enhanced capabilities and functionalities,” said Katsushi Takeuchi, Grass Valley’s VP of editing systems.

Edius X, which runs on Windows 10, features background rendering and background export that should make the workflow a smoother, uninterrupted experience. The enhanced Layouter motion tracking allows users to easily attach a label, animation or video clip to a tracked object and, when combined with Anchor Mode, reframes a shot with reference to the tracked object, which is particularly useful for aspect ratio conversions and virtual multi-camera shots.

The software is claimed to support the newest codecs and camera releases “natively like no other NLE”. It also includes enhanced GPU acceleration. This enables “an ultrafast H.265 export” that is also available with the new background rendering options. The new modular design allows it to utilise the potential of multi-core CPUs more efficiently than before, and with Edius X Workgroup edition it can support files up to 8K.

Being modular should also make it easier to update, with Grass Valley promising additional capabilities such as machine learning during the development of X, which are likely to include audio transcription and object recognition. Updates will be free of charge during its expected lifecycle of two to three years.

Other expected updates to 10.x over that time include: teamwork editing, making it easier to share content and projects; enhanced workflow options utilising the cloud; intelligent handling of metadata for optimised media management; diagnostics and automated bulk optimisation of audio and video clips; and an enhanced SDK and Rest-API to make it easier for third-party developers to integrate with Edius.

Edius X comes bundled with three free new modules for optimising audio (including compression, limiting and de-noise – from the Acon Digital EE Edition), title creation (New Blue Titler Pro 7) and video effects (proDAD Vitascene V4), including all new seamless transitions. The regular price of the three bundled packages would be more than $600.