Avid debuted Nexis, a new virtualized storage platform, and 4Designer, a 2D and 3D motion-graphics software package, at NAB this weekend.

Avid also announced extensions to its MediaCentral Platform, including support for Panasonic's AVC Ultra-LongG.

Avid Nexis Storage
Avid Nexis is billed as a software-defined storage platform custom-designed for media management. It''s built to work with Avid Media Composer and Pro Tools as well as with Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Grass Valley Edius, Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve, Autodesk Smoke, FilmLight Baselight, and other third-party applications, allowing multiple users to access shared pools of virtualized storage.

All Nexis components use the new Avid Nexis FS file system. They include the Nexis E4 and Nexis E2 storage engines, a System Director Applicance, Media Packs of 10 drives with a total 20 TB or 60 TB of storage.

For entry-level users, the Nexis Pro storage engine has replaced the ISIS 1000.

4Designer Motion Graphics Software
4Designer is aimed at broadcast motion-graphics creation and includes Maestro, a graphics management and play-out system that integrates with Avid's MediaCentral. It supports the creation of templates with unlimited numbers of 2D and 3D layers and supports graphics at Ultra HD resolutions, Avid said.

AVC Ultra-LongG Support
Support for AVC Ultra-LongG will include the ability to splice streams, allowing sequences to be edited without requiring re-encoding. AVC-LongG support from ingest to play-out and archive is planned for Media Composer, Nexis, Interplay Production and Interplay MAM, AirSpeed 5500, Media Director, and MediaCentral UX, and should begin appearing in the second quarter, Avid said.

IP Video Standards
And Avid said it will support real-time IP signals in Media Central, allowing users to converge file-based and live signal-based systems in hybrid workflows. Avid said it is adding support for open-technology standards for IP delivery as they emerge. (Read more about this ongoing discussion in StudioDaliy's coverage of the AIMS and ASPEN industry groups.) At the show, Avid is demonstrating IP workflow with partners such as Grass Valley and Sony, showing new IP interfaces for Media Composer and other Avid products, and committing to open and agnostic architecture for IP support in MediaCentral.