Hollywood editors get new AI tool

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Avid Technology, the editing software company, is the latest entertainment industry player to introduce AI into its toolbox.The company behind industry-standard platforms Pro Tools and Media Composer said it is entering a multiyear partnership with Google Cloud.The goal is to implement both generative and agentic AI so that users can turn the “mostly manual process into an intelligent, AI-assisted experience,” Avid said in a statement Thursday morning.“The primary bottleneck in Hollywood is manual labor [in editing] and managing thousands of hours of high-risk footage,” Avid Chief Executive Wellford Dillard told The Times.

“This isn’t us just adding a new tool.It’s going from static files sitting on hard drives, to living data that understands its context.”Google’s Gemini models and Vertex AI will be embedded directly into Avid’s processes, offering customers a chance to accelerate their editing time.

Avid’s Media Composer, the editing system used on most professional film and TV productions, will now include a Gemini extension that could enhance metadata and generate B-Roll.The company said that, overall, using AI on its platforms enables systems to understand the context of every file — allowing users to describe what they need based on visual movements, on-screen dialogue and emotional cues.Dillard said that when someone uses Media Composer for editing, it can often be frustrating to click in and out of the application in search of the right shot buried within hours of footage.

Now, he said, clients can describe the shot to AI, which could find it faster.Business AI music platforms Suno and Udio were sued by major record labels in 2024 for allegedly exploiting the recorded works of professional musicians.Anil Jain, global managing director at Google Cloud, said that these tools can do both simple functions like tweaking a scene’s background, or a...