All posts tagged: avid

Hollywood editors get new AI tool from Google, Avid

Hollywood editors get new AI tool from Google, Avid

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 …

Books for Avid Toni Morrison Fans

Books for Avid Toni Morrison Fans

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Ever since grad school, I’ve loved diving into discussions around an author’s body of work. When my favorite barista told me that she loved Toni Morrison, I found myself scrolling the internet looking for nonfiction that explored Morrison’s writing. We traded must-read titles and gushed about our favorites. We were always looking for more to read. In the last few years, a host of writers and scholars have been putting out stunning volumes about Morrison’s work. So if you’re an avid Morrison fan (who isn’t?!) and are looking for more books about her work, here are a few of our favorites. Toni Morrison: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations by Melville House, Introduction by Nikki Giovanni The Last Interview and Other Conversations series rounds up interviews and other printed conversations from people who’ve passed away. For Toni Morrison’s edition, her close friend Nikki Giovanni introduces the volume, giving this book such a personal touch. With its insight and …

Pope, an avid athlete, extols physical and spiritual benefits of sport in Olympic message

Pope, an avid athlete, extols physical and spiritual benefits of sport in Olympic message

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, an avid tennis player and sports fan, marked the start of the Winter Games on Friday by extolling the positive values of sport and fair play while warning that the pursuit of profits and performance risked corrupting sport entirely. In a message entitled “Life in Abundance” issued on the same day as the Milan Cortina opening ceremony, Leo traced the history of Christian philosophers and popes who had identified sports and leisure activity as beneficial for both physical and spiritual development. And he repeated his call for world leaders to respect the ancient tradition of an Olympic truce. But drawing on his own experience as an athlete, Leo delved into a nuanced exploration of the value of sports and the risk when the “dictatorship of performance” posed by doping, match-fixing and other forms of corruption win out over fair play. “Such dishonesty not only corrupts sporting activities themselves, but also demoralizes the general public and undermines the positive contribution of sport to society as a whole,” he warned. He …

Bad Bunny look-alike contest attracts hundreds of avid fans ahead of Super Bowl

Bad Bunny look-alike contest attracts hundreds of avid fans ahead of Super Bowl

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more A Bad Bunny look-alike contest in San Francisco unexpectedly erupted into a vibrant street party, drawing hundreds of the global superstar’s fans to cheer on his impersonators and sing along to his music, ahead of his Super Bowl halftime show this weekend. More than 30 contestants from across the Bay Area, including men with distinctive curly hair, women in wigs and fake facial hair, and even a kindergartener sporting a fedora, white tank top, and bow tie, vied for a $100 prize at a packed Mexican restaurant in the Mission neighbourhood. They embodied the 31-year-old Puerto Rican singer through some of his signature looks, donning straw hats known as a “pava,” traditionally worn by Puerto Rican farmers, or a shearling aviator hat, similar to …