Avid Media Composer Licensing

Media Composer Licenses for Businesses

Media Composer Licenses for Education

Media Composer | Ultimate is available for individual students/teachers, and teams and labs.

Licencing Terminology

It’s important to have licenses for different user needs, but it can be complex. Below, we’ll break down each license and who the license is designed for.

Annual Subscription

With an annual subscription, users can use the software for one year. If there’s a significant update during that time, you can download and use it during that year. If your subscription expires, you can no longer use the software, unless you renew the license.

Individual License

For a single user, or if it’s an educational license, for a single student or teacher.

Team License

Enables small to medium-sized businesses to purchase multiple seats under one license that can be assigned and unassigned to team members. Using the Admin Console’s assign and un-assign feature, you can now easily reallocate licenses from team members who are not using a seat or are no longer on your team, to those who need one. For education, team licenses can refer to a group of students or a classroom.

Floating licenses

Floating licenses are sometimes called a Network License. This license model allows multiple people to use one license by activating and deactivating it on computers. Normally, the software is installed on multiple computers but only a certain number of machines can use the license concurrently. A floating license is useful for a team, or even for yourself if you use multiple computers.

Volume or Site License

Allows multiple instances of an application to operate using a single common Activation ID. This enables you to run the application on multiple devices concurrently. A volume license differs from a Volume License Server model in that the volume license does not require a server to allocate the licenses to the devices. Volume licenses require activation on each device independently. Software subject to a volume license may be offered on a subscription basis.

Volume License Server or Network License

Utilizes a network-connected license server to deliver and manage multiple activations of a single application. Volume License Server or Network licenses allow the license to be activated only once (on the license server) and then delivered to the network-connected clients without additional activation. Volume/Network license servers can also reduce the effort required for software upgrades, by providing the upgrade software to the clients and eliminating the need for individual activations on each client node.  Volume/Network server licenses enable internal license administration by using managed device lists (license reservations). All nodes connected to a Volume/Network license server mimic a node-locked license configuration, tying a single license count to a particular client device. Software subject to a floating license may be offered on a subscription basis.

Floating License Server

Similar to a Volume License Server, with the exception that you must check out and return the license at every use. This capability allows for better license utilization, as the enterprise does not have to allocate for licenses that are not in use. Unlike the Volume License Server model, a client in a Floating License Server configuration will need to maintain connectivity to the Floating License Server. Once the application is shut down on the client machine, or the client is no longer visible to the server, the license on that client is returned to the floating license server and added to the pool of available licenses for other clients to consume.

Update Plan (for Perpetual Licenses)

Technically not a license, the Update Plan allows users to keep their perpetual licenses current and get support for the products at no additional cost. If the Upgrade & Support lapse, you must pay for an upgrade.