Overview
With release of Media Composer 2026.8 Enterprise, Avid introduces Shared Projects without NEXIS. This feature allows production teams to collaborate within the same project, share bins, and access media from LucidLink Filespaces without requiring physical or virtual Avid NEXIS hardware or any other 3rd party bin locking tool.
Historically, enabling collaborative features like bin-locking on non-Avid storage required third-party emulation software. However, Avid has shifted the logic for project sharing into the Media Composer application itself for Enterprise license holders. This means that for teams using the Enterprise version, LucidLink functions as native shared storage, displaying the familiar colorful padlocks and enabling real-time collaboration without additional middleware.
Key Benefits and Functionality of Integration
- Native Bin Locking: Enterprise users can now perform simultaneous edits by diving into bins without missing a beat. The system prevents accidental overwrites or conflicts that could lead to sequence or project corruption.
- Real-Time Global Collaboration: With LucidLink, teams can access the same project and media assets globally without the need to ship physical drives or manually sync files via cloud sync and share cloud service
- Efficient Media Handling: By streaming data only when required, LucidLink enables editors to utilize high-resolution Avid-native formats and native Avid proxy files immediately, bypassing the need for exhaustive local downloads.
- Scalable Infrastructure: This workflow reduces the need for expensive on-premises CapEx infrastructure, allowing for rapid onboarding of freelancers and distributed teams.
LucidLink Connect Integration
The introduction of LucidLink Connect further enhances this workflow by allowing teams to link native S3 objects directly into a Filespace. This enables Media Composer to work with media stored in existing S3 buckets. This unified filespace approach ensures that b-roll, audio, and graphics from various sources are instantly accessible for editing. This approach could be especially beneficial for repurposing archived avid projects without requiring slow and expensive data restoration processes.
This article explains the core functionality, prerequisites, and how the essential Bin Locking system behaves in a LucidLink environment based on successful cross-platform validation.
LucidLink Team-Cache Integration
The combination of Avid Shared Projects and LucidLink elevates the collaborative workflow by eliminating the need for traditional, high-maintenance on-premises storage. Where bandwidth or latency to cloud is restricted, team members can profit from local network performance and maximum editing speed by deploying a LucidLink Team-Cache within the office. The Team-Cache acts as a local storage hub that automatically delivers frequently accessed data without relying on a round-trip to the cloud. Furthermore, files can be actively pre-hydrated into the cache before editing begins, rather than waiting for data to be delivered dynamically. This ensures the entire local team can immediately work with LAN-speed performance while maintaining a single, consistent cloud-based Single Source of Truth for all Media Composer projects and assets.
Key Features & Prerequisites
Avid Media Composer Enterprise Exclusive: The "Shared Projects without NEXIS" functionality is exclusively limited to Media Composer Enterprise and is not supported in Media Composer Ultimate or any lower-tier versions.
Standard Workflows: The software utilizes standard Avid Shared Project workflows, meaning the user experience remains identical to working on a traditional NEXIS system.
Performance: While overall performance when combining Avid Media Composer and LucidLink is contingent upon several variables, most notably internet bandwidth and latency, users can utilize mechanisms such as caching and pinning to maintain efficiency when network conditions restrict dynamic data retrieval speeds.
How Bin Locking Works (The Padlock System)
To prevent editors from overwriting each other's work, Avid utilizes a Bin Locking mechanism. Only one user can have write access to a bin at any given time, while all other editors retain read-only access.
The status of a bin is indicated by the color of the padlock icon next to the bin name:
| Padlock Color | Status | Description |
| š¢ Green | You are in control | You were the first to open the bin. You have full read/write access and can make, save, and delete changes. |
| š“ Red | Read-Only | Another editor currently has the bin open and locked. You can view and use the contents (e.g., drag clips into your timeline), but you cannot save changes to that specific bin. |
| š” Yellow | Updates Available | The editor who has write access (Green lock) has saved new changes. Clicking the yellow padlock refreshes your bin to display their latest updates. |
| šµ Blue | Lock Released | The previous user has closed the bin or project, releasing the lock. Clicking the blue padlock allows you to claim the lock and gain full read/write access. |
1. Separate Projects from Media (Multi-Filespace Approach)
To align with Avidās proven best practice recommendations for storage architecture, LucidLink can be deployed using separate, dedicated Filespaces for Projects and Media. This replicates the performance and security benefits of traditional Avid NEXIS environments in a cloud-native workflow. This approach prevents potential performance bottlenecks caused by simultaneous read/write requests:
Filespace A: Dedicated exclusively to Avid Projects (metadata, .lck files, bin structures).
Filespace B: Dedicated exclusively to Avid MediaFiles (MXF/hostname.x data).
2. Uniform Mount Paths via LucidLink Global Settings
By default, LucidLink mounts Filespaces using a nested structure: /Volumes/workspace/filespace on macOS and C:\Volumes\workspace\filespace on Windows. To ensure Avid Media Composer seamlessly resolves paths for projects and linked media across different systems, you must override these defaults. Uniform mount paths are a strict best practice to ensure everyone's project links remain intact.
Configure this centrally using Global Settings in the LucidLink Control Panel so it applies to all users automatically:
-
macOS: Change the mount path to mount directly under /Volumes/.
- Default: /Volumes/workspace/avidprojects : Change to: /Volumes/avidprojects
- Default: /Volumes/workspace/avidmedia : Change to: /Volumes/avidmedia
-
Windows 11: Change the mount path from a local directory path to a dedicated drive letter.
- C:\Volumes\workspace\avidprojects : Change to Drive P:
- C:\Volumes\workspace\avidmedia : Change to Drive M:
LucidLink Integration & Real-World Testing Notes
Testing with LucidLink has verified that the Avid bin locking mechanism translates seamlessly to LucidLink Filespaces. The metadata communication handles project locks flawlessly across remote systems, provided the uniform mount paths outlined above are maintained.
macOS: It is no longer required to execute the AllDrives command via the Media Composer Console.
Windows 11: Windows 11 systems should be updated to the latest OS version. If Windows is outdated, the padlock icons may not appear at all, breaking the visual and functional feedback of the bin locking workflow.
Quick Start: Working in the Project
- Mount your LucidLink Filespaces on all participating workstations using the standardized global paths.
- In Avid Media Composer Enterprise, point your Project Location to the shared folder inside your dedicated project drive (P: or /Volumes/avidprojects).
- Start creating bins. Notice the š¢ Green Lock on your active bins, while your colleagues will see them turn š“ Red on their end.
For deeper insights into managing assets in a collaborative environment, reference the "Working with Bins and Projects in an Avid Shared Storage Environment" section in the official Avid Editing Guide.