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Anyone Remember Video Machine?
I go back in NLE to the Fast Video Machine. Bought one in 1994, and was forced out of it in 1998 I think.
At NAB in 1996, Fast introduced a new product called Blue. They ended development of video machine and said they would provide an anything in – anything out solution. The cost would have been in the $25-$40K zone, or over 5 times the price of their original product. It was designed to be “Hi-End” and while they were sorry their user base wasn’t able to continue with them, they had made their decision. I headed off to other products including Adobe Premiere 5, Matrox Digisuite, tried Avid, Velocity – everything. I hated working with the PC, and all the conflicts that were around with the operating system, incompatibility with other cards in the computer – the whole nightmare.
In 2001, I switched to Apple and FCP 1.25. My logic was that the editing software was made by the same company who made the computer, and the OS, and it would save me lots of time in maintenance and computer headaches. It did. I gave up realtime (The PC had it, while FCP had limitations) for the simplicity, and the ease of use.
I have been unhappy with Apple’s attitude towards it’s pro software (FCPS3) and it’s computers as it switches from a computer company into a consumer electronics company. Now, I love my iphone, my ipad (It died in a horrible car accident I was involved in last week) and ipods. But they have stopped being a company interested in producing leading edge computers and leading edge Pro Software for the mass sales to the public.
That’s fine. It’s their choice. I waited an additional 12 months – 24 months maybe while they promised a feature set for FCP that would be mind blowing. Adobe has beaten them for realtime, Avid has beaten them for realtime, media management and more.
I guess it’s time. I start 2 major projects this month, and given Apple’s track record of ceasing to support older generations of software, and I suppose FCP7 users are stranded on the current OS. It’s time to move on. Nothing more to see here.
DBK
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20 Replies
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I had a Video Machine, and made a *lot* of good shows and money with it. Blue ended up turning into into Liquid and was a great piece of software. Made a *lot* of gs & money off the Silver version of it. Avid bought it, eventually, evidently to kill it off as competition, so I switched to FCP. Frankly, I switched to FCP after years of trying to explain to FCP users why background rendering, excellent compression, built-in effects, including 3d, and a bunch of other stuff was great.
So it’s interesting to me that in some senses FCP X is actually very much like the far ahead of it’s time Liquid, of course with HD and 64 bit and all. Maybe that’s why I’m warming to it, that and not having the tape delivery issues that some people have.
Best,
John -
I used to have VM Full DP/R with the YUV option plus the D-A convertor so I could use AG4700 VTR alongside my DSR60 & DS60 SONY DV Player recorders.. All in a 30U rack.. Had the the whole lot in my home office. Looked more like post production office in The Mill!! However VM had a slight problem with one of the frame stores either in V1 or 2 where frames would become stuck and show themselves when using DVE’s in the timeline. Moreover there were some serious issues with using external drives too whereupon they wouldnt mount properly. I’d worked on a workaround which meant every so often one would have to manually mount the drives via a DOS command!
Wow things have Changed!!
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[John Godwin] “Avid bought it, eventually, evidently to kill it off as competition”
Not at all. The purpose of acquiring Pinnacle was filling in holes across the board, from playout servers and broadcast CG to consumer software sold at Circuit City. Liquid was seen very specifically as filling in a gap that Avid otherwise didn’t see a way for themselves to fill — people outside Hollywood who wanted fast, powerful, standalone stations with integrated feature sets. You looked at Xpress Pro when Avid bought Pinnacle. Did it look like competition to you? Of course not. Liquid was seen as a key strategic, complementary product.
Less than a year later, Avid acquired Medea storage for the very same reason – a strategic complement in the area of standalone storage, where Avid’s focus has been shared storage.
Note too that Avid EOL’d Xpress Pro in 2008, Liquid not until 2010. Guessing now, but perhaps a growing market for a lower-cost, software-only Media Composer did them both in. Since Liquid was never meant to be a “feeder” for Media Composer — it was considered its own “pinnacle” if you will — folks like you quite reasonably went elsewhere.
FCPX makes perfect sense. Liquid’s timeline was indeed far ahead of its time, and its integrated toolset (one application, many tasks) has not yet been equaled. It’s clear that FCPX is making a run at this, and I think that many former Liquid people might be very happy with FCPX in the long run.
After all, the long run is what’s going to make this most interesting, eh?
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After this post, I know that’s the John Godwin I know lurking around in here. I remember you showing off that FAST video machine to at in your house/office when I PA’d for you that one time you never can remember. It looked cool, but I was fresh out of college and didn’t know what to make of it. Until I started using the VideoCube a few months later. Must’ve been 1993. Then I remember you having Liquid back in 2002? On a shoot for Kim.
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[Tim Wilson] “FCPX makes perfect sense.”
I cried a little on the inside I have to admit reading that. One of the stages of grief I suppose, acceptance… 😉
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Yep to all that. But with VM you could control AB&C machines and a DPR at the same time, whereas with Avid and FCP and all you could digitize and then reconform but no machine control. Sometimes a project would have 8 hours of tape from each of 3 cameras, say, and you could cut a fancy open and close using the DPR and then edit the body of the show without digitizing a single tape. Saved days of digitizing.
Best,
John -
Well, at this age, I have a LOT to remember. I hope I’m doing more contributing than lurking, at this point. I never posted much on COW because I didn’t feel I had the FCP knowledge to add too much.
It’s been an interesting trip. I have to admit to taking some comfort with FCP X that I’m still able and willing to adapt and learn something new. In a few months I expect my various clients will have decided what direction they’ll take, and I’ll adjust as necessary. In the meantime I have another toolset to add to the kit.
Hope to see you guys in person soon.
Best,
John -
I think you said it. I can always use the matrox mxo2 for Avid, which I used to use, or Premiere which I already have. In either case, it seems it’s time to update the old Mac Pro because I can’t even buy FCP X. Need a new graphics card. So, Apple, let’s get those new Mac Pros out, or let me know if you’ve decided that internal drives are a silly concept or what. I need to get something in the next month or so.
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I don’t disagree, and you may have inside info I don’t, but when Avid bought Pinnacle they quickly cut the high end products, the ones with dedicated hardware and real pro I/O and acceleration, and kept the software only version with a small RCA/FireWire breakout box. Then eventually what was the software, I think, ended up migrating into what had been Pinnacle Studio and is now Avid Studio. At least at the time there was some deal about the underlying code being put into Studio.
In any case, you’re surely right about the long run. The saying “adapt or die” has always applied to this business. Some adapt by moving to a different platform, some by accepting the new, some by a combination, and some by suffering a massive snit. I expect to adapt with a combination of FCP X and whatever platform(s) my clients want.
Best,
John -
It’s running on my 3 year old MacBook Pro. If you want to come over and play with it a bit that’d be great.
Best,
John
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