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Anyone Remember Video Machine?
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[John Godwin] ” when Avid bought Pinnacle they quickly cut the high end products”
Not immediately, though. At the first Avid+Pinnacle NAB, there was a whole set of Blue demos running multiple streams of uncompressed HD – the ONLY product in the entire booth doing that! There were Blue roadshows, and a whole new sales channel.
In the meantime, “classic” Avid editors were wondering – rather rudely in some cases 🙂 – when THEIR support for 1:1 HD was coming.
To be honest, I don’t remember the timeline for what happened next, but in the beginning, it was a love match, not a takeover.
But yes, the moral of the story is that very few favorites remain intact over time.
Worst example ever: I read in the Wall St. Journal that there are rumors that Kellogg’s Corn Pops could be dead by 2012!! I still haven’t gotten over losing the original flavor of Alpha Bits. Don’t get me started on Quisp and Kaboom!
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When I started this thread, I was thinking about how Fast eventually ended their company because of turning their backs on their loyal customer base.
Now, I know even if every video producer left Apple, as long as we continued to use the iphone, ipod, ipad and iwhat’snext, they will not be hurt.
They no longer need to create software that will entice customers to their computer platforms as the consumer electronics side of their business will do that for them.
I do wish though I had taken the Avid offer to switch to 5.5 for $1,000. Seems like that deal is dead now.
Oh well. Looks like Premiere. I’ll build a machine that will give me mucho RT. Plus I never did make friends with Motion as I did with AE
DBK
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Long live the VideoCube! I wish I had a VideoCube control panel for my FCP 7
don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
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The Cube RAWKED!!!
Darren, Videoguys.com still has the crossgrade in stock.
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FAST ended Video Machine, or so they said the the time, because they felt they needed to redesign everything from the ground up, and did, with what became Liquid. The big sticking point for me, at the time, was no machine control, other than one machine for in and out. No ABC control. And the cost of hard drives at that point was horrendous – I remember paying over a thousand dollars for a 9 gb SCSI.
But I continued to run my VM for a couple of years, making money off of it, and added a Liguid Silver setup and everything worked out fine for some years.
At this point I have made full clones of my two systems – 3, if you count the MacBook Pro – on both internal and external drives for each, essentially freezing them in a working state for FCP 7. I’ve installed FCP X on the systems and so far had no conflicts. So I can continue to plug along with FCP 7 for a while regardless and also explore FCP X. I am seriously considering getting CS while the special is on to have that as a ready option.
Point being, none of this was cheap and easy when VM was cancelled. Today there are a lot of options, and they don’t necessarily involve having to switch OS and buy new machines and hardware. And they are relatively cheap and easy.
Like almost everyone from what I’ve read, I think Apple should keep selling FCP CS 3 with some support to make this easier for everyone for a while. Maybe they have pulled the rug out from under us to some extent, but the replacement rugs are readily available, and relatively cheap.
Best,
John -
I know this thread appears to be old from back in June 2011, but just recently found it. I too aquired the Fast Video Machine and its add on boxes. Really enjoyed using it with the way I could not only have hard disk recording, but also along with that vdieo I could also have live camera and external tape decks attached and control all by one system. Even to this day, I still have my system up and operational, though not being used as much, but there when I need it for SD video. I have, like most of you added on additional equipment and software so that I can do HD recording and editing. Even at that time, I was using addtional software and hardware editing packages that would allow real time rendering as the older stuff, of having to wait hours for just 5 minutes of video to be render, was just too much down time. I would like to know if anyone know the where one could aquire the keyboard that was used for the Fast video machine, as mine has a couple keys that have broken caps. I know at one time, someone use to sell these as they can be fixed. Guess it does seem strange to still have one of these still in operation, but more than once, I have been glad to still have some of my older equipment operational for times when needed. If someone knows of where I can get a replacement keyboard or parts for the keyboard to the fast video machine, then email me at: jerrytn@att.net.
Would be very much appreciated. Sometimes it nice to see the old stuff still operational and the tubes glowing in the dark.
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Jerry,
I *think* I have the VM parts somewhere in my basement. I’ll try to check this week.
Best,
John -
I remember the Hybrid editor, where you could insert edit on SVHS masters.
Those where the days!
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[Tim Wilson] “Alpha Bits.”
Alpha Bits, man. Alpha Bits. Weren’t nothin’ like ’em before. Won’t ever be nothin’ like ’em again.
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[Darren Kelly] “I do wish though I had taken the Avid offer to switch to 5.5 for $1,000. Seems like that deal is dead now.
“Well you can’t do it to 5.5 anymore, but according to Videoguys–as of yesterday–you can crossgrade to 6.5 for 949. So, you’d have to settle for a full point version up at 50 dollars less.
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