Apple getting ready for the coming new MacPros?

[Oliver Peters]

One has to wonder if this is “a day late and a dollar short”? I wonder if anyone told the Pro Apps team about this? You’d think that they would actually already have someone like this internally. FWIW – Culver City is where Sony Pictures is located.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Oliver Peters]

My guess is that this is to test and evangelize the coming Mac Pro to users who are used to running high-end apps on PC and Linux boxes. Probably not to push FCPX, per se.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Bill Davis]

Perhaps.

But there is another way to look at it is this.

In 2011, Apple tore apart the most popular and successful NLE on the market and started from scratch integrating a new approach. It jettisoned their own wildly successful technologies like QuickTime and re-scaffolded the software on new foundational blocks.
Over time, they’ve been focused on new underpinning ideas like extending the user/database exposure, re-thinking and extending the magnetic timelines capabilities and creating a new database capabilities subset for audio with Roles.
Now that the code for all those ideas (and more) are time tested and in place – they see how all that work is poised to help those customers with the largest and most complex workflows and they are starting to set up a central place in the heart of the American Media industry to help their customers leverage the new capability against the increasingly complex workflows of today.

When Cannon found that their customers were using the 5Ds for video they did the same thing. Boosted the hardware with the C series video cameras and opened up a shop in Hollywood to support users there.

Seems like Apple might be doing the same thing.

As to whether it’s somehow “too late” that can only be true if two conditions are present IMO. The first is that there’s no customer base for a more refined solution than the ones already in place – and secondly if whoever is promoting better alternatives can’t get their solution noticed enough to gain traction.

Somehow I don’t think either are going to be a problem for Apple.

We’ll see.

Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.

[Oliver Peters]

All I’m saying is not to view this through an FCPX lens. The position is within the Mac hardware team, not the Pro Apps software team.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Bill Davis]

[Oliver Peters] “All I’m saying is not to view this through an FCPX lens. The position is within the Mac hardware team, not the Pro Apps software team.”

And all I’m saying is that if Hollywood shops (or their rent/lease integrators) want the new boxes to put AVID setups in the hands of experienced editors APPLE will surely be delighted to sell the computers, regardless.

If it turns out those same boxes run X significantly faster than they run AVID or Premiere (speculative at best but not unreasonable considering where we are seeing today) then time will tell if X qualified editors will get an increasing chunk of those seats – for no reason beyond it possibly being the most optimized tool for getting the work done.

As you and many others here have pointed out – preferences and conditioning aside – if a producer wants the team cutting on NLE A because it hits the deadlines easier with lower labor costs – that’s what usually happens.

And again as you’ve said here – X is not THAT big a jump for any qualified editor given good training and time to adapt.

The big issue is the collaborative stuff and nobody outside Apple knows what or if anything is happening there. But it IS an NLE built on top of a database after all.

Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.

[Oliver Peters]

But looks at the list of apps. Editing is a small part of the list. There’s a heavier focus on VFX and audio. I think part of the equation is that most folks are going to consider the iMac Pro as more than perfect for editing. So Apple is going to have to find markets to justify and tweak the new Mac Pro. I suspect that’s where this lab fits in. The description also discusses gathering analysis related to all products, including iPads. IOW – end-to-end workflows and what products can be applied. Hardware, not software.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Andy Patterson]

[Bill Davis] “The big issue is the collaborative stuff and nobody outside Apple knows what or if anything is happening there. But it IS an NLE built on top of a database after all.”

Same could have been said about Premiere Pro back when FCPX was released.

[Bill Davis] ” X qualified editors will get an increasing chunk of those seats – for no reason beyond it possibly being the most optimized tool for getting the work done.”

Only time will tell but keep in mind all the NLE are getting better and better. DR probably had the best update this year but who knows what will happen at NAB 2018? Will BMD have a photo/graphic design program that integrates with DR and Photoshop at NAB 2018? Will that be a game changer?

[Oliver Peters]

[Bill Davis] “But it IS an NLE built on top of a database after all.”

I see this statement made a lot. Just to be clear. EVERY NLE made was an NLE built on top of a database. No exceptions, except maybe traditional film cutting. Even there, editors had codebooks (database).

EDIT: Of course, each company will opt to manipulate their database differently, thus enabling you to derive different types of info. But it’s the core database of the project that allows the sort of custom sorting, sifting, and versioning that is the essence of a digital NLE.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Andrew Kimery]

[Bill Davis] “Over time, they’ve been focused on new underpinning ideas like extending the user/database exposure, re-thinking and extending the magnetic timelines capabilities and creating a new database capabilities subset for audio with Roles.
Now that the code for all those ideas (and more) are time tested and in place – they see how all that work is poised to help those customers with the largest and most complex workflows and they are starting to set up a central place in the heart of the American Media industry to help their customers leverage the new capability against the increasingly complex workflows of today.
“

It’s not an either/or situation though which is what has frustrated many users. There’s no reason this position couldn’t have existed for the past six years (who knows, maybe the Trashcan MP blunder could’ve been avoided all together).

Years ago I used to work at a large facility that was Apple-centric (dozens of Mac NLEs, huge Xsan, primed to roll out Final Cut Server, etc.,) and the in-house tech integrators had direct lines to enterprise level support inside Apple. That close support disappeared after things like Xsan and Final Cut Legend were shuttered. It’s not like this a market that Apple accidentally stumbled into/created like Canon did with 5D. They made many specific choices to enter it, grow within it, and then back away from it.

I look forward to the good things that will come out of this, because with the amount of Mac-centric workflows in this part of the industry it would be nice if Apple stopped being so aloof.

[Oliver Peters]

[Andrew Kimery] “That close support disappeared after things like Xsan and Final Cut Legend were shuttered. It’s not like this a market that Apple accidentally stumbled into/created like Canon did with 5D. They made many specific choices to enter it, grow within it, and then back away from it.”

Yep. Went through that, too. We can all thank Steve Jobs for that. At one point Apple had an enterprise unit to deal with those customers and then those Apple folks were all reassigned. Sales and support went to the resellers, which meant it deteriorated. Xsan and FC Server were good products that were not fully developed and those experiences with Apple left a bad taste. I know of at least one corporate example where this resulted in an edict that no more Apple products would be accepted on bids. Post workstations shifted to Dell. It also helped drive sales for Avid with seats of Media Composer and Avid shared storage.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com