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Bunim/Murray chooses Avid
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[John Heagy] “Depends on the definition of “Broadcaster””
True.
[John Heagy] “Content will always be created by “networks” or “studios” etc, the delivery is what will change.”
Always has been true, but the delivery is as crucial to the studios as the content, dating back to when each movie studio owned it’s own chain of theaters. The studios need a cost effective way to reach a “broad” range of viewers – the anarchy of the internet will not due. That’s why movie theater’s still exist in the US – they are a cost efficient way of legitimizing content because of the whole advertising and marketing ecosystem that supports them. The same is true with “Network” TV. I also don’t think the bundling practices of the cable providers with their fiber infrastructure are going away anytime soon. The demise of TV as we now know it is still many years away.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
[Oliver Peters] “I think what all of this points to is that we can no longer (and shouldn’t) place all of our eggs in one basket”
Oliver,
I think this is an interesting point (and it’s been discussed here before). The drop in costs of software and hardware supports this approach (though we do seem to be reaching some sort of plateau in that respect).
On the other hand, it does suggest that software should be evaluated on how well it functions in the context of collaboration.
When FCPX (one might say, “proudly”) can’t open legacy projects while competing NLEs can, it does seem to suggest a certain counter-collaborative philosophy. While it’s hard to count them out until they figure out what they really want to do with XML, what I’ve said above does align with their consumer strategy.
It’ll be interesting to see what comes of the Adobe / Auto Duck collaboration.
Franz.
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[John Heagy] “Depends on the definition of “Broadcaster”, If it’s over the air broadcast they are currently a drop in the bucket compared to cable and sat. Is Netflix a broadcaster, especially now with their own exclusive series coming out?”
I think “broadcast” has become shorthand for traditional video delivery. The kind that plays on televisions, and the kind that still dominates video viewership and advertising spending.
I agree that the definition is broader than it used to be and doesn’t have anything to do with RF anymore.
I’ll invoke Justice Stewart Potter — I think we all know broadcast when we see it. I’d include things like your cable provider’s video-on-demand service (which is still fundamentally based on realtime video delivery to a dedicated video device), but I’d exclude things like YouTube (which is fundamentally based on file delivery to a general-purpose device).
That distinction may fade, but I don’t see it happening as soon as many here do. Television is just too easy from the user’s perspective.
[John Heagy] “Content will always be created by “networks” or “studios” etc, the delivery is what will change. If the giant bundling deals are bypassed by this new delivery paradigm you will see cable networks die and the individual studios replace them delivering content ad hoc.”
The new delivery paradigm still needs the old pipes to actually get the bits from the server in the cloud to your living room.
If the original production studios (a.k.a. cable networks) can no longer collect subscription fees from cable providers, how will they finance production?
High-value original production would become even riskier from a financial standpoint than it is today. Cue another “great wasteland” speech.
[John Heagy] “This new type of delivery will eventually make broadcast standards a thing of the past. People will be able to view PAL, NTSC, 24p etc… on standard agnostic devices. Any flat panel TV with an HDMI input is such a device today.”
HDMI wraps a few video standards into a single wire protocol. It doesn’t obviate the need to correctly target one of those standards in the first place.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[Herb Sevush] “The demise of TV as we now know it is still many years away.”
True
I read that internet media is most popular as a replacement to traditional “TV broadcast” in Europe. I’d guess that has a lot to do with the fact that HD is not nearly as prevalent there as here in the US. In Europe, watching 720p on one’s computer trumps the quality of their widescreen SD.
[Walter Soyka] “If the original production studios (a.k.a. cable networks) can no longer collect subscription fees from cable providers, how will they finance production?”
Ask Netflix how they are paying for Lilyhammer.
Also, networks pay production companies, and then cable companies pay the networks. Netflix pays the production company… done. In the future the production company may not need Netfix. Distribution will become very granular. It will be much like how thousands of websites are killing the hundreds of magazines and newspapers.
Of course Comcast buying NBC/Universal is a hedge against this trend.
[Walter Soyka] “HDMI wraps a few video standards into a single wire protocol. It doesn’t obviate the need to correctly target one of those standards in the first place.”
In the case of one’s cable box yes, but not a MacMini or Laptop. I can play 30.00p out of my WDTV and probably 25 and 24p via HDMI to my 6 year old JVC. This is also why interlaced content will die out eventually. It looks like crap on a computer monitor. That can’t happen fast enough for me.
John Heagy
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[Walter Soyka] “If the original production studios (a.k.a. cable networks) can no longer collect subscription fees from cable providers, how will they finance production?”
[John Heagy] “Ask Netflix how they are paying for Lilyhammer.”
Netflix collects subscription revenue just like the cable providers do. It’s just too risky to fund a major production based solely on the possibility of future à la carte sales.
Major television products available online for a couple bucks (or for free, with ads) are subsidized by the advertising sold in their huge broadcast distribution, as well as subscription fees for the cable networks. This requires serious scale that doesn’t exist online yet.
[Walter Soyka] “HDMI wraps a few video standards into a single wire protocol. It doesn’t obviate the need to correctly target one of those standards in the first place.”
[John Heagy] “In the case of one’s cable box yes, but not a MacMini or Laptop. I can play 30.00p out of my WDTV and probably 25 and 24p via HDMI to my 6 year old JVC.”
Understood — but my point was that content is still being produced to meet some technical standard. A single video stream must conform to the same standard, even if all the original source footage did not.
[John Heagy] “This is also why interlaced content will die out eventually. It looks like crap on a computer monitor. That can’t happen fast enough for me.”
Hear, hear!
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
[John Heagy] “Ask Netflix how they are paying for Lilyhammer.”
The fact that I am a Netflix subscriber and watch their streaming videos regularly and had never heard of this show says all you need to about the difficulties in reaching a large audience when going outside the regular distribution channels.
Movie and TV reviews in both print and broadcast media is an incredible source of free ultra-targeted marketing that are lost when using outside distribution. This is why direct to DVD movies were never as profitable as true theatrical releases. Just a guess, but Netflix will probably go for a traditional TV release after premiering on-line.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
I think FCPX is more of a threat because the skill base to use FCPX and get professional results is a lot lower than any other editor IMO. The automated way it manages media in the background and the trackless timeline requires less of a learning curve. The way FCPX controls how you edit, hides advance features, standardises timeline aspect ratios might annoy professional full time editors but this also reduces the chance to screw the edit up. If you are an up and coming assistant producer doing a rough cut isn’t this the ideal NLE for you? Let’s not forget how cheap it is as well.
Maybe I’m wrong but I can see FCPX being used in-house on producers laptops in a way Avid and Premiere can’t be. There will be more in-house time and less at the post houses. Many shows require high-end finishing only a post house can offer. Many do not. It’s not an all or nothing equation but it is clear the balance is changing and FCPX could be an important part of the change… when it stable… less buggy… and has better xml inter-change…
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[Walter Soyka] “Netflix collects subscription revenue just like the cable providers do”
Correct, at $7.99 instead of ten times that for Sat or Cable. The scale required is trending down.
[Walter Soyka] “Understood — but my point was that content is still being produced to meet some technical standard.”
Agreed, what I should have said is one will no longer needs to meet all standards for universal delivery. One can shoot 30p or 25p or 24p and make it available universally. It means the eventual end of the 24p universal master. Another thing I can’t wait to happen. The slow aerial pan of Prague in the latest Mission Impossible movie made me ill, and 3D 24p action movies are unwatchable. Go Jackson and Cameron shooting 48fps!
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[Herb Sevush] “The fact that I am a Netflix subscriber and watch their streaming videos regularly and had never heard of this show says all you need to about the difficulties in reaching a large audience when going outside the regular distribution channels. “
I expect you will just prior to it’s first “airing”.
The fact that I knew about it and don’t subscribe would refute that. I heard about on an entertainment news site. Doing something for the first time is never easy. I not saying any of this stuff will happen tomorrow. The trend seems clear tho. Clearly there are powerful forces that will oppose it. Let the games begin!
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[John Moffat] ” If you are an up and coming assistant producer doing a rough cut isn’t this the ideal NLE for you? Let’s not forget how cheap it is as well.”
No because once the young producer has his cut he/she has no way of transmitting the project info to a real editor, who will definitely not be working on FCPX. The only rough-cut to finishing workflow from Apple is Imovie to FCPX.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf
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