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FCP Express rant
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[Michael Bozik] “Each successive version of software seems to be as deficient as the previous – just in different areas.”
In the context of the development history of video editing software, I don’t think you are going to find many here that will agree with you on that. [Curmudgeon Voice]”Why, back in my day, we could only edit one kind of video, the software crashed every 5 minutes, renders took two weeks and we had to walk to the studio in snow up to HERE…”[/Curmudgeon Voice]
Seriously, I do sympathize with your frustrations (and these forums are a good place to get your problems resolved), but the software+hardware today is amazingly powerful, flexible and stable, especially when compared with the previous versions. Video editing is easily one of the most complex functions on any computer, and, as has already been mentioned in passing in this tread, there isn’t a lot of money to be made in video editing software in the mid-range. RIP: FASST, Ulead Media Studio Pro, Sonic Foundry…
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ps: As sad and pessemistic as it souds, I don’t really expect to get a satisfactory answer, but I’d love to be surprised!
I’ve seen people turn their noses at high quality gold that wasn’t polished just the way they wanted, as well.
Short answer, if you think designing bug-free software is easy, or if you feel manufacturers write bugs into the software intentionally, you probably should be writing your own.
As a partner in a small software company, it’s very difficult being on the edges of the ripple when Microsoft, hardware companies, or third party software vendors do things that affect our software. Tech support becomes impossible.So…perhaps writing your own is the best answer.
Otherwise, learn to live with the fact that the software is predominantly written to fit the most broad hardware/software user component out there, and it’s always going to have minor issues here or there.
Vegas is far less buggy, runs more smoothly, and offers more format options than any other software out there, but it still has its quirks.
As does *everything* else worth having in life.Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASSTCertified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor -
There are no perfect software out there Michael,
all have issues….And we here as Cow leaders are professionals
who use these tools daily and in so doing offer our advise,
experties and solutions to everyone who queries to the best
of our abilities and beyond…
So if you want more than that from a forum or want the perfect
editing tool….you wont find it.Steve Rhoden
(Cow Leader)
Creative Arts Director and Film Maker.
Portfolio at:
http://www.youtube.com/hentys -
[Michael Bozik] “Your forums are filled with questions about crippleware that rarely get answered. Nothing is getting solved!”
Michael,
Everyday these forums deliver answers, solutions, ideas and support. If they didn’t, they’ve have died long ago.
What can’t be solved or fixed is often the domain of “workarounds” and over the last many years, many a workaround was developed on these forums.
Rarely gets answered? Hardly. If that were true, as I said, these forums would have died long ago.
What doesn’t change is that some (and I wouldn’t include the Vegas team in this) software developers do not truly fix what’s wrong in their software and so, short of the aforesaid workarounds, the same problems come up day after day. The same workaround gets paraded out. And everyday a new group of people show up with that same problem. Thankfully, some people are mighty patient and do the parading out.
Crippleware? Only to the blind. Hobbledware might be more accurate. While not perfect, I have been making a living with hobbled tools for about two and a half decades now. Nearly everyone has to learn to deal with software that attains varying degrees of perfection and prowess and it is the pros that learn to make a living with these tools — those that wait for perfection die along the roadside. It has been happening this way for decades now.
The only perfect and bug-free editing system was a razor blade. In software, Vegas comes mighty close. Everything else falls in line somewhere behind it.
[Michael Bozik] “So here is my question to all you Phd’s out there… Is this fourm doing anything Pro-Active to lean on the product manafacturers to provide fixes for all the stupid defects that are wasting 70% of my time? Or is this forum just an excuse to put up banner adds?”
You want a direct answer, eh? Well you came to the right place — we do straight answers here at the COW. ;o)
Over the years I cannot count the number of solutions that users here at the COW have helped create while interacting with manufacturer reps, etc.
It happens all of the time still and the savviest companies have their reps strategically interacting throughout the site. Many companies, including Sony reps, do this.
Who doesn’t? Apple, for one. (Oh, they *watch* these forums and their people write us and ask why so-and-so said such-and-such. So we know they are there but their official policy keeps them from participating directly.) Adobe does, in part but not as much as they used to since the Macromedia takeover. If they did, they’ve have to admit things like the activation nightmares that their new policies have foisted off on legitimate users. I miss the old Adobe. And I still use CS3 out of fear of what is going to happen when I try to install CS4. I plan to keep my current computer dedicated to the magazine, using the current OS I am on and CS3. I won’t upgrade this machine. My new recording studio will use a new machine and Steinberg Nuendo. Do they advertise? No. I like them anyway and it’s what I use. I love it.
God bless companies like Sony who do listen to their customers.
There are many others in the COW that also do and thankfully, many things change when as many voices get raised as sound off around these parts.
An excuse to sell banner ads? For the first six or seven years that we have been doing this (we have been at it now for nearly 14), we had few banner ads. But we grew to the size that we had to have them or shut the site off. Especially if we were going to give away free magazines, 1000s of tutorials and podcasts, and support a site that now gets nearly 1.3 million unique users a month. That is a HUGE amount of bandwidth to have to support and so I say God bless our sponsors, too — without them, this site would have collapsed under the weight of this kind of bandwidth long ago.
No, we are not afraid of the hard questions here, nor of getting our toes stepped on — nor of stepping on a few toes ourselves. And while we do ask a respectful balance here and that things be treated fairly, if you visit the link above (and many others over the years) you will see that we do not subscribe to a policy of being owned by our sponsors. We are fair, not bought.
And that’s the straight answer you weren’t expecting.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
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Gentlemen,
Thanks to everyone who responded to my post. I guess everything just boiled over for me last night and I had to say some things that have been on my mind. I do appreciate the patience you have shown, but I will not stop asking why things cannot change – and “Life isn’t perfect” is not acceptable to me. (At least not on this thread. It is after all, a rant.)
I’m not asking for perfection – just something closer to it. Are there not examples of software that is virtually bug free and stable? – “Yes.”
Therefore, I must repectfully disagree on principle about the points made concerning “perfection”… I don’t see why a virtually bug free platform cannot be achieved – even if it’s through various patches and fixes. Why is everyone so happy to accept the status-quo? Is it too much to ask of these multi-billion dollar conglomerates to improve their standards? They have become beaurocratic and bloated.
You must see my point, here. It’s just software, for crying-out- loud. I suspect that profits are at the bottom of that equation – Why fix what is current when you have a deadline to meet for your next version? It all just gets shoved under the rug. Not to mention that all our current technology is being slow-fed to us in the name of profit (Instant-Obsolescence…one of the ugly faces of Capitalism) – but that’s another issue.
The suggestion that I write my own code is not valid. If it was meant to be sarcastic, then that’s ok. I know I probably got under someones’ skin with my surly tone – and I do apologize. However, that’s like saying “If you don’t want your car to ever break down, then build your own.” How would you feel if the day after purchasing a new car things suddenly started going wrong and YOU were somehow expected to just figure it out and fix it, with little or no help from the manafactuer? Well, our economy certainly would grind to a halt if the automotive industry were as irresponsible as some software manafacturers are. The reason they can be so irresponsible is because there is NO GOVERNING BODY THAT WILL DICTATE A SET OF STANDARDS THAT WILL ALLOW SUCH A SCENARIO TO DEVELOP. This is the ugly side of Capitalism – private enterprise run amock with little rules or regulations to reel them in. And let’s face it, there aren’t a whole lot of choices out there for me to opt into. Whereas, I could go buy a Japanese car if I were dissatisfied with my current one.
This is very much an OS/hardware issue, as well. The lack of standardization in our industry is overwhelming, counterproductive and unacceptable. Obviously, writing my own code cannot be a solution because “It’s not my job”… It’s the job of some programmer out there pulling down $250,000 a year.
I do wish to aplogize for my inuendos about the banner adds – That is an example of Capitalism at its best. And this site has pulled me out of many deep holes.
Once again, thank you to everyone for responding to this because it shows that you all do care. You do have well thought-out opinions and ideas. That alone gives me solace. I hope this only encourages more debate and does not offend. My purpose is not to inflame argument for the sake of argument. I do see a great opportunity here to discuss these issues with those of you in the industry and in the know. Perhaps I will be able to gleen a better perspective on how to handle such frustrations.
Best Regards,
Mike Bozik -
As a relative newcomer to this business(I never cut celluloid), I hesitate to add my .02 to a topic that has caused more disagreement than a discussion about politics. Nevertheless, I would like to say, as many others have, that no NLE is flawless. Each seems to have its own peculiarities that, once learned, allow the editor to be fairly trouble free. Problems are platform agnostic.
When I first started this business, I felt that ease of learning the app was the most important feature. As my skill and business grew, I learned that ease of learning is something useful only for beginners. As my skills grew and my demands on the software grew, two things stand out as critically important.
Firstly, an application must be reliable and dependable. As an editor, WYSIWYG is very important for artistic creativity as well as for business timeliness. No customer will return if I keep making excuses why I haven’t met his schedule. If an application fails, hangs, crashes or produces unreliable results, I have no use for it.
Secondly, because I push applications to their limit, it is critically important that there be a strong customer support base, which included forums such as this one, with experienced user willing to help without letting their egos get wrapped up in their answers. Just as important is a strong manufacturer presence and desire to satisfy the needs of their customers. Again, I have no use for an application that doesn’t provide efficient technical support. The more complex an NLE is, the more difficulties that will arise. Without that technical resource, I’m just shooting in the dark, to put it politely.
I’ve never used FCP, altho’ it is on my educational list. Of all the NLE’s I am proficient with, Avid stand out as the most flexible, the most accomplished, the most dependable and the one with the best customer support going. You may feel differently, this is only my opinion. Admittedly, Avid is difficult to learn. But, once mastered, it is an outstanding product that truly fits the definition of “professional”. There are very few other NLE’s that fit this category, despite their popularity with beginners.
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[Michael Bozik] “I will not stop asking why things cannot change – and “Life isn’t perfect” is not acceptable to me. (At least not on this thread. It is after all, a rant.)”
A sure recipe for frustration and one you are welcome to. Many of us here tried it and wore out, learning pragmatically that stockholder-led companies have agendas of their own and these agendas are not always in line with the expectations of the users of these tools.
[Michael Bozik] “I suspect that profits are at the bottom of that equation – Why fix what is current when you have a deadline to meet for your next version? It all just gets shoved under the rug. Not to mention that all our current technology is being slow-fed to us in the name of profit (Instant-Obsolescence…one of the ugly faces of Capitalism) – but that’s another issue.”
See comment above. Seems that you already know this but somehow feel that it’s going to change, it isn’t — not only will it cut off future profits for companies but will also add to “no longer working” contingent around the world.
As to the merits or inequities of Capitalism, that is an argument for another site and we don’t bother with such things here at the COW; our discussions are about less headier subjects, like video, audio and the like. Sorry to disillusion you.
[Michael Bozik] “Obviously, writing my own code cannot be a solution because “It’s not my job”… It’s the job of some programmer out there pulling down $250,000 a year.”
Personally, I don’t know any programmers that are pulling down anywhere near a Quarter Million a year. In fact, one of the reasons that jobs are getting scarcer and scarcer is that many of these jobs are being outsourced to countries where wages are much less than in Europe and North America, for example.
BUT THE REAL POINT IS…
MOST people are getting their work done. Everyday there are tons of projects that are discussed and tweaked with information from the COW and its members.
The tools work.
Yes, the tools work to varying degrees of perfection but what once took over a million dollars in equipment and investment to create a TV show, for example, now takes MUCH less than $10,000 in many cases.
Complain if you wish but there is a plus-side to all of this, if you just look.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.
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