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Illustrator turns 25 today. Thoughts on it, Luddites and FCP X
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[Steve Connor] “I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread!”
Because it was the best thing since sliced bread. I was never an on-line editor, but I loved working with some really good ones, and watching them figure out how to build complicated effects with a single channel of ADO and pre-read was a downright thrill.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf -
[Richard Herd] “There’s no straw man there, which means he builds the contradictory point of view in order to knock it down.”
Richard,
His view is that Apple’s FCPX is revolutionary. He paints a character of those who do not share this view:
Apple was truly aiming where the puck will be with FCP X, and many of us dislike where the puck is going to be.
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Like Luddites (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite) we believe this new technology was a death sentence to our much loved craft.
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Let us not be Luddites.(See my post below for a clearer picture of Luddites and their aims.)
The implication is that those who do not view FCPX as revolutionary are Luddites (with his meaning and negative connotation) and a bit emotional about it all.
I’ll be clear: I don’t know where “the puck” will be, and can’t say that I dislike the future he seems to know. I don’t feel FCPX represents any kind of threat or death to a craft (loved or otherwise). I am also not convinced that FCPX is a good tool for me (though I am still undecided).
There are many here who are just assessing FCPX as a tool, and it comes up a bit short in that assessment.
[Richard Herd] “… it’s really difficult for anyone who hasn’t actually worked (not toyed with, worked) in X to say anything convincing about it or critique it …”
This is true to a limited extent (though “difficult” does not mean impossible); on the other hand (and this was not true when FCP first debuted) there is a fairly broad, varied field of choices right now for NLEs. A piece of software now has to actually attract my interest for me to invest time and energy into learning it.
This is change and progress, too.
Franz.
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[Steve Connor] “”PRE READ forever!!!!!””
Pre read was hip!
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[Michael Gissing] “T Payton, you should know better if you have at least read some of the history of the Ludittes so I wonder why you have misrepresented so many here who have legitimate complaints about this software”
Indeed I should have known better. I re-read my post and realized that it indeed sounded like I said if someone didn’t embrace FCP X they were not accepting technology and therefore a Luddite. That was not my intention. I was speaking of a technology becoming persuasive in culture to the point of it becoming very inexpensive, simplified and yet dummed down from the professional perspective. I was also apparently projecting my own thoughts and emotions on others, of which I apologize.
I admit my ignorance also. Here in the Western United States “Luddite” is not part of the vocabulary, and I had not heard the term until I read of it recently.
I appreciate the rebuke.
Also, I take no shame in saying that I am a fan of Apple, although a critic also. Apple has been used in my life to not only give a young kid something to aspire to (I got an Apple II when I was 12), but allow me to support my family (I worked at a place called MacTemps for a while right out of college), to starting a business with little more than a Quadra 610 and QuarkXPress. Now I support a larger family and a thriving business with the help of Apple hardware and software (and mostly Adobe software too). Apple doesn’t just make gadgets, they have fundamentally changed the culture. If another company made FCP X I would probably not pay much attention to it, simply based on the number of bugs alone. But if Apple makes it, I’ll take notice because they have a track record of revolution.
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T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque -
How many people have access to pencil and paper? How many people earn their living as a writer (be it novelist, screen writer, journalist, etc.,)? How many basketballs are sold to people that will never play pro ball? Stores selling musical instruments are all over the place but I really doubt there are any session musicians, let alone major artists, that worry about their jobs because a new Guitar Center opened up or because there are apps that can teach you to play guitar on your mobile device.
There’s a lot more to being a successful editor than just having access to an NLE.
Accessibility is great and the only ones that should be worried are people that only have a job because they had a monopoly on gear in their area.
I don’t use FCPX because it doesn’t meet my needs. There’s no fear or anger or denial entering the equation. I need something that does X, Y and Z and FCPX currently does not at this time so therefore I don’t use it. If that changes I’ll take another look at it.
-Andrew
2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5) -
[T. Payton] “Video is now in the process of undergoing a similar revolution. Once the tools were only in the hands of the professionals, now video is “in the hands of the people” so to speak, including my 9 year old cousin.”
And they are proceeding to fill content channels with utter crap.
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Sure. But what if just a few years ago basketballs cost $3000 and required special training to dribble, and suddenly they cost $30 and dribble for you.
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[T. Payton] “Indeed I should have known better. I re-read my post and realized that it indeed sounded like I said if someone didn’t embrace FCP X they were not accepting technology and therefore a Luddite.”
Fair enough.
[T. Payton] “I admit my ignorance also. Here in the Western United States “Luddite” is not part of the vocabulary, and I had not heard the term until I read of it recently.
“In this part of the Western United States–at least at the Universities I’ve attended and in a number of the technical places I have worked–its a fairly common slur for the technically dismissive or disinclined. It gets a lot more usage than, say, flat-earther or troglodyte. I’m surprised that you haven’t come across it before.
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[Herb Sevush] “Because it was the best thing since sliced bread. I was never an on-line editor, but I loved working with some really good ones, and watching them figure out how to build complicated effects with a single channel of ADO and pre-read was a downright thrill.”
But in one careless moment it could all be gone……. Unless of course you backed up your layers! Sound familiar?
don walker
texarkana, texasJohn 3:16
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[Don Walker] “But in one careless moment it could all be gone……. Unless of course you backed up your layers! “
That’s what made the good ones so good – they didn’t have careless moments. Besides which, when done properly, everything was in the EDL and could be re-created fairly quickly.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
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nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf
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