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Illustrator turns 25 today. Thoughts on it, Luddites and FCP X
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How many pitchers have been replaced by pitching machines? Has it become harder to find a human drummer since drum machines where invented?. How many trailer editors have been replaced by the paint-by-numbers trailer function in iMovie?
Hell, even in Real Steel (yes, I went there) the robots were still human controlled.
-Andrew
2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5) -
[Andrew Kimery] “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,
While I find nothing wrong with that statement at all – I do think we’re entering a new era where looking at software exclusively as a “features” or even “workflow” construct might turn out to be vexingly limiting in the long run.
The small problem is that while FCP-X does a subset of X, Y, and Z that currently does not meet your feature set – it’s also driven some innovation by a elevating some concepts and strategies from outside the regular XYZ feature set and bolted them directly into it’s design.
What concerns me is that more than a few editors will keep focused on the “core skills” of editing – which should never be dismissed or belittled – and miss the fact that in order to truly benefit from the directional change that FCP-X has signaled – there is much new learning that has to be done.
X is not something that can be mastered overnight. Or even over-a few months. It’s significantly deep code with a lot of new capabilities and processes that honestly take quite a bit of learning to get used to.
I’ve spent as much time over the past four months, for example, considering taxonomy (the field of intelligent naming and labeling) and export modes (versioning and persistent connection verses “save as” and “orphan document” creation.) as I have concentrating on the traditional skills of scene pacing or titling. My use of X on a near daily basis has literally changed much of my thinking about what it means to be an “editor” in the modern sense.
Yes, the core is telling the story. But to get that done, I’ve been given whole new arrays of tools that can help me tremendously if I can learn them. But they’re not easy nor trivial to learn.
But it’s precisely those new skills that are making me feel like I’m moving forward in my career, rather than continuing just to do the same stuff I did five years (or even six months!) ago.
I now not only edit, but I have a new appreciation for the role of metadata, search, clip relationships, and even in-application publishing of content for a connected world.
I simply don’t think my brain would have gone to those places without having X in my toolkit.
I’m also simply not convinced that without getting past the “features” level of the program to honestly learn the overall data flow (both program content and metadata) any editor can fairly figure out if X is something they may be able to benefit from or not.
So I appreciate that at least you’re keeping your eye on it.
If it does continue to evolve at it’s current pace. At some point, I believe that most editors will likely have to contend with it’s concepts. Because merging editing with search, and bolting those onto connected output concepts IS going to be where editing goes in an overall sense, IMO.
It has to in a world where every content creator pretty much has to rely on those same principals (search and agile creative output deployment via on-line publishing) as increasingly key drivers of modern content workflows.
If I’m correct, the other large scale editing programs will simply have to start adding even more of these capabilities to the ones they all ready have in place.
But Apple has now become arguably the first NLE to elevate content management and metadata tracking to completely equal status with fundamental editing tools – putting BOTH right up front in the user interface design.
It will be fascinating to see how many of the other major editing programs adopt that model over the next few years.
These aren’t the typical letters that
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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That was a well thought out post Bill, but I think it was based on an inaccurate assumption of why I’m still on the sidelines.
For example, one of my needs is for video out to leave Beta and be as functional as it was in FCP classic. Another one of my needs is for FCPX to be used at places I work, or want to work, at. In LA I’ve seen more than one job posting that says “Need FCP editor (not FCPX)”. Again, I’m not staying away because it’s different I’m staying away because it hasn’t become practical for me to learn it yet.
There’s only so much time in the day and it makes more sense for me to shake off my Avid rust, get more comfy with AE, see how my Color skills translate to DaVinci, etc., than it does to spend time learning FCPX right now. FCPX could be God’s gift to editing but if I don’t think I can make a living cutting w/it I’m not going to give it any serious consideration regardless of what mind blowing features it might have. I’m an editor not an NLE evangelist, consultant or plugin maker so there’s no compelling reason for me to tolerate being a V1 bug hunter. 😉
I agree that we’ll probably see FCPX-like features appear in PPro and Avid just like we see features that were first in Avid or PPro in FCPX. If that’s the case though than it’s probably even less likely that I’ll ever pick up FCPX. I mean, if Avid meets my needs today and grows into meeting my needs tomorrow then I’m still looking for motivation to adopt FCPX.
-Andrew
2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5) -
Bill Davis – “But Apple has now become arguably the first NLE to elevate content management and metadata tracking to completely equal status with fundamental editing tools – putting BOTH right up front in the user interface design.”
Apple is FAR from the first NLE to incorporate content management and metadata tracking and certainly far from the best implementation of it. If you truly think this, perhaps you should get out a bit more. Statements like this really make one question the credibility of the source. The fact that there is no path in or out of their system for their content management and metadata makes working with it limited, at best. If it helps you understand data concepts, great… but I say you’d do a damn site better studying data management just a bit. Same concepts, MUCH more solid understanding of the relationships in the end. FCPX is to data management as a Prius is to Nascar.
Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv -
[Franz Bieberkopf] “I’ll be clear: I don’t know where “the puck” will be”
Franz, I know where the puck won’t be… I can assure you, it’s not gonna wind up in either Albuquerque or Phoenix.
David Roth Weiss
ProMax Systems
Burbank
DRW@ProMax.com
http://www.ProMax.com
Sales | Integration | SupportDavid is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.
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[Bill Davis] “But Apple has now become arguably the first NLE to elevate content management and metadata tracking to completely equal status with fundamental editing tools – putting BOTH right up front in the user interface design.
“The real problem with FCPX is that, as hard as you try Bill, it simply doesn’t come close to what you try to make of it. If the software was even close it would be a real win-win; FCPX would be better, and we wouldn’t have to read all of your dribble.
So many words – so little meaning. But, I guess your third grade teacher would give you an A for effort?
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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.
“ADO wasn’t exactly intuitive to use, but once you learned it there was an awful lot you could do with it.
Steve Connor
“FCPX Professional”
Adrenalin Television -
[David Roth Weiss] “The real problem with FCPX is that, as hard as you try Bill, it simply doesn’t come close to what you try to make of it. If the software was even close it would be a real win-win; FCPX would be better, and we wouldn’t have to read all of your dribble.
So many words – so little meaning. But, I guess your third grade teacher would give you an A for effort?
“
Ouch!
Steve Connor
“FCPX Professional”
Adrenalin Television -
[T. Payton] “Fast forward to today, and an App that accomplish about 90% of what Illustrator can do can (today’s Illustrator that is) can be purchased on the iPad for a mere $4.99.”
Which app is this then ? Im intrigued. Also, the last 10% tends to mean angry clients and 3 am deadlines…
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[James Mortner] “Which app is this then ? Im intrigued. Also, the last 10% tends to mean angry clients and 3 am deadlines…”
There are a bunch of good consumer vector apps for the iPad. Here is one (this looks pretty nice, even has a Mac version for a mere $25:
My son has the app InkPad. But here is a list of some others:
https://appadvice.com/appguides/show/vector-drawing
By the way my point is not that a $4.99 is an Illustrator replacement–far be it. But these inexpensive vector apps for the iPad represent a shift in creation in our culture. What was once a type of tool that only Graphic Professionals would use has now become something that practically anyone can use and afford.
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T. Payton
OneCreative, Albuquerque
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