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Looks like the FCP X forces converted another AVID editor. Wonder who gets the toaster prize?????
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The thing is, on its own FCPX is a wonderful editor. In a small workgroup, it can also be made to function in a quasi-collaborative manner through various workarounds. But it simply has too many holes for a lot of companies to make the switch. Interchange with other apps is worse and collaborative working methods are worse. Until that’s addressed, these sorts of stories will continue to be outliers. Unfortunately the sad truth of our business is that processes work best when you restrict yourself to a single ecosystem.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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A recent anecdote involving my wife illustrates a problem with the “FCPX is so awesome” approach to our business.
We recently attended a wedding in which we met a very nice gentleman who told us that his son is just starting out in his career as a video editor/shooter but that he doesn’t have a lot of connections yet. My wife is a staff video producer and she hires freelance editors and shooters and so she asked for the son’s contact info.
My wife had a phone interview with the son and during the interview, he informed my wife that he prefers working in FCPX. That’s all well and good but all of the video work done in-house at her company is within the Adobe environment and so FCPX simply isn’t an option for editors. My wife’s company operates like many other media companies in that all video work needs to be done within the ecosystem of the company. The work can certainly be done remotely but it makes no sense to have it done in FCPX since the project will eventually go back to the company and a staff editor may revisit the project down the road.
My wife is still going to give this young professional a chance because his portfolio does indicate that he has talent but it’ll be his responsibility to put his personal preferences aside and do his best to work in an environment that may not be what he prefers but which is a paid professional gig.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmprods
tallmanproductions.net -
[greg janza] “My wife is still going to give this young professional a chance because his portfolio does indicate that he has talent”
Question for you Greg, with so many young people starting to cut at a very young age in X (sometimes as young as 12) at what point do companies like your wife’s start to adjust to field all that young talent, or do you chance having them out there on their own competing against your wife’s company and chipping away at profits? I think that’s a question that this industry will be looking at across the board. Up until this point companies have done what she is doing, have them come in and learn what’s there, but does that change at some point?
Back in my day I had to wait until I was 18 and in college to learn how to edit. Now young folks coming out can have a decade of experience when they finish school.
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[Tony West] “with so many young people starting to cut at a very young age in X (sometimes as young as 12)”
I think that’s an assumption, which isn’t supported quantitatively. Especially given the small market share that Macs enjoy. I run into way more young editors (early 20s) who know Premiere, but not X. If anything, Resolve is the NLE to watch out for.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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[Tony West] “at what point do companies like your wife’s start to adjust to field all that young talent”
If its true talent – like Greg’s wife company they will fold them into their existing workflow. How many kids do you think will turn down a job because of the software? coming out of school, not many I suppose as well as they wouldnt be in any position to make demands about the software they use yet.
The people who have been able to implement change with X at certain companies seem to come from really pedigreed backgrounds and have proven themselves and gained a certain level of trust to do so.
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[Oliver Peters] “I think that’s an assumption”
I base things I say on personal experiences for the most part. I have a cousin who just showed me his work that was really impressive. He’s 12. Anybody can go on youtube and see kids putting up X videos. That’s not a secret.
In Greg’s own story he mentioned that they are giving that young person a chance because he has talent. Talent built on his early use of X.
That’s why I asked him that question.
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[Tony West] “I base things I say on personal experiences for the most part. I have a cousin who just showed me his work that was really impressive. He’s 12. Anybody can go on youtube and see kids putting up X videos. That’s not a secret.”
I’m not questioning that. Only that such anecdotal experience can’t really be extrapolated to the industry at large.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
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[Neil Goodman] ” How many kids do you think will turn down a job because of the software?”
I don’t think they will turn it down. I think they will take it but keep doing their own jobs on the side that over time bring them closer to competing with the jobs that they are offered.
Things might not change at all, and independents will just keep chipping away at production houses like it’s been for the last two decades or more.
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[Tony West] “In Greg’s own story he mentioned that they are giving that young person a chance because he has talent. Talent built on his early use of X.”
Both my wife and I try to give access to folks just starting out in the business because we both remember how hard it was to break into the business when we were beginning our careers.
I think what was notable about my wife’s interview was how this young professional didn’t focus his approach on how he could possibly contribute to the company’s needs and adapt his skills to those needs. Instead, he put forth his preferences for working.
This is directly opposite of how I approached the business when I was starting out and how I continue to approach the business 25 years later. When I was starting out, I learned linear editing consoles because that’s what post companies used and that’s how I could get hired. I later learned Avid when I wanted to get into television production because that’s what TV production companies used. And then I learned Premiere when I segued into corporate production because that’s what virtually every corporate in-house communications department and outside post facility used and continues to use.
So yes, my wife is going to give him a shot but hopefully, other folks who are attempting to get into this very competitive business will approach job opportunities with an attitude of “how can I help contribute to a project and the overall future success of the company” instead of “this is how I prefer to work.”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmprods
tallmanproductions.net -
[greg janza] “This is directly opposite of how I approached the business when I was starting out and how I continue to approach the business 25 years later.”
I hear you Greg. Your approach mirrors mine almost completely and our paths are much the same.
Your experience that you saw in him are the same as what I see in other new folks coming in.
The industry has changed so much since we came in. You really had to be working for someone else to have a chance at making a decent living. You couldn’t purchase the gear to shoot, let alone the suite to cut in and even if you did you had few places to put it when done. None of that is the case anymore.
I’m not saying I have the answers, just thinking out loud and wondering : )
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