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Peasants at the Gates
Apropos of current events, selections from Walter Murch, Oct 2011 (though one could speculate he had in mind landowners rather than peasants):
[part 2]
I think what Final Cut has shown, forcibly, is that here we are, a creative community, and we depend on … corporations to supply us with our tools. And that’s been the case for a quite a while, but we were able to sort of ignore it. […]
In the old days, on film, if your editing machine broke, you could actually cut it by hand. You could take out a pair of scissors and keep going. It would be awkward, it would take a long time, it would be imperfect, but you could keep going. And now you can’t. If your computer shuts down, you can’t work. […]
We are now dependent for our living on the plans of giant corporations that have us as a tiny, tiny fragment of their interest.
[part 3]
A lot of the frustration that we’re feeling, not only with Final Cut but I had many problems with Avid over the years … and you write letters and you make phone calls and send emails, but you are petitioning to the Castle to grant some favors. And maybe they will, maybe they won’t; it’s dependent on what’s happening in the Castle … As I said earlier, we’re kind of a pain in the ass. We want this stuff. […]
Consumers consume. Professionals demand.
https://www.macvideo.tv/editing/interviews/?articleId=3316346
https://www.macvideo.tv/editing/interviews/?articleId=3318132
https://www.macvideo.tv/editing/interviews/?articleId=3319595
Walter Murch, MacVideo.tv Interview, October 27, 2011
(with edits)Franz.
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7 Replies
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on film, if your editing machine broke, you could actually cut it by hand. You could take out a pair of scissors and keep going. It would be awkward, it would take a long time, it would be imperfect, but you could keep going.
This is actually how I’m starting to see GIMP, in relation to Photoshop. It wouldn’t be my first choice- by a long shot. But it’s nice knowing that if I don’t have access to Photoshop- for whatever reason- there’s SOMETHING available that I can use to open a file and do some form of work with it. (if I save a copy with the layer styles rastorized, anyway…)
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“Up until here, we still have enough track to stop the locomotive before it plunges into the ravine… But after this windmill it’s the future or bust.” -
This is a really good post.
ThanksJames Daugherty
President SDMVPUG.com
San Diego Mac Video Production User Group -
As much as I admire Mr Murch work as an editor I totally disagree 🙂
What’s the difference to the old days when a letter to Moviola or Steenbeck had the same effect as a letter to Apple, Adobe or Avid now??
And by God I do not want to get the scissor out of the draw again to edit.
We have choices today. Not happy with one find another one that works. NLE’s exist for only 25 years or so. To stop developing and trying new ways to improve on the technology only because something was done a certain way for the last 10 years is quite frankly ludicrous!
Apple move was a move forward. Adobe’s move is to stay alive. I think rather than crying crocodile tears over things are changing is to see the changes as opportunities to evaluate how oneself is working.
History is constantly repeating itself in the regard that a radical departure from known methods causes people to call foul. I don’t subscribe to the myth of us and them. We are not victims but we are customers who make decisions on satisfaction level. Where in the whole world does a business listen to every single person and reacts personally? The companies make decision based on what they think customers will like and in turn allow them to make a bug. It’s called a business.
We can discuss the merits of differently functionality in different software but you are wasting your time entertaining the conspiracy theory that we are victims of the ‘evil’ empires…
Happy editing!
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[Franz Bieberkopf] “We are now dependent for our living on the plans of giant corporations that have us as a tiny, tiny fragment of their interest.”
This is about so much more than software licensing.
We are vastly interdependent. The system is enormously complex. This is the result of millennia of economics in action. Over thousands of years, in order to gain specialization, we have traded away self-sufficiency.
Like it or not, we are all dependent on a great many things outside of our control. We can’t have it both ways.
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 -
[Walter Soyka] “Like it or not, we are all dependent on a great many things outside of our control. We can’t have it both ways.”
Are you talking about editing or civilization?
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[Andrew Kimery] “Are you talking about editing or civilization?”
Yes 🙂
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 -
[Carsten Orlt] “The companies make decision based on what they think customers will like”
So the new FCPX paradigm and the CC prove that Apple and Adobe are absolutely out of tune with what “the customers will like”.
rafael
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