-
Reconsidering FCPX in Hollywood
-
[Bill Davis] “Because if you want to speed and the enhanced productivity that X can give you – you have to ADAPT to it.”
I really dont think thats it.
I think its availability and not much else.
Most editors in the Hollywood system dont pick the software unless your a hotshot feature editor working on tentpole films.
If the shops switched – the editors would too – simple as that IMO.
Look at at all the Avid/ FCP 7 guys that had to go to PPRO basically overnight. It seemed to work out. IMO FCPX isnt that hard to wrap your head around.
Events/Vs Bins – Keywords/VS Reels&markers and a timeline thats stuck in ripple – until you override. Those are the biggest differences – the rest is well….editing.
-
Heres a job posting I just saw for FCPX – this first one Ive seen in weeks.
LA Based Promo Company seeking both Non-Union Editor and AE medium-long term positions on 1-week commitments asap.
On-site 9am-7pm near LAX airport
Editor – Freelance Rate, $350-$450/10
PREFERRED: FCPX Experience or willing to spend 2-3 days learning at reduced rate (we’ll pay you to go slow).
MUST: Must have edited network promos and have examples. I.e. you watch the entire show, and with our creative directors, come up with the best direction for premise trailers. We cut everything from social content to full length broadcast specials.So this is about 400 less than the going rate for an averege promo editor. If your in demand your getting well over that.
Might be why we dont see that many people dropping everything to learn it. Just a thought.
-
[Bill Davis] “For decades, Sony’s R&D and thinking drove much of my business success. I came to depend on them for solutions I could afford and what would best leverage my budgets and time into DOLLARS in return. They took me through decades of success early in my career”
And then they hit a bad spell and if you didn’t get off that merry-go-round it would have cost you. The thing is you never know when that bad spell is coming.
[Bill Davis] “In both cases, the brand loyalty helped me thrive”
Why be loyal to them when they’re not loyal to you? Buy their stuff when it makes sense, don’t when it doesn’t, but never fall in love with a corporation because I’ll guarantee it’s not requited.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin\’ attached to nothin\’
\”Deciding the spine is the process of editing\” F. Bieberkopf -
[Herb Sevush] “Why be loyal to them when they’re not loyal to you? Buy their stuff when it makes sense, don’t when it doesn’t, but never fall in love with a corporation because I’ll guarantee it’s not requited.”
Having beta tested for Sony, Yamaha, dSP and Fairlight I can assure you that the bigger the company, the less personal care they give. I most enjoyed my relationship with small nimble companies like dSP and Fairlight although I did manage to get inside Yamaha pro audio on the development of the O2R mixer. When it comes to Apple and Microsoft you might have a close relationship with someone on the inside but small cogs and big wheels means you are not their primary concern. I chose Apple when they made hardware and software that suited and dropped them when they didn’t. Same with Sony & Yamaha.
What happens in Hollywood and the broadcasters like BBC still makes its way into the consciousness of the film community down here at the bottom of Australia. Of course we will choose what works for us but the disproportional influence of what happens in Hollywood is felt everywhere. We should pay more attention to Bollywood given the sheer quantity of that market.
-
[Neil Goodman] “If the shops switched – the editors would too – simple as that IMO.”
I’ve always believed it’s a simple matter of market forces at play.
If the majority of post houses and in-house media departments in my market had been early adopters of FCPX and had stayed committed to it over the years I would primarily be a FCPX editor today.
Windows 10 Pro
i7-5820k CPU
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Blackmagic Decklink 4k Mini Monitor
Adobe CC 2018
Renders/cache: Samsung SSD 950 Pro x2 in Raid 0
Media: Samsung SSD 960 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280
Media: OWC Thunderbay 4 x 2 Raid 0 mirrored with FreeFileSync -
[Neil Goodman] ” that after 7 years – someone of his stature has to have a demo and tell people,” hey look we can do that too, and it might work better for you. ”
“Because so many people don’t know about it. Many have never used X. I speak with people all the time about it and most have never tried it.
[Neil Goodman] “why after 7 years do people still doubt FCPX as a viable tool?”
Because they don’t know what they are talking about. They are working with a program that is working for them and they don’t have a reason to try something different.
Avid wasn’t completely working for Beal, so he gave X a try and found it very “viable”.
-
[Neil Goodman] “Why would an editor take the time to learn something new if he never gets to flex that new knowledge or no ones going to pay him to use his new skills?
“Ask Beal why he did it.
-
Hey, that’s a step up from Even Stevens…
-
Gtx cards are aggressively marketed at gamers. Nvidia expects pros to be using their quadro line. The looks aren’t that important to me but if they are for you then these cards are nicely buttoned down and pro looking.
-
[Bill Davis] “If people are making it work at ALL levels of production – successfully – all around the world. It’s hard to argue that the problem lines in the programs inherent capabilities.”
I’m confused about your argument here, because on the one hand you are arguing for the wisdom of the market (the widespread adoption of FCP X outside Hollywood) and on the other hand you are ignoring the influence of the market and blaming a specific section of consumers for not making the switch.
If FCP X is self-evidently the best product at the best price with the best support (and so on), then market forces tell us that it should be the de facto choice everywhere, including Hollywood.
Whether because of Apple’s positioning or because of the product’s own lack of appeal or because of other factors, the market is not pushing the adoption of FCP X within this segment – and it’s had seven years to try and make an impact here.
Something isn’t right.
If I can’t sell my product to a particular segment of the market after a significant period of trying, the problem isn’t the foolishness of the customers I am targeting, it’s my fault and/or the fault of my product.
Perhaps the efficiencies of FCP X just don’t have enough of a practical appeal in every day terms within this sector. It’s not that they haven’t been recognised as efficiencies but rather that they are not perceived as sufficiently game-changing because they speak to edge “problems” rather than to core workflow needs – within this sector.
In other words the factors uniquely attractive about FCP X to the world outside Hollywood don’t count for anything like as much within it – and other factors (delivered by other solutions) are more important and are the drivers of choice.
And a major difference is that within this sector the decisions are enterprise-driven, they’re not driven by individual users. Hard-headed business choices are being made above the level of personal preference.
Simon Ubsdell
tokyo productions
hawaiki
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up